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At the bottom of the stairs, they paused for a second. To the left, the hall led back to the front door, while the right led deeper into the house. Snow was sure there had to be a back exit, but he didn’t have a clue as to where it was and he wasn’t excited about the idea of fumbling around the house until they did locate it. Unfortunately, a broad shouldered guard was briskly heading in their direction with a frown cutting across his already ugly face.
“Right,” Snow ground out between clenched teeth, directing Jude to head in the opposite direction of the guard. He could pray that the guard wasn’t looking for them, but his hopes weren’t high.
“Hey! You two!” the guard barked in a low voice as if he still trying to avoid disturbing the other guests. Snow kept them moving, searching for what might be an empty room to duck into because there was little room to maneuver in the narrow halls.
A heavy hand slapped down on Snow’s shoulder and he didn’t even hesitate. Spinning around, he slammed the leather folio still clutched in his right hand into the man’s throat. He gasped and instinctively bent forward, choking for air against the pain of his wounded windpipe. Snow slipped behind him, wrapping his arm around the man’s throat while locking his hand on his opposite arm. With careful, steady pressure to key arteries in his neck, Snow cut off both blood and oxygen. The guard struggled against Snow’s hold, but there was no getting free. Snow closed his eyes, straining to hear any footsteps approaching, any voices raised in alarm, while counting each second. If anyone happened upon them at that moment, they were fucked. Snow still had Rowe’s gun tucked in the back of his pants, but he was one person against at least two dozen security guards, all armed well enough to subdue a small village.
Four seconds was all it took to knock out the guard, leaving him hanging limp in Snow’s arms. Relief that they remained undiscovered hit Snow so hard that his body shook for a second and he struggled to unlock his hold.
“Here!” Jude said in a low, harsh voice.
Snow’s head jerked up to find Jude holding open a door marked MEN’S just a few feet down from where they stood. With help from Jude, they silently placed the unconscious guard in the bathroom and shut the door.
“Do you know where the back exit is?” Snow asked. He carefully straightened his tie and smoothed a hand through his hair.
Jude frowned. “Just the one in the main concert hall and I’m sure we’d have to pass a hell of a lot more security between here and there.”
Snow looked over his shoulder, down the hall toward the front door. There were no other guards in sight and no one had looked out of the rooms at the noise they had made. Turning back to Jude, Snow smirked. “I guess we go out the front door.”
Jude rolled his eyes and motioned for Snow to precede him down the hall. He took a deep breath, smoothed his hands down his jacket to settle it one last time before forcing himself to casually walk down the hall and to the front door. The young man looked a little confused that they seemed to be leaving so soon after arriving, but he said nothing as he pushed open the door for both Jude and Snow while accepting the leather folio back from Jude.
They made it down the long concrete stairs to the sidewalk. No one raised an additional alarm or shot at them. And they walked out with some great information. Rowe’s hacker would be able to do something with this and it would get them one step closer to Gratton.Chapter 9Snow glanced at Jude once he’d pulled into the small back lot behind the shops and parked. Moonlight streamed through the windshield, bathing Jude in enough light to show Snow that he hadn’t calmed down during the drive. He sat still, silent, and stiff, his hands fisted in his lap. He hadn’t said a word other than his clipped, “Just take me home” when they’d reached Snow’s Lexus.
Now, he abruptly turned, his lips in an angry snarl as he shook his head. “You’re coming inside. I have questions.”
Snow stared at him silently. He owed the man some kind of explanation for tonight, but he acted like he had a right to more than that and that pissed Snow off.
And kind of intrigued him, too.
Damn, Jude was a walking contradiction. Most of the time, he seemed good natured, with this hassle-free air about him at the hospital during his down times. He had an engaging, wide smile and he showed hints of a great sense of humor. But Snow had seen him in action with patients and knew he was sharp under pressure. And strong. Damned strong and that got Snow hot like nothing else. Snow had once lost his train of thought after watching Jude tackle a patient tripping on PCP and beating the hell out of everyone in his path.
