Chapter 20 #2
He’d dropped the gun that he’d taken from the annoying guard, Tobias.
But that certainly had not been Nash’s only weapon.
As if he’d work an undercover mission with no weapon.
So even as the elevator doors began to crack open, Nash bent and grabbed for the gun that he’d strapped to his ankle before leaving the honeymoon suite.
The doors opened a bit more, slowly. “You folks all right?” A warm voice called out. “I think something is wrong with this elevator shaft. I got a call in to maintenance right now.”
Nash’s eyes narrowed. The door had only opened a few inches. He couldn’t clearly see the figure out there, but a southern drawl dipped in the words, and he could just make out the gray uniform that he’d seen several of the janitorial staff wearing in the building.
“We need help!” Delaney cried. “The elevator just fell and please, please open the door all the way for us so we can get out!”
The doors began to open more. Looked like there were a few different hands prying the doors open.
“Get back, ma’am,” the warm voice instructed. “We’re coming in.”
We’re.
Nash saw the gun muzzle sliding between the opening doors. “Delaney!” Nash roared. He leapt in front of her even as he fired his weapon.
But the man with the southern accent rising and falling in his voice had fired, too. Wild shots because he wasn’t aiming well. There was too much darkness in the elevator.
Delaney screamed.
Nash felt one bullet rip across his left thigh. Felt another burn against his right shoulder.
Dammit.
The doors opened more. The light was behind the bastard outside of the elevator. Correction, bastards. With all that new light, Nash could aim and fire perfectly.
He did. One bullet took out the shooter firing wildly.
The second hit the jerk with him who was reaching for his gun.
Nash knew he and Delaney were sitting ducks in that elevator. They had to move. He grabbed her wrist, pulled her forward, and they jumped over the figures slumped just outside of the elevator. He was going to get her the hell away from that scene.
“Freeze!”
Or, maybe he wasn’t.
Because there were five more men out there. Different ages, races, heights. All wearing the gray uniform of the janitorial crew. All holding guns on Nash. He positioned his body in front of Delaney.
One of the fuckers smiled and said, “Perfect.”
“No!” Delaney broke free of his grip and jumped in front of Nash. “Don’t shoot him!” Delaney shouted.
He’d already been shot, twice. Correction, grazed twice. No bullets were in him. yet.
“You have orders, don’t you? What are they?” she asked frantically. “To take me back to Kurt? How about you take us both back? Don’t kill Nash. Don’t!”
He could take them all down. Well, he could take out at least three of them. The other two might get shots off. And…
Delaney, sweetheart, I’m not so sure they care whether or not you die. They were firing blindly into the elevator. Those blasts could have killed you. I don’t believe we are looking at the best and brightest here.
No matter what, she was not going to stand between him and the enemy. Time to start attacking.
“I’ll come without a fight.” Delaney stepped forward.
The hell she did.
“But Nash doesn’t get shot.”
Again, he’d already been shot at, and the woman who absolutely owned his heart was just offering herself as a shield. Screw that. “You guys all have ten seconds to put down your guns.”
Laughter.
He shoved Delaney behind him.
Delaney grabbed at his shoulder. “What are you doing?”
“Giving them a chance to live. Ten seconds.” He nodded toward the men. “The clock is ticking for you idiots.” As for his wife, “Delaney, run.” His backup wasn’t there. His backup should have been there.
“What?”
He shifted his focus to their attackers. The fools were laughing. He wasn’t. “I lied,” Nash informed them. He’d never planned to give them ten seconds. He’d just needed to get Delaney out of the line of fire.
Nash started shooting his gun.
One target down.
Two.
Delaney wasn’t running. A frantic look showed him that she was—she was raising a gun. Aiming it at the men in the gray uniforms. She fired and hit a man in the stomach. He dropped to the ground, howling. She turned her weapon at another attacker. Shot at him. She missed, but he ducked for cover.
Nash took out another perp. Then Nash lunged for Delaney. “You found the gun in the elevator?” He hadn’t even realized that she’d had it.
“Got it right before the doors opened and they began firing. Hid it behind my dress.” Her breath shuddered out. “Did I kill him?”
The man was currently howling at the top of his lungs, so, no, he was very much alive.
For the moment. “Let’s go.” There was still no sign of his backup, and this shit wasn’t good.
They were too vulnerable. Nash locked his hand with hers and rushed through the parking garage.
That was where they’d wound up when the elevator decided to drop them—the parking garage.
Which meant they’d fallen about four floors?
They needed to get to the stairwell exit because this scene was clearly a coordinated attack.
Before they could reach the stairwell, bright lights flashed at them. A black van barreled toward them, like a beast that had just been waiting to attack. It came at them hard, and Nash fired his gun even as he shoved Delaney out of the way.
His bullets blasted through the windshield. But the driver didn’t stop. The front of the van plowed into Nash, and his ass was tossed into the air. Tossed toward one of the concrete columns. His head cracked into the concrete, and he heard Delaney scream.