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Grimacing, he turned and moved quickly to the bed.
“Sair.” He leaned over his sleeping lover, kissed her cheek, felt her arms lift lazily and twine around his neck.
“Hm. Come back to bed,” she mumbled, trying to burrow back under the covers.
“Sair, we have trouble, baby.”
Her eyes opened immediately. Her arms slid from around his neck and she rolled out of the bed. Her response was too quick, too ingrained. Cooper felt his chest tighten at the knowledge that she had been forced to run too many times in her young life.
Wild, loose ringlets fell around her as she moved through the room, searching for her clothes now.
“What’s wrong?” she asked as she hurriedly put on her bra and panties.
She was picking up her jeans as he pulled his T-shirt back on and glanced back to the monitors. At that moment, a red light lit
up and a low buzz filled the room.
“What’s that?” Sair jerked on her blouse despite the alarm that filled her face.
“That’s trouble.” Cooper felt his body go on alert. He shoved his socked feet into his boots and strode to the closet at the side of the room.
There, he jerked out the automatic military-issue rifle, snapped the clip in efficiently, and shoved two extra ammo clips into the band of his jeans.
The door behind the bar had just been breached, and Jake or one of his bouncers hadn’t opened it willingly. He moved back to the monitors.
“Do you recognize them?” He pointed to the men moving through the short hall that led to the stairs.
Sair moved to the monitors, pulling on her sandals as she stared at the three men who kept their faces deliberately turned away from the cameras.
She shook her head. “The big guy in the back looks familiar, but I can’t see his face for his ball cap.”
Cooper heard the fear in her voice, felt it.
“How do we get out of here?” she whispered.
Cooper stared at the three men. Jake was in the lead, his expression furious as he glanced at the hidden cameras as they passed.
But he wasn’t giving any signals. Nothing to indicate an attack. Cooper watched his face carefully as he led the men to the stairs. Nothing. Not a flicker of an eyelash, not a tightening of his lips.
“Come here.” He gripped her arm and led her across the room. Slapping the side of his hand against the paneling, he stood back as the door eased open to reveal a narrow set of stairs leading down.
Coming up those stairs were Casey, Iron, and Turk. They were heavily armed, expressions set.
He pulled Sarah back as they filed into the room, the same moment a heavy knock sounded at the door.
“Jake didn’t say a word, didn’t even indicate trouble,” Turk growled almost soundlessly. “We didn’t know shit till we looked up and he was gone from the bar.”
“Hey Coop, I need to talk to you.” Jake knocked again as Cooper’s eyes narrowed.
“Ethan?” Distressed, frightened, Sarah stared back at him. “We can’t leave Jake out there with them.” Her hand touched her chest, rubbing against it as though it ached. Cooper felt almost a killing rage.
“Get in here.” He pushed her to the small landing behind the paneling.
“No.” Gripping his arm, fear brightening her eyes, she tried to tug him in after her. “Not without you. I won’t leave you here.”
“Dammit, Sair.”
“No. I won’t protect myself while you stand in front of a bullet for me. I won’t do it.”
