AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She turned and ran.
Without hesitation, he took off after her, scooping up his cane in one easy motion.
Freedom. That’s what it felt like. His legs worked, pumping with adrenaline, power. How long had it been since he’d flown over the ground like this?
His laugh echoed in his chest as he snapped the cane out to its full length with a flick of his wrist. Batman’s fabric cape fluttered. “I’m Batman,” he murmured and whipped the cane at Binni’s ankles.
It hit the mark and she cried out, stumbling. Her hat rolled under a parked van as she belly-flopped to the ground. By the time she got up again, limping, he flung himself at her fleeing figure.
She was half his size and took the brunt of their fall. Her chest hit the concrete, breath whooshing from her lungs in a grunt and her forehead smacking the ground. She made a mewing sound and fell quiet.
In the distance, he heard sirens. Amelia screamed. “Rory!”
“I’m okay,” he called. “Your favorite designer isn’t.”
Binni blinked her eyes, but couldn’t seem to focus. She blabbered incoherently. He stood, grabbed the woman’s hands, and dragged her unceremoniously back to the car. “Give me Masden’s tie,” he told Hannah.
With shaking, bloodied fingers, the First Daughter tenderly removed the black fabric from the agent’s neck. Tears streaked her makeup. Rory used it to secure Binni’s wrists to the steering wheel of the car and Hannah cradled Masden’s head in her lap, continuing to press Rory’s blood-soaked shirt against his wound. “Is he…” She hiccupped. “Is he going to die?”
“Not on my watch.” Rory’s legs trembled from his efforts, but he rode the high of the tackle. He had no idea if Masden would live. Being gut shot hurt like hell, but was generally less fatal than a chest or head wound.
“Give me your earbud,” he said to Amelia, sinking to his knees next to her. The crushed bumper of the disabled car was far too close.
She did, her hands also shaking. “That was… Let’s just say, don’t ever scare me like that again.”
He popped the comm in his ear and heard an ongoing convo between his team, mostly concerned about him. “I’m here,” he said flippantly, interrupting them, “and I’m fine. Where’s my backup? Where’s that ambulance?”
“Fuck me,” Moe said on a heavy breath filled with relief. “I knew you were too bloody ornery to up and die on us.”
He stood to manually shove the car back a few feet so he could help Amelia out of her crunched up position against the wall. “Apparently, I owe you lunch,mate. Next week work?”
A strained silence filled the air. “Blimey. What the hell for?”
“I’ll explain later,” he said, bracing his feet on the ground and giving the vehicle a push. His lower back barked, along with his weak knee. He ignored it. “The kid good?”
“He’s fine, and we have Jose in custody,” Beatrice announced, “but Binni and LeFarre got away.”
“I’ve got Binni,” he told them, his pulse skipping when Amelia, now leaning against the wall of the elevator shaft, smiled at him. Total gratitude and something more was locked in that smile.Love. “How’d that bastard get by all of you?”
The elevator dinged. Finally, the medical technicians.
“We lost him,” Trace groused. “I’ve been over every exit of the garage and he never came out.”
The doors opened. From inside, Chad, the fucker, grinned at him. Beside Chad was the man with the scar.
“Because he’s still here,” Rory snarled.
Chad stepped out, a gun aimed at Rory’s chest.
TWENTY-FOUR
Amelia had edged up the wall that supported the elevator shaft and was leaning against it when she heard the motors kick in. She gripped her crutch tightly, knowing she was going to need more than that once the doctor saw her ankle.
Rory was a hero. An honest to god hero. He’d saved them all.
And she’d gawked at watching him run across the floor, chasing after Binni, as lethal as a tiger, graceful as a deer.
When the doors opened, she slid around the corner, ready to direct the paramedics to Hannah and Masden. She hadn’t expected Chad to step out, gun raised.
