Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
“Boone and Siv, you go in through the air vents. Come in on the far side of the room once we breach.”
The pair nodded at Vander, faces focused.
“Saxon, Rhys, and I will go in through the main door. There are five of them left, so our priority is taking them down before they hurt anyone.”
Before they hurt Brynn.
“Everyone target one each. Remember, Wolf is mine.”
“Got it,” Saxon said.
“Everyone set?”
They all nodded.
These people were a part of his family. Men and women he’d fought beside, who he trusted with everything he had.
They’d help him get Brynn back.
The radio in his pocket chirped. “Hey, asshole, you listening?”
Vander stiffened at the smug tone of the leader’s voice. Not the tone of a man who knew he was losing.
“I’ve got your woman.”
Every muscle in Vander’s body locked solid.
“He could be bluffing,” Saxon said. “Brynn wouldn’t have outed herself.”
Unless she’d had to in order to save a life. He knew his detective very well.
“Your pregnant woman,” the guy continued.
Saxon and Rhys both cursed.
Vander closed his eyes. Brynn.
The fear inside him was a hot, potent thing.
Take him down. Get her back.
He opened his eyes. The cool wash of battle mode descended on him.
“Come get her,” Wolf taunted.
If the fucker hurt her, he was a dead man.
“Let’s move,” Vander clipped.
Siv and Boone moved to the opening into the ventilation system. The big man boosted Siv up first. She curled her body into the vent and disappeared. Boone jumped and gripped the edge, then pulled himself up, and followed her.
“You got your head screwed on straight?” Saxon asked.
Both his friend and his brother were watching him, worried looks on their faces.
“I’m fine.” He flexed his hand. “Let’s do this.”
They strode toward the entrance to the atrium. Like it always did when he was on a mission, his focus narrowed, his senses sharpened.
He and Saxon flanked the main doors. He heard a few murmurs and rustles inside.
Saxon crouched and pulled out a small camera on a flexible cable. He slowly fed it into the room, studying the small screen.
“One bogey, wearing a tiger mask to the left. He’s armed with a rifle, agitated. Another with a horse mask beside him.”
“The others?” Vander murmured.
“Gorilla on the far side of the room. Bear in the office on a computer.”
“Wolf?”
Saxon shook his head. “No sign of him.”
“Brynn?”
Another shake of his head. “Most guests are sitting on the ground. I can’t see her. She must be there, somewhere.”
Vander’s mouth flattened, his fingers clenching on his gun. “I’ll find Wolf. You go right and take Tiger. Rhys, you have Horse. Try to keep the guests calm.” He touched his ear. “Siv? Boone? You in position?”
“Roger that, Vander,” Siv replied. “We have eyes on the guy in the gorilla mask.”
“Siv, Gorilla is your target. Boone, you take Bear at the computer.”
“Got it,” Boone murmured.
The sensation of a cold finger stroked down Vander’s spine. Something was wrong. He could feel it. Where the hell was Wolf? And where the hell was Brynn?
“Go.”
Vander and Saxon whirled through the door.
Vander lifted his gun and strode through the room. Guests scampered backward with sharp cries.
Tiger jerked, trying to whip his rifle up.
Saxon pulled the trigger. The first bullet hit the man in his right shoulder and with a cry, he dropped the gun. His second shot hit the man’s other shoulder. He stumbled back, hit the wall, then dropped to his ass, leaving a smear of blood on the wall.
Not dead, but he wasn’t going anywhere.
Rhys was on Horse in a second, but the man had already dropped his gun and thrust his hands into the air.
Two vents above burst open and Siv and Boone dropped down, both landing in a crouch. They rose, guns aimed. Siv launched herself at Gorilla. After a brief scuffle, she had the man on the ground, her knee pressed into the center of his back.
Boone came out of the office, shoving Bear ahead of him.
“Vander.” Carolyn pushed to her feet. Her lip was swollen and bleeding. “Thank God.”
“You’re all safe now,” Saxon was saying to the guests. “Please stay calm.” He pulled out his phone, no doubt to coordinate with Hunt.
Suddenly, Horse lunged forward. Vander saw a glint of the gun he’d had hidden under his shirt.
In a split second, Vander knew the man was too close to the other guests. Vander couldn’t risk firing his weapon. Without conscious thought, he grabbed the last thing he had in his pocket and tossed it.
The letter opener lodged in the man’s throat.
He grabbed his neck and made a choking sound.
“Get down.” Rhys shoved Horse to the floor.
Vander raised a brow. “Guess letter openers are useful for something.” One glance at the room, and his gut turned hard. “Carolyn, where is my wife?”
The woman swallowed. “The leader, in the wolf mask, took her.”
Vander’s jaw felt tight enough to crack. “Took her where?”
The woman shook her head. “I…I don’t know. He dragged her out that way—” she pointed at another set of doors “—just minutes before you burst in.”
Vander fought to calm himself. His gaze settled on Bear. Two strides closed the distance, then he yanked the man’s mask off. He was a young, clean-cut Black man. “Where did he take her?”
“The roof.” The man licked his lips. “He took her to the roof.”
“Rhys, Siv, and Boone, with me.” Vander glanced at his best friend. “Saxon, stay here, keep these people calm and get Hunt here.”
Saxon nodded. “Call me if you need me.”
Rhys didn’t say a word, just fell in step beside Vander. The other two followed.
Moving fast, Vander broke into a jog. He moved into the darkened hallway, noting each empty office. He cocked his head for a moment and listened, but there was no sound.
He followed his finely honed instincts and moved down the hall. “Clear the rooms.”
The door to the stairwell lay at the end of the hall. A sign was marked Rooftop.
“Clear,” Siv said.
“Clear.” Boone.
“Clear.” Rhys.
“We’re going to the roof.” Vander fought back the grinding worry pooling in his gut. Then he ran up the stairs two at a time.
There was nothing he wouldn’t do for Brynn.
There was nothing he wouldn’t do for their child.
He’d give everything to see her smile, to have her run her hand down his arm, to have her sleep in his arms, to have her love. She saw every part of his battered soul, and she loved him anyway.
I’m coming, Detective. Use that sharp brain of yours to buy me some time.
As Wolf opened the door, the cold night air hit Brynn hard.
She gritted her teeth as the wind whipped her dress around her body and her hair around her face.
Wolf’s jaw was tight and he was sweating. He dragged her up a set of metal steps and onto the flat rooftop. There was a helipad nearby, and all around them, the lights of San Francisco glittered. Salesforce Tower speared up into the sky nearby.
“What now?” she asked quietly.
His fingers clenched on her arm, digging into her skin. She knew he’d leave bruises. She didn’t think he had a plan or was thinking clearly.
“Your man ruined everything!”
“It wasn’t really a good plan to begin with.”
His gaze clashed with hers.
“They were never going to transfer the money to you. They do that once, they become targets for any other lazy, opportunistic asshole who wants to steal from them.”
“I’m not lazy.”
“Sure. What you didn’t do was work hard, collaborate, find solutions. You just wanted to play the victim, villainize someone, and take a shortcut.”
He made a growling sound and dragged her across the rooftop. The wind picked up for a moment, and goosebumps skated down her arms. Damn, it was cold.
“Your guy just had to be a fucking hero.”
“He’s my husband, and yes, he would disagree with you on the hero thing, but it’s in his DNA. He can’t help himself, and he’s good at it.” Her lips tipped. “It’s a big reason why I love him.”
Wolf looked around, desperation on his face.
“It’s over,” she said. “Just turn yourself in.”
He seemed to consider that, dragging in a breath. Then he shook his head. “No. I’ve come too far.” Another wild shake. “No.”
He dragged her across the rooftop. Brynn tried to pull free, but he was strong, and unhampered by the extra pounds of a growing baby.
“I won’t go to jail.” His voice was firm. “I was meant for more.”
Fear was sneaking in, wrapping around her insides. She blew out a breath. Vander would be here soon, she had no doubt of that. He’d stop Wolf, and soon, she hoped she’d be home, with her favorite fuzzy slippers on, a mug of hot cocoa, curled up against her man.
She wasn’t even going to contemplate the entire contractions and giving birth thing.
“What’s your name?”
Wolf glanced at her. “What?”
“Your name. I’m Brynn.”
His face twisted, like he didn’t want to do anything that would make him see her as a person. “It doesn’t fucking matter.”
“It matters to me.”
“You’re just using your cop training on me.”
“I work homicide. I can’t say this is something I usually deal with.”
He was quiet for a beat. “Henry.”
“Henry. I like it. Might add it to the list of baby names, but I’m pretty sure my husband will veto that.”
Henry walked closer to the edge, tugging her with him. There was no railing here, and the view down was dizzying.
“Henry, talk to me. Whatever is going on in your head, this isn’t the answer.”
Vander would come, it was who he was. But this was also who she was. Being pregnant, becoming a mother, it would change things, but it wouldn’t change who she was at her core.
It wouldn’t change who she and Vander were together.
It would strengthen their love, not lessen it.
She would stop Henry—from hurting her and her baby, and from hurting himself.
“It’s too late.” His voice was a monotone. “I’m not going to jail and…”
“Henry.” She yanked backward.
He stumbled, and Brynn took her chance. She swiveled and rammed a knee into his mid-section.
He let out a shout, and she broke free. She ran, but she wasn’t as fast as she usually was.
Hard arms closed around her from behind.
“You aren’t leaving. It’s because of you and your husband that my plan failed.”
“That’s all on you, Henry. It’s over.” She struggled hard and got one arm free. She rammed her elbow back against him.
He grunted, and she slammed her elbow back again.
“Fuck.” He released her, and Brynn turned around and aimed several blows to his head and chest.
She was fighting for her baby. She was fighting for her and Vander. She wasn’t going to let this sniveling coward take away her beautiful life.
She kicked him and he fell. When he looked up at her, she saw the fury in his eyes. Blood streamed from his nose.
He made a sound like a wounded animal and he charged at her. He hit her and they went down in a tangle of limbs.
They collided hard with the concrete, and pain jolted through her. She bit her lip, then she sank a hand into his hair and yanked. He made a feral sound.
There was no clear thought on his face anymore. Just rage and fear.
He got loose and grabbed her. He hauled her roughly to her feet, then immediately began dragging her toward the edge of the roof.
“Henry, I’m pregnant. Please, let me go.”
It was like he didn’t even hear her.
The edge got closer and Brynn fought harder. She wasn’t going to die. Her baby wasn’t going to die.
A sound. She swiveled her head and her breath caught in her chest.
It was Rhys who’d shouted. Because the man running at them across the rooftop hadn’t made a sound.
Brynn watched Vander sprinting fast across the helipad. His face was set in hard lines, his gaze locked on Henry.
One way or another, if Vander had his way, Henry wasn’t leaving this roof alive.