Page 40 of A Dead Man’s Pulse (Trident Security Omega Team #1)
Gripping his weapon in both hands, he lifted his foot and kicked the door in, spinning into the room and finding his target.
As a man on the other side of the bed spun toward him, Logan’s brain didn’t even register that he was familiar.
All he saw was the bastard’s hand coming up with a black handgun, aiming it in his direction.
With muscle memory, Logan’s body reacted, everything appearing to happen in slow motion.
A split second was all it took to aim and shoot, but as his weapon fired two shots in rapid succession, horror coursed through him as Dakota lunged for her attacker whose weapon also went off.
That bullet went wide, hitting the wall two feet to Logan’s right, as the killer and Dakota both fell to the floor.
Fear unlike anything he’d ever experienced, not even in that hellhole on the other side of the world, came over Logan.
Rushing forward, he kept his weapon pointed at the killer, but the man didn’t move.
One of Logan’s bullets had struck him in the upper arm, however, the other had been straight and true, hitting the bastard between the eyes and killing him instantly.
Kicking the gun from the lifeless hand, he turned his attention to Dakota. She was unconscious, and his gut roiled as he saw all the blood and damage to her nude body, but the worst was the bullet hole above her left breast.
Sirens signaled the arrival of emergency vehicles pulling into the condo complex as he dropped to his knees beside her with a kernel of hope as he saw her chest rise with an inhalation.
Yanking off his T-shirt, he pressed it into the wound to staunch the flow of blood.
“C’mon, baby, stay with me. Don’t let me lose you too. ”
When he heard voices and police radios squawking from the vicinity of the front door, he yelled at the top of his lungs, “Officer down, officer down! Get a damn bus!”
Having rolled out of bed after receiving Tiny’s text, and then speaking to him on the phone, Ian and Devon burst into the private hospital suite, anxious to see that The Covenant submissive was indeed awake and on the road to recovery.
They also hoped she’d be able to give them information about her kidnapper.
In addition to Tiny, Mitch, Agent Novik, SAC Parrish, and Georgia’s parents and brother, her surgeon, nurse, and a respiratory therapist were present.
Even though it was one of the biggest rooms in the hospital, with that many people, it was a tight fit.
They were all waiting on pins and needles for the man in blue scrubs to remove the patient’s breathing tube.
Georgia was clearly uncomfortable and wanted the thing out as soon as possible.
After using a syringe to deflate the small balloon around the plastic cannula, that was holding it in place, the therapist gently pulled the entire thing from her throat.
Standing at the end of the bed, Mr. Branneth touched his daughter’s foot through her blanket, his other arm was wrapped around his wife’s shoulders.
Happy and relieved tears stained the older woman’s cheeks.
They’d have plenty of time to comfort and pamper her with love after Ian and the others had the information they hoped she could provide.
Ian was sure they’d be talking about a lot of other things too.
As a cop, it hadn’t taken rocket science for her brother to figure out she’d been kidnapped by the serial killer targeting submissives—something he hadn’t known about his sister.
Neither had her parents. The Covenant Doms would do what they could to help her explain everything to them, if she needed it.
Finding out your sister or daughter was into BDSM wasn’t something most people wanted to hear if they didn’t understand the lifestyle.
But stopping the bastard before he could take someone else was their top priority at the moment.
Georgia winced and coughed as the tube slid from her mouth. The nurse held a small plastic cup with water to her lips. “Just take a sip to wet your tongue and throat.”
Doing as she was told, Georgia coughed a few more times as she tried to get her voice working again. “What—what happened?” she rasped harshly, her gaze going from one person to the next.
As the nurse moved away, Parrish stepped into the space she’d occupied near the patient’s head. “Georgia, I’m Special Agent in Charge Colt Parrish. Can you tell us what you remember?”
She frowned. “I-I don’t know—” Her words were cut off as her eyes widened in fear. It was evident something had popped into her mind. Something that scared the fucking hell out of her.
Ian reached for her hand that the respiratory therapist had freed moments earlier, and squeezed, then tried to keep the urgency from his voice. “It’s okay, little one. You’re safe among your family and friends. I swear no one will hurt you. Tell us what happened. Do you know who took you?”
God, please let her know!
Her wide-eyed gaze met his gentle one. “D-Dennis.” She swallowed hard. “Master Dennis.”
Fuck!
Stunned, Ian was about to ask if she was sure, when his cell phone chirped in his hand, at the same time Devon and Parrish’s did. Glancing at the screen, the blood drained from his face.
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!