Scorch (Virtues & Lies 2)

Thank fuck the temporary alarm system actually works, because if it wasn’t for it we would’ve been across town scouring some poxy bar.

“About fucking time,” he grits as we follow him through to a one-man-width corridor. “The place is crawling. I tried to get a sense of where they might have her, but the debris from the fire has blocked some of the passages.”

“Do you have any idea where they have her?” I follow him around a blind corner.

“The upper floors are all blocked off, all the bedrooms are sealed.” Oliver turns to us, stopping in front a dead-end panel. “I’ve checked through the other passages—they’re sealed with the exception of the side exit to the building.”

“You think they have her in the round room?” Leo asks him.

“Makes sense. It’s in the middle of the house, no windows, the walls are thick, and there are only two ways in and out. Both are manned.”

“Armed?” Freddie asks from the back.

“Fuck yeah, they’re loaded.”

“So are we.” Leo slips him the backup Glock he took from Wayne’s glovebox. Oliver takes it with a firm nod to the panel. “There’s two doors into the room. The best way to do this is to split.” Pointing the torch over my shoulder, he says to Leo, “You’re the only one that knows the place about as well as I do. I’d say the door at the farther end has the least damage. That side of the house wasn’t hit as bad, so I’m guessing that’s the side they’re using.”

“We’ll take the messy side,” Freddie tells him. He readies his weapon as he nudges past Leo and me. “We got this shit covered. Francis is on his way with the rest of the cavalry. Get her and get out. We’ll handle the rest. Got it?”

“Fred…” He sounds like Ryan and Wayne, constantly trying to bear the brunt of the shitstorm for me.

“Don’t fucking Fred me. We’re wasting time. Get her and split.”

Nodding, I watch him and Oliver quietly brush out of the thin crack of the panel. There’s one silent shot followed by another and then another. Before the echoes have silenced, Leo and I are running towards the room Oliver believes Arabella is in.

On more shot pierces the air, louder this time, and as we set our sights on the door to the room, it bursts open. Dim light spills into the dark hall, and I can just make out the outline of the tall figure hightailing it down the corridor to our right.

“Get in there!” Leo shouts, shot after shot echoing into the dark as I barge into the room.

Holding my Glock up at chest level, I take a look around the room. Shots are being fired on the other side, and the mustiness of the light with the noise makes it hard to take it all in, until my eyes find her.

Fuck!

My heart falls to the pit of my stomach with its punchy beats vibrating through me.

Fuck.

There’s so much blood. It takes everything in me not to scream the place down.

“Stop.” I barely get to her when I come face to face with the barrel of a gun.

The weapon shakes as the rakish woman points it at me. She’s also covered in blood. Her blonde hair is matted like a lion’s mane after a feast.

“I’m here to help you,” I tell her, dropping my gun-yielding hand to my side.

Shaking her head, she follows my sidestep. “Stop.”

I could take her down—there’s nothing of her—but as I assess her, my eyes find her belly…

“I promise I’m not here to hurt you.” Gently bringing my free hand to rest over the one she has trying to steady the gun, I take in her beat-up body. “It’s okay.”

She’s about to give when the doors on the other side of the room burst open. I feel her hands clench with panic, and pulling her to me, I hoist her hands up, sending her shot behind me somewhere.

“Shhh…” I try to soothe her as Freddie and Oliver come bounding up. “I told you you’re safe.”

I want nothing more than to let her go and see to Arabella. She hasn’t moved. Her body is a heap on the floor.

The moment Oliver is near enough, I pass her to him. “Take her out to the cars.”