Chapter 13
Dax left the MC’s body and ran down the hallway until he reached an intersection of another corridor.
Which way? He looked to the right, left and straight forward. There was no sign of Liliana. She could have been taken down any of the corridors, and he didn’t know which one.
He’d search all of them if he had to.
Dax turned right and sprinted down the corridor. When he came to a door, he tried the handle. Most were locked. At the end of the hallway, the last door opened into a huge laundry room.
A man wearing a white uniform was directing employees out of the area. When he saw Dax, he waved at him. “You need to get out. There’s a fire in the building. Everyone needs to get out. Now.”
“Have you seen a woman in a silver dress come through here?” Dax asked.
The man shook his head. “No, sir. Only employees. Sir, you need to leave the building.”
Dax didn’t stand around to argue. He turned and ran back the way he’d come.
When he came to the intersection, he turned right.
Again, none of the doors he encountered were open until he reached the end of that hallway at a set of double doors that opened into a huge room full of giant machines he suspected supported the electrical systems throughout the complex.
The noise was deafening. After a quick look around the big room, he came back out and closed the doors behind him.
He thought he heard a bang, but he couldn’t be sure since his ears were still ringing from the noise bombardment of the machine room.
He retraced his footsteps to the intersection ready to turn left again when he noticed a man wearing a suit in the hallway, headed back toward the ballroom.
He ran after him. As he neared him, he recognized the gray pinstripe suit and salt-and-pepper gray hair of Tate Harris.
“Harris!” Dax called out as he closed in on the man.
Harris spun around as if startled by Dax’s voice. Then he smiled. “Mr. Young. I didn’t know you were behind me.”
Dax frowned. “You got out.”
Harris’s brow wrinkled. “Of course, I did.”
“And the others?”
“They’re all safe,” he said. “I was just checking to make sure no one got lost. You should head out front where the others are. It’s not safe in the building. The fire hasn’t been contained.”
The man was too smooth, too slick with all the right answers.
Dax studied him closely. “Have you seen Liliana?”
Harris tilted his head. “I assumed she was with you.” The entire time he’d been talking, he’d held his right arm close to his side as if hiding something.
The closer Dax looked the more he realized the gray pinstripe suit had little dark spots on the right arm and shoulder as if it had been sprayed by something.
His heart pinched hard in his chest.
“Where is she?” Dax asked, his tone low and dangerous. He stepped toward Harris.
“I told you, I thought she was with you.” Harris moved his right arm in a flash, whipping a gun out in front of him.
Rage ripped through Dax as he stood in front of Tate Harris at gunpoint, knowing the man had blood spatter on his suit. “Where is she?” he said through gritted teeth.
“It’s too late. She’s gone.” His eyes narrowed. “And so are you.”
Dax moved so quickly that when Harris pulled the trigger, Dax had the barrel of the gun pointed at the ceiling. The bullet hit the ceiling tile, and Dax throat-punched Harris, relieving him of the weapon and leaving him gasping for air.
Dax turned the gun on Harris and shoved it under his chin. “Tell me where she is, and I might let you live.”
“It’s like I said…it’s too late,” Harris said, his voice raspy. “If the fire from the ballroom hasn’t reached her, the other one will have.”
“What other one?” Dax moved the barrel of the pistol to press between the man’s eyes. “Bastard. If you’ve hurt her, I’ll rip you apart, one limb at a time.”
Harris sneered. “You won’t shoot me.”
“Where is she?” Dax hated that Harris was right. He wouldn’t shoot the man, but he wasn’t above hitting him.
Dax pulled the gun back and pistol-whipped the man in the face.
Harris’s head jerked to the side and blood dripped from the cut on his cheek.
“Tell me,” Dax demanded.
“It’s too late,” Harris laughed. “She shouldn’t have tried playing in the big leagues.”
Dax turned the gun around, ready to break every rule in his moral code book and shoot the man point blank.
“Dax!” a voice called out from the direction of the ballroom.
Dax glanced to his left.
Kujo and Six ran toward him. “Where’s Liliana?” He stopped next to Dax, his eyes narrowing when he saw who Dax had cornered.
“That’s what I’m trying to find out.” Dax said. “What about the people in the ballroom?”
“Everyone made it out,” Kujo said. “I found the MC in the hallway.” He tipped his head toward Harris. “Did he kill him?”
“That’s my guess. And he knows where Liliana is but won’t tell me.”
“Shoot the bastard,” Kujo said.
“He won’t,” Harris jeered. “He doesn’t have it in him.”
“On second thoughts, don’t do it, Dax,” Kujo said. “Let him go.”
Dax’s lips curled up, and he stood back, releasing his hold on Harris. “Okay.”
Harris straightened his suit. “You made the right decision. Now, step aside.”
Kujo and Dax stepped aside.
Harris’s eyes narrowed as he turned and walked away, moving quickly.
Kujo let the man get a couple yards away then he said, “Six.”
The German Shepherd’s ears perked, and he tensed in a ready stance.
Kujo issued the command, “Attack.”
Six shot forward.
Harris barely had time to look back before Six was on him, sinking his teeth into Harris’s left arm.
The man screamed. “Call him off! Jesus Christ, call him off! I’ll tell you where she is!”
“Six. Sit.” Kujo called out.
Six growled low in his chest, released Harris’s arm and returned to Kujo’s side where he sat, ears up, body tense, ready for the next command.
Kujo rubbed his head. “Good boy.”
Dax hurried toward Harris, grabbed his injured arm and yanked him to his feet.
The man cried out and pulled his arm free, “Watch it.”
Dax gripped the man’s injured arm again.
Harris swung his right fist at Dax.
Dax ducked and instinctively landed a punch in the man’s face.
Harris slammed backward, hit the wall and sank to the ground.
“Damn!” Dax lifted the man up by his lapels. “Wake up, you bastard.” He shook Harris. The man’s head lolled. He was down for the count, and Dax still didn’t know where Liliana was.
“He’s the only one who knows where she is.” Dax slapped the man’s face. “Wake up!”
Kujo called out. “I’m pretty sure we can find her without his help.”
“She could be anywhere. Most of the doors on these hallways are locked. She could be behind any one of them. Plus, he said something about another fire. We don’t have time to search every damn room.”
Kujo touched Six’s head and spoke in a clear, distinct command, “Six, seek Liliana.”
Six glanced up at Kujo then took off, nose to the ground at first. Then he ran a few steps, sniffed the ground again and ran some more.
Dax didn’t like leaving Harris, but he was more concerned about finding Liliana alive.
He followed Kujo and Six as they turned down the left corridor and disappeared around another corner.
Dax and Kujo ran to keep up. When they rounded the second corner, they nearly tripped over the body of a man dressed all in black, with a bullet hole through his forehead.
Six hadn’t paused but kept going almost to the end of the corridor where the smoke was getting thicker.
Six stopped in front of a door and laid on the floor, giving a little whine, his tail wagging.
Kujo and Dax arrived at the door, skidding to a stop next to Six.
Dax tried to open the door, but the handle wouldn’t turn. Something had been jammed into the door lock to keep it from working. “Liliana,” Dax called out and held his breath.
“Dax!” Liliana’s sweet voice sounded from the other side of the door. “Thank God.”
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yes. But look out for Tate Harris. He’s dangerous.”
“We found him. He’s not going to hurt anyone anytime soon.”
“He killed Nolan Farley,” she said. “Shot him in the face,” she said.
“We found Farley,” Dax said. “We’re going to get you out of there.”
“I think you can now,” she said. “I almost had it, but couldn’t get any leverage.”
Dax laughed. “Sweetheart, what are you talking about?”
“I’m going to stand back. Just push really hard on the door.”
“You want me to kick it in?” he said.
“I don’t think you have to kick it. Try pushing first.”
Dax shot a glance at Kujo.
Kujo shrugged.
“Okay, I’m pushing.” He leaned on the door and pushed hard.
The door flew off its hinges and crashed to the floor inside a storage closet with Dax landing on top of it.
“Okay, so you didn’t have to push that hard.” Liliana helped him to his feet and threw her arms around him. “Boy, I’m glad to see you.”
He leaned back and stared down into her eyes. “Not as glad as I am to see you.” He kissed her hard and fast on the lips and then stared at the door. “What happened?”
“I removed the hinge pins, but I couldn’t pull it off the hinges because I couldn’t get my fingers between the door and the doorjamb.
I felt all around in the room but couldn’t find a crowbar or anything else to use as leverage.
” She coughed and held her hand over her mouth and nose.
“We need to get out of here, and I can’t be around any flames. ”
Dax noticed an acrid smell in the room. “What’s that smell?”
“Paint thinner,” Liliana said. “It’s all over my dress and the floor.
Harris left me zip tied in the room with a lit rag stuffed into a paint thinner can.
” She lifted her chin. “The man had no idea who he was dealing with. I grew up on the rez. I’ve been in worse situations.
” She reached into the room, snagged a pair of bolt cutters and turned back to Dax.
He grinned. “All of the people are safely out of the ballroom. We won’t need those.”
“Good.” She dropped them on the floor, hooked her arm around Dax’s arm and stepped over the door into the hallway.
The smoke had grown even thicker, making it hard to breathe and even harder to see.
Dax, Liliana and Kujo bent low and ran back the way they’d come. More smoke billowed from the direction of the ballroom.
Harris still lay against the wall where they’d left him.
“Should we leave him?” Kujo asked.
“The man deserves to die,” Liliana said, “but that would be too kind. He needs to rot in jail for what he’s done.”
“And you’re just the attorney that could make that happen.” Dax pulled the man over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. “Follow me. I know another way out.”
He led them to the laundry room and out a rear door to where the laundry room staff stood, waiting for the all-clear sign to return to work.
Dax dropped Harris on the ground, pulled out his cell phone, called Rachel and said, “We have Liliana. She’s okay.”
“Oh, thank God,” Rachel said. “I’ve been beside myself with worry. Let me talk to her.”
Dax handed the cell phone to Liliana. “It’s for you.” Then he pulled her into his arms and held her as she talked to her assistant, checking the status of the others who’d been trapped inside the ballroom.
While she talked with Rachel, Dax looked over his shoulder at Kujo. “How did you get them out?”
“The doors were blocked. The security guards had been shot. There was no way to get them out the doors.”
“Then how?” Dax asked.
Kujo’s lips twisted. “Let’s just say we broke a lot of windows.
Thankfully, the drop to the next level was only eight feet.
Everyone worked together to get those less agile to the ground safely.
We had a few twisted ankles, some smoke inhalation and a couple asthma attacks, but everyone made it out alive, except the two security guards. ”
“And the MC and Nolan Farley, one of the two men Harris hired to kill me.” Liliana handed Dax’s cell phone back to him.
Her brow twisted. “Harris also said that Jason Monahan would be found dead in his jail cell by morning of apparent suicide. You might want to call your guys and have them check on the jail. If he lives past morning, I bet he’ll talk now.
Harris eliminated one of his henchmen. We need to hang onto the other for Harris’s trial. ”
Dax stared at the unconscious man. “He needs to rot in jail for the rest of his life. Is he even alive?”
Kujo nudged the man with his foot.
Harris moaned.
“Damn. He is.” Dax pulled her closer. “How is a guy supposed to save you when you can save yourself?”
She laughed, coughed and laughed again. “I don’t think I would’ve lasted much longer in the smoke. If you hadn’t found me, I’d still be in that room.”
Dax smiled down at her. “I’d like to take credit for finding you, but it was Six who did all the work.”
Liliana bent to scratch behind Six’s ears. “Good boy.”
Six nuzzled her hand and licked her fingers.
Liliana smiled and straightened, slipping back into the circle of Dax’s arm. “You know, we don’t have to pretend to be engaged anymore.”
His arm tightened around her. “The hell we don’t. You have an election to win. I’ll be with you at least through election day.”
She turned into him and rested her cheek against his chest. “That’s not much longer. Then what?” Liliana tipped her head up and stared into his eyes in the light from the stars shining brightly in the Wyoming night sky. “What if I don’t want this to end?”
He brushed his lips across hers. All his life, he’d sworn off committing to a woman.
Yet here he was after only a few days with Liliana, and he was ready to break his promise to himself with a woman whose life would make his all kinds of complicated.
“It doesn’t have to end.” Dax couldn’t believe he’d said those words.
Then again, he didn’t want to take them back.
“If I win the election, being with me will be…” She drew in a deep breath.
“Complicated,” he said. “I know. And it won’t be if you win. It’ll be when you win.”
“I wouldn’t even begin to ask you to sacrifice your sanity for life with me. It would be too much to ask.”
“Then don’t ask,” he said, smoothing a strand of her jet-back hair back from her cheek. “Give us the rest of this campaign to get to know each other better, then I’ll do the asking.”
She frowned up at him. “I won’t hold you to it if you change your mind.”
“I’m not polished or a big shot politician or businessman.
I might not be what you need in your life as a congresswoman.
You need to be sure I won’t drag you down or hold you back.
Take the time to be absolutely sure because, once I commit, I won’t change my mind.
I’m all in until death do us part. But I’ll give you time in case you change yours. ”
She smiled up at him. “Not a chance.”
Dax prayed she wouldn’t change her mind. He was sure in his heart of his feelings. For the first time in his life, he was willing to risk his heart for a woman. But not just any woman.
He was in love with Liliana.