Expired Getaway (Last Chance County #7) - Lisa Phillips Page 0,106

do. But some prayers were born of desperation, a plea.

The FBI could bust in at any moment, although that would be a bad idea. They might have already broken into the surveillance cameras, watching everything. Maybe even listening, too.

A second later the sprinklers overhead turned on.

Aiden winced. If they wanted information from these servers, he wasn’t sure they would get it with the electronics waterlogged. Someone with technical know-how—like Ted—could probably answer that question. But given the fact he’d dragged in Millie already, he didn’t want to offer up anyone else. Not if it aided Enrico.

He saw a flash of Bridget’s jacket at the end of the hall. Just a second, and then she was gone. To the right. She raced out of the office and snuck out of sight as quickly as possible.

Aiden’s lips twitched. He managed to keep from laughing aloud as he realized she was never going to back down. Good for her.

If she wasn’t going to back down, then neither would he, though the man’s grip on his arm was starting to get seriously frustrating. He decided to use that to his advantage and swung around to the guy. “Will you ease up on your grip for one second? I’m not going anywhere while Bridget is in there, okay? You can quit squeezing my arm.”

The guy glanced at Enrico for direction, then let go a little.

Aiden twisted his hips and whipped out with his fist as fast as he could to throat punch him. The guy bent double and coughed for air. Aiden shook out his arms, one hand numb and the other hurt from the punch.

Enrico chuckled.

Aiden turned to him. Enrico pointed his gun at Aiden’s face.

“You should shoot him,” Clarke said through the intercom. Still waiting for Bridget. Seriously? The guy was clueless. He’d lost all sight of Bridget.

This might be fun. Except for the fact there was a gun pointed at his face.

Clarke narrowed his focus on Aiden. His expression darkened. “Get rid of him.”

Aiden wasn’t going to let that go. “Because Bridget prefers me over you?”

Clarke’s eyebrows rose. “That’s what you think?”

Aiden just stared at him. So cocky. That was going to get the guy in trouble.

Even so, Aiden didn’t back down. He knew better than Clarke, and he was confident in what they would be to each other if they all got out of this alive and in one piece. After all, they had Sydney connecting them. Even if it took a lifetime, he’d be able to convince her that she was the woman for him. Always had been and always would be.

If she balked at the idea of them together, he would simply spend the next however many decades they still had to live, proving to her that it was the truth.

He loved her.

If it didn’t take long, he planned to ask her to marry him. He wanted to settle down, finally. Then he’d see what she thought about having more kids exactly like Sydney. Or maybe a passel of boys. Butch could get a younger sibling too. He wasn’t going to last many more years. They would need more dogs in the house.

All this went through his mind as he stared at Clarke, aware of the gun pointed at his head by Enrico. Funny what you think of when your life could end in a blink.

As he watched, Bridget came up behind Clarke. She hit him over the head with something. His eyes widened half a second before he dropped to the floor. She doubled over and coughed.

Smoke inhalation.

Aiden needed to get her out of there fast. He needed to call Millie back and get the EMTs here to help Bridget. He didn’t care at all about the database everyone wanted so much. Only her.

Enrico’s guy recovered from Aiden’s punch and moved to the door. He jabbed at the control panel. “How do you get this thing open?”

“Like this.” Enrico strode over and fired his gun at the panel. The light went red, and Aiden heard metal clank as a lock engaged. Enrico roared. He fired his gun at the window, over and over. Until it clicked empty.

Aiden ran toward him. He barreled into Enrico and sent him careening into his guy. They all fell to the floor in a tumble.

Aiden started punching.

His arms tired quickly, and it was hard to get any real power without actually being on his feet. He grabbed the sides of Enrico’s head and slammed down on the floor once. Enough to daze the