Page 2 of Storm Warning

“If the woman gets loose, she could hurt you.”

Andre’s lips curved. Not could. Absolutely would. A fierce fighter, Riley would use everything available to her advantage, including her legs and feet. You could do a lot in self-defense with your legs and feet.

“You zip-tied her ankles to the legs of the chair. Did you do a poor job of it?”

A scowl. “Of course not. But there are ways to break zip ties.”

“I trust you thought through all the possibilities and set things up so she is not a threat to me or anyone else.”

Thug Two closed his mouth.

Andre wanted to laugh. The man had boxed himself into a corner with his boss. Anything he said now would make matters worse.

Interrogator returned his attention to Riley. “Look, Ms. Sloan, the faster you cooperate, the sooner we’ll release you.”

Not going to happen. Andre watched the reactions of the two guards. The truth lingered in their eyes. If Riley cooperated, she wouldn’t live to see the sun rise in the morning.

Interrogator’s phone signaled an incoming message. He frowned, yanked the instrument from his pocket, and glared at the screen. Growling, he shoved it back into his pocket. “I’ll be back. The boss wants to see me. Monitor her.”

Thug One’s mouth curved into a wintry smile. “With pleasure.”

The leader of the group’s eyebrows knitted. “On second thought, you and your friend wait outside in the hall.”

“You shouldn’t leave this woman alone,” Two said.

“I’ll lock the door. Even if she gets loose, where will she go? This room has no windows, so she can’t escape. Frankly, I don’t trust either of you not to harm Ms. Sloan. You may not be afraid of our employer, but I am. I don’t intend to be punished for something you do without my permission.” He opened the door and motioned for the thugs to precede him into the hall.

That’s exactly what Andre wanted to see. An empty room with only Riley inside.

He holstered his weapon and carefully backed out the screws holding the grate in place. With care, Andre eased the grate inside the air conditioning duct and crawled out, sliding to the floor without a sound. He hurried across the expanse separating him from Riley, drawing his Ka-Bar as he went.

Andre slid the knife under the zip tie and yanked. “You all right?”

She nodded. “I’m glad to see you. I didn’t think anyone noticed when these guys grabbed me.”

“I noticed.” He always noticed everything about Riley. After months of being her partner on combined operations with Echo and Artemis, watching Riley’s back was second nature now. Andre freed her ankles, sheathed his knife, and tugged Riley to her feet.

He tapped his earpiece. “I have the package.”

“Good work,” Seth said. “Meet us at rendezvous point one. Sing out if you need help.”

“Copy that.” Hopefully, he wouldn’t need help. Their teammates were fighting terrorists outside the compound, and they were seriously outnumbered, a familiar scenario on their many missions.

“Got a plan to get us out of here?”

“Yeah, the same way I got in.”

Riley stared. “You’re joking.”

“Nope. There are at least fifty soldiers inside this building. I’d rather not have to take them all on to spring you.”

She shut her eyes briefly, then sighed. “Let’s do it.”

Andre gripped her upper arm to hold her in place. “What’s the problem?”

“Claustrophobia.”

His eyebrows soared. He did not know that about Riley. Not a good time to find out, either. “How bad is your phobia?”