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“Youshot one?” God, she was something. “Don’t worry about it. I took care of them already.” They were trussed up in a side tunnel. He cupped her face. “Come on. Let’s get you out of this damn mine.”
“Yes, please.”
They slowly moved down the tunnel.
When they heard a noise behind them, they both stiffened. They turned, and Boone aimed his flashlight and Glock down the tunnel.
He saw Atlas loping toward them.
Boone grinned and lowered his weapon. “Hey, you.”
“Atlas,” Gemma cried.
The dog bustled around them, and they both patted him.
“He took good care of me,” she said.
Of course he did. Boone was starting to think that was the job of the Hendrix men—to protect Gemma Newhouse.
“Come on.” They hobbled the rest of the way and reached the exit. He shoved the door open, and they stepped outside, blinking in the sunlight.
Boone couldn’t hear any more gunfire down below, and he hoped that Shep was okay.
“It’s not going to be that easy.” Radu stepped out from behind a tree, gun aimed at them.
Fuck. “Hide,” Boone barked.
Radu made a sound. “There’s nowhere for you to hide.”
But the command wasn’t for him and Gemma. Boone knew that Atlas would have obeyed in an instant. The dog was hidden behind him and Gemma in the tunnel.
Gemma gripped Boone’s side and glared at the merc.
The man had obviously used a different exit from the mine. He wasn’t looking too good. He was coated in dust, with his ballistic vest hanging loose.Damn. Boone’s bullets hadn’t hurt him. Or maybe just a little. The man’s left arm hung loose by his side, and Boone saw blood dripping off the man’s fingers.
“Ms. Newhouse, walk to me.”
She shook her head. “No. You’ll shoot Boone.”
“I will shoot him if youdon’tcome here. Do it.Now.”
“Go,” Boone murmured.
He saw her face twist. She took two small steps toward Radu.
The merc grabbed her wrist and yanked her close. With her injured leg, he almost knocked her off balance.Asshole.
Radu hauled Gemma in front of him and pressed the gun against the side of her head.
Suddenly, a flashback slammed into Boone.
A Taliban soldier with his gun pressed to Julio’s head as he spewed obscenities in Arabic. Boone’s crushing sense of helplessness.
Breathe. You aren’t in that cell. He fought to focus.Gemma needs you. You aren’t helpless this time.
Gemma’s hazel gaze came into view, locked on his. She was afraid, but she wasn’t panicking. She looked at him—steady, sure, her gaze filled with trust.
She believed in him.
