MIA UNWRAPPED A roll of paper towels, pulled several squares off, folded them into a thick square pad, and pressed them to the throbbing goose egg on the side of her head. She hissed in pain, bringing Caden away from scraping the paint around the window frame and to her side.
“Let me look at that.” He brushed his fingers through her hair, pulling the strands away from her sore scalp. “It doesn’t look that bad, but you’ll probably need a few stitches.”
“If I had some water, I could clean it out.” She turned to Caden. “Let me see yours.”
“If we’re playing ‘you show me yours and I’ll show you mine,’ I’d rather we go with something more interesting and fun than the gashes on our heads.”
Mia took his wide shoulders and shoved him around. “Bend down a bit so I can see this, big guy.”
Caden did as she asked, squatting so she could check out the back of his head. “Looks like yours just needs to be cleaned. Some antibiotic ointment and ice will probably do the trick.”
“Good. I hate needles.”
That made her chuckle. “Tough guy like you, you can handle anything, right?”
He slipped his hands around her waist to her lower back and pulled her close. “I’ve got you covered no matter what.”
“Then, let’s get out of here.”
“I’m trying, but that window is really stuck.”
“This might help.” Mia slid from his embrace, leaned down, and pulled a hammer out from between several bottles of all-purpose cleaner.
“Beautiful, observant, and resourceful. Those guys didn’t even check this place out before they locked us in here.”
“Let’s use their stupidity against them.” She went over to the window and stood with her back to him.
About six feet up, he could reach the sill and lower sides well enough with his height and long arms, but not the top. Mia could barely reach over the sill.
“Lift me up. I’ll get the window open and you can push me out.”
“As you wish.” Caden bent, wrapped his arms around her legs, and lifted her right off her feet with her bottom propped on the top of his shoulder. “How’s this?”
Her stomach fluttered and her heart skittered. The ease with which he lifted her spoke to the strength in his strong arms and body. She’d felt the hard muscles in his chest and shoulders when he held her close, but this set off a wave of warmth through her system.
“Mia? You okay?”
“Uh, yeah. Thanks for the lift.”
He squeezed her thigh with his big hand. “My pleasure.” The purr in his voice set off another wave of ripples in her belly and heat pooling low where her backside rested against his strong shoulder.
“Stop fooling around so I can save us.”
“I’ll be sure to thank you later.” The lilt of humor in his voice made a smile tug at her lips.
“You really should keep your mind on getting out of here.”
“Kind of hard to do when you smell that good and my hands are full of you.”
“You’re distracting me, too, which could turn into a real problem for me when you go back to work and forget me.” She shouldn’t let her reservations slip out of her mouth.
“Never going to happen. You are unforgettable.”
Mia used the claw of the hammer to scrape away the last of the old paint. She jammed the hammer head under the top of the frame and used the handle to shove the window open with a loud pop and lengthy squeal as she pushed it all the way to the top.
She smiled down at Caden, whose head was right next to her hip. He smiled up at her. God, she loved that bright, gorgeous face and the sparkle of triumph in his eyes.
“Let’s get out of here before they come back. They might have heard that.”
Keys jangled outside the door. They still needed to get the grate off the window. Mia hooked the claw in between the window frame and metal near the bolts holding it to the building. She yanked as hard as she could, hoping it would pop free. The best she could do was bend the metal. A loud crack hit the bolt, splintering the wood window frame and freeing up the corner of the grate.
Caden moved back from the window, drawing her away with him as another crack sounded at the top of the grate on the same side.
“It’s the sniper shooting it out for us.” Caden set Mia on the ground and pulled her down to the floor, covering her with his arms as they crouched by the wall and out of the way of a stray bullet. When all four sides had been hit, Caden stood and bashed the hammer into the grate several times before it finally fell to the ground below.
The storeroom door flew open and Marco stood in the opening with the gun pointed at Caden’s chest. “Move away from there.”
All hell broke loose in the main part of the warehouse. Four loud explosions that flashed with bright white light went off. Shots rang out in a volley of rat-a-tat-tats and bang, bang, bangs from different guns and what seemed like all directions.
Marco rushed into the room and slammed the door behind him. Caden threw a punch, knocking him back against the door. The gun fell from Marco’s hand and skittered across the floor and under the storage shelves. Marco dove to retrieve it. Caden grasped Mia’s hand and pulled her toward the window. He spun her around, grabbed her by the waist, and lifted her up. She grabbed the sill, planted her slippery high heels on the wall, and boosted herself up and over the sash on her belly. Caden helped her throw her leg over to straddle the sill and get her other leg over so she could drop to the ground. The second she did, Caden’s big hands appeared on the window as he hauled himself up and over the edge. His front half hanging outside, he turned his head to struggle with Marco behind him.
Mia grabbed hold of Caden’s arms to help steady him. A shot splintered the frame next to the window. A warning shot from the sniper, hoping to get Marco to back off. It didn’t seem to work.
“You won’t get away,” Marco screamed. “I want that asshole, and I won’t stop until you give him to me.”
“Caden, get out here.” Mia jumped up and pulled Caden’s shoulders toward her. He toppled forward and slid out of the window, catching himself on his hands and forearms before he rolled on the pavement and grabbed her, dragging her behind him as he ran for cover at a nearby building.
Almost there. Almost safe. Two shots rang out. One bullet hit the wall of the building Caden took her toward, and shards of stone and wood sprayed the side of her face. She closed her eyes and stumbled, falling to the ground, scraping her knees and palms as she tried to catch herself.
Caden pulled her up with his arm wrapped around her waist. They ducked behind the corner of the building. Caden propped her up against the wall and scanned her from head to foot. “Are you hit? Did you get shot?” The panic in his voice amplified the fear thrashing her heart against her ribs. She could barely catch a breath, but she didn’t think she was hurt. If so, the adrenaline masked any pain she might feel once it wore off.
“I’m okay.” She had a vague sense of throbbing and stinging in her knees but dismissed it for now, too focused on making sure they got away.
Marco let out a scream almost the same second another shot rang out.
Caden hoped Beck got a piece of Marco before he climbed out the window behind them but didn’t stop to find out.
Caden took her hand and ran, pulling her to follow. They passed several empty buildings and closed businesses as Caden wound his way down one street then another with Marco’s running footsteps right behind them, his voice ringing out in the night. “There’s no place for you to go. I will get you.”
“Shit. He’s coming after us.”
“Caden, I can’t keep up.” Mia stumbled again, trying to run as fast as Caden’s long gait carried him. Her thighs and calves burned. Maybe she should have kept up with the treadmill in addition to her kickboxing classes.
“Just a little farther.”
Running in heels sucked. If they weren’t strapped around her ankles, she’d kick them off and take her chances in bare feet on the pavement. Her heel got stuck in a crack. As her body moved forward, her foot stayed planted in one spot. She lost hold of Caden’s hand as she jerked back and he kept going. She fell hard, shooting pain up her ankle and shin.
Caden rushed back to help her up again but skidded to a wild-armed stop two feet from her, his hands going up in the air. Marco rushed in behind her, grabbed her by the arm, and hauled her up in front of him, the gun pointed at her head even as his bloody arm locked around her throat.
Beck shot him, but the bullet only grazed the outside of his shoulder.
“You fucking try to bust my face, bitch, I’ll shoot you.”
Trying to catch her breath, she reached up and grabbed hold of Marco’s arm at her neck as much to steady herself as to keep him from choking her to death. He wasn’t much taller than her. She could probably take him down and get away if he didn’t have the gun. She wouldn’t risk it.
Caden’s eyes pleaded with her to hold still and not do anything stupid. He lowered one hand and pointed at Marco. “Don’t. Don’t do this. Killing her won’t bring Paula back.”
“I want that fucking snitch, Trigger.”
“I’ve told you everything I know about him.” Caden kept his gaze locked on Marco as he lied once again about not knowing Trigger. Mia knew deep down Caden wanted to give Marco what he wanted to keep her safe.
Marco’s arm tightened around her neck, making her gag and gasp for a breath that wouldn’t come. “You want to do this the hard way.”
Mia clawed at Marco’s arm, scratching his skin, but it didn’t matter. He couldn’t feel anything past the rage and need for revenge consuming him.
“Where is Trigger?”
“I don’t know!” The anguish in Caden’s voice crushed Mia’s heart. “I can’t help you. Let her go. Please.”
Marco let up on her throat, and Mia coughed and gasped, trying to suck in a breath.
“Please,” Marco taunted. “Please. You love her. You want to save her. You tell me what I want to know!”
“He’s in the fucking wind. No one knows where he is. I have no leads on his whereabouts. What do you want me to do, pull him out of my ass?”
“Admit he’s a goddamn snitch or one of yours.”
“He’s neither. He’s a fucking drug dealer just like you, out for himself and making money off that shit that ruins lives and kills people. It’s ruined your life. It killed Paula.”
“He killed Paula, and I want to make him pay.”
“Great. Find him. Do that. But let her go. She doesn’t know anything about any of this.”
Sirens rang out in the distance, coming from the warehouse just east of them.
“Marco, you did all of this for nothing. The DEA took down your guys and that warehouse full of drugs and guns. Guzman is going to be pissed at you. You kill her, me, they’ll come down hard until they find you and decimate Guzman’s whole operation.”
“They keep coming anyway,” Marco shouted, his voice ragged.
“You know it’s only going to get worse if you don’t walk away from this right now.”
“I don’t believe you. You know something about Trigger. You helped him after I shot him. You rode with him to the hospital. He means something to you. He works for you.”
Caden shook his head, frustration filling his eyes just like it filled Mia’s mind. Marco wouldn’t give up.
The sirens grew louder. Mia knew they were somehow tracking Caden. No matter what, the DEA would find them. But Marco didn’t know that. He was smart enough to know he needed to get off the open street and dragged her back toward one of the dark buildings.
“The only way out of this for you is if you let her go and make a run for it now,” Caden warned, walking slowly toward them.
Marco backed her up toward the doorway. He used the butt of the gun to break the glass and reach in and unlock the door. Caden stalked them at a slower pace, right into the hair salon.
Marco backed her up and pulled her into one of the salon chairs. She stared at Caden, knowing this was a game Marco would do anything to win.
How long could Caden hold out without giving up his brother?
Would the DEA move in and set off this volatile situation in a hail of gunfire?
Mia didn’t know, but she expected the pain, because Marco was hurting and he wanted someone to hurt just as much. His hand clamped onto her jaw, yanking her face up. He held her in the awkward position, his menacing gaze on Caden. “How much do you want to save your girl?”
Caden’s eyes narrowed with rage.
“That much, huh?” Marco let her go, and she fell back into the seat, but she wasn’t safe. He grabbed a pair of scissors from the counter, spread them wide, and slashed her across the chest with one wicked edge.
Mia screamed. Tears spilled from her eyes. She pressed her hand to the gash, blood making her fingers slippery on her skin. She sucked in a breath and fought her way through the pain and fear and glanced up at Caden, his image blurring through her watery gaze. “I’m okay.”
“Not for long, bitch. Let’s play.”