Chapter 20
Chapter twenty
Katrina was forced to kick off her shoes before she got more than a few dozen steps away. Running in heels obviously wasn’t her thing.
“Where are we going?” Asher shouted, practically dragging Seth by the arm to make sure the program manager kept up.
“We’re almost at the end of this hallway, so unless you’re planning to run us right through the middle of the kitchens, we need to slip into one of the other conference rooms. Preferably somewhere we won’t get trapped. ”
Katrina honestly had no idea where she was going.
She was just running for her life, hoping to outrun Chapman and his goons.
But going through the kitchens might not be a bad idea.
There were a lot of witnesses who might keep Chapman from doing anything too stupid.
Plus, there was a door out the back that led to the main parking lot and a quick getaway if needed.
“We’re going to the kitchens,” she announced firmly. “Then right out the back and into the parking lot. Please tell me one of you parked your vehicle there.”
“I have my SUV parked there, loaded with our bags for the honeymoon,” Asher said as they rounded a corner and started down the last stretch between them and the kitchens, narrowly avoiding the carts heading for the reception hall, loaded with tableware and place settings.
She threw a quick look over her shoulder, relieved there was no one following them. “If Chapman and his goons don’t find us, we’ll hang out in the kitchen until all of this is over. If he comes after us, we run for the parking lot and your SUV.”
Asher and Seth seemed to like that plan, and within moments, the three of them were slipping into the hustle and bustle of the resort’s kitchen.
The chaotic movement within the crowded space came to a complete standstill the moment everyone saw them, Katrina in particular.
That’s when she remembered she was still holding Upton’s handgun.
Had she been running down the hallway of the resort with her finger on the trigger? She hoped not.
Katrina started to put the weapon away before realizing her dress didn’t have a place to hide a gun. The pocket that held her cell phone wasn’t big enough for it.
“Maybe you should put this in your pocket,” she said, turning and handing the weapon to Asher. “I think I fired four times, so I have no idea how many bullets are left.”
Asher took the handgun, clicked a little metal lever she assumed must be the safety, and then slipped it into the inner pocket of his tuxedo jacket.
That act alone seemed to calm the kitchen staff as all of them visibly relaxed and started to breathe again.
Still, one of the older women approached with a stern expression on her face, clearly wanting to know who they were and what they were doing in her kitchen.
“Sorry, everyone,” Katrina said loud enough for everyone in the huge kitchen to hear.
“I’m not sure if you heard the recent gunfire, but there are some bad people looking for us.
They’re the same ones who killed those two men found in the grape fields.
We’re just going to hide here, but if anyone shows up to cause trouble, we’ll leave, okay? ”
While the woman didn’t seem thrilled to have them stay, at least she didn’t make them leave.
Katrina was still careful as she led the way to the back of the kitchen through the chaos surrounding them as the staff went back to work preparing for the reception, along with the resort’s regular restaurant, as well as any room service requests.
Boiling pots and sizzling pans seem to fill every available burner in the large kitchen, while chefs with knives sliced and diced with manic intensity. Getting through all of that felt like running an obstacle course.
Katrina was just texting Darwin, telling him they were hiding in the kitchen when two of Chapman’s goons burst through the kitchen doors with guns drawn.
She paused only long enough to hit the send button on her partial text, and then she turned and shoved Asher and Seth toward the back door.
She had no idea if Chapman’s men would actually start shooting in a kitchen full of innocent people, and she wasn’t planning to find out.
Once outside, Asher steered them toward the first row of vehicles parked closest to the resort, and an SUV that she assumed was his. Katrina allowed herself a moment to believe they were going to get away safely.
Unfortunately, that all fell apart when Chapman, Upton, and one of the goons came running toward them across the parking lot.
Asher pulled the small handgun out, pointing it at Chapman, but that left both Chapman and his muscle free to point their own weapons at him.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” Chapman said. “I’m not interested in hurting any of you. I just want what’s mine and then I’ll leave.”
“You aren’t taking Seth anywhere,” Asher told him firmly, even as the rest of Chapman’s men ran out of the kitchen, and there were four guns pointed straight at him now.
“I’m normally a very polite person, but you’re making it very difficult on me,” Chapman added. “Give me Seth and my damn codes or I will start killing people.”
Katrina stood there frozen, unsure what to do.
Handing Stevens over was clearly a bad idea.
The poor man looked like he was on the verge of fainting at the suggestion.
But it wasn’t like they could do anything to stop Chapman.
The man seemed ready to kill them all at any second, just for the sake of convenience.
“Those codes won’t do you any good,” a familiar deep voice said from behind them.
Relief flooded through Katrina at the sight of Darwin standing there. His dark suit was ripped at the shoulder, and he looked like he’d been in a fight. Was that blood on the side of his neck? Had he been shot?
She was about to run to him, Chapman be damned, when she saw that Darwin wasn’t alone.
Arranged in a loose semi-circle behind him were Lennox, Simon, and a few other members of their SEAL Team.
And they were all carrying scary-looking rifles of some kind, all of them pointed at Chapman and his goons.
“The Genesis drone was destroyed. There’s nothing left but a pile of burning rubble,” Darwin said, slowly edging closer to Katrina. “It’s over. If that wasn’t already clear.”
Katrina held her breath, waiting for Chapman’s goons to drop their weapons and for this all to be over, when everything exploded around her. She had no idea if someone gave a signal, but one second, everyone was standing there perfectly still, and the next, everyone was shooting.
From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Darwin darting in her direction.
One of Chapman’s men stepped toward her at the same time, only to crumple immediately to the ground.
Refusing to think about what it meant for the man to fall like that, she started toward Darwin.
But at the last second, she was yanked backward by an arm wrapping around her waist.
Katrina kicked and screamed, struggling against the arm holding her, scratching at the man’s wrist and fingers, trying to get his shins with her heels.
But it was all for nothing as he lifted her off the ground and pulled her back toward the door of the kitchen.
It only took her a few seconds to realize it was Chapman who was dragging her away, using her body like a shield.
And right beside them was Upton, now carrying a handgun he’d picked up somewhere.
Darwin charged after them, somehow weaving in and out of all the gunfire going on around them, a terrified, yet determined, look on his face.
Chapman crashed through the doors and into the kitchen, amid screams and shouts from the panicked staff. Any thought that one of them might be able to help was shattered when Upton fired into the ceiling, and everyone ran out. Katrina didn’t blame them. She would have run given the chance.
“There’s no way you’re getting out of here,” Darwin said from the doorway, only to duck as Upton and Chapman fired their guns in his direction.
“Damn right we’re getting out of here,” Chapman shouted, turning the weapon in his hand until it was pointing right at her head. “Because you’re going to let us out. If you don’t, your girlfriend is going to pay the price.”
Katrina’s stomach twisted into a knot at the blatant threat, not to mention the intimidating factor of the weapon pointing at her head. The urge to fight back was hard to resist, but she did.
“If you kill her, then you have no more shield, and I’ll have no problem shooting you,” Darwin said, his voice low and dangerous as he stepped through the doorway and moved quickly behind the cover of a walk-in freezer unit, the barrel of his weapon pointed just to the side of where Chapman was holding her.
“Who says I’m planning to kill her?” Chapman said with a menacing laugh that sent shivers down Katrina’s spine, even as he started pulling her backward through the kitchen, Upton at their side.
“Maybe I’ll shoot her in the hip? Then I can still drag her around as a shield.
If she never walks again, that’ll be all your fault. ”
Katrina’s heart beat so hard she thought it might explode out of her chest. Chapman was going to shoot her. She was sure of it.
She had to do something!
Refusing to think about all the ways this could go wrong, Katrina reached out and grabbed the handle of the nearest pot on the stove, lifting it and throwing its contents over her shoulder at the man holding her.
She had no idea what had been in the pot, but Chapman cursed when he caught most of it in the face. Some of it splattered against her neck and shoulders, but she ignored the searing heat, focusing instead on getting free.
Regardless of that inspired move with the pot, she was still having a hard time breaking free from Chapman’s grip. It only got more difficult when Upton moved over to help get her back under control.