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“Cerberus. What is your status?”
“Um. Aurora.”
“Message received. ETA to your position is twenty-three minutes. Keep yourself safe, Anabella, and let the teams do their jobs. This is why you hired us.”
The line went dead, and she stood with her ear pressed to the door. At first, there was blessed silence, which was quickly shattered by gunshots and shouting. Anabella knew she should do as Coop told her, but she couldn’t stand idly by and allow other people to get hurt on her account without trying to help.
Quietly she entered the bedroom and began to search for an extra gun. She found what she was looking for in the nightstand next to the bed. She checked to make sure the gun was loaded and then cleared the chamber before releasing the safety. She crept towards the bedroom door. Outside in the hall, she could hear what sounded to her like hand-to-hand combat. Something large slammed into the door with a loud thud. She was certain it wasn’t Coop as she could hear him shouting from much closer to the staircase.
The doorknob started to turn, and Anabella positioned herself where she would be hard to spot and not be hit by the door if it was flung open. The person on the other side of the door opened it and stepped through as Anabella raised the gun over her head and brought the butt of it down on his temple, driving him to the floor and knocking him out cold.
Anabella dragged him inside, closed the door and then searched for some kind of restraints. These guys were into kink, surely all the bedrooms came equipped. She opened the antique chifforobe and smiled. They were nothing if not predictable. She grabbed two sets of zip ties and bound the assailant’s hands and feet and then secured a ball gag in his mouth. He was still unconscious, but that ought to ensure he couldn’t enter the fight again.
She picked up his gun, engaged the safety and tucked it into her waistband. Entering the hallway, she could see Coop and Pete fighting off attackers from three sides. Only one was on her side of the hall, two from the other side of the staircase and two more coming up the stairs. So far no one seemed to have their guns drawn, which she found odd until she saw several loose guns lying around.
Creeping up behind the man between she and Coop, she brought the gun down on the back of his head, dropping him like a stone. Coop glanced her way and flashed her an angry look which was quickly replaced by a sly grin.
Cooper dodged a fist coming his way, ducking under it and countering with a strong right cross, sending the recipient tumbling back down the stairs. Between him and Pete, they were making short work of the goons. She knew it was probably completely inappropriate, but she leaned against the wood paneled wall and just watched. Coop moved with the strength, speed, and grace of an apex predator. Pete was no slouch, but there was a lethalness to Coop that couldn’t be denied.
They were making short work of their attackers when the front door burst open and the backup team from Cerberus arrived. She knew who they were as their bulletproof vests and ball-caps were all emblazoned with the Cerberus logo. She recognized the team leader—it was hard not to spot the only woman in the group. Miley was strong and assertive, dividing her men before charging up the stairs.
Anabella had to admit it was pretty much all over but the shouting by the time Miley and her team arrived. The entire group of assailants had been forced to surrender.
“I think Anabella may have taken care of one of them in our room,” said Coop as he marched one of the intruders down the stairs.
“I’ve got it,” said Miley, who stopped beside Anabella. “You all right?”
“Yes. Is it over?”
“Pretty much. King and Seth convinced King’s contact at the FBI that they had a problem with your ex. They helped us set up a sting and we were able to lure them in. Bellows realized they were outmanned and outgunned and was beating a hasty retreat.” Miley opened the bedroom door and began to laugh. “You and I are going to be the best of friends.”
She entered the room and cut the ankle restraints before hauling an angry would-be killer from the floor and taking him out without removing the ball gag.
“Miley,” called Cooper from the foyer.
“Yeah, Coop.”
“Is someone from the Bureau coming to formally arrest these guys and take them in, or do we have to do that for them, as well?”
“They were supposed to be right behind us.”
“Miley?” asked Anabella as the Cerberus employee passed her.
Miley stopped. “Anabella, what’s up?”
“Do you think I could catch a ride back with you?”
“Don’t you want to stay with Coop? He has to stay behind to make sure all the T’s are all crossed and the I’s are all dotted, but it shouldn’t take long.”
“I’m safe, right?”
“Yeah. Seth was able to take what you found and unravel the thing. Right about now Blackwood Junior is being arrested. He and Bellows were colluding and laundering money as well as shipping illegal arms. Blackwood Senior is, of course, disavowing any knowledge of his actions. I’m not sure if that’ll hold up, but at least we’ve shut them down and you should be safe from here on out.”
“As long as the danger is gone, I’d like to fly back with you, if that’s all right.”
Miley frowned, but said, “You’re the client. That’s your choice. For the record, I think it’s the wrong one, but it’s your choice to make. I’ll just warn you, guys like Cooper don’t handle rejection well.”
“I don’t know that I’m rejecting him—at least not forever.”
