didn’t think twice about the craziness of her need to save a sworn enemy, a Renegade, by asking for help from yet another Renegade.
She rolled to the desk and grabbed the receiver, punching one of the three numbers on the phone. Almost instantly, a man answered.
“Is this Caleb? Caleb Rain?”
“This is Caleb,” he said. “Is Damion okay, Lara?”
“No!” she declared. “No, he is not okay. He needs backup, and he needs it now. He’s headed top level to the cabin. Sabrina—he says you know her. She’s here, and she’s a GTECH now. She’s holding one of your men and an innocent woman, threatening to kill them if I don’t turn myself over in three minutes… about three minutes ago. Damion cuffed me to a chair and took off. I don’t know how many others are with Sabrina, but she won’t be alone. I can’t help him. You have to help him.”
He spoke in a muffled voice to someone else in the room and then returned. “Help is on the way, Lara.”
“I have to go up there,” she said. “I have to help. Where does he keep the key to the cuffs? Tell me, please. I know Sabrina. She’ll kill your man and that woman, and more if necessary, to get Damion to bring her down here to get me. Then she’ll kill us both.”
There was a moment of silence. “Damion will set you free when he returns.”
He hung up.
Lara clutched the phone and let out a frustrated growl. Then she dropped the phone to the table, not even bothering to hang it back up, and started digging through drawers. Nothing, nothing, nothing. That was, until her hand froze on a key chain under a cup. Bingo, five keys, and one was small. A cuff key. She freed herself, grabbed several weapons she’d found digging through the drawers, and headed to the elevator. With a punch of the codes he’d given her earlier, she expected the elevator to open, but it didn’t. Damion still had it at ground level.
***
The Russian was dead, an innocent woman was being terrorized, and his friend was barely hanging on to life. Today was not a good day, and it ended now. Damion rode the elevator to ground level, on edge, ready for war, adrenaline like fire in his veins, ready to risk it all. No risk, no reward —that was the law of the battlefield, the name of the game. That was a soldier’s life, his life, the only one he’d known since those early days out of college.
The elevator hit ground level, bringing him back to the battle ahead, and he shoved aside all thought—slid into soldier mode. Flattening against the wall, he waited. The doors opened, and Damion hit the button to lock it open, and then threw a smoke bomb into the room outside the car.
Shouts, both male and female, sounded. A rush of movement followed. One voice… two… both familiar. He knew Sabrina, expected her, but who the hell did the male voice belong to?
“It’s Damion,” came Sabrina’s sharp warning to whoever was with her, followed by a spurt of male and female coughs, the effect of the smoke’s sinister burn. Damion felt it inflame his eyes and nose, felt the rawness of his throat, all the more motivation to get this done now rather than later.
Chale muttered something he couldn’t make out, but it sounded like a taunt, and just hearing his voice, knowing he was still alive and fighting back despite the magnitude of his injuries, spurred Damion into action.
He hit the ground and began to crawl toward the area where he estimated he would find the captive female. The smoke was already thick, a wall of gray and black. He couldn’t see his own hands, let alone his enemy’s location, but then, they couldn’t see him either. It would, however, be a real bitch to crawl right into his enemy’s path, but whatever happened… happened. He’d deal.
“Move Lucian,” a woman’s voice rasped softly. “Move now.”
Lucian. The only Lucian that Damion knew was a GTECH who’d betrayed everyone he’d ever come in contact with.
“There’s two of them, Damion!” Chale
She rolled to the desk and grabbed the receiver, punching one of the three numbers on the phone. Almost instantly, a man answered.
“Is this Caleb? Caleb Rain?”
“This is Caleb,” he said. “Is Damion okay, Lara?”
“No!” she declared. “No, he is not okay. He needs backup, and he needs it now. He’s headed top level to the cabin. Sabrina—he says you know her. She’s here, and she’s a GTECH now. She’s holding one of your men and an innocent woman, threatening to kill them if I don’t turn myself over in three minutes… about three minutes ago. Damion cuffed me to a chair and took off. I don’t know how many others are with Sabrina, but she won’t be alone. I can’t help him. You have to help him.”
He spoke in a muffled voice to someone else in the room and then returned. “Help is on the way, Lara.”
“I have to go up there,” she said. “I have to help. Where does he keep the key to the cuffs? Tell me, please. I know Sabrina. She’ll kill your man and that woman, and more if necessary, to get Damion to bring her down here to get me. Then she’ll kill us both.”
There was a moment of silence. “Damion will set you free when he returns.”
He hung up.
Lara clutched the phone and let out a frustrated growl. Then she dropped the phone to the table, not even bothering to hang it back up, and started digging through drawers. Nothing, nothing, nothing. That was, until her hand froze on a key chain under a cup. Bingo, five keys, and one was small. A cuff key. She freed herself, grabbed several weapons she’d found digging through the drawers, and headed to the elevator. With a punch of the codes he’d given her earlier, she expected the elevator to open, but it didn’t. Damion still had it at ground level.
***
The Russian was dead, an innocent woman was being terrorized, and his friend was barely hanging on to life. Today was not a good day, and it ended now. Damion rode the elevator to ground level, on edge, ready for war, adrenaline like fire in his veins, ready to risk it all. No risk, no reward —that was the law of the battlefield, the name of the game. That was a soldier’s life, his life, the only one he’d known since those early days out of college.
The elevator hit ground level, bringing him back to the battle ahead, and he shoved aside all thought—slid into soldier mode. Flattening against the wall, he waited. The doors opened, and Damion hit the button to lock it open, and then threw a smoke bomb into the room outside the car.
Shouts, both male and female, sounded. A rush of movement followed. One voice… two… both familiar. He knew Sabrina, expected her, but who the hell did the male voice belong to?
“It’s Damion,” came Sabrina’s sharp warning to whoever was with her, followed by a spurt of male and female coughs, the effect of the smoke’s sinister burn. Damion felt it inflame his eyes and nose, felt the rawness of his throat, all the more motivation to get this done now rather than later.
Chale muttered something he couldn’t make out, but it sounded like a taunt, and just hearing his voice, knowing he was still alive and fighting back despite the magnitude of his injuries, spurred Damion into action.
He hit the ground and began to crawl toward the area where he estimated he would find the captive female. The smoke was already thick, a wall of gray and black. He couldn’t see his own hands, let alone his enemy’s location, but then, they couldn’t see him either. It would, however, be a real bitch to crawl right into his enemy’s path, but whatever happened… happened. He’d deal.
“Move Lucian,” a woman’s voice rasped softly. “Move now.”
Lucian. The only Lucian that Damion knew was a GTECH who’d betrayed everyone he’d ever come in contact with.
“There’s two of them, Damion!” Chale
Similar Books
