Kane lowered the body of the dead guard to the floor well inside the room and went back to the doorway, peering up and down the hall before signaling Javier. The two of them moved like wraiths, Javier disappearing down the stairs while Kane guarded the hall.
You’re clear to here, Javier stated.
What’s happening on the street, Rose? Kane demanded.
Staying quiet, she announced. Get moving. We have to find that child before they’re on to us, or they’ll kill him.
There was no “we” involved in finding the boy, but Kane didn’t have time to argue with Rose. It was imperative to find the boy before the rescue could be discovered. He signaled Mack to start down the stairs with Ethan close on his heels. Kane dropped in behind them, moving silently, his gun in his fist this time. He was using a silencer, but still, they wanted to slip out without alerting the enemy force.
Something is happening at the end of the street. Teens are running in all directions. They look scared, Rose reported. Get out of there.
There was no urgency in her voice, but Kane sensed it, as did the others. Javier went through the door first, and after visually clearing the street, waved Mack and Ethan through. They ran flat out, dark shadows moving through the open street for the desert.
Bring in the bird. We’ll rendezvous in four minutes, Mack said. Gideon, you’ve got eight minutes from my mark.
Roger that. Gideon was calm. He kept his eyes on the street, sweeping rooftops and windows. Mack and Ethan were past the buildings now and running hard through the desert toward their destination. His job was to back Kane.
Rose, get moving, Kane ordered, even as he began quartering the buildings. They wouldn’t have taken the child too far from his mother and sister. They wanted leverage, and a five-year-old was perfect to manipulate a woman. Get on that helicopter.
Rose slipped back into her apartment and shrugged into her pack. She traveled light. She hadn’t invested in much for the baby, just the bare necessities, and she knew better than to add anything that might slow her down. She wasn’t getting on the helicopter without Kane. Kane could give all the orders in the world, but she didn’t trust anyone else. She owed him, and she knew he would protect her and the baby, but the others ...
She’d started this mess by calling in a team. She hadn’t done enough research and found out about the boy. That omission was on her. Now Kane and the other man, Javier, were going to be left behind if they didn’t find the boy in eight minutes.
Got him. At the end of the block. Corner apartment; he’s in the back room.
That’s impossible, even for you, Javier protested. He’d been standing with the teens just outside the apartment. He hadn’t gotten that churning in his gut that meant that trouble was close.
Remember something spooked those kids from their little party? One of them was dragged inside, and he’s being used as a target. They’re forcing the child to stab him repeatedly. Looks like everyone inside is having a good time but the two kids. Kane’s voice was grim.
He moved fast, heading down the street toward the corner apartment, staying well into the shadows along the sidewalk. He stumbled once, weakness overtaking him, but he kept going. The sight of the two boys, one five, the other a teenager, caught in the hellish situation turned his stomach. He cared little that using his psychic talent drained his energy. He ran on sheer adrenaline, sprinting down the street, Javier on his heels.
They halted abruptly outside the apartment, one on either side of the door.
If we go in guns blazing, we might hit the kid, Javier pointed out.
Kane swore under his breath. Five men. One holding the kid. The teen is tied standing to a post of some kind. They’re all drinking.
It was unnecessary to add the last, because the stench of alcohol was permeating the air outside the apartment. They had to get inside without triggering a firefight. Kane felt a prickle of unease down his spine and spun around at the same moment as Javier.
Rose swept past them and knocked on the door before either could stop her. She looked completely different. Her hair was dark and thick and seemed to trail down her back. She looked very young, like a teenager. There was no evidence of her pregnancy; if anything, she looked too slim.
The door was yanked open from inside, and a large man, disheveled and armed to the teeth, lost his angry expression and began to grin like a macabre puppet. He had scars on his face and a gold tooth.
In Spanish, Rose asked for her brother. “His friends said he came in here, and he needs to come home.”
The man nodded several times and reached for her nape, curling his fingers around her neck and jerking her to him. His eyes went wide. Shocked. He gurgled, and blood bubbled from his mouth to dribble down his chin. He hunched a little, another sound escaping, this time a gasp.
Kane and Javier fell in behind Rose, using the large man as a shield as they entered the apartment. Kane went left, Javier right. Kane took out the man forcing the five-year-old to stab the teen. The knife sliced through his neck, the tip protruding out the other side. On his knees, the dead man slumped over, falling away from the child. Rose shoved the big man to the ground and, stepping between his legs, threw her knife, still dripping with blood, into the heart of a man sitting in a chair clutching a bottle of tequila. Javier stepped right into the fourth man, hand-to-hand, nearly dwarfed by the size of the guard. His eyes were flat and cold, his smile never changing as he shoved his weapon deep and twisted to ensure the kill.
Kane whirled around to rush the last man. The guard had his finger on the trigger and was bringing his weapon around to center on Kane. Three throwing stars slammed deep into the guard’s stomach and chest, climbing toward his throat, but his turn toward Kane caused the aim to be slightly off center. He squeezed the trigger as Kane hit him low, taking his legs out from under him. The bullets spit across the ceiling so that chunks of debris rained down.
The boy screamed loudly over and over, the bloody knife still clutched in his hand. Javier batted the weapon away, snatched up the child, and sprinted out the door, running at top speed toward the safety of the desert. It was up to Gideon to protect them now.
Javier has the package and is coming your way, Gideon reported calmly.
Men poured into the streets, some half dressed but all armed. The sound of the automatic was loud in the silence of the night. For one moment chaos reigned, and that was the only moment they were going to get.
Rose! Go! Get out of here, Kane snapped even as he came together with the falling guard, jerking the automatic from his hands and tossing it aside.
The guard gripped Kane’s neck, trying to strangle him, adrenaline giving him extra strength. Rose stepped in close, shoved a knife in the back of the guard’s neck as Kane pressed his gun against the man’s heart and pulled the trigger. Kane caught Rose by the wrist and jerked her behind him. He didn’t bother going out the front door; they’d never make it. He walked fast through the small apartment, clearing the doorways visually and trusting Rose to watch their backs as they moved briskly to the rear of the apartment. There was no way for them to save the teenage boy; they could only hope someone in the apartments rescued him before the cartel members decided to question him—if he was even alive.