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  They followed the tracking signal and found themselves driving in loops around the D.C. area. Finally the signal headed outside of the area. It continued on and on until it reached a waterfront and came to a stop.

  Nick and Lexi’s brothers were quarter of a mile away when they pulled the vehicles over. They’d go in the rest of the way on foot. They’d worn their utility belts with their holstered weapons along with extra ammo and other devices they might need.

  He couldn’t lose her. From the beginning he’d somehow fallen for the hardheaded pain in the ass. He’d kept it to himself until he couldn’t any longer.

  Her rejection had hit him hard but he supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised. He’d left Boston and moved to Arizona for Kristen’s sake, not because of Lexi’s rejection. He’d always intended to come back. He figured that giving her some space and time to think about what he’d said would allow her to realize how much she loved him in return. She’d just been so damned hardheaded.

  He couldn’t lose her now. Couldn’t lose her ever.

  It was dark, which would benefit them as they went in on foot. Their black clothing would help them blend in under the cover of darkness.

  The three of them slipped silently through the night. Nick had been a Navy SEAL, Ryan in the Marines, and Zane had been in the Secret Service before becoming RED special agents. They were all exceptionally well trained, as Lexi was. Nick wouldn’t have been surprised if she made it out of this whole damned mess on her own. But there was no way he was going to take chances with her life or her sister’s.

  They wore earpieces that allowed them to communicate. The sound of the tracking device had been turned off and the display dimmed as Nick held it in his palm and followed the signal.

  Light glinted off something on the top of a warehouse ahead. Nick paused. “Looks like someone has a scope,” he murmured just loud enough for Ryan and Zane to hear and indicated where he had seen it.

  “I’ve got him covered,” Ryan said as he took up position.

  Nick and Zane continued forward. The signal grew stronger as they closed in on the warehouse that had blacked out windows. No light came from inside the warehouse.

  They stayed to the shadows. There were light poles but the lights themselves had been killed. Likely Bachmann’s men had done it to keep their comings and goings from being seen but that had been a stupid move that benefited Nick’s team.

  Every now and then the moon would peek through the clouds and they would have to melt further back into the shadows, but for the most part it was dark.

  Zane spotted another man who Ryan said he could take care of, too, and then Nick located two other men guarding the warehouse.

  They attached very illegal silencers to the weapons they carried. This wasn’t a sanctioned operation and Nick didn’t give a shit if any part of it was illegal.

  In moments they had dropped all four men, each with a single shot. Unfortunately, one of the shots must have traveled right through the target and hit the warehouse because it made a pinging sound.

  Damn. Nick paid attention to the door into the warehouse as he stayed in a crouch and approached the black car that Lexi had been taken in. The signal told him he was right on top of it. The transmitter was inside the car. It must have fallen out of her shoe unless she was still inside.

  Quietly he peeked in through the window. He couldn’t see through the dark tint and he didn’t open the door in case a dome light came on. Bachmann could have more men out here in the dark.

  “The transmitter is in the car,” Nick said into his earpiece. “I can’t tell if Lexi is in there.”

  The rusted sound of a warehouse door opening sent Nick’s blood to pumping faster. Light leaked from the opening and then it was closed. In the shadows Nick saw two men. He raised his weapon.

  “I’ve got the one on the left,” Nick said.

  “I’ll take the right,” came Zane’s voice.

  The spit of a bullet came from each gun and both men dropped.

  “We’ve got to get closer.” Nick studied the door. “These guys are going to be missed.”

  They moved in slowly, remaining in hiding. They had to take care that no one else was outside before they stormed in. Several minutes had passed by the time they were within ten feet of the door.

  The door opened just as Nick was moving from a car to an oil drum that was sitting beside a weed-choked pile of metal.

  A man stepped out and looked at the bodies on the ground and raised his weapon. He started backing into the warehouse.

  A scream from the warehouse shattered the night.

  Followed by a shot and another scream.

  Chapter 22

  Little sisters and big trucks

  My head spun a little from that last punch but I could take it. Bring it on. Just wait until I get myself free.

  Blood filled my mouth and I spit to the side, the splatter hitting the concrete floor. I was lucky I hadn’t lost a tooth. Yet. Been there, done that. Have the bridge to prove it.

  I took stock of the situation. I was soon to be tortured with four big men in the room. I couldn’t count on Rori so it was just me against men who weighed twice what I did. Probably more.

  A sound pinged against metal, like a rock being thrown at the warehouse, yet not. Maybe even a bullet piercing metal, although I hadn’t heard a shot. Bachmann frowned. He nodded to the bearded man and Johansen who both turned and headed to my right. They went around a crane and a few moments later I heard the rusted sound of a door creaking.

  “There had better be no one here for you,” Bachmann said as he glared at me. “Or you both die now.”

  “There’s no way they could have followed me.” With my split lip I talked a little funny. I had to convince him. “You took my phone.”

  “Something is not right.” Bachmann continued to frown. “You could have some kind of transmitter on you.”

  Yes, the transmitter that Nick had put in the tread of my shoe last night. I’d almost forgotten about it.

  I didn’t allow any expression to show on my face, which was puffy, bruised, and bloody. Rori was still looking at me in horror.

  Bachmann crouched to my left, between Rori and me.

  A little closer, I thought. Come a little closer, you bastard.

  He looked up at Dawson. “Go check on Hans and Richter.”

  Dawson looked at me and narrowed his gaze but went in the direction the others had gone. He went around the crane and disappeared, too.

  Bachmann moved a little closer, his attention on Rori.

  I raised my legs to my chest, my feet together.

  With all the power I had, I shot my feet out toward Bachmann’s head.

  He turned just as I rammed my feet toward him and I hit him square in the face. Blood spurted from his nose. He howled in pain as his body was propelled backward.

  In a long practiced movement, I slid my wrists from behind me, down and over my feet so that my hands were now in front of me.

  I flung myself at him. At the same time he was pushing himself up. I went for his throat with my cuffs but missed and he knocked me aside. I hit my head hard on the concrete floor.

  Rori screamed as Bachmann stood and reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun. He was holding it in his left hand and it occurred to me that I’d shattered his other hand. Maybe he wasn’t as good a shot with his left.

  I twisted my body so that I could sweep one leg behind his knees and made contact.

  He stumbled back but didn’t fall. “Bitch,” he shouted. “You both die now.”

  As he spoke, I rolled to a seated position.

  Bachmann raised his weapon and turned it on Rori.

  I lunged for Bachmann, putting myself in the path of the bullet.

  The moment the weapon discharged, pain ripped through me as the bullet pierced my side and I dropped.

  Rori screamed again.

  I tried to get up. I couldn’t let him win. Couldn’t let him shoot Rori.

 
His attention was on me. He had his weapon pointed at my head.

  Scenarios bolted through my mind but he was so close that none came to me that would allow Rori and me to come out of this alive.

  “Good riddance, Lexi Steele,” he growled.

  Something plowed into him. Someone.

  Then I saw that Rori was on top of Bachmann. She’d taken him down to the ground. His weapon went off and he flung her aside.

  Blood soaked my T-shirt but adrenaline helped to mask the pain. I pushed myself to my feet and rushed toward Bachmann. He was still down but bringing the gun up and around. I got to him before he could fire.

  I rammed my foot into his hand. He shouted in pain as I kicked the gun from his grasp and it skittered beneath an old truck. Bachmann’s face was red. Livid.

  He tried to get up and I kicked him again. This time he grabbed my foot and twisted and I went down. Pain exploded through my side as I hit the floor. Black spots appeared before my eyes and I was afraid I’d black out. Bachmann went for the gun that was under the truck.

  And then Rori was there with her hands bound in front of her instead of behind. Apparently she had copied me, using her gymnastic skills.

  The door to the outside slammed shut. As Rori helped me to my feet, Dawson reappeared from around the crane.

  Rori and I grabbed hands and ran for the machinery. We ducked as a shot pinged off a forklift that we ducked behind.

  “You’re bleeding all over the place,” Rori said in a hoarse whisper as we moved through the machinery.

  We came to a stop as I listened. There were no sounds telling me whether or not Dawson and Bachmann were close as they hunted us. I tied the over shirt around my waist. It didn’t take long for it to be drenched in blood, too. I was breathing hard and my mind felt like it was spinning.

  I heard a shot and then Nick’s voice. “Come out, Bachmann. We’ve got you surrounded.”

  Relief poured through me but it was short lived when I heard the sound of metal hitting the concrete floor behind us. I glanced over my shoulder to see Dawson coming after us, his gun pointed at Rori.

  “Down!” I jerked Rori’s arm as we ducked and the sound of a bullet pinging against metal rang over our heads.

  We scurried around a huge work truck then several fifty-gallon oil drums. I tried to ignore the pain that kept making my vision wavy.

  Rusted metal pipes, anywhere from two to ten feet long rested haphazardly on the floor. I grabbed one about three feet long and gripped it in both my hands, wishing I wasn’t still cuffed. Rori picked up one approximately the same length.

  We had to get away from the barrels in case they still had flammable liquid in them that could explode if Dawson shot one.

  My breathing was coming hard as I gestured toward a forklift and we moved around it. I was weakening. I peeked around the side of the machinery and saw a glimpse of Dawson coming toward us, but he didn’t see me. He was looking from side to side, searching. I raised the pipe and held it like a baseball bat. I could put my college softball skills to use and use Dawson’s head as the ball.

  I tried to control the sound of my breathing so that he wouldn’t hear me but it was hard with my injury making my breath come in harsh gasps. It was getting harder and harder to hold the pipe.

  I glimpsed beside me. Rori was gone. My skin went cold. Where was she?

  My focus went in and out but from somewhere deep inside I found renewed clarity. I heard Dawson’s footsteps coming closer.

  With the way my side was injured I didn’t think I could take a full baseball swing. So I raised the bar as high as I was able to.

  I heard a truck starting, gears grinding, the throb of a powerful motor.

  Dawson was holding the gun in front of him in a two fisted grip as he came around the forklift. I brought the pipe down hard on one wrist. He screamed in pain but his other hand was able to hold onto his weapon.

  Rage was in his eyes as he swung toward me.

  Spots flashed before my eyes and I didn’t know if I had the strength to hit him again.

  Then his eyes grew big and he froze. The motor roared louder and I stumbled backward as a huge truck came barreling toward Dawson and me.

  He seemed to recover and started to turn to run but it was too late. The truck smashed him against the forklift. He screamed as the vehicle hit him and then he went silent. Metal crunched against metal as the truck pinned his body. His head hung like a rag doll’s and his gun clattered across the floor.

  I could barely stand as I stared at him and then looked up at the truck driver.

  It was Rori.

  My little sister had just saved my life. Again.

  Who was the badass now?

  She looked terrified but determined.

  Dawson looked dead. Very dead.

  Rori jumped out of the truck with it parked, still pinning Dawson. The engine died. She ran to me. “Lexi!” she cried out but I was barely able to hear her over the sound of the truck’s motor. I put my back against the forklift and slid down until I was resting against the enormous tire.

  She dropped to her knees, her eyes wide and terrified and I knew her fear was for me. I was fading from loss of blood. She tore off the lower half of her shirt, folded it, and slipped it under the top of my shirt, pushing up the makeshift tourniquet and placing the material against the wound.

  “You’re bleeding so much,” she sobbed.

  I wanted to sleep so badly but she shook my shoulder. “Stay awake, damn it. I’ve seen it on TV. You can’t pass out on me.”

  I couldn’t help a smile as I struggled to keep my eyes open. “Thanks for saving my life,” I murmured.

  “You took this bullet for me, Lexi.” Tears rolled down her cheeks. “You saved my life.”

  “Looks like we’re even.” I reached up and touched her face even though it required effort. “I love you, little sister.”

  “I love you, too.” She grasped my hand with hers and blood covered her up to her wrist. So much blood. She released my hand and pressed both of hers over the wound.

  “Lexi’s been shot!” Rori screamed. “She’s dying!”

  I hoped she wasn’t bringing Bachmann straight to us.

  Chapter 23

  Nick

  Nick’s blood burned beneath his skin as he eased through the machinery, searching for Bachmann. The man had vanished around a crane just as Nick entered the warehouse. Lexi’s brothers followed him in and they covered each other.

  The warehouse was massive. Lexi and Rori were here somewhere and all he could do was pray that they were alive. They’d heard a shot and screams before entering the warehouse and there had been blood smeared on the concrete floor, but no one had been around. He hoped to God none of the blood was Lexi’s or Rori’s.

  “Call the local RED office,” Nick said to Zane as he gestured to the blood. “Tell them we need backup and that we may have an agent down.”

  Zane nodded and pulled out his cell phone.

  Nick eased around the crane when he was sure it was clear and Ryan covered him. Zane snapped his phone closed and holstered it, then went around the opposite side. Hopefully they would catch Bachmann between them.

  But Bachmann was a slippery bastard. He wasn’t there. He had likely moved on through the maze of machinery.

  Nick’s hatred for Bachmann burned deep. If it hadn’t been for him, his sister would never have gone through the horrors she had experienced at the hands of the sex slavers and ultimately the man who had bought her.

  And Bachmann was responsible for countless ruined lives of girls around the world who had been taken from their homes and ripped from their lives and forced to be sex slaves. It was one of the most heinous things one human being could do to another.

  He owed Bachmann. And he was going to make him suffer for what he’d done.

  Nick, Ryan, and Zane split up to cover more of the warehouse. Nick’s heart beat faster, adrenaline pumping through his system as he continued on.

  A truck’s eng
ine rumbled to life on the other side of the warehouse. Was Lexi over there? Who had started the truck?

  He eased on, not allowing the truck to distract him. His finely honed instincts told him he was close to Bachmann.

  A flash of clothing vanishing around a man lift caught Nick’s attention. He crouched and eased forward around the piece of machinery. He peered around it but saw nothing. His gun raised, he swung around the man lift.

  At the same time a man with a gun came around from the opposite side. In an instant, Nick realized it was Zane.

  Nick indicated with his head the direction that Bachmann had gone and Zane responded with a nod.

  On the other side of the warehouse, the truck’s gears grinded and its engine rumbled louder. It sounded like it was being driven.

  A shot pinged off metal over Nick’s head and he ducked. Shit. That had been close. But it also told him that Bachmann was nearby. As far as he knew, they had taken out the rest of the slaver’s men and it was only a matter of time before they had Bachmann.

  The engine sounded like it was being gunned. A man’s scream followed and then the voice was silence. The truck motor idled briefly then died.

  Had Lexi run over one of Bachmann’s men with a truck?

  Nick continued his hunt for Bachmann but was conscious of sounds coming from across the warehouse.

  Then came Rori’s scream.

  “Lexi’s been shot!” Rori screamed. “She’s dying!”

  Nick’s heart went into overdrive and he started to run through the machinery, in the direction of Rori’s cry.

  “I’ve got Lexi,” he shouted into his earpiece. “You get Bachmann. But save him for me.”

  “Right,” Zane said, although he didn’t sound convinced that was what he should do. Lexi was his sister and no doubt he felt the need to go to her.

  Ryan came back with an affirmative answer but sounded just as concerned as Zane had.

  Nick bolted in the direction of Rori’s voice and the sound of the truck motor. He dodged through machinery and then rounded a forklift—

  And came face to face with Bachmann who had his weapon pointed at Lexi’s chest. Rori was beside Lexi, sobbing and looking terrified.