Protector Panther (Protection, Inc 3)

“A lighter, a Swiss Army knife, two tranquilizer guns, a change of clothes, and four bottles of water?”

“Three tranquilizer guns.” Shane indicated the holstered one at his side. He looked her over, his gaze traveling from her sneakers— the technician’s shoes had been much too big for her to wear— to the badge pinned on her scrubs. Then he laid his hand on her shoulder. “Ready?”

Everything had happened so quickly, Catalina hadn’t had time to register if she was afraid or not. Now that she had time, she found that she wasn’t. Shane was with her, and his plan had worked spectacularly so far. Her nerves tingled with a mixture of adrenaline, excitement, trust, and love. She didn’t want to be anywhere but where she was, with Shane at her side.

“Ready,” she said.

Chapter Seven

Shane

The cool readiness of combat filled Shane. He had no more doubt, no more fear. It didn’t matter what had happened before or what might happen later. All that mattered was now. He wasn’t a man who regretted the past or worried about losing the woman he loved. He was a predator intent on nothing but protecting his mate, defeating his enemies, and escaping his cage.

“Don’t talk if anyone might be around,” he said. “People who don’t look at your face might recognize your voice.”

“Gotcha.”

He beckoned to Catalina. She followed, eagerness and excitement written all over her pretty face. She might not be a crack shot or have a poker face, but she was strong, quick-thinking, and fearless. There was no one he’d rather have at his side.

They stepped out of the medical room and into an empty corridor. He set a brisk pace, relying on his knowledge of the layout of the other base and hoping this one was similar. He glanced down each corridor they passed, until he came to a bank of elevators. He passed the security guard’s badge over the sensor, and an elevator door opened.

Two guards and a doctor stepped out of the elevator.

Shane gave them a brief nod, then stepped inside the elevator. Catalina followed. Once the doors closed, he heard her breath whoosh out in a gasp.

“I can’t believe they didn’t recognize us,” she said.

“They looked at our uniforms, not our faces.” Shane hit the button with the highest number. “I think this place is mostly underground. This should take us near an exit.”

The elevator doors slid open on another corridor. They once again began walking. Shane’s nerves hummed with alertness. Exits were likely to be well-guarded, and they’d need to get out without an alarm being raised. He’d have to move fast, and be lucky as well.

They passed a few medical technicians, who didn’t acknowledge them, and then he came to his destination, a door with six guards at the ready.

Shane walked up to it, casually holding up his badge. A guard gave it a perfunctory glance and waved him through. Shane started to step forward, unable to believe how easy it had been.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Catalina hold up her own badge. Another guard glanced at it, then frowned and looked back at her. “Hey— You’re not Denise. What are you doing with her badge?”

Shane whipped around and slammed his elbow into the guard’s jaw. The man crumpled. Before he even hit the floor, Shane drew his tranquilizer gun and fired rapidly, fanning the area. But the paralysis wasn’t instantaneous, and he wasn’t sure how many he’d hit. Two guards grabbed for their radios, two for their guns, and one lunged at Shane, trying to disarm him.

The radios were the biggest danger. Shane side-stepped the guard attacking him, protecting his gun-hand but taking a hard blow to the head. He wasn’t close enough to either of the guards going for their radios to hit them, but he was within kicking distance of one. He roundhouse-kicked one in the head, then turned to go for the other. But Catalina was already grabbing for that guard’s radio. They wrestled for it for a second, then that guard slid to the floor. Catalina had delayed the man for long enough for the dart Shane had shot him with to take effect.

A second guard dropped, paralyzed. But the guard in front of him was firing at him. Shane dropped and rolled, then kicked out from the floor, catching the man in the knee. He fell with a cry of pain that cut off as Shane kicked him in the head.

“Behind you!” Catalina gasped.

Shane rolled again, catching a quick glimpse of Catalina jumping in front of the last guard. Her back was to him, but Shane heard the soft hiss of a dart being fired. She sucked in her breath in surprise or pain. Then she dove forward, tackling the guard who had shot her. It was only a few seconds before she went limp and slid to the floor, but that was all the time Shane needed to spring to his feet and slam the guard into the wall. The man’s head cracked against hard plaster, and his eyes rolled back.

Shane let him fall, forcing himself to scan the area before he did anything else. All the guards were down, unconscious or paralyzed. No one else was in sight. Only then did he kneel beside Catalina.

Other than a dart in her chest, she seemed unhurt. She was obviously paralyzed, but her eyes were open and she was breathing easily. He pulled out the dart.

“We won,” he said, and kissed her cheek. “Now it’s my turn to carry you.”

He lifted her over his shoulders, then picked up the medical kit she’d never had time to open. The entire fight had lasted only a little longer than the one in the lab, maybe a minute. She hadn’t been able to get to her gun, but she’d still stopped a guard from alerting the entire base, then taken the dart meant for Shane.

My mate, he thought. It amazed him as much as it had the first time he’d looked into her eyes. My partner.

Shane headed for the door, not knowing if he’d find scorching desert or frozen tundra or even a bustling city. Though he seriously doubted that a secret base would be in a city; it would be far too easy for any escapee to summon help with a single phone call.