Page 123 of Defending You

“Not close enough,” Callan said. “Moving that direction. There’re enemies?—”

His words were cut off by gunfire.

Asher felt the helicopter hovering overhead. It would land at any second. He couldn’t count on Callan getting into position in time.

If he wanted to save Cici, it was up to him.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

The helicopter’s roar was deafening.

Cici kept her eyes trained on the men in front of her.

The aircraft must’ve settled on the roof above them, its rotors whipping the air, shaking the very bones of the building. Dust fell from the ceiling tiles.

“Told you it was coming.” Gagnon’s eyes gleamed with triumph as he moved toward the exterior door. “Time to go. Bring her.”

Souza reached for Cici’s arm, his fingers closing around her wrist like a vise.

A gunshot exploded in the confined space.

Souza’s eyes went wide, his grip loosening as he looked down at the crimson stain spreading across his chest. He took one stumbling step backward, then collapsed onto the concrete like a discarded marionette.

Cici screamed, the sound torn from her throat.

Gagnon aimed the smoking pistol at her, the motion casual, as if he’d just swatted a particularly bothersome fly. “One less loose end to worry about.”

Before she could get her bearings, before she could think, he lunged toward her and gripped her upper arm. He was yankingher away from the filing cabinet and toward the exterior door when the interior door exploded inward with a crash that rivaled the copter’s roar.

Asher filled the doorway, his weapon aimed toward Gagnon. His eyes blazed with fury, taking in Souza’s still form and Cici, who blocked Gagnon, in one sweeping glance.

“Let her go.”

She felt Gagnon shift, hiding behind her and the cabinet that had blocked the door. The cold barrel of his gun pressed against her temple. “Drop your weapon,” he shouted, “or she dies here.”

“And then I shoot you in the head.”

“Maybe. But she’ll still be dead.” Gagnon’s breath was hot against her ear. “You let us go, and I promise to keep her alive. Once I’m safe, I’ll release her.”

That was a lie, and everyone in the room knew it.

Asher’s expression shifted to something she couldn’t name. Love, maybe. And desperation.

“Your choice, bodyguard.”

Though the helicopter’s rotors still spun, the sound of them seemed muted, as if the world slowed to watch what would happen.

Please, God. Let this work.

She pulled the letter opener from her waistband, gripped it in her fist, and lifted it the smallest degree.

Asher’s gaze flicked to it.

She plunged it into Gagnon’s thigh.

He pitched forward, loosening his grip.

She dove out of the way.