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As she awkwardly rappels down, a tingle erupts at the base of my spine and I know better than to ignore it. Turning slightly, I glance over my shoulder at the same moment a bullet whizzes past my head.
“Shit!” I leap off the wall, throwing myself into mid-air, and then drop 15 feet to the ground below.
Chapter Fourteen: Lake
Seeing Dash go flying off the top of the stone wall and then soaring through midair nearly gives me a heart attack.
“Dash!” I cry and watch in absolute horror as he falls, dropping fast and hitting the ground. But he lands just like a specially trained operator would, keeping his legs tightly together, turning his body so it’s more horizontal and not coming straight down, then hitting sideways, boots first and going into a roll. He manages to absorb most of the impact with his meaty shoulder and ass which is smart.
Running over, I drop down beside him and he’s lying on his back, teal eyes blinking up at me. “Are you okay?” I ask, checking over his body, twisted in the rope. “You didn’t break anything, did you?”
Maddox moves up beside me. “You didn’t get shot, did you?”
Dash lets out a low groan. “Don’t think so.”
“Good. Let’s move.”
I huff out an annoyed sound at Maddox and lightly touch Dash’s shoulder. “Can you move your arm?”
“Quit babying him,” Maddox snaps, reaching for his gun. “We’re about to have company and he needs to get up and move!” As Maddox leans over to offer Dash a hand, Sailor jogs into view.
“Time to go!” she calls. “Get your ass up, Slater.”
Their lack of concern amazes me, but this must be nothing compared to what they’ve been through in the past.
Once he’s back on his feet, Dash motions for us to move. The five of us take off into the trees just as another gunshot cracks through the air. The loud pop scares me, and I cry out and duck. But then I realize that Dash is running right behind me, covering me. We don’t slow down until we reach the SUV. Mila and I are huffing and puffing, clearly not runners, but the others don’t even look like they’ve broken a sweat.
We jump into the car and Maddox is spinning the wheel and peeling out before I can even find my seatbelt. These three work so well together. Extremely fast and precise. It’s impressive, almost like they’re on the same wavelength and can anticipate what’s going to happen next.
I can only imagine what they were like out in their respective fields. Total badasses.
After a quick introduction, Dash gets down to business, turning his attention to Mila. “Why was Caruso holding you?”
“He thought I had the T-Force. But the Russians stole it first. So he was trying to get me to remember the formula, but I never knew it. My dad was very secretive. He never told anyone.”
“What Russians exactly?” Sailor asks from the front seat.
“I have no idea. Whoever it was broke into my safe while I was out and stole the sample my dad left me. My neighbor witnessed the whole thing and said he heard their accents. Then Caruso sent men to kidnap me and I overheard him saying he thinks the Russian mob took the T-Force.”
“Petrov,” Maddox growls.
“Yes! He mentioned that name,” Mila says.
“So how did Lake wind up with the sample in San Francisco?” Sailor asks.
“Good question,” Dash says. “I assume the Russians brought it to the States for a reason. Maybe a potential buyer? Maybe for a scientist to study it? It was just a small sample.”
“Why put it in my bag?” Lake asks.
“They needed a mule, someone who looked innocent and who’d be able to slide right through security fairly easily and without questions.”
“A mule?” I echo. “Gee, thanks.”
“It’s nothing against you personally,” Dash says. “They needed to transport it through the airport and then get it on the plane. They targeted you to do that for them. Then after landing when they tried to get it back, you caught on and ran.”
“Okay, so we only have a sample. That means Petrov must have the rest of it,” Maddox says. “Can he figure out the components from that and then be able to create his own Tantium Force?”
Everyone looks at Mila. “Unfortunately, yes, that’s a very likely possibility. My father was the scientist, not me, but if this Petrov has the right people working on it, they should be able to go backwards and discover what makes up the miracle substance.”
