She’s done this before. She and Molly were doing this when our paths crossed in Canada. She’s put herself in harm’s way more times than I care to know.
All of that was supposed to end when I put that ring on her finger.
“Fuck,” I grumble again.
We’ve been out here in this cold-assed alley for coming up on thirty minutes. I feel like a fucking amateur. She went in there, and we have no plan for getting her out. We let her walk in that lion’s den with no phone, no weapon of any kind. I’m going to have to fight that doorman to get to her.
He’s probably twice as tall as me and three times as wide.
We’re counting the minutes. I’m mentally revving up my muscles, pumping up my adrenaline to face the guy, when I see something that stops my heart. Reaching out, I slam my hand against Joshua’s chest, pulling him against the brick wall beside me, shoving him down a ways so we’re hidden by the large blue dumpster.
“What—”
My hand clamps over his mouth, stopping his speech.
Heavy footsteps stop at one of the four burglar-bar covered doors, and I keep my head down, waiting as Gavin fights with the deadbolt, giving us the answer we’ve been waiting for.
“Motherfucking piece of goddamned motherfucking shit,” he growls until the lock turns with a loud squeak.
I hope my body covering Josh’s is commonplace enough in this locale for Gavin not to care. So far, he’s unaffected. I’m just another daddy claiming a twink to him.
Joshua’s eyes are round as he looks past my shoulder, watching the man disappear through the doorway. We both hold our breath, and I won’t lie. I’m praying.
God, please make him forget to lock that door.
In all the history of breaks we’ve never gotten, please let us get this one lucky break…
The door slams, and I wait a moment before pushing off Josh and running to the entrance.
“Yes!” I open the heavy metal outer door.
“Wait.” Josh grabs my arm. “What’s the plan?”
“Get in there and get them out.” I grasp the bronze-colored knob of the wooden door… and it’s locked. “God dammit,” I growl.
It’s an obstacle, but not nearly as much as those iron bars.
“Stand back,” I say.
Joshua moves away, and I reach out to brace my body with the burglar door and the doorjamb. I take a deep breath, ready to throw all my weight behind my leg against this door when everything changes.
A sharp pop! of gunfire sounds from the other side. Screams, crashes, and noises like furniture breaking erupt from the other side of the door. The knob turns, and I look to Joshua. We both are thrown behind the reinforced black outer door as the one I was about to kick in flies open.
Gavin charges past us without even looking, leaving the door open behind him. It takes us a second to get from behind the fucking barred door, but two half-naked women run out behind him, eyes wild and arms covering their tits.
They push past me, knocking me off balance.
“Shit!” I yell, turning to Joshua. “Call 911, report a shooting at this address. Now!”
Joshua’s on his phone, and I’m about to head inside to find Lara when a streak of silver hair slams into me. I grab her arms, and our eyes lock.
“Molly!”
Her blue eyes are wild, fierce and determined. “Let me go!”
“Where’s Lara?”
Her brow furrows, and she shakes her head. “She’s supposed to be with you. Let me go—he’s getting away!”