Page 126 of Disarming Caine

“Call backup,” I yelled to him. The door swung shut. “My SUV is parked—”

“Don’t care,” she said, taking the bottom steps two at a time, stumbling into the wall at the third floor. “I’m taking my truck.”

“Mine’s faster.”

“Mine’s tougher.”

We burst out of the door at the bottom of the stairwell, startling several partygoers in their finery. The hallway to the rear parking lot was between the Convention Center and hotel. A cheer went up from the ballroom on the other side of the wall and “Auld Lang Syne” began.

Flying through the exit, she asked, “Where’s Jimmy?”

“No idea.” I ran next to her, wanting to guide us to my car, but knowing she was right.

She pulled out her phone without missing a beat and hit the app, which started the engine. “There it is!”

I overtook her and grabbed the driver’s door handle.

“I don’t think so.” She shoved an elbow into my ribs, but I didn’t concede.

“You’re slow, Samantha. And I saw something upstairs—you’re dizzy, too. They drugged you, didn’t they?”

Her nostrils flared and she punched the side of the truck, racing around to the passenger door. Once inside, she pointed out the unfamiliar controls, plugged the address into the GPS system, and we were off.

We drove in silence for a few moments and the urgency, the anger and panic, diminished.

“Samantha, I don’t know what—”

She made a cutting motion with her hand and started a phone call to Janelle. “We can talk about it later. Right now, we have work to do.”

This was not her job, not her work to be done. But I would help, no matter what. She was my future and I wouldn’t let her do this alone again.

The call went to voicemail. She left a brief message, instructing Janelle to call her as soon as possible. Next, she called Elliot. Also no answer, and she left the same message. Finally, she called Jimmy.

“Sammy! Where’d you go?”

“I told you.” She clenched her fists. “They’re going to their house, so we are, too.”

“Right. That David’s a tougher guy than I expected. Jostled a few brain cells loose. I’ll call this in, send a couple patrol cars, and I’ll meet you there.”

I let the vehicle slow to near the speed limit. “We should wait for the police.”

“I swear—” She ground the words out through clenched teeth. “—if you stop this vehicle, I will push you out and not look back.”

When I didn’t speed up, she smacked my arm. “What happened to you threatening to kill Parker with your bare hands if he took me from you?”

I hit the gas. “I meant if you were already dead, not if you were charging into danger like a careless fool!”

She flipped up the center console, where there was a safe. A safe? She dialed a combination and pulled out a handgun. “I have two. Do you want one?”

“Che cazzo, no!”

She unzipped her jacket and attached a holster to her belt on the right. Then withdrew a smaller gun and placed it in the inner breast pocket of her jacket. Two magazines went into her pockets.

“You think you’re Rambo or something?”

“They had a gun, Antonio. If they hadn’t, this would already be over with.”

“But they didn’t use it.”