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When she was finally able to get to her feet, she smiled. Her freedom was so close. She looked from the door to the window, not knowing which way she should try to go. Then she heard more shouting and the firing of a gun.
Her body froze for a moment before she sprang into action. Dakota wasn’t a victim. She was going to prove that to them right now.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Ace came around the corner, ignoring the pain throbbing through his body. He found Maverick, Cooper, and the other men who were there to save Dakota. He stood back as they spoke. He wasn’t going to interrupt them if they could do the job, but he had to be close, had to help if he could.
“I can’t tell how many men are in there,” Maverick said. “I don’t like going in against all these odds.”
“We don’t have a choice,” Cooper responded.
“I know,” Maverick agreed.
“I would be a lot happier, though, if we knew exactly where she was,” one of the men said.
“We’ll find her,” Mav said, his voice sure. That made Ace feel a hell of a lot better.
Ace glanced around the neighborhood at abandoned businesses and crappy homes. These men were either arrogant or they had a lot more traps than what was obvious to the naked eye. Ace didn’t believe in luck. He waited to make sure his family was being cautious.
“Okay, we’re wasting time,” Cooper said. “Mav and I will take the front of the house. You three take the back. We’ll surprise them. Top priority is finding Dakota and getting her out. When Ace is better, he can come after these bastards.”
Ace fully agreed with his brother as he stayed out of sight. Right now, all that mattered was getting to Dakota, getting her to safety. His revenge would come swift and hard—and soon. He didn’t stay down for long. The bastards might have counted on incapacitating him with gunshots when they formulated their plans, but they obviously didn’t know him as well as they thought they did.
“Let’s do this,” Mav said.
The five of them began moving swiftly. Ace was going to give them a few minutes’ head start, and then he was going in. They didn’t know he was there, so he wouldn’t be a liability to them. But he was going in after her.
His heart thundering, Ace watched the three CIA agents disappear around the back of the house while Cooper and Maverick stealthily went to the front door. Mav lifted his gun and smashed the doorknob with the butt of his weapon. There were instant shouts and shots fired as Maverick and Cooper disappeared inside the place.
“Get down,” he heard Cooper yell as more weapons were discharged.
All of Ace’s pain disappeared as his adrenaline pumped, and he rushed forward. Smoke was coming out the front door. He feared a fire had started. He had to get to Dakota. Once he had her, he would radio the other men, tell them to get the hell out of there.
“Do not let them get to the girl,” a voice yelled. Ace’s fury rose. “Go upstairs now!”
Good. Ace now knew she was on the top floor. That narrowed down his search. He moved rapidly through the door, his lungs instantly filling with smoke. He ignored his labored breathing and quickly moved to the stairs.
A man was ascending them. Ace grabbed him, throwing him to the bottom of the staircase before the man knew what was happening. He landed with a thud, moaning as he gripped his broken leg.
Ace didn’t give him another glance as he quickly ran up the remaining steps. He thrust open the first door at the top of the staircase. The room was empty. He quickly opened another door—the filthy bathroom was also empty.
Ace charged the remaining door, breaking it open. A scream came hurling out at him, and then a terrified animal launched herself at him, scratching his face with her claws.
The relief that flooded through Ace was incomparable. His arms wrapped around her as she kicked at him, his little minx unwilling to be anyone’s victim.
“Damn, I love you,” he said. He was too relieved and elated to realize his words or be worried about them.
Dakota stilled in his arms as she pulled back, instant gratitude in her eyes.
“Ace?” she gasped, her eyes brimming over with tears. “Is it really you?”
“Yeah, baby. And I do love this kinky side to you, but as you can hear, there’s a hell of a lot of gunfire going on. I think this piece-of-shit house is about to burn down. We need to get out of here,” he told her.
She leaned forward and kissed him hard before pulling back. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I didn’t know,” she gasped.
“I promise we’ll catch up when I get you to safety,” he assured her.
He spoke into his mic. “Don’t be pissed, but I have Dakota. We’re leaving through the front door in exactly ten seconds, so give us some cover fire and then get the hell out of here,” he snapped.
