AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You got this, babe,” I encourage her, hustling down another level.
“So, ah, are you two official now?” Ryan asks.
“What do you think, Sai?” I ask playfully. “Wanna be my girlfriend?”
“You’re asking me that now? While I’m suspended 25 feet above the ground?”
“Yeah. What do you say?”
She laughs softly and I can’t help but grin.God, I love this woman.The thought hits me out of the blue and there is absolutely no denying it. That pint-sized tornado is my woman and it’s time I claim her completely and announce it to the entire world.
Sailor Moon Shaw is mine.
But my smile disintegrates when the sinister pop of gunfire echoes in my earpiece followed by Sailor’s scream.
“Sailor!” I yell.
When I don’t get a response, I launch myself down onto the next landing, curve around the handrail, and practically throw myself down the flight of stairs, desperate to get to her. “Sailor! What’s going on?” I demand.
Only silence fills my comms and my heart drops. I spit out a vicious curse and slam through the door that leads to the 5th level of the underground lab.
I’m coming, Sai. And you better be alright.
Chapter Seventeen: Sailor
I’m so close to the bottom of the chute that I can see light entering it from below, and that’s when someone starts shooting from above. A couple of bullets ricochet around and somehow manage to miss me completely, but it’s way too close for comfort. With a half cry/ half scream, I loosen my hold on the walls of the chute and let myself drop down fast. In the process, I miss the fifth floor and fall all the way to the bottom.
My boots hit the ground with a jarring thud and I fall backward, landing so hard on my butt that my teeth rattle. “Kane? Ryan? Do you copy?” I whisper, but there’s no response. I must be too far underground for the comms to work.Great.
I stand up, dust off the back of my pants, and look around, trying to get my bearings. The lab has seven underground floors and I just crash-landed all the way to the bottom. I’m clearly in the laundry room. Too bad there wasn’t one of those big rolling carts with a cushy pile of sheets inside to break my fall. I’m going to be feeling that impact in my joints for a while.
I know I need to get to the fifth level so I move forward, searching for a staircase.
Instead, I find a gun pointed in my face.
Oh, for fuck’s sake,I think, mentally echoing Kane’s choice phrase when he swears. I’m getting more comfortable with cursing. Kane would be so proud, I decide, as I catch my assailant off-guard with a crescent kick to his wrist. The gun flies through the air and, as he stands there stunned stupid, I catch him under the chin with a well-placed palm heel strike. His head snaps back and I immediately slam a kick up between his legs, hitting him hard right in the jewels.
With a groan, the guard drops to the floor and I take off, searching for an exit sign. I finally see one, its red letters beckoning me forward like a beacon, and I breathe just a little easier knowing I’m that much closer to finding DeLazzer. Slamming through the door, I haul ass up two flights of stairs on pure adrenaline. I force myself to pause, catching my breath and slowing my heart rate before slowly opening the stairwell door and peering out. The last thing I need is to barge through that door right into more guards.
I spot a man dressed in a lab coat heading in the opposite direction and I wait until he disappears from sight before stepping out into the fifth-floor hall. My earpiece crackles as I hustle forward. “Ryan? Do you copy?”
“Deadly? Are you okay?”
I’ve never been happier to hear Dash’s smooth, velvet voice. No doubt about it– my boss has the sexiest voice around. I need to get through this assignment and out of here so I can set that man up on a date.
“I’m fine,” I say. “I need to find Kane. He’s freaking out isn’t it?”
“He was ready to go all Mad Max until we convinced him the best course of action was to stick to the plan and trust your skills. He’s got DeLazzer. Ryan just pulled you up on the security cam. He’s working on scrubbing footage, so I’m going to get you out of there. Keep going straight then take a right.”
I follow his directions and then he tells me to go into the fourth door on the left. As I’m pushing the handle down, the door opens, practically flying off its hinges, and Kane fills the doorway.
“Thank fuck,” he grits out and yanks me into his arms. He kisses me hard and then pulls back, looking me over and running his hands down my sides. “Are you okay? I heard the gunshots and-” He swallows hard, and I can hear the fear in his voice.
“I’m okay,” I say, reaching out to cup his face.
“You’re sure?”
I nod. “Promise.”
