Page 49

Casper rushed along the hall on silent feet, quickly closing the distance between himself and Laryn, endlessly relieved to have her in his sights, but hating the fear and pain he could hear under the angry words spewing from her mouth.

To his surprise, the noise in the hall wasn’t making anyone open their doors to see what the commotion was all about. He had no idea why, but was glad they weren’t going to have to deal with anyone deciding to join the fray.

The man holding Laryn glanced back when Casper was just feet away, maybe sensing his palpable anger, and his eyes widened in surprise. He moved his free hand to his waist, probably to pull a weapon, but Casper was already on him.

He tackled the man, knocking him backward and forcing him to let go of Laryn’s hair. He heard her let out a squeak of pain, but all Casper’s attention was on the man who’d dared to hurt the woman he loved.

The weapon he’d been reaching for was a knife, but he had no time to go for it again before Casper punched the man once, twice. Three times.

As Casper reached for his pistol, the man spoke, sounding outraged. “She’s mine!” he claimed.

“She’s not! She’s a United States citizen who was taken against her will,” he growled, pressing the barrel of his gun against the man’s forehead .

He went still under Casper, smiling slightly, and said in perfect English, “She’s my wife. She was given to me, and in my country, that trumps all other rights.”

Casper was done talking. Fuck this. Fuck him .

He squeezed the trigger.

With his ears ringing from the shot, Casper was moving before the man even went limp under him. He stood and grabbed Laryn away from Pyro who’d gotten her clear when the fight started, and pulled her away from the very dead man behind her, holding her against his chest.

“I knew you’d come. I knew you’d come,” Laryn chanted, as she held onto him for dear life.

She was trembling hard, and she felt skinnier than when he’d last held her.

Hate for the situation she’d found herself in filled Casper.

He regretted that Osman wasn’t there for him to kill.

The man would surely do whatever he could to get his hands back on Laryn, but that wasn’t happening.

Not as long as he had breath in his body.

“That’s what happens when you bring a knife to a gun fight,” Chaos said as he nudged the man’s arm with his boot to make sure he was dead. “We going after Osman?”

Technically that was their one job. To find and take out Altan Osman.

But with Laryn in his arms, obviously traumatized, the only thing Casper could think about was getting her the hell out of here.

Making sure she was safe. He’d disregarded her safety one too many times already.

No way was he doing it again. Even if it meant a reprimand on his record.

He shook his head. “We need to get her out of here.”

Chaos nodded without hesitation.

Casper pushed a button on the radio in his ear.

“Tex?”

“Here.”

“Got her. Call Buck. Tell him we’re headed to the roof.”

“Roger. Out. ”

Taking a quick second, he eased Laryn back and tried to assess her condition.

She was bruised and looked shell-shocked, but none of her injuries looked life threatening.

They needed to get to the roof and get the hell out of there.

He had no way of knowing what was happening on the hangar floor, if the distraction of the workers making a break for it was keeping the other guards busy, but he wasn’t going to wait around to find out.

“It’s weird that no one has come out to see what’s going on,” Edge said from behind Casper, as he put his arm around Laryn, plastered her to his side and headed back down the hall.

“The rooms are locked from the outside,” Laryn said in a shaky voice. “They couldn’t come out if they wanted to.”

No one said a word, but Casper felt sick inside yet again.

He wanted to help the men, and possibly women, who were behind the locked doors, but his priorities were Laryn and his team.

They couldn’t wait around any longer than necessary.

But he vowed to tell Tex everything he’d seen tonight, and perhaps the former SEAL could do something to help the people being forced to work here.

They reached the stairwell, and Edge pushed around Casper, opening the door and checking to make sure the coast was clear.

It was.

The men started up the last flight of stairs to the door that led to the roof.

It was locked, but Chaos didn’t hesitate to pull out his pistol and shoot the shit out of the mechanism.

Metal fragments went flying, and Casper turned his back to the shrapnel to protect Laryn from getting hurt.

She curled into his chest as his teammate made quick work of the lock.

And then they were standing on the roof. The air was clean, the night clear, and in any other situation, Casper might have taken the time to admire the view of the city from this vantage point.

They could still hear shouts below them, and Casper was relieved it seemed the escaping workers were still a distraction. He could only hope their luck held and Buck and Obi-Wan would get there and get them the hell out of dodge before the shit really hit the fan.

They’d been lucky so far, and he prayed their luck held for just a little longer.

“Laryn? Look at me. Are you okay?”

She lifted her chin, and Casper wasn’t happy at the dazed look in her beautiful brown eyes. She had dark circles under them, and she was still trembling. She looked overwhelmed, terrified, and unsure of herself.

But then she spoke. “I’m alive, and you’re here. I’m perfect.”

This woman. She slayed him. She’d been through obvious hell, yet she was still standing tall. Regardless, Casper intended to hear about every minute of what had happened to her since she’d been taken from him, so he could do everything in his power to lessen the impact of what she’d been through.

He took two seconds to appreciate the feel of Laryn in his arms. Bent but not broken, by any means.

Something in his soul shifted at that moment.

He’d been determined to find her and get her back, but hadn’t been sure he’d be able to do either.

And yet, here she was. It was a miracle.

She was a miracle. His miracle. He vowed never to take her for granted ever again. He’d done that for too long as it was.

Just when Casper heard the most beautiful sound in the world, the whir of rotor blades, the stairwell door slammed open.

Moving on instinct, Casper shoved Laryn behind him and pulled out his pistol, his three friends doing the same. They moved closer to him and formed a wall between the stairwell and Laryn. They hadn’t gotten this close to rescue to fail now.

A man stood in front of them, panting. His eyes were wide and crazy-looking. His dark hair was sticking up and his clothes were wrinkled. And, if Casper wasn’t mistaken, his shirt was on inside out .

“No!” he exclaimed, ignoring the four guns pointed at him as he stalked forward.

“ Stop! ” Pyro exclaimed. “Right now!”

“It’s Altan,” Laryn said from behind them.

Casper wasn’t surprised. That’s who he assumed this must be. He was glad he was here—he’d be able to complete this mission after all.

The man was dead, he just didn’t know it yet.

But first, Casper needed intel. He had about two minutes before Buck and Obi-Wan arrived. He’d do his best to get what he could from this man, what his country needed, before he ended any future threat to Laryn once and for all.