Page 68

Paige tried again, forcing her muddled thoughts into some semblance of order. “The helo. Did you contact the team while we were out?”
“Negative.” Cody shook his head, his expression grim. “Never got the chance.”
Jason, looking as bad as Paige felt, pulled a face. “So there’s no way it’s our people.”
Cody stared out the wide window with its missing glass. “Doubtful.”
The urgency of their situation finally broke through Paige’s mental fog. They were trapped, outnumbered, and help wasn’t coming.
An idea sparked in her mind, desperate but possibly their only shot.
“The flash bangs,” she said, her voice stronger now. “We create a diversion. Use the confusion to slip back down the stairs.”
Cody’s eyebrows shot up, a glimmer of admiration in his eyes. “That could work.”
Jason was already moving, snatching up the go bags. “Better decide fast. We’ve got seconds before our new friends drop in for a visit.”
Paige nodded, adrenaline finally cutting through the last of the tranquilizer’s effects. It wasn’t much of a plan, but it was all they had. As the helicopter’s roar grew deafening, she steeled herself for what came next.
The helicopter dipped to window level, hovering close enough for the wind from its rotors to slap her in the face. Through the gaping holes where windows once stood, she could make out the vague outline of figures inside the cockpit.
If they had any decent armament, they’d destroy what was left of the condo walls in a heartbeat. And anyone inside.
“The staircase,” she shouted over the deafening roar, gesturing wildly. “It’s our only shot!”
Cody nodded grimly, already moving toward the exit. But Jason’s face was a mask of doubt.
“There’s no cover once we leave the garage,” he yelled back. “They’ll blow us away.”
Before Paige could argue, a new sound cut through the chaos. Footsteps, lots of them, pounding down the hallway toward them. A booming voice crackled over a megaphone, the words “Metro Police” barely distinguishable through the din.
Police? Here? How?
The helo disappeared from sight. She sprinted to the crumbling balcony, her legs still wobbly from the tranquilizer. The scene below made her jaw drop.
The helicopter was touching down on a patch of bare earth, its rotors kicking up a maelstrom of dust. SWAT trucks screeched to a halt nearby, their sirens wailing a discordant symphony with the chopper’s dying whine. Uniformed officers poured out of the vehicles, their movements crisp and coordinated.
She blinked at Cody and Jason. “Well, this complicates things.”
As if on cue, the front door burst open. SWAT team members flooded in, their weapons trained on the three of them. Paige raised her hands slowly, noting Cody and Jason doing the same out of the corner of her eye.
“On the ground! Now!” an officer barked.
Paige complied, wincing as her bruised body protested the rough treatment. She watched as another officer moved to check on the unconscious forms of the old man and his guards.
As they were zip tied and patted down, Paige managed to catch Cody’s eye. She jerked her head slightly towards their captors, raising an eyebrow in silent question.
They needed a plan, and fast. The tranquilizer’s effects might wear off any minute, and if the old man or his goons started talking before she, Cody, and Jason could explain the situation ...
She took a deep breath, steeling herself. Somehow, they needed to convince these officers of the truth without revealing classified information. And they had to do it before their unconscious adversaries woke up and spun their own version of events.
The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife. The SWAT team’s radios crackled with chatter, adding to the cacophony of sounds assaulting her still-fuzzy senses.
Suddenly, a familiar voice boomed from the doorway. “Stand down, gentlemen! We’ll take it from here.”
Paige’s head whipped around so fast the room spun. Hands on his hips, Bridger strode into the room with the confidence of a general leading troops into battle. Mason, Graham, Kate and Fenn filed in behind him, each of them looking tense and slightly out of breath.
Relief stole the last of her energy. She watched, barely suppressing a grin, as Bridger smoothly inserted himself between the SWAT team and their little group.