Page 74 of The Big Fix

“Hey,” I greeted her, taking a breath.

She reached me, immediately surveyed the chair, and bent to push away the bricks. The release from the weight was immediate, and it negated so much pain, I almost forgot about the rest.

“Thank you,” I whispered, able to relax a fraction.

As Jing retook her place beside me, I noted her horrified expression as she surveyed the damage, her hands fluttering over my face and shoulders, but not making contact with my skin. “I have no idea where to touch you,” she said, sounding like she was in pain.

“It’s okay,” I soothed her as she kissed my forehead. “Really.”

She nodded quickly as Dante joined us, putting a cold hand on my cheek for a moment. Since his hands were never cold, that meant my fever must’ve spiked again. “I’m so glad I’m not too late.” He smiled broadly. “I was worried you might have gotten hurt.”

“Funny,” I said with a weak grin.

“You’re burning up,” he said worriedly, passing Jing his Beretta M9, then slipping around the back of the chair. I heard the snap of his blade, and then it was against my skin as he cut through the ropes binding me, first the ones around my hands, then my chest, and then my legs. My limbs immediately throbbed and ached with the sudden return of blood flow.

“Darius was finally able to get us a satellite image of this place,” he explained as he came back around to face me. “From our drone surveillance, it looked impenetrable, and there’s only one way in, so a direct assault would have been useless.”

“I figured.” I turned on the chair, pushed my legs over the side.

“Once we determined which wall to go through, there was the issue of all the thermal signatures. It took a bit to determine where they were holding you and Owen.”

Just then there was a volley of machine-gun fire. Dante grabbed his gun from Jing, and she pulled hers from her shoulder holster, a Sig Sauer P220 Carry Elite Stainless. They both faced the door.

“Don’t shoot,” a man directed from the hall.

Both Jing and Dante lowered their weapons as a man with a Heckler & Koch MP5 stepped into the room. He was wearing body armor, a helmet, and I realized I’d never seen him before in my life.

“Colonel,” he greeted me with a nod.

“Jared, this is Ceaton Mercer,” Dante explained. “Darius’s protector when he’s at home, but since Darius is not at home, Ceaton’s on loan.”

“Thank you,” I said to the man covered in weapons and ammunition. He was far better equipped than anyone else on my team.

“My pleasure, Colonel,” he assured me and then turned, before I even heard a noise, on a trio of armed men. Mercer cut down all three before they could level their rifles. Turning back to Dante, he shot my friend a look. “Sir, we need to go.”

“Yes,” Dante agreed, bending to ease my arm across his shoulder and then carefully lift me to my feet. My knees gave out on me, but he was strong, so my tug of weight did nothing to his balance. “You want me to carry you out?” he asked, and that made me get my legs under me as best I could.

“No, thank you,” I grumbled, clutching his shoulder. “I can walk.”

Jing was behind us, still hesitant to touch me. “You have blood seeping through your shirt.”

“Oh, I have no doubt.”

Mercer went out into the hall, and I heard him fire his weapon once, twice, but he wasn’t shooting like his life depended on it, more like cleanup.

“Is anything broken?” Dante asked.

“No, I—”

There was a scream behind us, and when Dante turned me, we saw Jing standing on top of the beam Suwan was under.

“He’s responsible,” Jing said flatly, no emotion in her voice. “I read his file. I know who he is.”

“Don’t—don’t do what you’re thinking,” I told her. “Come on. He can’t move that, and there’s no one here to help. He may linger, for days even, but he’s going to die.”

“You’re certain?” she asked, rocking on the beam.

Suwan’s scream was high-pitched, full of terror.