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“No, we have to make sure you’re safe. I’m not going anywhere until you’re safe,” he declared, suddenly looming over her. “Does Nate know where we are?”
Nate would have been working with Tristan to download the contents of Dare’s system but that should have been finished an hour ago. She wasn’t sure where they would be now. “He knows we’re in a privacy room, but I have no idea how far away he is. All I know is if the people with the guns are looking for you, they won’t stop until they have you.”
He shook his head, a stubborn look coming into his eyes. “Then they can take me. Tasha, you stay here and I’ll turn myself in. According to Brian, it didn’t seem like they were trying to kill me. At least not the first time they tried. I’m not going to put all these people at risk.”
It was the worst possible time for him to play superhero. She had to find a way to make him follow her rules. “I’m going to get you out. Nate is probably already making his way here.”
“Do you think they’re taking hostages?” His hands found her shoulders. “That’s the most obvious scenario. Why else would they come inside? Why not wait until I go to the parking lot?”
“Because then they would have to deal with Nate.”
“Yes, and here they won’t have to because I won’t listen to Nate if they’re holding a gun to someone’s head.” He leaned over, brushing his lips on her forehead. “I won’t let anyone die for me. They want something from me. I’ll give it to them, and they’ll let me go. You stay here.”
He was being so naïve, and she was not hiding in a privacy room while the op went to hell. “Dare, you are not turning yourself over. I swear that if you do, I’ll be right behind you. I’ll explain to them that the best way to keep you in line is to take me with them.”
He paled. “You wouldn’t.”
“Try me.” He was severely underestimating how desperately she needed to save him. Her team would be out there right now trying to handle the situation. Dare walking out in the middle of it would make things so much worse. “There are several ex-military who are members of this club. I assure you, they can handle the situation.”
“Tasha, I’m trying to protect you.”
“And I’m trying to do the same for you. So it’s your choice. You can walk out there like a sacrificial lamb and I’ll find a way to go with you, or you can come with me and we’ll get to Nate and get the hell out of here,” she explained.
His jaw went tight. “I don’t like you limiting my choices this way.”
“I don’t like the thought of you being used in some kind of war I don’t understand, so suck it up,” she shot back as she moved to the door.
He was behind her. “At least let me go first.”
This was where it would be so helpful if he knew she was a trained CIA agent, but it wasn’t the time to spring that on him. “I’m just going to take a look. They might not know who I am. Stay here.”
She slipped out and was surprised to see the hallway filled with a wispy fog. Her nose wrinkled as the scent hit her. Acrid and sulphureous, she knew the smell.
What the hell was going on and could she get to her pants before she had to sneak out? Pants were important.
“What is that smell?”
She started but managed not to shout. “Damn it, Dare. I told you to stay inside.”
“Not happening,” he admitted. “Why is there fog?”
“Someone set off a flashbang.” She moved carefully along the wall. The place had gone quiet, and she saw a couple rush across the edge of the main floor, holding hands with their heads down.
Colin was going to kill them. She would need every hour she had between here and Loa Mali to craft an explanation to her parents about why she’d gotten a friend’s club raided, because they would be on the way. Colin would give her father an earful about how the night had gone.
And then there was Brian. What if the fuckers took Brian? Then she’d be responsible for his kidnapping because she’d left him tied to a sex bench.
Calm. She needed to stay calm. The locker room was too far away. There had to be someplace she could hole up with Dare while her sisters and the boys took care of business.
The lights went out.
Lou was at work. The darkness would help unless the fuckers were a paramilitary group of mercenaries, and then they would have night vision.
“Stay close. We’re going to stick to the wall and take a left at the end of the hall.” To the right was the main dungeon, and that was almost surely where they would start the search. To the left they could get to the stairs that led to more diversified play spaces, and more importantly, to the opposite of the club where there was a back exit.
