boiling hot rage, but I sweep even that aside.
I hold my weapon steady.
Axel takes out the lead man with a tranq dart. The man drops like a load of bricks.
Fucking love that moment of surprise on his face. I shoot the man on the right while Axel takes out the other guard.
That leaves one man standing.
Julian Townsend holds a knife to Moira’s throat. His arm wraps around her, pinning her arms down. He walks backward, eyes spitting venom, toward the waiting jet. No way in hell is that getting off the ground. Max and Liam have a bead on the open door. Anyone who so much as breaks wind gets a bullet between the eyes.
I’d shoot Townsend, except he uses Moira as cover. She needs to open up the shot for me. As much as we trained her, there is so much she doesn’t know about how a team works.
Come on, Moira! You can do it.
We’ve practiced these moves hundreds of times. Over the past year, I worked her hard, teaching her Krav Maga with the rest of the rescuees at the Facility. She knows all the ways to escape a chokehold.
She knows what to do.
As for Townsend, the only reason he still breathes is because we don’t have a kill order. That means we use tranquilizer guns.
Our mission objective is information. Can’t get information out of corpses.
Axel stores his spent tranquilizer gun and draws his weapon. He’s got a bead on Townsend’s head. The little red dot holds dead steady. Axel is a fantastic shot.
One shot.
That’s all it’ll take to bring the man down.
Only, we can’t.
I need him alive. He and I have a date. Just him and me. And Townsend is going to tell me all the shit he doesn’t want to share.
Max, Liam, and Axel fan out to either side. There’s no chance for stealth, so we didn’t bother. We lost Moira’s tracker a few miles back. From the bandage on her arm, I know why. Townsend will pay for that.
Wolfe and Knox are a few minutes behind us.
Come on, Moira.
I will her to read my mind.
Her eyes round with fear and she lets Townsend drag her back. How do I get her to understand?
Either she frees herself and gives me the shot, or Max is going to put a real bullet in Townsend’s head. That will be followed by Axel and Liam. Then we have a corpse unable to spill any secrets.
Running out of time, inspiration strikes.
I take my left hand and place it at my throat. I keep a bead on my target with my free hand.
Moira’s gaze tracks my movement.
Good girl.
Violently, I rip my hand away from my throat. If she doesn’t understand, we’ll have a dead man to interrogate. There are the three semi-stiffs on the ground. The tranqs will keep them down for another hour. More than enough time to mop this up. But I don’t want them.
I need Townsend.
Fear simmers in Moira’s gaze, but then her brows pinch. With her arms trapped in Townsend’s grip, it’s going to be difficult. But I’ve trained her.
She can do it.
Come on, minx!
I urge her with my eyes, hoping she understands.
Axel knows what I’m doing. Max and Liam get it too. But then, we work as a team and practically read each other thoughts.
Blood oozes from the cut at her neck, but it’s not serious. She’ll have to overcome her fear.
You gotta lean into that knife, minx. Come on…
I gesture again. Hand to throat. Then a sharp drop.
Moira’s entire body stills. She blinks three times, deliberately, and with intention. No need to signal to Axel and the other guys.
They’ve been watching our silent exchange.
Moira’s head snaps back. She clocks Townsend in the jaw. His head snaps back, and his grip on the knife loosens. Before he can compensate, she stomps on his foot and violently flexes at the waist. This frees her elbows. Moira jabs him in the gut.
One. Two.
She twists out of his grip. As his head whips forward, she clocks him in the jaw with the heel of her palm. His neck whips backward again. She takes the opening. Grabs his shoulders. Knees him in the groin.
Moira should move.
“RUN!”
Townsend stumbles back and cups his groin. Instead of retreating, Moira pushes him, using her body weight to force Townsend to stumble backward. She sweeps his feet out from under him. He cartwheels back and falls on his ass.
They finally separate.
Instead of running, she searches the ground.
I aim, but she steps in front of my