In Between Dreams (29 page)

“I’m not going to let him die because he was protecting me, Sam—I’m not.”

Sam gritted his teeth in frustration. “Fine,” he grumbled. “Wait at least a minute before you go out there. You hear me?”

Bailey was taken aback by his stern behavior. She nodded, and Sam turned to walk out the door. He opened it a crack and slipped out of it quickly. Bailey began to count in her head again.

1…2…3…

“Screw it,” she said to herself, and opened the door slowly. She looked both ways before slipping out into the cement, dim, cold hallway. She shivered and walked slowly. Her shoe squeaked with every step. She scrunched her nose at the noise. She kicked off her shoes and stuffed them in her bag.

She continued down the hallway. The cement was cold on her feet, but she continued. The chill prompted her to walk faster. She counted the doorways as she went, putting her ear up to each for a couple of seconds to see if there was any activity inside. All were quiet. Hui said it was the fifth door on her right, but she wanted to be sure.

At her designated entrance, she put her ear to the door listening intently. There was haggard breathing from a man who wasn’t Daniel speaking English. She pulled out the gun from her jeans and practiced holding it a couple different ways.

She’d never held a gun, but she needed to look like she knew was she was doing. She thought about movies and TV shows she’d seen. She didn’t know how to cock the revolver so she hoped that the round was in the chamber ready to shoot. She felt a small lever near the trigger. The safety was on. She clicked it to the position she thought was right for firing. She mirrored an image she had in her head of Walt from
The Big W
. She held it with both hands straight in front of her.

She took a breath. She felt nauseous, she felt terrified. She felt so many things she couldn’t explain. But she knew Daniel was behind that door. And she needed to do for him what she knew he would have done for her. She steadied her posture, attempting to calm her nerves by taking in a deep breath, and she widened her eyes, as if to become more alert.

In one swift motion, she opened the door and pointed the gun inside the room.

It was a lot to take in, Daniel was sitting on the concrete in only his jeans. His shirt had been taken off, and there were burns all over his chest. The other man in the room was sitting in a chair right in front of Bailey. He turned toward her, and she pointed it straight at his head.

The unknown man threw his hands in the air, signaling surrender. “Don’t shoot, don’t shoot, I’m just a translator,” he yelled. The short man was chubby and wore a suit. He looked out of place in the 14K’s lair.

The diversion had worked. Daniel was left in the room alone with the translator.

“Don’t even breathe,” she commanded threateningly.

Daniel’s mouth was open in shock. He had been bound to a chair with heavy nylon cord.

“I’ll need some help to get out of this,” Daniel said nonchalantly, as if he wasn’t a prisoner tied to a chair. He was pale and sweating, even in the cold room.

“What do you have?” Bailey asked the man. “Stand up. Empty your pockets.” The translator emptied a few keys, crumpled currency, and some change out of his pockets. Nothing he had was helpful.

“You’re going to have to cut me free,” Daniel told her. “Or this chair is coming with me.”

Bailey spotted a kit of knives and hand tools lying on a dark leather bag. Among the tools was a bone saw. Bailey had seen operating room instruments from a newspaper article she had written on trauma rooms, and it was exactly what she had researched. Bailey kept the gun pointed at the translator with one hand. Bailey picked up the saw with her right hand and passed it to the translator.

“Cut the ropes and do it quick,” Bailey demanded. The translator worked to cut the cords. After a few seconds, Daniel stood up, rubbing his wrists. He grabbed the saw from the translator and cut the ropes from his ankles.

“Just because something works in a movie, doesn’t mean it’ll work here,” Daniel said as he took the gun from Bailey.

The man stood in the corner of the room, and Bailey eyed him. She angled herself to stand between Daniel and the translator. “What are we going to do with you?” Daniel asked, pointing the gun at the man.

“Kill me. You might as well,” the man said between gritted teeth. “If you don’t, they will. For letting you get away.”

Bailey looked at Daniel, who shook his head at her. His eyes begging her not to do what he thought she was about to do. She took a breath and looked at the translator in the corner. “Not if they can’t find you,” she said.

“What?” Daniel and the stranger said in unison.

“Run,” she said softly. “Run and never come back.”

The man bolted out of the room in haste. Daniel tried to maneuver around Bailey, but she continued to block him, not letting him catch the man. Bailey pushed Daniel toward the opposing wall with as much force as she could. He didn’t move very far. Daniel tried to shoot the revolver, but a round wasn’t chambered and, by the time he’d cocked the gun, the man was out the door.

“We should have killed him,” Daniel said.

“You’re going to question my tactics?” Bailey scoffed, and raised her eyebrow at him. Her hands were on his bare chest, pushing him against the wall. Daniel was much stronger then her and he could easily push past her if he wanted to, but he made no motion. “No ‘Thanks for saving my life,’ or, ‘Sorry I almost suffocated you’?”

“Sorry I cut off your airway so you would wake up at home,” he said in his haughty tone. His eyes softened then, and he put his hand on Bailey’s face. “Thank you for saving me,” Daniel said sincerely.

Bailey looked up into Daniel’s dark eyes. The gratitude was there, but there was more to his look. A kind of want that she had never seen in anyone’s eyes. She thought she understood the need, because she felt it too.

“I don’t know what I would do if I lost you,” Bailey said softly.

“Now you know how I felt,” Daniel murmured.

He leaned down slowly, his lips hungry for hers. She threw her arms around his neck and pulled herself up to him. His lips crashed onto hers roughly. It felt like years of waiting had led up to that kiss. He pulled her waist into him as he kissed her roughly. He pulled her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

He turned her and pushed her up against the wall. The passion was extreme and more intense then she’d ever experienced. She gripped his hair and moaned softly into his mouth.

As the moan escaped her, she realized instantly that they couldn’t be in that room. They needed to be on the outside. She knew that. Kissing Daniel, knowing that he was safe, felt so good. She didn’t want to break the contact but knew she had to.

They broke their kiss abruptly. Bailey untangled herself from Daniel and he helped her get her feet back on the floor. Once she was steady, she felt a pulse of adrenaline.

“Bailey Regan. When we get out of this, I’m buying you a steak dinner.”

She laughed into his bare chest and pulled back. “Let’s get out of here first.”

The kiss made Bailey feel almost high. She blinked a couple of times attempting to get her bearings. She took a deep breath to help her focus.

Daniel grabbed a crumbled T-shirt off the floor and pulled it on. He opened the door to the room and looked down the hallway. He turned to Bailey and put his pointer finger over his lips. She grabbed a hunting knife blade from the kit of torture tools, throwing the saw to the side.

Bailey gulped as she looked at the torture kit. Daniel seemed okay, besides a few burns on his chest and his pale complexion. He had a bit of a limp, but overall, he didn’t seem weak. Bailey felt so terrible that he’d been down there for almost twenty-four hours. But his overall condition was as good as she could hope for.

They walked down the hall as quietly as they could manage, making their way toward the place that they entered the building.

The sound of a few sets of feet surprised them. Daniel pushed Bailey toward the wall, and they crawled along it, looking for a door. The sets of feet got closer, and Bailey saw they were coming up on where she had left her shoes.

She pulled Daniel into the room she had hidden in with Sam before. They shut the door quickly and leaned their ears on the door. The two sets of feet got closer and stopped for a moment.

The two men spoke rapidly and continued down the hallway. Bailey let out a shaky breath.

Bailey and Daniel retraced her route into the building. Daniel used the probe to pull down the vent cover and leaned forward making a foot hold with his hands. Bailey put her hands on Daniels shoulders, placed he right foot in his hands. Daniel lifted Bailey to the opening of the exhaust vent. Bailey positioned herself so she could reach down to help Daniel pull himself into the vent.

She was so utterly grateful that she was able to find him and that he was safe.

Daniel tried to pull himself up but couldn’t do it. He looked around for something to stand on.

“Be right back.” Daniel moved quickly down the hall. Bailey could hear him opening the first door. He was below her with a wooden crate he dragged behind him. The sound reverberated through the hall. Daniel placed the box below the vent, jumped up on the box, and was
able to put his head and shoulders through the vent. With Bailey’s help, Daniel pulled himself into the vent.

“This way,” Bailey ordered. Daniel followed Bailey down the vent. His size slowed him down since the vent wasn’t large. Bailey quickly outpaced him.

Arriving at the outside vent, Bailey used her scope to check the alley. She could see members of 14K near the street. The sound of gunfire was now increasing. The alley appeared to be clear toward the back of the building. Bailey pushed the vent off and pushed herself out headfirst. She was able to grab onto a drainpipe for balance and pull her legs out of the vent dropping to the ground. Daniel was now at the entrance. She reached up for helped to pull him out the vent while he tried to assist in the movement. He came out headfirst to the ground with Bailey trying to break the fall as best she could. Not the most elegant move, but it had them in the alley in a pile. Fortunately the sound of the battle in the front of the building covered their movement.

They were about five minutes behind schedule when they got into the vent, and it looked like the street thug at the mouth of the alleyway would have to be dealt with. They carefully moved toward the 14K fighter. Daniel walked with a limp. Apparently he had hit the ground harder than Bailey thought. He snuck up behind the fighter, tapping him on the shoulder. The young gang member turned with a startled look. His expression was met with Daniel’s right hook. His head snapped back hitting hard against the building wall. He fell to ground.

An inadvertent squeak escaped Bailey’s lips. She reached for Daniel’s arm and pulled him toward her. “Let’s go,” she whispered harshly.

Bailey pulled the radio out and spoke into it. “We’re coming out of the alley. See if you can get Bai’s men to cover us,” Bailey instructed into the radio.

Daniel tilted his head in confusion. “Bai?”

“Yeah.” Bailey nodded. “We called Bai for help,” she stated. “Don’t give me any looks or get mad at me; it was Hui’s idea.”

Daniel put his arm around her and she looked up at him. “I forgive you for starting a gang war in Hong Kong,” he said sarcastically.

The feeling of relief washed over her as they walked around out of the alley. Mei was safe. Daniel was safe. She let herself relax and finally feel relief. She still had so many questions swimming around her mind, but for now, she felt good.

“Will do. Wait ten seconds then come to the van,” Sam voice came over the radio.

They walked toward the van with Daniel leaning on Bailey for support. His leg seemed to be worsening. Bailey climbed in the back with Sam and Mei, who was shaking and crying into Sam’s shoulder. Katherine was in the driver’s seat telling Bailey to hurry up. As Halene waved them in from the passenger seat, Daniel suddenly collapsed into the van.

It took a moment for it register for Bailey. There was blood all over Daniel’s back, and a man stood across the street with a handgun. He continued to fire. Bai’s men saw the man too late to stop the first shots but dropped him before he could fire a third.

Then the van was moving. The van door was still open, Daniel’s feet dragging on the pavement. Bailey pulled him in by his belt using a surge of strength she didn’t know she had. The door closed enough to catch the latch. Mei crawled out of the back to sit with Halene.

Bailey pulled off her jacket and put it over Daniel’s gunshot wound. “We have to get to a hospital,” Bailey screamed, but everyone else in the car was screaming too.

Sam spoke in Mandarin over the radio, and Katherine and Halene yelled at each other while Mei cried.

Bailey pushed Daniel to his side, his eyes were partially open. He blinked slowly. “Daniel, we’re going to get you to a hospital. I swear.”

“You’d be a hot nurse, Bales,” Daniel said, his eyes drooping.

“Don’t do this, Daniel. You can’t die. We got you out,” she pleaded. She leaned her forehead to his, her hot tears falling on his face. “I saved you. Don’t die on me. Don’t you die,” Bailey said, and pushed into his wound to slow the blood loss.

“I’ll be okay.” Daniel said, a weak smile crossed his lips. “We got a steak dinner to go to—’member?”

“I remember,” she whimpered. The van swerved around the block, Daniel made a face of pain with each swerve. Bailey tried to keep him as still as possible. Bailey looked up to see Sam helping her hold him in place.

The car screeched to a halt, and Bailey held herself in place by putting her hand on the seat in front of her. Daniel’s eyes drooped more and his head flopped onto Sam’s lap. Bailey felt pure terror ripping through her chest.

Katherine and Sam emerged from the van, Sam yelled in Mandarin with sheer urgency and Katherine came around to the door to help Daniel out. Two Chinese doctors rushed out of the doors and helped pull him onto a gurney. Bailey looked down at her clothes which were drenched in Daniel’s blood. She held her hands, also covered in blood, away from her body. She slid out of the car and saw Halene and Mei getting out too.