Page 90 of Hunt Me

A figure rounds the corner from the opposite corridor.

Alexi.

His green eyes find mine instantly. Blood spatters his shirt. Gun in his right hand, another body somewhere behind him.

“Step away from her.” His voice carries cold precision.

Morrison jerks me backward, arm around my throat. Gun pressed to my temple. “Drop the weapon, Ivanov.”

“Not happening.”

“I’ll kill her.”

“You’ll try.” Alexi doesn’t lower his gun. Doesn’t even blink. “But you won’t make it out of this building either way.”

“I have a helicopter waiting?—”

“Had. Past tense.” Alexi’s smile contains no warmth. “Erik took care of that fifteen minutes ago.”

Morrison’s arm tightens around my neck. “You’re bluffing.”

“Test me.”

The gun barrel digs harder against my skull. Morrison’s breathing accelerates. Panic is setting in.

Trapped.

No vehicle. No escape route. No leverage except me.

“Let her go,” Alexi says. “Walk out alive.”

“So you can shoot me in the back?”

“So I don’t shoot you in the face.”

Morrison’s hand trembles against my throat.

My pulse hammers against Morrison’s forearm.

Three seconds. Maybe four before he decides to pull the trigger or use me as a shield to run.

Neither option ends well for me.

Alexi’s gaze shifts. Not to Morrison. To me.

His lips form a single word.Duck.

I drop my full weight downward.

Morrison’s arm slips. His gun moves off my temple for half a second.

The shot rings out.

Morrison’s grip releases. His body crumples behind me.

I hit the concrete floor hard. Elbows scraping. Ears ringing.

Alexi’s there before I finish falling. Hands on my face. My shoulders. Checking for wounds.