AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Roman fired again, hitting the man in the chest three times before he shot him in the head.
He fell to the floor with a thud.
Roman looked at the padlocked door, forced himself to walk past it.
“Get her out," he said as he headed for the next flight of stairs. “Now."
He was starting down the stairs when he heard the fire of a gun behind him followed by the metallic clink of the padlock hitting the floor.
He wouldn't think about what Max would find in the room where Ruby was being held.
He couldn’t.
He was halfway down the stairs when he heard the clatter of boots behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Tima on his heels.
"I'll cover you," Tima said.
It was fine with Roman. Max would get Ruby with Pavel's help.
They moved fast this time, unconcerned about the noise they made as they clattered down the stairs. The rest of Igor's men would already know they were here.
Now it was just a matter of who pulled the trigger first.
They were making their way across the third floor to the next staircase when they heard heavy footfalls ascending from below.
Roman picked up the pace, wanting to hit the top of the staircase first.
High ground was always an advantage.
He got there just in time to see two men starting up the staircase with their weapons drawn.
Too late.
Roman fired into the first man's skull and was preparing to hit the man behind him when he fell too.
It took Roman a moment to register that the man had been shot not by Roman but by Tima behind him.
"Thanks," he said.
Tima shrugged. "No problem.”
And then, in Roman's ear, Max's voice.
"We got her.”
Roman held his breath.
"She's alive."
7
Ruby
She was still in shock when she was hustled into a black SUV idling at the curb outside the building where she’d been held. It had all happened so fast: the scrape of chairs against concrete outside her room, the single shot fired before several rounds of muffled gunfire that sounded like it was coming from a silenced weapon, the voices on the other side of the door.
Then a voice she didn’t recognize telling her to stand back.
A few seconds later there was another muffled shot, closer this time, right at the door.
