Page 98 of Avenging Angel

“Probably. I did just get hit with a flashy thingy!”

I feel his hands pat me down, looking for any signs of blood. “Baby, I need to know if you’re hurt.”

I singsong, “You called me Bay-beeee. I didn’t know we were at the sickeningly cute nickname phase of our relationship.”

“You don’t like it?” Angel asks. “I’ve never used a term of endearment before, but it felt right coming out.”

“I love it! But there’s one problem.”

Angel cups my cheeks and turns my head to look for any bumps on my noggin. “What’s that?”

I push him away playfully. “No one puts Baby in the corridor!”

“That’s not how the saying…. Never mind.”

“This ‘Baby’ needs to get in the fight! Give me a gun and point me in the right direction!”

Angel laughs as the rat-a-tat of gunfire slows down after the operatives are being subdued. As the smoke slowly dissipates, Angel hauls me to my feet and kisses me like it’s the first time our lips have met. It’s the kind of kiss that’s tender at first, but then becomes a release of emotion from the anticipation that has built up from waiting. I’m lost in his embrace until he pulls away.

“Daisy, the fight is almost over. We need to get you to safety. We have five minutes until this place is going to blow. Where are Eva, Chelsea, and the girls?”

I point toward the door at the end of the hall. “Uri led them that way!”

“Then there must be an exit we don’t know about,” he says. Angel relays the situation, and I watch as he nods.

“Four of the five girls have made it outside, as did Chelsea. Eva just ran back inside. I can only presume to find the fifth one. Apparently there’s a tunnel that dumps out a quarter of a mile to the east of us at the crest of the hill overlooking Loch Monar.”

I point to the door again. “Then that’s the direction we’re going.”

My brother comes around the corner and looks at Angel and me just standing in the hallway, CIA operatives behind him cuffing and hauling Dan and his men away.

“Why are you just standing here? We have four and a half minutes before this place becomes a crater.”

Angel asks my brother if he got the files he needed.

Owen’s face becomes pinched with frustration. “By the time I got into the server room, Bennett had already removed the backup drive and wiped the computers. I could crack it and retrieve the data if I had another hour, but not with the time we have. It won’t be long before the building is filled with two to three million gallons of water.”

I take off running and push through the door, nearly falling down the flight of stairs that are on the other side. Angel and Owen chase me, but with their body armor and gear, they can’t quite keep up. I press through another door and stop in my tracks when I see Brit Larson pointing a gun at Bennett. She must have picked it up along the way.

If that weren’t bad enough, Bennett is pointing his gun at Brit.

“If what they said is true, then you took away my life! Now I’m going to take yours!” she says through her tears. “You made me believe my mother was dead and that my father didn’t love me! Then, after years of whatever you did, I have to spend the next few decades unraveling the mess you made!”

“What’s your plan, Brit?” Bennett asks. His eyes meet mine for only a fraction of a second as he continues to reason with the young woman. “Are we all going to die here? Is that what you really want?”

Angel and Owen quickly assess the situation when they come up behind me, raising their rifles. “No one has to die, Bennett,” Angel says. “Drop the backup drive, and we’ll let you go.”

Brit’s hand shakes as she holds the weapon she must have retrieved from one of the downed officers. “He has to die so that no one else will go through what he’s put me through. How many girls have you done this to? How many lives have you ruined?”

“I haven’t ruined anyone’s life, child. I’ve saved them!” Bennett seethes. “Wars have been stopped because of the work we’ve done here!”

Eva emerges from the middle of three hatches that are spread across the opposite side of the room, holding her hands up once she sees all the weapons pointed at each other in a standoff. My hands itch to grab Angel’s sidearm. However, any movement from me could turn an already volatile situation into something far worse.

Tired of hearing Bennett regurgitate the same poor excuse for his actions, I slowly inch my way closer to Brit while Eva does the same. “Bennett, you have to know there’s nowhere to go,” she says. “The area is surrounded. I’ve seen it for myself.”

Bennett gives her a malicious yet knowing grin. “I knew this day would eventually come, and I’ve made provisions for my escape. Here’s where you have to decide if one life is worth sacrificing to save many.” He holds up the drive and slowly inches to a hatch that’s closest to him. “If you let me go, I won’t shoot Brit. And to think, I had such a lovely name picked out for her.”

Angel takes a step forward; his rifle steady and his breath calm. “What’s stopping us from shooting you before you get the chance?”