Exchange of Fire (31 page)

Loud rhythmic techno bass sounded muffled through the locked front door. Sandra pounded on the glass and got the attention of Marge, the supervisor of the central eatery. Sandra’s frantic waving resembled a kid hopped on sugar, but she couldn’t help it. They needed in
now
.

The woman frowned, then a smile crept across her face as she ambled her large frame across the floor.

“Christ,” Talon muttered. “Could she be any slower?”

The snick of the lock was like music to Sandra’s ears.

“Hey there!” Marge greeted enthusiastically.

Sandra ripped the door out of Marge’s hands and barreled inside with the team hot on her heels.

“Lordy sakes, Sandra,” the woman squawked, “there a fire or something?”

“Thanks, Marge. Can you relock it?” Sandra asked, leading the team deeper into the entrance area.

Cappy snapped, “I want every inch of this building covered. Talon, you head to the Security Room. Ted, follow him and stay put. Special Agent Stiles, you and White go below.”

Sandra couldn’t wait any longer, she started running. According to the agenda that had been part of the initial invitation, the laser tag competition should be in full swing. She needed a bird’s-eye view, and only one spot would give her that. Every instinct screamed that if something was going to happen, that’d be where they’d strike.

Ignoring the startled glances and yelps as she took the escalator steps two at a time, she ran off the landing and headed for the steps to the Observation Room.

“I’ll cover the miniature golf and eatery
.
”
Cappy continued barking orders, but she didn’t need his directive to know where she’d begin searching.

She tapped the comm open and said, “I’m in the Observation Room. It overlooks the laser tag floor. I’ll be able to see everything going on below from up here.”

“Check. Keep us informed,”
Cappy answered.

The long room sported a glass wall the same length as the laser tag floor below. From this vantage point, she could see every room, hallway, hidey-hole, platform, stationary target, and moving bull’s-eye that made up the course. With the black lights at full strength and the neon strips slashing the walls, the place was a nightmare to spot trouble in.

Clumps of staff banded together with plates of food in their hands and plastic cups at their feet. Most stood along the windows, but a few hung back and talked. She slapped off the lights, plunging the room into darkness. A few of the staff around her squeaked, but she could feel the eyes of most staring at her and trying to figure out what the hell she was doing.
Praying I’m overreacting and not saving your lives.

Her eyes scanned the expansive two-story-tall layout encompassing the entire second floor. Two teams raced all over the place, with streaking blue and green lights showing their progress. An occasional red light would flash, and the person would stop and sit along the wall near the exit.

In an odd maneuver, one of the employees rose from her hiding spot; by the small stature, it had to be one of the younger girls. She stood with her gun hanging limply at her side. For too many seconds she didn’t move.

Sandra’s scalp tingled and her stomach clenched. Goddamn it, she hadn’t wanted to be right.

“Everyone, reposition,” she whispered. “Something’s not right on the laser tag floor.”

The employee remained rigid.

“Check,”
Cappy snapped.
“Stiles, White, upstairs. I’m holding position near the escalator to watch the main area.”

Sandra squinted.
What is that?
The shape no longer resembled a normal young girl; she now had odd lumps.

“Someone call Grady. He has to stop the music and turn on the lights,” Sandra barked into her mic. The employees around her jolted and pressed their faces to the window.

“Stand back,” she yelled, and they took a step away, looking at one another, then back at her.

“I’m in the Security Room,”
Talon replied in Sandra’s earpiece.
“Place is empty. No explanation. Just a walkie-talkie on the counter.”

“See if it connects to Grady,”
Cappy barked.

Sandra’s heart thumped as bile rose to the back of her throat.

“Grady, it’s Talon.”
Pause.
“Shut up and listen to me. Kill the music and turn on the house lights.”
Pause.
“Just do it.”

The music abruptly died and the fluorescent lights snapped on.

Screams filled the Observation Room and the floor below.

“Everybody, quiet,” Sandra shouted. “Down on the floor.”

Carlos stood in the center of the laser tag floor holding a real gun to Allie’s head.

“Sandra, it’s Grady. I never gave back my comm from earlier. What the hell is going on?”
His deep Southern drawl carried righteous fury.

“Three men on the first floor just blocked each exit,”
Talon answered instead.

Shit. “It’s Carlos.”

“I can see two of them,”
Cappy whispered.
“Armed with shotguns.”

“If Carlos is the maniac holding my employee hostage, then there’s one more at the entrance near me,”
Grady announced through the channel.

“If the bitch named Wraith doesn’t show herself in the next two minutes,” Carlos yelled, “I will blow her head off.”

The employees in the Observation Room jumped and looked at one another in horror and panic.

“Fucking son of a bitch,” she muttered.

“I’m creeping up the laser tag’s exit hallway now,”
Magician whispered.
“No sign of any other men. I’ve corralled the people I encountered into a corner below the stair entrance where you are, Wraith. Going silent.”

“Cappy, I need the staff out of this room.” Sandra moved to the corner and peered down.

“You planning something?”

Her stomach lurched.
“Nothing complicated. Too many ears to say.”

“Understood,”
Cappy hoarsely responded.

“Romeo’s just entered the stairway to the Observation Room,”
Talon informed her.

“Sandra, what are you up to?”
Grady’s voice murmured in her ear, but she ignored him.

She turned to the group. “I want everyone’s attention. It’s imperative you do exactly as I say.”

“Do you know who he is?” a small female voice asked. Romeo had appeared in the doorway.

Sandra pointed to her former teammate. “I need everyone to follow Special Agent Stiles. Be as silent as possible.
Do
.
Not. Run.
He’s going to move you to a safer location.”

No one hesitated jumping to their feet.

“Sandra.”
Grady drew her name in a low whispered warning.
“My gut’s getting twitchy. Talk to me.”

Finally, the last person cleared the room.

“You have ten seconds, Wraith, or I start shooting,” Carlos yelled.

The door to the announcer’s room opened and Grady filled the space.
NO!
Her heart lodged in her throat. He trotted down the steps and motioned to the rest of the staff also held hostage in the room to stay put.

“Why do you think Wraith is here?” he asked, stopping when he reached the raised platform.

Fuck.
Worst nightmare coming true. “What are you doing?” she snapped through their open channel. She could only see part of his profile since his back was mostly to her, but he shifted in a way that she could discern a bulge at his lower back.

“Absolutely not!” she snarled softly. “Keep that Beretta holstered.”

“Who the hell are you?” Carlos asked, wrenching Allie to the side and pointing his gun at Grady.

Debilitating fear tingled through Sandra’s veins.
No. No. NO.
She couldn’t allow the past to win again. She kicked a metal chair toward the corner and pulled the canvas bag off her shoulder. Trying not to think about anything, she unlatched the buckles and spread the bag flat beside it. She cursed the pieces of the rifle jiggling together as if taunting her.

She allowed a quick peek into the laser tag room. Grady put his hands up and said, “Easy, there.”

Sandra grabbed the rifle’s stock and snapped the folded piece straight.

“I’m the owner,” Grady answered Carlos’s original question. “Who the hell are you?”

She screwed the barrel into place and locked it into the rail on top, then checked in on Grady below.

“I go by many names, but head of the Osvaldo Cartel is all you need to know.”

Grady flinched.

Shitdamnfuck
. Her teammates also cursed through her earpiece. Covering this up just got harder and easier at the same time. The asshole fed into their drug ring story beautifully, but the head of the family personally here to exact vengeance invited a ton of scrutiny.

“That bitch killed my brother and is also responsible for doing this to my face.” He turned his head.

Sandra blanched.
Oh God.
Her stomach protested at the hideous deep scars gouging the left side of the guy’s burned face.

She turned away and snapped the 4.5x14-power Nightforce scope to the rail.

“And you think this Wraith’s here?” Grady asked, completely selling his ignorance.

Sandra clapped the half-empty bullet cartridge into place. The lack of full ammunition didn’t concern her, she’d only get one chance anyway to need more than that.

“I
know
she’s here,” Carlos snarled. “A mutually angry entity validated my sources—”

“Mutually angry entity, my ass. Goddamn Victor,”
Talon growled.

“Now quit stalling.” Carlos repositioned the barrel against Allie’s head. “I want that
puta
Wraith here now.”

Sandra held the assembled rifle in her hands and couldn’t move a muscle. Her whole body trembled as images of the fourteen-year-old’s expression replaced Allie’s.

“Let me see your hands.” Carlos’s command ripped Sandra from the nightmare. “Higher.” Grady crooked his arms and lifted his hands. “If she doesn’t walk through that entrance in the next two seconds, I’m killing this girl, then you”—his gun pointed at Grady again—“and so on. No one can escape justice.”

Sandra kneeled behind the chair and propped the bipod near the far edge of the seat. She fit the stock end against her shoulder and ignored the spasms pulsing through her stitched shoulder blade. The height was wrong and the angle awkward, but it was the best she could do.
You’ve had to deal with worse in the past.
She rested her cheek against the rifle and sighted through the scope. No good. She guestimated the distance and adjusted the DOPE. At this short range she wasn’t worried about overcompensating. She peered through the lens again. Much better.

Her finger refused to curl against the trigger. An image of the fourteen-year-old overtook the scene again; this time the girl pointed at Sandra as she fell back into Sanchez as if to peg her killer.

Carlos shifted and rested his gun against Allie’s head. Allie screamed in terror, her face melding with the fourteen-year-old’s.

Grady yanked the back of his polo up, going for his Beretta. Carlos’s eyes widened and he swung his gun arm, aiming at Grady’s chest.

Hell no!

Sandra pulled the trigger.

Allie stiffened, and chaos reigned as blood poured over the girl’s head.

Magician burst from the exit hallway and jumped on top of a ramp leading deeper into the room. Holding her SIG Sauer at the ready, she cleared a cement obstacle.

A gunshot echo ricocheted around the room.

Son of a bitch.
She dropped to her knees behind a three-foot wall, raised up enough to rest her gun on top, and sighted down the barrel.

***

At the gunshot report echoing in his earpiece, Cappy could only imagine what had happened. “Stiles, get your ass down here. Everyone, DOWN!” Cappy shouted, pulling his Glock out of its holster. Girls shrieked and crouched; some ran for God knows where, not following his order but causing chaos. The guys took longer to follow his instructions. Most tried to crowd and protect the girls, but a few of the more brainless ones thought they could be wannabe warriors and edged forward.

“I said down!”

Romeo ran down the escalator steps just as the door to the employee hallway slammed open.

“I’ve got Goon One by the paintball doors,”
Talon stated in his earpiece. His pounding footsteps retreated behind Cappy
. “Stiles, can you handle Goon Three covering the outdoor go-kart track?”

“Check,”
Romeo answered, jumping off the moving stairs.

The concussive boom of a rifle echoed from the arcade area. Screams followed, but Cappy couldn’t take a second to see if anyone had been hurt. He trusted Talon would get the situation under control.

The guard milling at the front door, aka Goon Two, swung his rifle from the cradle he’d been holding it in and pointed it at Cappy.

A teenager streaked past, blocking Cappy’s shot.
Christ.

Cappy lunged forward, zigzagging toward the escalator, hoping to draw the bastard’s aim away from the employees in the eatery.

Boom.
The rifle kicked back into Goon Two’s shoulder just as the asshole dove over the top of the information counter. Cappy flattened and raised his Glock, pulling the trigger twice. The display case glass shattered, its contents of arcade prizes streaming to the floor.

Gunfire echoed from Romeo’s direction.

One of the guys he had overheard bragging about his paintball skills crouched forward with a black plastic gun gripped in his hands. Cappy blinked.
Seriously?
What the hell did this kid think he could do with paintball pellets?

Cappy bellowed, “Goddamn it. I need everyone to stay back and get down.”

Goon Two popped up from behind the counter, his rifle pointed at the paintball idiot. Cappy rose to his knee and squeezed off two more shots.

Goon Two jerked back into the shelves on the wall. The wooden ledges, held up by movable pegs, dropped rows of stuffed animals on top of the now dead guard slumped against the back counter.

Cappy jumped to his feet and slapped the mic channel open. “Report.”

Romeo jogged into view. “Goon Three down and tucked out of sight of the side door.”

Talon marched forward, sidestepping pockets of huddled employees. “Goon One taken care of and currently residing in the handicapped stall in the ladies’ room.” The cloth in his hands shimmied as he cleaned blood off his favorite black-bladed Ka-Bar knife.

***

Sid dropped to the floor and cradled Allie against him. Her terrified screams rent the air with agony.

“Nobody move,” Grady snapped, kicking the gun away from the sprawled body of the asshole who had been guarding the door and knelt beside him. He placed two fingers over the artery running through the man’s throat, but he had no doubt the guy was dead. The blossoming red stain across his chest was the biggest tip-off.

Crying filled the air from the huddled staff, and he wished he could shoot the bastard again for all the terror he’d caused them.

“Grady shot Goon Four in the room here with us,” Magician stated calmly from beside him as she picked up the henchman’s weapon. “I need help herding the employees stuck up here.”

“Stiles, help her get them to the central eatery. We can’t have any wandering off or leaving before we contain this thing,”
Cappy ordered in Grady’s earpiece.
“Talon, check on Ted. See if he’s passed out on the floor.”

Grady jammed his gun away, pivoting as he rose. His gaze lifted to the Observation Room. Like a beautiful, vengeful angel, Sandra stood behind a metal chair holding a wicked sniper rifle now pointed at the ceiling. A serious, sorrowful frown stole over her face, and she dipped her chin at him.

The Grim Reaper couldn’t have been any more perfect if she tried. With one shot,
Wraith
had blown half of Carlos’s head off, saving his life. Saving his life
again
. The quaint saying of “staring down the barrel changes a person’s perspective” applied so goddamn much, he was almost euphoric for the epiphany.

She turned away and the darkness of the room swallowed her.

No. No. NO!
He tore out of the room, hurdling parts of the laser tag course like a damn track-and-field star, and pounded down to the exit. Alarmed cries hit his ears after he burst into the hallway running the length of the floor.

Romeo appeared at the escalator landing.

Grady pointed and shouted, “People, do everything this man says.” He threw open the door and tackled the stairs leading to the Observation Room three at a time.

Sandra stopped short just at the top, but he continued moving, though slowing a fraction so as not to appear like a complete loon. He slapped on the light, needing to see every inch of her gorgeous face, and found her eyes wide and full of tears.

He took the rifle out of her hands and laid it on a chair near them.

“Grady?”

He didn’t say a word, just pulled her into his arms and slammed his mouth onto hers. She instantly opened for him and he swept his tongue inside. Sweet destiny blossomed over his tongue as he quenched his thirst for her.
Quench?
Never. A shudder stole through her and she gripped the front of his shirt, meeting his desire stroke for stroke.

He backed her against the side wall and pressed his body against hers.

She ripped her mouth away, lifting her chin. He kissed a trail along the smooth surface to the necklace ringing her neck.

She moaned, then whispered, “We can’t. I can’t . . .”

Grady lifted his head and peered into her confused, lust-filled irises. “Staring down the business end of a barrel put things into perspective for me. I’m not living in a Disney movie. Life is messy. But most of all, I’m no longer afraid to tell you I love you.”

Her eyes widened.

He kissed her again. Deeply. Her lips were hesitant, but grew more emboldened with each passing second. Needing to get the rest of his epiphany out, he reluctantly pulled back and searched her eyes. “I love
you
. You hear me? Not some girl whose role model is June Cleaver. I want the woman who can kick June Cleaver’s ass while hosting a child’s birthday party.” He stroked his thumb over her bruised cheek. “And I love the woman who is such a badass, she makes this Marine tremble in awe.”

Sandra gaped, tears spilling from her eyes. She gripped his wrist holding her cheek. “What about your home? This safe haven? This could happen again. It’s too risky.”

“We’ll figure it out.” Grady cupped her face with both hands. “You have a third option, sweetheart. It’s with me. We can come up with a new moniker together if you want. That’s up to you.” Then he snorted softly and admitted, “I’m going to kick my own ass for this next sappy statement, but it’s true.”

Hope, joy, and curiosity pushed out the shadows in her eyes. “Am I going to laugh?”

“Probably, but I don’t care.” He gripped a little tighter to drive home he meant what he was about to confess. “I can face anything except a life without you in it.”

Her breath caught.

“Do you love me?”

She bit her lip. The raw emotions flitting through her irises already answered the question, but he needed to hear the words.

“Casper, Wraith,”
Cappy barked.
“Have your Lifetime movie moment later. I need your asses down here to calm these employees.”

Oh fuck. Had he just broadcast this over the open channel?

Sandra smiled and slowly lifted a finger to point to the camera in the corner.

Great.
Video to go with the audio track.