“No.” Slade shook his head. “Not unless we’ve got one in here.”
They hadn’t taken the time to stop and load up on weapons. None of them wore any sort of protective vest or gear.
“Looks like we’re going old-school, boys.” Bones didn’t sound the least bit disappointed.
Slade just prayed it would be enough.
The drive that should have taken ten took six, thanks to Apollo’s expert moves behind the wheel. There wasn’t time for as much stealth as they normally would have used. But they did leave the car’s doors open to help with what noise control they could.
The soles of their boots ground against worn asphalt and weeds. Slade was first at the door, and he didn’t wait to reach for the round, rusty knob. To his surprise, it turned with relative ease.
With a single pull, the door opened fully. Slade covered up top, while Apollo crouched down to cover low.
Falcon and Bones entered first, their pistols up and at the ready. Apollo went next, followed immediately by Slade. And when the entire team was in, they stopped to regroup.
Before exiting the SUV, Slade had put an earbud in his left ear and slid his phone into the back pocket of his jeans. Rawlins was still on the phone, taking Shadow’s place as the team’s overwatch. And though he’d give anything to hear her voice, Slade was damn glad the other man was there.
“The signal’s still showing strong in the northeast corner of the building,” the deep voice in his ear sounded. “You should see a hallway due east and to your right.”
Slade turned that way, looking through the low-lit space. Past a large, concrete pillar he saw nothing at first but a darkened corner.
“You see it?”
Not yet.
He took a few steps closer in that direction. Not far, but enough to give him a better view.
“I see it,” Slade whispered back, using hand movements to signal to the team they should move.
Just as they had on the countless missions before, the four men moved as one past the giant pillar and beyond. When they reached the hallway’s edge, Slade swung his weapon around the corner in case there were any threats.
But there was nothing but more shadows and the occasional ray of light that shone in from opened doorways along the narrow space. What that told him was that there were several rooms needing to be cleared.
Pulling in a deep breath, he let it out slowly, and with his weapon at the ready, he motioned to his men. Slade took the lead with the others in line behind him. Apollo’s hand was on Slade’s left shoulder, while Bones’ hand was on Apollo’s. Falcon brought up the rear, his hand on Bones’ shoulder.
Together, they quickly began clearing the rooms.
The first one was empty, as were the second and third. Slade tried like hell not to think about how long this section of the building was, or how many rooms they’d have to check before finding the only one they needed.
At least eight that I can see. Maybe more.
He pushed the useless thoughts away and took a step toward the next doorway. He swung his weapon inside and then?—
Bang!
His heart stopped as he and the others recognized the sound for exactly what it was. Someone had just shot a fucking gun, and it had come from somewhere down the hall.
Shadow!
Slade took off in a dead sprint, no longer giving a damn about being quiet. The others followed with a pace matching his own.
From a room several yards away, he could hear what sounded like a loud, almost animalistic growl. His heart thundered inside his chest as he willed his legs and feet to move faster than ever before. When they got to the room where Shadow and her father were being held, the scene before him left his heart filled with a combination of relief, fury, and overwhelming dread.
She’s alive!
Slade wanted to bawl like a damn baby when he saw Shadow standing on her own two feet. Then he wanted to find the son of a bitch who’d beat her with what looked to be an inch of her life.
Her hands and forearms were covered in blood, but when he saw the man lying on the floor behind her, he understood why.
