Stone
I entered the dark building, standing just inside the door and keeping my senses alert. The place was dingy and had a musty smell. The only light came from skylights in the ceiling. There were mounds of junk, old machine parts, and crates, stacked here and there throughout the building, leaving plenty of places to hide.
Movement came from the back end of the building, and I drew my weapon. Johnny stepped into view, his hands raised high. “Stone.”
“Where’s Serenity? Tell me, or I’ll shoot.”
“She’s waiting for you, but you’re going to have to use some of that luck of yours to find her before her time runs out. ”
“What do you mean?”
“Just a little exercise. Remember our last mission? Where you left me for dead?”
My nostrils flared, but I didn’t argue.
“Well… this is your chance to redeem yourself. Your girlfriend’s here, somewhere. All you have to do is find her and get her out before the bomb goes off.”
My heart raced, but I kept calm. “What’s the catch?”
He grinned. “There may be a few booby-traps along the way. But don’t worry. If you’re careful, you should be able to avoid them.” He turned his hand so I could see the device in his palm and the numbers flashing red as they counted down. “I just set the timer. You have seven minutes before the place blows up.”
A shot sounded from outside the building. Johnny flinched, and I knew it had taken him by surprise.
“What was that?”
He schooled his features. “I told Aubree to take care of the ex who tagged along with us. I guess he didn’t want to cooperate. You’d better hurry. I left you a clue, but you only have six minutes now.” He turned to leave.
“Where are you going?”
“I’d prefer not to get blown up this time.” Another shot sounded from outside, and he quickly disappeared behind some crates.
“Shit.” I believed that he’d set an explosive, but was Serenity really in here? What was going on outside? Whatever it was, I had to trust that Ricky or Slater would deal with it, and I needed to concentrate on finding Serenity.
With my time limited, I set my watch timer for five minutes and headed toward the largest stack of junk, deciding to climb up to get a better look at the layout. If Johnny had left me a clue, I had no idea what it was .
I climbed on top of a couple of rusted filing cabinets and took a few precious seconds to glance around. Nothing made sense. It was just an old building stacked with junk. I’d have to search from one end of the building to the other as fast as I could. Before I climbed down, a flash of light caught my eye.
It came from the northeast corner. Was it the clue? It flashed again, and I jumped to the ground and hurried in that direction. The hiss of a canister came from behind me, skittering along the concrete floor. I ducked behind an old desk and instinctively covered my ears and eyes. A flash-bang temporarily disoriented me.
I darted from my spot, depending on my memory to get me away from the smoke. Johnny must have thrown the device. Which meant he was still here. Reason told me that he couldn’t have set this up very elaborately. Not after planning my death last night. So, instead of booby traps, the only thing I had to worry about was him.
I rushed around another row of filing cabinets and found an uncluttered path. Using that to guide me, I hurried toward the back of the building. The sound of a door opening and closing came from up ahead. Was that Johnny leaving before the building exploded?
“Nate! Where are you?”
“Serenity?”
“Hurry! I’m at the back of the building. We need to get out of here!”
I rounded the corner and dodged around some pipes and metal bars. Emerging from the stacks, I found Serenity standing just inside the building, about fifty feet away.
“Serenity, get out of here!”
She turned toward me. “Not without you. Hurry! ”
As I closed the distance, Johnny stepped into my path. “No! I won’t let you leave.” He pointed a gun at my chest and fired.
Pain lanced through my ribs, throwing me on my back. I gasped like a fish out of water and couldn’t catch my breath. Another shot went off, and I found the strength to push into a sitting position. Johnny lay on his back, blood pouring from his chest.
“Nate! No!” Serenity hobbled to my side, reaching for me.
“I’m fine. Bullet-proof vest.”
“Oh my God. We have to run. The bomb!”
I lurched to my feet, seeing Ricky holding the door open and yelling at us to hurry. I pushed Serenity in front of me, and we stepped over Johnny’s prone form. A hand grabbed my ankle, and I fell to my knees.
“You’re not… leaving… not again…”
For a dying man, his grip was strong, but I twisted my ankle out of his hold and got to my feet.
“No!” Reaching for me, he caught nothing but air.
Without sparing him a glance, I rushed out the door, not far behind the others. A car was parked right outside the building, with the front passenger door wide open. Serenity had jumped into the back seat, and Ricky sat in the driver’s seat. “Get in!! Quick!”
I jumped inside and he took off before I’d shut the door. Ricky floored it, driving to the end of the alley. Before we made it out, the building exploded, sending a wall of plaster and mortar towards us.
Ricky kept going, but something crashed into the car, spinning it around before we hit the side of the other building. Debris rained down on the roof and crushed it in toward our heads. “Get down! ”
Glass shattered under the weight, and the back window blew out. A muffled yelp came from the back seat as more debris rained down on us. Dust filled the car, but the rumbling finally stopped, leaving us pinned inside.
Squished into the small space, it was hard to move, but I wasn’t hurt. Ricky blinked his eyes open, blood running from a cut on his head. He shifted his weight, straining to get out from under the steering wheel.
A groan came from the back seat.
“Serenity? Are you okay?”
“I think so.” She coughed. “I might need help getting out, though. It’s pretty cramped back here.”
“Yeah… we’re cramped up here, too.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll be okay. It’s going to take a few minutes to get help, but we’ll all walk out of here.”
I licked my lips. “How do you know that?”
“Brandon’s back here. I… saw it when I got in and touched him. He’s kind of… pinned beneath me.”
“Shit.” Imagining her lying on top of that bastard curdled my stomach. I found the door handle and pushed against the door. It opened but hardly budged. I kept working at it, grateful that some light came in through the windshield, proving that we weren’t completely buried. Shouting sounded from outside, and my heart jumped.
“Stone! Ricky? Where are you?”
“We’re here.” I yelled. “We’re okay, but we need help getting out.”
Slater stepped into view. “I see you. Give me a minute.” He began clearing a space to the door, but it was slow going. He finally got the rubble cleared away from my side of the door, and I shoved it open enough to slither out.
As I stood, I took in the rest of the car, finding the whole back end totally smashed, the rear window gone, and the car roof dented inward. The damage ended abruptly at the back door, and I quickly cleared the debris away and wrenched it open. “Sen?”
She lay on the floor, level with the seat, her legs and feet close to the door. “I’m going to have to pull you out.”
She rose onto her elbows, and a sharp yelp came from Brandon beneath her. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.”
Crouching, I tugged her toward me, my hand coming to a blood-soaked bandage around her thigh. “You’re hurt.” I pulled her close enough that I could wrap my arm around her waist and finish pulling her out.
As she gained her freedom, her arms snaked around my neck, and she leaned her head on my shoulder. I rose, gently gathering her in my arms to carry her away from the car.
“What happened to your leg?”
“Aubree shot me. But it’s not bad. Just a nick.”
From all the blood, it looked a lot worse than that.
“Hey… don’t leave me here!” Brandon’s voice was muffled. “Help! I can’t move.”
Serenity met my gaze. “Oh… Brandon’s still tied up, so he can’t get out.”
I arched a brow. “Too bad for him, but I’m not lifting a finger for that bastard.”
Her lips twisted. “I get it, but we can’t leave him there.”
“Yes we can. Someone else will have to do it.”
She let out a sigh and dropped her face against my neck. “You made it. I wasn’t sure, for a minute there… you got shot… right in the chest. Thank God you had on a vest.”
Out of the blast zone, I set her down before claiming her lips. It had scared me, too, and relief spread over me in a powerful wave. Relief and something deeper I hadn’t expected to feel… love. I loved her. It had happened so fast, it was hard to believe. But I’d never felt this way. Not for anyone else in all my life. “Sen… I think I… I…”
I closed my eyes. Why was it so hard to say the words? My mom and I used to say them to each other all the time, but it had been so long. I wasn’t sure I knew how to say them anymore. Opening my eyes, I met her gaze, finding tenderness in the blue depths of her soul. Her smile broke my heart wide open. “I love you.”
“I love you, too. I was so scared I’d never get to tell you.”
My lips twisted into a lop-sided grin, and I kissed her again and again. Our world narrowed down to just the two of us, and I couldn’t get enough of her.
“Uh… you guys? Sorry to interrupt, but the police are on their way.”
The sound of sirens pulled me back to reality, and I reluctantly ended the kiss, but kept her firmly in my arms. Slater stood in front of his car, with Ricky and Brandon already inside.
“There’s room for you both in the back next to Brandon.”
I did not want to be anywhere near the guy, but what choice did I have? “Fine. Let’s get out of here.”
I slid in first, and Serenity slid in beside me. Slater wasted no time and peeled out of there. He drove to the end of the lot, turning in the opposite direction of the sirens. I didn’t know what kind of trouble we’d all be in, but we’d figure it out later.
Slater glanced at me in the rear-view mirror. “Where do you want to go?”
“Serenity’s wound needs to be looked at, so head the to the urgent care.”
“Good call,” Ricky said. “I’ll call the Doc to meet us there.” Ricky pulled out his phone and put the call through.
“What about him?” Slater motioned to Brandon .
“He’s coming with us. Once Serenity’s patched up, we’ll take him back to her house.” I glanced at Brandon. “We have some unfinished business.”
His face drained of color, and he hunched over in his seat. His hands were still bound behind him, and it gave me a perverse pleasure to see him so miserable.
Lucky for us, Dix was already there, so it didn’t take long to get Serenity stitched up. Still, it was starting to get dark by the time we headed back to Serenity’s house, and I could hardly wait to get rid of Brandon.
I didn’t think she’d let me kill him, but she might be persuaded into something else. With so many possibilities, I could hardly wait to see which one I could get away with.