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Killion turned on his heels and scooped her up, rushing her inside, and didn’t put her down until he reached the nursery. “Go now. Get dressed.”
Rainy stood paralyzed as she watched him pull all the curtains closed before reaching for their stroller, pulling it to the twin's crib.
“What is going on, Killion?” she demanded as she watched him put each of the babies in the stroller, push it to the hallway where he parked it, run to the other rooms, and do the same with the curtains, turning off lights as he did.
When he emerged from his room, he looked her up and down, noting how frightened she seemed, and knew it was because of him. He pulled her in his arms and held her there, calming her tremble.
He held her at arm’s length and looked her in the eye. “I need you to go put on clothes quickly. Then you get right back out here in the hallway with the babies and stay here. Right here until I say otherwise. There’s something outside. I’m taking care of it, but I can’t unless I know you’ll do exactly as I say?”
She nodded quickly, tossed the blanket to the floor, and rushed across the hallway to her room. Killion remained with the babies, pushing the stroller back and forth with one hand in an effort to keep them calm and sleeping while pecking away at his phone screen with the other. As quickly as she disappeared into the darkness of her bedroom, Rainy emerged, seeming less stressed or worried. There was a fierceness about her that hit Killion like a thousand bricks. At that moment, he realized just how strong she was and that she wasn’t a victim of her circumstance like she’d said. He truly saw her as all the things he’d mentioned earlier that night. Brave. Fierce. Strong.
He kissed her forehead and pushed the stroller through the house, parking it by the front door as he went into his office to his gun safe and hollered over his shoulder. “I want you to stay outside the apartment in the hallway with them. Don’t go near any windows. Stay there until I come for you.”
She watched as he grabbed a gun from his safe, quickly returned to her, and opened the door. “Okay.”
Killion paused, looked down at her, and realized she didn’t question what was happening. She simply trusted him and was willing to do whatever he said to keep herself and the babies safe. Killion held her face in his hands and kissed her once more before opening the door and helping her through it with the stroller. The elevator down the hall pinged, and the doors opened, revealing Wit, Hen, Cane, and Brody, who marched right for them.
Rainy looked back and forth between Killion and the men. “Killion?”
“You’re safe. The babies are safe,” he said as the men rushed by him into the apartment.
The second elevator pinged, and Ayelish and Ashlyn emerged, weapons drawn, both very pregnant.
“Stay with her,” Killion instructed as gunfire broke out inside the apartment.
Ayelish nodded. “Go.”
“Shit,” Rainy whispered as she slid down the wall as more gunfire rang out. Panic was setting in despite trying to maintain a brave face. “Shit, shit, shit. What’s going on in there?”
“It’s okay, Rainy,” Ashlyn said, kneeling beside her. “The guys are taking care of it. Killion thought he heard drones, and it sounds like he was right.”
Rainy nodded in understanding, somehow finding relief simply in knowing what was happening on the other side of the wall. “Got it. This is normal, right? Nothing to worry about. Perfectly normal to have your family rush into your home and shoot drones down from the balcony. Normal.”
Ashlyn chuckled. “Normal around here, anyway.”
It was silent. No more gunfire. No more shuffling of feet inside. Silent. Too silent. Rainy continued to sit on the floor next to the stroller, rocking it back and forth, humming the lullaby the twins loved so much like it was any given evening. But it wasn’t.
Finally, the door flung open, and Cane and Brody reemerged, heading straight for the elevator, both on their phones. They didn’t acknowledge the women at all as they were clearly still mission bound. The doors to the elevator closed before Wit and Hen were next to exit the apartment, concerned when they saw their sister on the floor humming.
“She’s fine,” Ayelish whispered. “Keeping the babies calm is all.”
Wit nodded and reached for Rainy’s hand. “Let me help you up, sis. It’s over. All is good.”
Rainy took his hand and made it to her feet, quick to steady herself so she could continue to rock the stroller. It appeared that perhaps the stroller's back and forth was more for her than it was for the babies, but nobody said a word and let her be.
“We’re safe to go inside?” Rainy asked.
Wit looked toward the door, and the rest followed his gaze to see Killion walk through the threshold last, diaper bag over his shoulder. “Not yet. Cane and Brody are meeting the recovery team on the ground and bringing the drones in to inspect from a safe place. We need to get to the Lair so we can safely watch from the surveillance cameras and hopefully get a break in the case.”
While the rest of the group went to call an elevator, Killion hung back with Rainy for a private moment. “You okay?”
She smiled and nodded. “I am now. You?”
“I’m good. Just… angry.”
“I understand. The threat is gone?” she asked.
“We got two, not sure how many others were out there or headed this way,” Killion chided.
