Instinct told him to back both of them down the hallway and call for backup. But that thin waft of air meant whoever was inside was probably already making his escape, possibly down a fire escape ladder. After those people had nearly whisked Cate away earlier that evening, Draco was damned if he’d let even one of the bastards get away.
“The key card,” he breathed, holding out his hand.
She pressed the flat card into his palm.
He ran it over the scanner. The light blinked green, and he was through the door, hunkering low, moving fast on silent feet.
He hadn’t gone far before he was dodging drawers littering the floor along with the few items of clothing Cate had borrowed from Hammer’s wife. All the pockets had been turned inside out. The curtain across the window billowed inward, caught in the same breeze that had pushed cool air through the room and under the door. The window, open wide enough for a man to fit through, revealed the rusty fire escape beyond. It was empty.
No sooner had Draco registered the empty fire escape than he spun to scan the rest of the room, his gaze landing on the shadow near the bathroom door.
The shadow shot away from the wall, aiming for Cate.
Cate only had enough time to lower her shoulder and meet force with force.
The attacker was fast and weighed more than her. When he hit Cate, he drove her backward, out into the hallway until she slammed against the wall on the other side.
Draco dove after them, grabbed the man, spun him around and slammed his fist up under the man’s jaw with everything he had. The impact sent pain traveling from Draco’s knuckles up his arm into his shoulder.
The man shoved Draco back into the room so hard Draco fell backward.
Before the brute could turn back to Cate, Draco swept his legs out from under him. He toppled, his head hitting the wall inside the bedroom. He rolled to his side and back onto his feet.
Draco scrambled up, but not in time to stop the man from making a run for it. Instead of heading for the door and Cate, the man bolted for the window and ducked through the opening onto the fire escape.
Before Draco could draw his weapon, the man was gone.
Draco raced to the window.
Boots clanged against the metal as he descended two steps at a time, then vaulted over the rail near the bottom, dropped to the ground, rolled and took off running.
For a second, Draco considered going after him. After weighing the odds—the shaky fire escape, wet cobblestone and the man’s lead on him—the one concern that trumped them all overturned his desire to find the bastard and pummel him into the ground.
He couldn’t leave Cate alone.
It was a no-brainer decision.
He pulled back from the window and turned toward Cate.
She’d come in from the hallway and stood in the middle of the disaster of her room, pressing a hand to her throat, her eyes wide, her breathing ragged.
“Are you hurt?” he demanded.
She shook her head. “No,” she answered, her voice shaky. “He didn’t get me. You didn’t let him.”
Not taking her word for it, Draco closed the distance between them, clasped her cheeks between his palms and tilted her head up to the ceiling light. His gaze swept her face and her temples, and his hands tested the back of her head for lumps. His pulse thundered so loudly against his eardrums he could barely hear himself think.
She reached up and curled her fingers around the hand that cupped her cheek. “Draco, I’m all right.”
He pulled in a breath and let it out slowly, willing his heart to quit racing. He leaned his forehead against hers for a second. Then he stepped back, pulled his phone from his pocket and called Hammer.
The leader of the Brotherhood Protectors International answered before the first ring ended. “What’s happened?”
Draco gave him the details in short sentences as his gaze canvassed the room, cataloging everything. Drawers dumped, mattress flipped, pockets turned inside out, closet emptied. He strode into the adjoining bathroom. The lid on the toilet had been removed. “He was looking for something.”
“You sure it wasn’t a random robbery?” Hammer asked.
“No. he was searching for something.” Draco stepped back into the bedroom.
