Hostile Ground (The Arsenal #7) - Cara Carnes Page 0,54
The chains rattled, but she was up in the air and coiling chain around the man’s throat before he realized what was happening. The two men nearest her shouted and reached for their weapons.
“Fuck!” Kristof cursed from across the room.
Fatima screamed. Chains rattled across the room, but Addy focused on the three men around her. The interrogator slumped to the floor. She stayed on the ground and kicked out, sweeping both of the men near her below the knee, using her legs on one and the chain on the other.
One fell while the other stumbled. She grabbed the syringe near the floor and shoved it into the standing man while striking his groin. Scrambling for the knife near the interrogator, she coiled her hand around the hilt and sprang up.
Gunfire echoed within the cell. Pain spread along her left arm, but she jumped forward and donkey-kicked the bastard in the solar plexus. He fell backward. She surged forward, scrambling on her hands and knees. She shoved the knife into the third man’s throat. She drew it out, struck once more.
Breathing ragged, she yanked it out and lunged for the second man as he rose from the ground. She punched his gut with both fists and followed up with a double knee kick to his face. She fell atop him and ended the fight with a stab to his jugular.
The interrogator’s guard.
Fuck.
Addy’s gaze swept to where the shrouded woman had stood.
What the hell? Where was she?
Addy hopped toward Kristof and Fatima. The woman had the chains wrapped around the final target’s throat and was on his back. Anger reddened the woman’s face. Eyes wide, she cursed loudly in his ear.
“Die! I cast you into the fires of hell!”
“Get him closer, Fatima!” Kristof shouted.
The woman fell off his back and kicked his knees. He tumbled forward. Kristof reached out and grabbed the chains from Fatima. The two men struggled. Addy jumped atop them both and plunged the knife in the man’s chest.
Her gaze locked with Kristof as the man between them went slack. She rolled him off as Fatima scrambled closer. She spat on the man.
Addy sat back on her ass and forced her breathing under control. Blood ran down her left arm.
“Dammit. You were hit.” Kristof reached for her, but she pulled back.
“I’m fine.”
“What the hell were you thinking?” he shouted. “They could have killed you.”
Yeah, but they hadn’t. And they hadn’t hurt Kristof. She held her hand out to Fatima, who reached into her bra and pulled out the com.
Addy put it on. “ETA of team?”
“Five minutes,” Edge said. “You okay?”
“Nothing that a bandage won’t fix.” She stood. “We have at least one target in the wind.”
Where the hell had that bitch gone? Addy rifled through the dead man’s pockets and pulled out a set of keys. She undid the restraints around her ankles and wrists, then tossed them to Fatima. The woman undid Addy’s neck manacle, then moved to Kristof.
Addy stood. “Targets in the cell are down. One got away. A woman.”
“Remain where you are,” Mary said. “The teams will clear anyone left from the bunker.”
Addy approached the door. Her heartbeat thundered in her chest as she opened the door. She couldn’t risk another armed group getting into the cell. Skill and a heap of luck had gotten her this far, but they weren’t out of the woods yet and five minutes equated a century.
The door squeaked open.
“Addy, stand down,” Mary ordered.
“I need to assess the situation. We can’t risk them coming in here before the teams arrive. I need to at least know if there are any in the immediate area,” Addy said.
“Focus on Lavrov’s injuries,” Jesse said. “And yours. How is he?”
Great question. “He says he’s fine, but he needs medical treatment. Most of the wounds have stopped bleeding. He’s favoring his left side. His healing bullet wound is bleeding again. Possible rib damage on the same side.”
“And you?”
“Left upper arm was grazed, but I’m okay,” Addy said. “None of these were trained well enough to be what I’d consider a Mandrake operative. The assholes we encountered in Cuba wouldn’t have left Fatima and I in rusted chains that didn’t restrict our movements.”
Kristof drew to a halt beside her. Intensity loomed within his gaze, but his furrowed brow and thinned lips worried her. “You aren’t waiting for the team.”
“We need to get eyes outside and warn them how many they’re up against.”
“That’s what the drones are for,” Mary said. “Stand down.”