Page 19 of Wild Temple (Tyson Wild Thriller #84)

K elsey was pretty much a zombie at this point. I showed her pictures of Hannah and Isabella, but it just didn't register.

I sprang to my feet and moved to the doorway, peering down the hallway. It was still clear. The muffled sound of abuse emanating from another room drifted down the hallway, boiling my veins.

I moved across the hall to the sound of the commotion. I tried the handle, but the door was locked from the inside. A swift kick splintered the doorjamb, and the door flung wide. It swung around, and the doorknob put a hole in the sheetrock.

A hairy ogre pounded a helpless girl. He craned his neck over his shoulder and scowled at me. I could have done without seeing that guy in his sweaty birthday suit.

"What the fuck!? My time’s not up. ”

With a face full of rage, I grabbed the guy by the hair and pulled him off the girl, throwing him into the wall.

The whole place rumbled.

I put a heavy fist into his flabby belly, which doubled him over. I grabbed the back of his skull and smashed his face into my knee, shattering his nose. Blood spewed. He staggered against the wall and fell to the floor with a thud.

The girl was non-responsive.

I felt for a pulse in her neck. It was barely there, and her breathing was shallow. They had given her too much heroin, and it had slowed her respiration. The big ogre smothering her hadn’t helped anything.

The blip of life soon faded under my fingertips.

Respiration stopped.

I started chest compressions, trying to revive her. The palm of my hands thumped against her sternum, the old mattress squeaking.

Nothing worked. She lay on the bed lifeless.

I needed Narcan and scavenged the room for it, hoping someone had the presence of mind to keep it around. You’d think these people would take better care of the merchandise, but they had no regard for human life.

I resumed compressions and rescue breaths. To my surprise, she gasped a breath and her eyes fluttered.

A wave of relief washed over me. “We’re going to get you some help. Stay with me. ”

I grabbed a robe from the floor, covered her, and scooped her up. I carried her across the hall, set her on the bed beside Kelsey, and told Rafi to look after her. “Make sure she keeps breathing. Do you know CPR?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Rafi assured.

He didn’t know CPR.

One by one, I pushed open doors, looking for Isabella and Hannah, but came up empty-handed. There were girls in just about every room. More than I could carry out of here.

At the other end of the hallway, there was another stairwell. I wasn't exactly sure where it led, but it seemed like our best option for exfiltration. After doing a brief recon, I returned to Kelsey's room.

That's when trouble broke out.

Another goon had climbed the main stairs and noticed his comrade wasn’t at his post. One look down the hallway, and he knew we were up to no good.

His face wrinkled with confusion as he processed the situation.

He saw the open doors to all the rooms. This was unusual.

Then his pistol came out. "What the fuck are you assholes doing?”

Rafi froze with panicked eyes as the goon approached. I stood near him.

The gig would be up as soon as the goon looked into the room and saw his buddy handcuffed to the bed.

"This was not my idea," Rafi said as the goon neared. "He forced me to do it.”

My jaw clenched tight at the sellout .

The approaching goon still hadn't figured out exactly what was up. But he would in a few seconds.

"Step away from the door,” he barked at us.

We took a step back, both of us in the hallway.

When the goon peered into the room, it was my opportunity to strike. I grabbed the barrel of his pistol and launched it skyward. He squeezed the trigger, and the bullet drilled into the ceiling.

With a punch to the kidney, his grip slackened. I stripped the weapon from his grasp, then came across the back of his skull with the butt of the pistol. Hard.

The crack echoed down the hallway.

He flopped to the ground.

By that time, everyone in the entire building knew something was afoot.

With the goon out cold, I rushed into the room, scooped up Hannah, and told Rafi to bring the other girl.

He did.

At this point, he’d be in just as much trouble as I would. They wouldn’t buy the whole he forced me to do it bit.

“Bossman, we have a problem,” he shouted from inside the room.

He was stating the obvious, but it was worse than I thought.

Rafi put the girl back on the bed.

“What are you doing? ”

“She’s not breathing.”

I scowled at him. “I told you to make sure she keeps breathing.”

Rafi shrugged, then placed his fingertips on her neck. “No pulse.”

I carried Kelsey back into the room, set her on the bed, and checked the girl myself.

She had stopped breathing again.

"This bad. This very bad," Rafi repeated.

“No shit.”

I tried to revive the girl with chest compressions again, but there wasn’t much time.

More goons stomped up the stairwell. Their footsteps echoed down the corridor.

It was time to go.

I scooped up Kelsey and carried her from the room. Rafi followed as we hurried down the hallway to the far steps.

We plunged down as two goons reached the top of the main stairwell at the other end of the hallway.

Rafi moved slow. Too slow.

I hit the first-floor landing, still cradling Kelsey. We raced down a long, dark corridor, past offices, to another steel door. I burst through it, stepping into the night air. I held the door open for Rafi, and he finally shuffled through. We sprinted down the sidewalk, heading back to the van .

The goons spilled onto the sidewalk as we rounded the corner.

Muzzle flash flickered, and bullets streaked through the night.

The blistering rounds of copper rocketed past my ears.

JD stomped the gas and pulled away from the curb. He screeched to meet us halfway down the block. We piled into the van, cramming into the back seat just as the goons rounded the corner.

More bullets sprayed in our direction, pelting body panels. One drilled through the front windshield and exited the back. The bullet threaded the needle between me and Rafi’s head.

Brooke crouched low, and so did we.

Sirens swirled in the distance, drawing near.

Jack stomped the gas.

The little four-banger didn't have much power. It purred to a dull growl. Jack crouched low behind the dash.

One of the thugs darted into the street, blocking the path. He took aim and opened fire.

Bullets peppered the hood and front windshield.

Glass shattered, and shards rained down.

We all made ourselves small.

The headlights swept across the thug, and Jack plowed right into the son-of-a-bitch. The impact sent him onto the hood.

Clunk !

Clank!

Metal buckled.

The dirtbag smashed the front windshield, webbing it with cracks. More shards trickled down.

The goon rolled off the car, the side-view mirror smacking his rib cage.

He flopped to the ground, then staggered to his feet as Jack rounded the corner. Tires squealed, and the little four-cylinder howled.

More gunshots flew in our direction, shattering the back windshield and peppering more body panels.

My heart pounded with adrenaline, every nerve alive with the chaos. "Is everybody okay?"