the entry. The man’s back was to Lindsey and, like the battle at Khartoum, he’d never expect an attack from behind. Step, hand-chop to the neck, and the man crumpled like a doll. Lindsey caught him before he fell, pulled tape from the commodious purse, and taped the man’s mouth and hands. After dragging him into the storage room, he taped his feet and pushed him out of sight.
Back in the hall, Lindsey stepped fast to the next door, looked in at a kitchen of sorts, then went on to the next. Success. The door led into a stair vestibule. Open, metal treads led up, and he could hear voices from above echoing like it was a large space. Yes, he remembered a huge open room, and he’d deemed it too inefficient for his purposes when he considered buying this building. Some conglomerate had bought it when he didn’t. Obviously, it hadn’t proved to be a good buy. Wonder what they’d think if they knew who was using it?
Superstealth was required to walk those metal stairs without making noise. He stared at his feet. The old lady shoes had soft soles but still weren’t quiet enough. He reached down and untied the laces, then kicked them off.
Very delicately, he placed his bare foot on the bottom tread. Cold, rough, but no noise. Gun and cane in hand, he climbed a few more stairs. Was there a vestibule above, or did the staircase let out into the room? He couldn’t remember.
Either way, speed gave him the best chance. He sucked in a deep breath, then covered the remaining five stairs in one exhalation and was inhaling as he burst into the big room. A brilliant light illuminated the girl tied to the chair and the table with two men playing cards beside her. That meant he had to be in shadow. Good.
Both men looked up and leaped to their feet. One cocked his head. “What the hell? Who are you?”
With that much advantage, Lindsey shot the asshole who’d wanted to strip Carla. The man fell screaming, clutching his left leg. Lindsey pulled the short throwing knife from his lady’s jacket pocket and caught the other man in the shoulder just as he raised his semiautomatic. A burst of bullets flew into the ceiling. Carla!
Lindsey covered the space, delivered a short kick to the injured asshole’s bleeding leg—“Stay down!”—and then grabbed the other man’s gun as he tried to pull the knife from his shoulder. “Uh-uh, sonny. Pull that out and you just may bleed to death.”
He slammed the man to the ground as asshole number one reached for a weapon at the small of his back. Lindsey fired into his other leg. “Want to be crippled for life? Try that one more time, sonny boy.”
Carla yelled, “Get ’em, Granny!” The girl did have balls, but how did she know who’d saved her with a blindfold on?
He handcuffed the knifed guy—handbags made so much sense—then went over and kicked the gun out of reach of the other one. The guy twitched, and Lindsey smashed his jaw with the butt of his gun. “That’s for your smarmy mind.” He taped the guy’s hands and mouth, then finished his ankles.
That should render them harmless. He walked over to Carla and pulled the blindfold off her eyes. He unfastened her wrists and then knelt in front of her and did the same for her ankles. He smiled up into her saucer-huge eyes. “You’re safe. You have nothing to worry about.”
Carla nodded. “Thank you. I was so scared.”
Lindsey patted her hand. “You’re safe now.”
Carla stared at him—her. Hope the wrinkles look convincing. “I knew someone would come for me. My dad would never let this happen. But I never dreamed it would be you.” She smiled like the sun came out.
Lindsey poised a hand on his flowered hip. “So how did you know it was me?”
“You’re famous. I read all about you saving that woman in the alley. As soon as I heard your voice, I knew it must be the Super Granny.”
“What a funny name.”
“It’s perfect. You’re a superhero to me, believe it.”
“I’m glad.”
“But I’m guessing you don’t want to be here when the police arrive, right?”
He smiled as much as the latex allowed. “How did you know?”
“Superheroes never do.”
“So will you call the police and tell them where you are?”
“I don’t know where I am.”
“I’ll give you the exact location. Tell them who you are and that you have a couple of bad guys