Vendetta by Capri Montgomery Page B

room. Fortunately for her it drew their attention away long enough for her to kick the vent off and drop down into the room. She got the first guy with a swift kick to his leg and an expertly precise slash to his brachial artery before she tossed the knife into the heart of the man who had just gone for his gun. She took out two more, including the one who was on his way out the door and then she dismantled the security devices, cut off communications and prayed none of their team members had been killed.
     
    She heard explosion after explosion, gun fire after gun fire. She exited the room, going in search of somebody, anybody, who was on their side. She needed to know that Thomas was okay. What she saw when she rounded the corner was Drake about to get himself shot by one guy while he was fighting with another. She pulled a knife out of her vest and threw it into the man with the gun just in time to keep him from getting a shot off.
     
    “Thanks,” Drake said. She nodded her response. He looked to the guy he had been fighting with, the one now bleeding out on the floor. “We really do need one of these guys alive.”
     
    She shrugged. “Then I’d suggest you get one.” If he thought she was going to waste time trying to get one of these idiots subdued, bound and gagged until they needed him to talk, then Drake was seriously mistaking her role here. “Where’s Thomas?”
     
    “I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know if he made it.”
     
    Thomas should have been inside by now. She didn’t like this.
     
    “Communication room secure?”
     
    “Everything in there is dead,” she said. “I’m going to find Thomas.”
     
    “I’ll move ahead. Watch your six, Valencia.”
     
    “You too, Drake.” She was ready to leave him standing there. Her primary concern now was the man she had embarked on this mission for—Thomas McGregor.
     
    They both turned sharply at the noise approaching from behind them. “Whoa!” Gavin held up his hands. “Don’t shoot me.” Drake lowered his gun.
     
    “Have you seen Thomas?” Valencia hoped his answer was yes. If Gavin had made it inside then Thomas should have been here by now. Sully was the farthest from them so it would make sense if he were a little late on the arrival, but not Thomas.
     
    “No.”
     
    She couldn’t wait around. She had to find him. “I’m going back out there,” she said.
     
    “I’ll come with you.”
     
    “No, Gavin. Drake will need you in here. There are still men roaming these halls and he’ll need you. I’ll be fine to get out there on my own. Just don’t either one of you go getting yourselves killed.” She didn’t wait for a response she just took off in the direction she knew she needed to go. She had to find Thomas, and she needed to find him alive.
     
    She heard rapid fire and multiple explosions. This was war. There were casualties in any war. The only thing she could do was pray none of the casualties were any of the good guys.
     

 
    Chapter Nine
     
     
    T homas lingered in the shower, thinking about recent events. It had been a long, hard battle, but they had won one round without any of them getting seriously injured or killed. Mike had taken a bullet in his arm. He had come upon him right before one of Sabian’s men could pull the trigger to end his life. Thomas didn’t waste time; he took the shot without prejudice. Mike wanted to get up and keep going. The man was bleeding like a stuck pig and he wanted to keep fighting. Fortunately, Sully was the voice of reason, as he most often was in these situations, and he took Mike back down to their transport. By the time they finished they had managed to take one man alive. He was a cocky bastard too. “You’ll never break me,” he had said. “And by the time you get to our second compound they’ll all be gone.”
     
    Despite the fact that they hadn’t waited in Texas; they hadn’t wasted a second of time, they still hadn’t made it to Florida in time.