Page 43 of Secrets Along the Shore (Beach Read Thrillers #1)

CHAPTER

NINE

Elara gasped and covered Rian’s eyes with her hand. Her heart pounded in her chest as the Ruka slumped to the floor. He wasn’t moving. He couldn’t be…dead. Shock froze her in place. The sound of the gunshot rang in her ears despite the eerie quietness.

Rian squirmed against her, trying to see. “Momma.”

She tore her gaze away from the dead man. Her arms wrapped around her son as their rescuer aimed his rifle up the stairs. Shoes thudded above them. The Rukas had heard the shot. No. No. God, please, save us. Fear made her blood run cold.

Yelling drew her attention down the hall in front of Tyler.

Dark shadows appeared around the corner of a wall.

Tyler snapped his gun toward the men and fired.

The sharp thump followed the thud of bodies dropping.

“Elara, get back!” Tyler snapped as he took a few steps back, his body covering them from their attacker’s bullets.

She grabbed Rian and backed into the corner, the contents of her backpack pressing into her spine.

This wasn’t happening. It was not happening.

Just some kind of nightmare. One she had lived for ten years.

The danger never left. The dark hallways on the left and right held more killers.

So did the staircase above. There was no safe place to hide.

On the gangway, several Rukas emerged from the shadows with weapons.

“Elara, move!” Tyler caught her arm and yanked her toward an empty hall on her left. He gripped the rifle and took precise shots at the men above. A body tumbled down the stairs. Tyler ducked as a bullet thudded into the drywall next to him.

A scream clawed up Elara’s throat. They were going to die. The bullets flying everywhere—they’d get shot. Oh, her sweet boy! She grabbed Rian’s hand and ran down the hall. Had to escape. Had to protect Rian. Somehow.

A shadow appeared in front of her.

Oh, Lord, help us!

She grabbed for the wall beside them. There had to be a door.

After a few shaky steps backward, her hand found a door handle, and she flicked it open.

She pulled Rian into the dark room and slammed the door before another gunshot sounded.

Heaving a deep breath didn’t draw enough oxygen into her lungs. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t get air.

Voices met her. No! No! They weren’t outside. Forms shifted in the room.

“No!” she screamed and grabbed the door.

It swung open. A strong hand caught her arm and yanked her out.

Her grip on Rian didn’t falter as she backed into the hallway wall.

Their rescuer pulled something off his vest and tossed it into the room.

His boot kicked the door, and it slammed shut.

“Move. Go!” Tyler shoved them down the hall toward the exit.

An explosion rocked the building.

Tyler led the way down the hall, rounding a corner down a short hall, before turning left down a longer one.

“Stay behind me,” he repeated what he’d told them earlier.

It slipped her mind in the chaos. She panicked and just wanted to protect Rian.

This was more terrifying than trying to escape in Dubrovnik.

Viktor’s men hadn’t been shooting at them then!

Breathe. Just breathe. It felt impossible.

Her lungs weren’t expanding, were they ?

Light flooded the hallway from a door ahead of them.

Tyler paused for a second and glanced over his shoulder. “Back to the stairs.”

What? The frustration in his voice tore at her chest. They had to escape.

She didn’t find it in her to fight him. Taking Rian’s hand, she ran back the way they came.

AR-15s went off behind them, much louder than Tyler’s gun.

And the bullets were aimed at them. The lethal lead smashed into the wall near them.

Tyler hissed something behind her. Had he gotten hit?

She rounded the corner. Another twenty steps, and they’d be at the staircase. She hoped. Rian’s hand shook in her grip.

“Elara, let me lead.” Tyler’s words made her slow.

He took up position in front of them and aimed his M4 down the hall.

His quick steps were hard to keep up with because of her trembling, uncooperative limbs.

As soon as a figure appeared in the opposite hallway, Tyler fired. He didn’t waste one second.

“Where are we going?”

He started up the stairs, ignoring her question. His rifle angled toward the door on the left. His boots made a dull thud as he made it to the top. Elara struggled to lift her legs with each step. Rian pulled on her arm, trying to assist her ascent.

More footsteps came from behind the door in front of Tyler. He aimed at it and took two quick shots. Something collapsed on the other side. Elara swallowed hard. Someone. Someone else was dead.

Oh, what was she thinking? She’d hoped for an easy escape, but no. People were dying left and right. She never wanted this. Tears slid down her cheeks. Please, Jesus, help us!

Tyler grabbed her arm and pushed her up against the door. He turned and fired a shot on the opposite side of the gangway. The man Viktor had told to check on them every hour slumped to the floor. His handgun clacked to the floor.

Elara pressed her back against the wall. “Why-what are you doing?” she choked out. If Tyler intended to rescue them, he should have taken them down the hall, not retreated to the stairs.

“Quiet.” Tyler dropped the magazine from his rifle, pulled a new one off his vest, and slapped it in. He leaned over the railing with his rifle pointed below.

“ Oti?li su gore !” Heavy footsteps brought the Rukas closer.

Elara gasped and pressed Rian against her. The men knew. They knew they’d come upstairs. So they were dead. Or at least, she was. And Tyler, too. Viktor wanted his son alive. She jerked hard as Tyler took a shot, then another. Gunfire echoed in the space. Rian cried as he covered his ears.

Tyler stepped back from the rail and shifted close to the stairs. He took a few more shots, then lowered his gun a couple inches. For a few long seconds, he remained silent and still. Finally, he turned to her. “We gotta move.”

She managed a nod.

He led them back down the stairs, and through the hallway. Bodies littered the floor. Elara swallowed the nausea that rose in her throat. She had nothing in her stomach since Viktor hadn’t fed them in over a day.

Elara slowed as they made it to the spot where they turned around.

Light filtered into the hall from a room where armed men had exited.

Tyler eased up to the doorway and aimed his rifle into the area.

After a moment, he continued his course to the exit.

The solid door had no window for them to check if someone was outside.

Tyler opened the door and leaned out, keeping his rifle close. He stepped outside. His movements remained calm and calculated. Moving his left arm behind him, he signaled for them to follow.

Elara tightened her grip on Rian’s hand as they headed outside.

The dark sky shone with stars overhead, but the white spotlights nearby hid a majority of the lights God placed in the sky.

Dark trees towered over the fortress, lending an ominous air.

Elara hesitated under the overhang from the second floor.

If she stepped out, Viktor could spot them easily.

Then they’d be dragged back. Or they’d get shot.

Should they go back? Maybe Viktor would be less furious when he caught them.

Their rescuer stopped by a black van. He pressed his shoulder against the side. His gaze turned to them. The bright lights lit the area enough to make out his young face. He might have been even younger than her, and he was alone. He’d never succeed.

“We need to go back,” she whispered.

“No, Momma!”

She turned back to the door. They’d live longer this way.

They had to be kidding. Tyler shoved off the van and closed the distance between him and his targets before Elara ducked inside.

He snatched her arm and yanked her back.

A gasp escaped her. He shoved her against the wall, the contents of her backpack crunched.

Almost like paper. “What are you doing?”

Rian’s fist hit his leg, trying once again to protect his mother.

She trembled in his grip, tears sliding freely down her cheeks. “We can’t do this. Viktor will kill us,” she choked out.

“No, he won’t.” He met her gaze. “I won’t let him.”

“You’re one man.”

“Yeah, and I just killed twenty.” Maybe more than that.

But he hadn’t been counting. The kill count never mattered as long as it was justified.

He’d done it to garner her safety. They just got outside, and now she was trying to go back in.

Not happening. Even if he had to drag her to the getaway vehicle, with Rian beating his leg the whole way.

She shook her head. “We’ll never make it. I never should have called Dad.”

Tyler checked their surroundings. Men shouted nearby, but no one came around back yet. They would, though. Soon. Which was why he needed to convince her to leave now. “I have people waiting outside the gate. We have a plane at a nearby airport. Once we get you on it, you’ll be safe.”

Her bottom lip trembled, making her bite it. She shook her head, more tears slipping free. “It’s-it’s not gonna…” she gasped. The words weren’t coming out like she wanted, as she struggled to breathe. She was panicking, the fear eating away at the knowledge that she had to escape for Rian .

Letting his rifle hang from the sling, Tyler cupped her face. “Elara, breathe.” She needed to calm down. Her whole body shook. Her lower lip trembled. She was by far the most terrified target he’d rescued. And he needed her to calm down now.

For a few seconds, she remained frozen before she heaved a breath and pressed a hand to her face.

“Are you with me?” She had to be.

With a shaky nod, she met his gaze.