Chapter Ten
Now that Chance had the nanny’s complete silence and attention, he hustled them through the winding turns until he found another crater where a wall had once been. “This will take us to Teddy.”
She didn’t second-guess and followed obediently. For one absurd moment, he wished she’d run her mouth and question him. It made him double-check his thoughts instead of flying by instinct. Then again, he didn’t need to double-check a damn thing. His intuition was the best barometer he had.
Chance eased through a space that became more confined by the inch until he needed to crawl on his knees.
Behind him, the nanny kept up and stayed quiet. He thought about baiting a conversation by sharing his thoughts on Dax Thane. Then again, he needed to concentrate, not fight about the travel habits of the billionaire’s family and staff.
For the fifth time in as many minutes, his comm piece crackled in his ear. “Move it, Midas.”
“Haven’t found the kid yet,” he huffed out, on his elbows.
They ignored that, and Boss Man barked, “Hurry the fuck up.”
Great. Nothing better for his concentration than a pissed-off Jared Westin. Chance blocked HQ from his mind and got to his feet when the height of the space allowed him to do so. He turned to check on the nanny and found her on his six. “You holding up okay?”
She dusted herself off. “I’ll be fine when we get Teddy.”
His night-vision goggles showed a trickle of blood smeared across her forehead. “You’re bleeding.”
“I don’t care.” She shoved him out of the way. “Let’s go, Hercules. Lead the way.”
He took a few quick steps and glared at her. Hercules? “Stay behind me.”
“Or what?” She forged ahead.
“Someone might shoot that pretty face of yours off if you’re not looking.”
Irritation colored her features, and her lips pursed, but she stopped and let him go by—not before giving him a two-handed shove. “Then keep going.”
He smiled at the move but grabbed her wrists and squeezed for a long moment before he released them by her sides.
He lingered closer than he needed to, for longer than he needed to, making sure his message rang through loud and clear.
He was in charge. He’d given her some slack, appeased the attitude—he even enjoyed their back and forth—but if she tested him again, the consequences would be a fuck-ton stronger.
Mary Poppins didn’t shy away. Of course not.
Chance was about to say something when HQ announced a countdown in his earpiece. Three minutes until their evac air crew would arrive. Shit, he hadn’t secured the kid. “Let’s go.”
This time, she stayed on his six. They moved fast until finally Chance peered around the corner. They’d found the kid. He hadn’t realized he was holding his breath.
Teddy’s high-pitched sob pierced the air, and Chance stepped aside for the nanny to rush by.
She scooped him into her arms. “Teddy, are you okay?”
The little boy’s head bobbed.
Another wave of relief rolled through Chance. He took a deep breath and updated HQ. “Got the kid. Heading to the extraction point now.”
“You’ve got a minute, fifty-eight, fifty-seven…” HQ urged. “Hustle.”
No shit. He motioned to the nanny and child to follow him, which for the first time since he’d met her, she did without uttering a complaint, suggestion, or question. Small favors.
They retraced their steps, and he paused for a half-second to let them catch their breath. She kissed the boy’s forehead as she repositioned his body against hers.
Chance studied their interaction for longer than he meant to. Maybe she wasn’t only duty-bound or asininely stubborn after all. Maybe she really cared about this kid. He had to give her that. “Let’s roll.”
They climbed through a labyrinth of decaying stone and twisted metal until they finally exited onto a dark street.
“The extraction point is on the other side of that.” He motioned a few hundred yards away to the skeletal remains of a two-story building.
It was an unsteady, mostly demolished structure, much like every other one on the surrounding dark streets.
“We’ve got less than two minutes to get around it. ”
She stopped and slid the boy to the ground. Doubled over, hands on knees, she drew in breath after breath. “How? You’re not Superman.”
“Maybe not.” His eyes scanned upward. “Though you mentioned something about Hercules.”
She gave him a doubtful look. “Ha, ha.”
He didn’t hear the helicopters blades beating through the air, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t waiting for them. “Either way, we gotta roll.”
She snorted. “I wish this whole thing was a joke.”
“Yeah, well, tough cookies, Mary Poppins. It’s not.” Chance took off and kept them close to his side.
“But, knowing my boss, it just might be.”
HQ barked the countdown in his ear, along with a harsh reminder they needed to get a move on. Chance lifted Teddy into his arms and positioned him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
The kid squealed. “Hi, Janie.”
Chance clapped a hand onto his back to keep the wriggling four-year-old in place and out of the way of his weapon.
He jogged toward the extraction zone, occasionally eyeing Mary Poppins.
She kept pace, but he slowed. Chance wanted to take a corner carefully and make sure she didn’t run herself into the ground before the helo arrived.
He waved her against the wall, sliding a small mirror from his pocket and checking around the bend. “All clear.”
“Just like in the movies,” she said.
“What?”
She motioned to the mirror.
Chance shoved it into his pocket and eased them around the corner. “That’s a Boy Scout trick.”
“I wish this was fake. All of it.”
He choked on his laughter. “Wishful thinking.”
She barely shook her head. “I wouldn’t put it past him to pull this shit in the name of going viral.”
He glanced over his shoulder. “Who?”
“Dax.”
His lips curled in disgust. “Are you kidding me?”
“No. This trip’s like a sex tape for an adrenaline junkie.” She rubbed her hands over her face. “Never mind. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
Chance didn’t understand her point, but it didn’t matter. He had no time to think. The countdown from HQ and the hint of movement in the far-off darkness forced Chance to forget about anyone’s family drama.
They needed to get to the evacuation zone pronto. The only way to meet the chopper in time was to go through the building instead of around. “In here.”
They rushed toward a stairwell that had seen better days. The busted concrete and rusted rebar were like an altar to tetanus.
“Watch yourself.” He picked a path and gestured for them to follow. “We have to go up there.”
She looked up, then her face fell. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Not today. You can do it.” Chance lifted Teddy onto the top of a broken wall and turned for the nanny.
“I’m okay.” She shooed his hand away. “I’ve got it. Just stick with Teddy.”
He studied her for a split second, deciding she could hoist herself up, then he turned for the boy. The nanny came up behind Chance and said exactly what he was thinking: “This is impossible.”
She was right. Half of the floor didn’t exist anymore. The walls were rubble piles mixed with tangled, rusted rebar. Chance pinged HQ. “We don’t have a path to the top of alpha location. Expect us directly below, on the outside ledge.”
“Roger that,” HQ acknowledged. “They’re coming in hot. Be ready.”
A bullet buried itself in the wall above Chance, raining stone on him. “Hell, we are too.” He reached for the woman and flung her ahead of him, and reported to HQ, “Taking fire again.”
“Son of a bitch,” Jared snapped. “I’ve never seen assholes so intent on fighting a losing goddamn battle.”
“Go, go!” Chance waved them ahead and then returned fire. He couldn’t see where the shots had come from, but by God, he hoped he got lucky with a bullseye.
“Fifteen seconds,” buzzed in his earpiece.
Bullets whizzed again. They seemed to come from every direction. Chance didn’t have time to take cover. He struggled to maintain a foothold on the uneven pile of broken concrete underneath him. “Fuck you.”
The gunfire paused, and he ran like hell toward the boy and the woman, not giving them a moment’s notice as he scooped their cowering bodies into his arms and hauled ass across the buckling concrete.
“Ten.”
Chance hurdled them toward a gaping hole in the exterior wall. The ledge, broken and damaged from years of war, came into view. Relief flooded his heart. “We’re here!”
“Roger that, Midas.”
Chance placed the boy down first. Mary Poppins wriggled from his other arm as an explosion shook the skeletal building. He covered their bodies until the repercussions faded, then urged them forward. “Go. Get onto the ledge.”
Wrapped around the little boy like the reverb-shaken building had been the final straw before her shock set in, she didn’t move.
“Come on, Mary Poppins. You’ve got this.”
“Why couldn’t this be fake?” she whispered.
“I have news for you. None of this is fake.” Time wasn’t on their side. He held on to the last shred of his patience. “We need to move.”
“Incoming,” HQ announced in his earpiece.
“It doesn’t look safe.”
“It’s not.” Nothing in this place was safe. “But it’s better than staying here.” Chance stepped onto the ledge. “We’ve gotta go.”
“Promise me it will be okay?” she asked.
Hell, he couldn’t do that, and he couldn’t lie to her either.
For that moment, time suspended as he struggled to find a response.
He looked at her. Really looked at her. She was a civilian.
Scared… and beautiful. Vulnerability shone in her eyes, and while he always did his best, he wanted to do better than that.
So long as he could ease her nightmare. “I promise I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you both safe. ”
Chance stepped through the broken wall onto the shoddy ledge. He reached for the boy. After a closed-eye squeeze, she urged Teddy to Chance. He hoisted the boy outside and onto the ledge.
Once Teddy pressed against the wall, Chance noticed how much smaller the space was than he’d envisioned. “Stay there, kid. Don’t move a muscle.”
“Teddy, be careful,” she shouted.
“He’s not the one I’m worried about.” Chance held out his hand. “Come here.”
Mary Poppins stepped closer. Her fingers rested on broken concrete, and she ducked under the metal rebar, onto the ledge. “Oh, God! There’s not enough room out here for all of us!”
“There is. Hold on to the boy’s hand and follow me.” Chance led the way across the rickety ledge. Every step seemed to shake the concrete strip that led them to the far side of the building. “We have to reach the corner. Then it’s a piece of cake.”
“What if we can’t?” she called.
Chance wasn’t about to explain that the chopper couldn’t get as low and close as they needed. “Positive thoughts, MP.”
“Don’t be cute!” she yelled, then followed behind.
The ledge tilted as they shuffled forward. Chance cursed and backed them against the building. “I promise, I won’t let anything happen to you. But we have to keep going. Okay?”
She didn’t answer.
“Or,”—he shook her shoulder, hoping to break her trance—“we can stay and test out the theory this is all pretend?”