Between Love and Honor (Men of the Secret Service #3) - Tracy Solheim Page 0,41

and used the self-time to capture several images of them. She recognized this one as the photo she’d had hanging on her bedroom mirror. She had a similar one tucked away in a journal in her safe house. How had Ben gotten hold of this one? Her eyes burned as she reverently fingered the picture before nearly dropping it when she heard a loud thump overhead.

Crap! She’d wasted too much time and Ben was on his way down. She quickly closed the door and ran into the loo to flush the toilet. With one last frustrated glance around the room, she headed to the door. A crash sounded from the loft above. Quinn hurried to the stairs.

“Ben?” she called.

The only answer was a grunt and a sharp intake of breath. Cautiously, she hurried up the stairs only to freeze at the sight greeting her once she reached the top. One of Alexi’s henchmen had Ben in a choke hold.

Chapter Nine

The guy came out of nowhere. His stealth identified him as a professional. Fortunately, Ben caught the assassin’s reflection in the computer monitor just as he was raising his gun outfitted with a silencer. Ben spun his right leg around in a Jiu Jitsu kick and knocked the Beretta from the guy’s hand before he had time to react. The gun slid beneath an end table next to the stairs.

Ben was frantically grabbing for anything on the desk he could use as a weapon when the other guy snarled and charged him. A second later, he landed another kick to the guy’s shoulder momentarily stunning him. Ben shifted his body around so he wasn’t pinned against the desk. The assassin reached beneath his pant leg and pulled a lethal looking knife out of his boot. Ben raised his hand to ward off the knife when he heard Quinn’s voice.

Shit!

He’d hoped she’d stay safe in the bedroom. His heart sped up just knowing she was still alive. But he’d hesitated too long. The other guy was on him quickly. Ben managed to get in a nasty strike to the assassin’s wrist dislodging the knife, but not before the guy slashed through Ben’s T-shirt, ripping the skin on his right shoulder. Between the sting of the wound and the sound of Quinn’s footsteps on the stairs, he got distracted long enough for the other guy to get him in a choke hold. Ben was moving the other guy back toward the low ceiling in hopes of getting in a headbutt and a kick to his instep when Quinn appeared on the landing.

The guy choking him seemed surprised to see her before he chuckled.

“You’re next.”

With the ease of someone comfortable with firearms, Quinn retrieved the gun from beneath the table and pointed it at them. Ben continued to claw at the hands around his neck, praying she wouldn’t fire the gun. The only one he’d trust with a shot that tricky was Adam.

“Let him go,” she demanded, coolly.

The fingers on his carotid artery tightened. Wheezing, Ben angled his head to slam into the guy’s jaw, but he never got a chance. In an instant, the fingers around his neck loosened and the guy behind him slumped against him. Ben gasped in several breaths before shoving the guy backward. When he turned around, the assassin was a heap against the wall, a single bullet hole in the center of the forehead.

Incredulous, he glanced back at Quinn but she had her fingers to her lips.

“He has a partner,” she mouthed.

Ben grabbed the knife and made his way over to the stairs. He was a bit stunned to realize she was unfazed and all business after shooting another human being with the cold calculation of a trained killer. Months back, Josslyn had shot a man trying to kidnap a little boy in her care. She’d been shaken for weeks.

Who was this woman seated beside him?

He didn’t have time to ponder the question because she was already headed downstairs.

“Wait!” he hissed.

Grabbing her arm, he went to take the gun away, but she just rolled her eyes. He swallowed a savage curse and jumped ahead of her, the knife in his fist as he led the way down.

“Which room has a window that looks out front?” she whispered against his ear.

He nodded to the door directly in front of them that used to be Griff’s room. Quietly, they made their way inside. She gestured for him to keep an eye on the door while she edged around the perimeter