Chapter twenty #2
Moments later, the man was joined by three of his buddies, and the number of bullets tearing through the air increased drastically.
Mike fired back with his M4, realizing then that all of the men were wearing the same high-quality tactical gear.
One of the guys got hit in the chest with a three-round burst of automatic weapon fire, only to get back up.
These people were serious, and there were enough of them to be dangerous, even to a group of werewolves.
Mike and his pack mates were forced back beyond the staircase by the onslaught of gunfire, even as more Sentinel goons ran toward them. Mike and Xander fought back while Khaki shouted into her radio, yelling for Gage and the other guys to come help.
Over the radio, Mike heard Gage tell Wayne that they needed backup ASAP. But Wayne didn’t respond. Had Roman’s men somehow doubled back around and taken out Wayne and the other cops?
Mike couldn’t stop to think too much about that, though. Just when it looked like he and his pack mates were about to be overrun, he heard gunfire from the north side of the building and suddenly, the number of rounds coming their way slowed.
The cavalry had arrived. Or, more precisely, Gage and his team.
He lifted his weapon to take aim at the Sentinel terrorist closest to him when a flash of movement caught his eye. He glanced at the staircase to see Chapman and two of his men racing up the steps.
Mike wasn’t sure why he cared that Chapman was trying to flee, but he did. Between one breath and the next, Mike turned and sprinted for the stairs.
“I’m going after Chapman!” he shouted into his radio. “He’s heading for the second floor!”
Xander might have shouted something about being careful, but Mike was too focused on avoiding being shot to pay attention.
Mike was running full speed by the time he reached the top of the stairs, which ended up saving his butt. Chapman and his two goons were waiting in ambush for him to arrive, blazing away at him at full automatic the second he appeared.
As fast as he was moving, Mike practically flew off the top step, sailing ten feet in the air and saving himself from the bullets flying all around him.
He tucked and rolled across the floor, finding cover behind one of the concrete support columns.
Then he popped up on one knee to engage with Chapman and his men.
Chapman, Goon One, and Goon Two spread out, moving like they’d done this a hundred times.
Within moments, they had him in a crossfire.
This time, the support column wasn’t able to protect him from all three of them.
Mike retreated backward, darting from column to column while trying to get a shot lined up at one of his attackers, and avoiding getting hit himself.
“Go for the legs!” Goon Two shouted, bullets tearing into the concrete around Mike’s feet. “Carlyle will pay a three-million-dollar bonus if we bring one of these things in alive.”
Mike cursed.
Chapman hadn’t been running this way to escape. He’d come up to the second floor in the hopes of luring Mike or one of his pack mates away from the others.
Mike darted behind another concrete column, only to slip quickly around the other way to fire a three-round burst at Goon Two, who chose that moment to charge his way. There was a wet thud of bullets impacting something solid, and suddenly, Mike only had two men to worry about.
In his earbud, he could hear Gage and the other members of the Pack still fighting downstairs. There was a lot of gunfire, but it sounded like his pack mates were holding their own.
“So, if you two are hired muscle working for the Carlyle Medical Group, what are you doing at Roman’s hideout?
” Mike asked conversationally as he moved behind another column before Chapman or Goon One could get a shot at him.
He didn’t figure he’d get these guys to tell him anything useful, but it didn’t hurt to try.
“You couldn’t have known my pack was about to move on this place. ”
“We had a tip from someone inside your department,” Goon One said with a laugh, before popping out to pepper the concrete column Mike was hiding behind with automatic weapon fire. “We had a general idea when you’d arrive.”
Mike’s stomach plummeted. He couldn’t be talking about Wayne, could he? It would certainly explain why Wayne hadn’t answered that call for backup. But why the hell would he do that?
“If you were planning to ambush us, why did we catch you snooping through Roman’s desks and filing cabinets?” Mike asked as he dived across the floor toward another column to avoid more gunfire.
“Chapman?” Goon One said, his voice carrying a slight tone of confusion as he eased out from behind his own protective column to move in Chapman’s direction.
“Why did you have us digging around instead of setting up that ambush? Did it have something to do with that journal you found in the main office?”
Chapman looked like he’d just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Mike couldn’t help but think the man was playing some kind of game—one Sentinel didn’t know anything about.
Goon One must have come to that same conclusion because his brows drew together angrily.
“You know Sentinel doesn’t look kindly on freelancing,” he said, turning his assault rifle in Chapman’s direction. “And when I tell them you were trying to line your own pockets instead of doing the job Carlyle paid us for, I wouldn’t want to be you.”
Chapman didn’t even flinch. He simply shot the man in the head, then aimed straight at Mike before the guy even hit the floor.
Mike considered diving to the side or taking the shot, but quickly changed his mind. This close, Chapman would hit him for sure. Instead, he slowly lifted his hands, letting his M4 hang loosely against his chest by the straps.