“Go, go, go!” Coulter shouted.
Mike didn’t hesitate to push their SUV to its limit. A long moment later, they were skidding to a stop on the side of the road.
“Let me out,” he demanded as terror threatened to take him over.
Garrett opened the door and jumped out. Coulter followed with Bones and Apollo on his tail. Digger got out of the front passenger seat, and Mike stayed put with a look that said they were on their own for this part.
Coulter started to take off, his only thought was getting to Alex and making sure she was okay. But Garrett grabbed hold of his arm and stopped him short.
“Hold up.”
“She could be hurt.” He attempted to pull himself free.
“You don’t know what you’re walking into,” Garrett argued. “We do this together, as a team.”
But dammit, hewasn’tpart of the team, and Alex could be hurt. Or worse. She could be?—
“There she is!”
Bones pointed toward the upside down vehicle as Alex crawled her way out of the shattered passenger window.
“Alex!”
“Coulter?” She stumbled her way up to her feet. “Oh, thank God. I-it’s Cyrus. He k-killed Gordan.”
“We know.” He raced toward her at warp speed. “It’s okay, now. You’re safe.”
But it was a lie. She wasn’t safe. Not by any stretch of the word. Because Vas was also there.
He’d survived the crash, but the bastard hadn’t simply managed to escape. He’d made it around the front of the SUV without any of them realizing it and was now standing directly behind Alex.
“Alex, watch out!” Coulter tried to warn her, but he was too late.
Vas had already wrapped an arm around Alex’s throat.
“Stay back or I’ll shoot!” He pressed the barrel of a gun flush with her temple.
No!
“It’s over, Cyrus,” Coulter yelled back, keeping his own weapon steady. “Drop the gun and let Alex go!”
“Screw you!” the cornered man shouted. “I drop the gun, all you’ll do is shoot me.”
“Maybe.” Bones paused. “But if you don’t, we will kill you where you stand.”
“Come on, Cyrus. You can’t possibly think you can hurt her and walk away from this alive.”
“This isn’t how this was supposed to go,” the man shouted. “I had a plan. I was finally free.”
He’s talking about Crawford.
“I know.” Coulter nodded. “But look at it this way. At least you’re free from Crawford. That has to count for something, right?”
“You don’t want to do this, Vas.” Digger joined their efforts. “Just put the gun down and let the girl go.”
“Do it now, asshole,” Apollo added his own words of warning.
Coulter watched Vas close with an operative’s eye. The guy was scared. Desperate. An animal who was trapped with no means of escape.
