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The forty-five minutes they'd been forced to wait for the green light to enter the warehouse had been the longest of his life. Guilt threatened to consume him for allowing Hannah to be put into danger with their fucked-up plan.
As they'd prepared to raid the building, the four men from Titan Securities had been split up, each being assigned partners from the local law enforcement teams. Dylan was shocked that the police had even let civilians join in the search at all, but Lukus had been extremely persuasive. He convinced the police that his team had insider information on the security of the building; and, since time was of the essence, they'd been allowed to go in hot with the police. Of course, they'd been their Kevlar vests and were lectured ad nauseam about their role as civilians, first.
As Dylan and the couple of SWAT officers he was paired with moved deeper into the building, he scanned each location quickly, pressing forward, determined to find the only person he cared about at that moment. Flashbacks to his time in the military crashed in, as if he were sweeping enemy shacks in Afghanistan again.
They left the uniformed cops to handle securing the recording studio and call center filled with surprised naked employees tied to their desks. The men in the lead knew they were running out of time to get to the victims being held against their will.
When they got to the lower level, Hannah's last known location, Dylan wanted to call out her name, but resisted the impulse to do so. He knew they needed the element of surprise. Once they had neutralized Davenport's security team in the Strictly Business security office, the men stopped to watch the wall of monitors, hoping to catch a glimpse of enemy number one.
"There. This has to be where he's hiding." Lukus was pointing at a monitor showing five naked women strung up and on display. Each of them had lines of welts across their bodies as if they'd been beaten. Dylan cringed as he recognized Hannah's best friend Mia among them, and then felt like a total ass for feeling relief that Hannah wasn't on display alongside her friend.
Fear tightened in Dylan's chest as they waited long minutes for the heavy security doors to be blown open to allow their entry to the final part of the building.
As soon as they got past that last secure door, Dylan knew they were in trouble. Strobe lights flashed a warning to all inside. The officers spread out, searching the space quickly, opening door after door, only to find small observation rooms empty. The perverted occupants hadn't been gone for long. Half-full tumblers of amber alcohol and lit cigars had been left behind in their rush to escape.
"Hannah! I'm coming, baby! Where are you?" Dylan couldn't keep quiet any longer.
Through the walls, he heard the pop of several gunshots, raising the stakes of the dangerous situation. Fear gripped him. His hope of finding her alive was almost extinguished by the time they got to the last in a long row of private booths. When they pushed into the dark room, time stood still. For a brief second, he worried he was imagining seeing Hannah crumpled to the floor. Only when she stirred, moaning in pain, did he allow relief to flood through his body.
She's alive. Thank God.
Dylan rushed to her side, not caring that the officer he was with was cussing him out for not letting him secure the room first. A cocktail of contrasting emotions coursed through Dylan as his relief at finding her alive was drowned out with rage.
Hannah's beautiful face was swollen, a bruise darkening her left cheek where he was sure Davenport had backhanded her. Her bottom lip was cracked and puffed up as if she'd bitten it.
Only the shallow rise and fall of her naked chest calmed him. She was alive. That was what mattered. He saw goosebumps forming across her naked body and knew she was chilled. Dylan took his bulletproof vest off and quickly pulled his oversized sweatshirt off over his head, draping it over her petite body. He hoped it would warm her but was also glad to be able to cover her from prying eyes as the compact rooms filled with over a dozen law enforcement officers.
Through the glass, Dylan saw officers from several agencies swarming into the viewing area, rushing to aid the five traumatized women in need of rescuing. Despite having no official authority whatsoever, Lukus Mitchell stood in the middle of the display room, barking orders. It was clear from the rage rolling off his boss that Jake Davenport hadn't been found yet. "God damn it! Somebody had better tell me how the fuck he got past us—and fast!" Mitchell yelled.
Derek tried to calm him down. "We found a secret tunnel into the basement from the building next door. It's how so many assholes got in and out without being seen by our recon. They're tracking him. We'll get him."
Lukus turned to his friend, enraged. "We'd better get him. We've cut off his ability to go to any of his normal haunts now. He was insane before. Now he'll be desperate and bat-shit crazy."
The sound of a pained moan drew Dylan's attention back to Hannah. Her chills had turned into all-out shivers. Dylan sat on the floor, his back against the glass wall. He pulled Hannah into his lap and cradled her while he wrapped the sweatshirt around her as best he could.
Pulling her close, he spoke softly in her ear. "I'm so sorry, Hannah. You're safe now. Jake Davenport won't hurt you again. It's over."
Only he knew it wasn't over. Angry voices shouted around him. No one had captured the prick yet.
He could hear Lukus behind him interrogating Mohammed, Davenport's number two. From the sound of things, Lukus was trying to beat the whereabouts of Jake Davenport out of the man and the police seemed to be looking the other way, allowing the civilian to do what they couldn't do in an official capacity. A small smile crept to Dylan's face as he silently cheered his boss on.
As he brushed the back of his fingers gently across her cheek, Hannah's eyes popped open; fear radiating from her as she regained consciousness. Dylan forced a smile in hopes of calming her. "Hi there. You're safe now. I've got you."
The sounds of violence still filled the air around them, making it impossible for Hannah to feel safe. Dylan cradled her closer to his chest, hugging her so he could speak softly in her ear. "You were so brave, baby. I'm so sorry you had to go through that, but it's over now."
He felt her body tighten with anxiety, and realized that from her position she could see through the two-way mirror, into the center display room where Lukus and Derek were trying to get intel from the broken Arab center stage. He assumed it was what had her spooked until her hoarse cry cut through him. "Mia is bleeding. I have to help her."
Her voice cracked with emotion. Dylan angled so he could see what was happening. Mia was lying on the concrete floor, shaking as a SWAT member tended to what looked like a gunshot wound to her shoulder. Her sister sat propped up along the wall nearby, a vacant look of shock in her eyes.
"The police are taking care of them, honey. The paramedics are on their way down."
As if he'd planned it, a pair of emergency techs pushed into their room carrying a large tackle-box of medical supplies. They didn't even get near Hannah before she shooed them away. "Go in there. She needs you more than I do. Go. Now!" The grown men exchanged glances, surprised at being bossed around by a petite patient, yet followed directions.
The sound of a foreign language being spoken nearby caught Dylan's attention. It sounded like Russian. The only word he could make out wasimmunity.
Long minutes dragged on as Dylan comforted Hannah silently, listening to men being arrested. Listening to paramedics tending to the women on the small stage. They needed the quiet time to calm down, and by the time Lukus stepped into their room and crouched down in front of Hannah, they were both feeling more in control again.
Lukus smiled a pained smile as he reached to brush Hannah's long hair from her face. "I'm so glad we found you before it got any worse. I can't thank you enough, Hannah, for helping us get inside and turning Davenport's world upside down. You were so brave."
