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“Go,” Reck’d ordered.
“Breaching,” Boomer said and hit the dead man switch. The blast was fast and sharp, the door blowing inward with a squeal of metal.
With ordered chaos, they moved through the doorway into the warehouse. Cox’s men fired on them, but Kodiak could only think about one thing, finding Kaiya. The other targeted wall would have put them dead in the center of where they had her in that chair. He glanced at his thermal and saw the image of Cox releasing Kaiya from the chair.
“Cox is on the move with Kaiya,” Kodiak said into his comms. “In pursuit.”
“Hazard,” Reck’d said, and Kodiak found his buddy slipping in front of him from one of the corridors of goods. They navigated the warehouse, staying low to avoid all the lead that was flying back and forth. Something from his left made him rotate and his finger depressed the trigger as one of Cox’s guys took a bead on Hazard.
They kept moving as Cox’s minions sprayed gunfire, until he finally saw a man pulling Kaiya along with a gun in her side. He grinned as she fought him like the firecracker she was. Cox was heading toward a closed door in the back of the warehouse that looked like a walled-off office. He passed Hazard, running full out to catch them.
Cox turned and put the gun to Kaiya’s temple and shouted, “Back off!” Kaiya’s face was a bloody mess and Kodiak’s hands tightened on his weapon, the medical professional in him wanting to ease her pain and attend to her cuts. Her lip was split, her left cheek and jaw bruised, numerous cuts and abrasions signaling her trauma. But there was still the light of defiance in her eyes.
That was one tough babe.
Hazard kept a constant vigil behind them to make sure they weren’t attacked from that direction.
“This place is rigged with explosives. All I need to do is release this button, and we all die!” In his left hand was a dead man switch.
“There’s nowhere for you to run, Cox. Let her go!” He was calculating, figuring out how to communicate what he wanted Kaiya to do, so that he could eliminate both the threat to her and to them all. If Cox depressed the trigger, the warehouse was going to take them all out. He was a medic who also happened to be one of the best shots on the team. He was a warrior first and a medic second, except when it came to his injured brothers, then those roles changed. He knew what it took to take risks and then have to live with himself and the consequences of his actions. He would remove himself if he ever doubted on what side of the line he stood.
Kaiya took the burden of communication as she turned her head slightly enough to bring the hand holding the detonator near her jaw into view, then she gave him a pointed look that silently said,you do what needs to be done and I’ll get the switch.
She mouthed a countdown, starting with three. He was going to blow this fucker away on one. At the designated time, Kaiya moved in a graceful arc and grabbed Cox’s thumb, twisting to release the leverage against the switch, but her other hand was there to apply the pressure needed to keep the red button from releasing.
The moment she was clear, Kodiak pulled the trigger, and Cox crumbled to the cement floor, blood pooling around his head.
“Boomer, we need you,” Kodiak said as he rushed to Kaiya, who opened one arm and embraced him hard.
“Thank you,” she whispered, and he could hear the unspoken words,for not leaving me behind.
Boomer broke into the open and came at them on the run. When he reached them, Kodiak said, “Dead man’s switch.”
He reached out and said, “Hold on tight, lady. I’ve got you.” He dismantled the threat and then took the switch out of her hand. Her other arm went around him, and Boomer smirked.
“Got this covered, man?” Boomer said.
Kodiak just growled at him as Hazard laughed. He was so relieved she was safe.
Kaiya let him go. “Mickey’s here.”
“What? I told him to stay put. Dammit.”
“He saved me some torture.” She closed her eyes, a little unsteady on her feet. He pulled her closer. “There are others here, including Baker. Cox said, ‘Put them with the others.’ What do you think that means?”
“More kidnappings, and I’d say if they hadn’t been reported, then they are part of NSH’s MO.”
A pounding came from the other side of the door. “Kaiya! Is that you? What the hell is happening out there?” Mickey shouted.
She looked at Kodiak. “Get it open, Boom.”
Boomer pulled a shotgun from his back and yelled, “Move away from the door.” He gave them about thirty seconds, then cocked the gun and blew the lock away. The door swung open. Kodiak looked inside. Huddled in the corner was Mickey, beaming at Kaiya, a confused and scared Archie Baker, and a terrified woman clutching two children, a girl, who looked to be about five and a boy about seven.
Her face contorted in pain and panic. “You’ve got to stop him! He’s doing it for us. Please, stop him.”
“Who?” Kodiak asked.
“My husband, Lieutenant David Larkin. He’s being forced to attack NBS Sydney against his will. For us. He’s doing it for us.”
