“We need to get you out of here, Jaden,” Sloane said, her chest heaving from the fight as she re-holstered the gun at her hip.Even as bruising and cuts formed on her face and neck, she looked just as ready to defend me to the death against the entire world.
This woman was truly incredible.
I released a deep breath and nodded.“We need to find Katherine and Ella first.”
Sloane’s eyes connected with mine for a moment, contemplating if she should go along with my demand or risk both our lives by fighting me out of this house without them.I tilted my head as I matched her gaze.“You know I’m not leaving without them.”
Her lips folded into a tight line before she nodded.“I know.Let’s go.”
19
GOOD LUCK
Pushing at my shoulder, Sloane directed me toward Katherine’s suite, the two of us picking up the pace as more gunfire and explosions shook the house.Shoving our way into the room, we found Katherine and Ella huddled against the wall between the dresser and bed.
“What’s going on?!”Katherine screeched as she held her crying daughter close.
“We need to go!The house is under attack!”I told her, holding out my hand to pull her along with us.
Sloane quickly moved through the room, gathering various weapons from hidden compartments and strapping them to her body.She then reached into another secret cabinet and pulled out several armored vests, handing each of us one to secure to our torsos.
“What happened to Sloane?”Katherine asked quietly as she buckled Ella into the vest as tightly as she could fit her into it.
“Scott tried to kill me, so Sloane killed him.”
Katherine paused for only a second, her eyes widening at the news.“What?”
“I’ll explain later.Right now, we need to get out of here.”
After I knew Katherine and Ella were covered and I was good, I turned back to Sloane, who was currently strapping more guns to her side.I held out my open palm to her.When her gaze shifted from my hand to meet mine, caution echoed in her facial features.
“Two is better than one, Sloane,” I reasoned, stretching out my fingers.
Her jaw clenched for a moment, consideration flashing in her eyes before she nodded and handed me two Sig P938s with extended magazines.
“You’re right.Twoisbetter than one,” she agreed, respect and sincerity gleaming in her eyes.
I smirked back at her as the weight of the guns hung from my palms at my sides.
Fuck, I was honestly going to miss this woman.
“Now, let’s move!”she ordered as she slung an M16 around her shoulder.
We followed her out of the room, Katherine clutching Ella to her chest.The armored vest was far too large for Ella’s tiny body, but it was better than nothing.I just hoped Katherine could carry the extra weight it held until they got to safety.
“What’s the plan, Sloane?”I asked as I stayed close behind her, the gunfire damn near constant.She kept her rifle up as she moved swiftly through the halls of the house, her head and eyes bouncing in all directions as she led us down the stairway.
If this was the attack Jason had organized, I didn’t want either of us killing any of his team members, so I needed to know where the hell she was planning on taking us.With how stacked she was right now, I hoped her plan would not require nearly that much firepower.
“We take the hidden tunnel off the property.There is a small boat house about fifty yards from the exit with supplies and transportation.Hopefully, it was outside the range of the EMP,” she answered quickly.
I nodded, wondering to myself how far I was going to follow her with this plan.I couldn’t leave with them.I had to see this through.Otherwise, I would be running for the rest of my life.I had to make sure Darren didn’t survive this time if he happened to survive the diversion Jason and his team had planned.It had to end here.Period.
As we moved quickly through the lobby, we passed Scott’s body, his wide-open eyes haunting me with a strange finality.I knew his loss would be detrimental to Darren’s organization.He would have to start from scratch if he somehow survived all this.But I was not planning on allowing him to make it that far ever again.
Despite all the gunfire and occasional explosions, we managed to make it to the secret stairwell virtually unscathed.Sloane pulled some kind of manual hidden lever, and the door opened, her arms reaching around to usher us inside.We followed her down the dark stairs that led to the tunnel at the lowest level of the house, the same one Darren had led me down when we entered the shack.
With the backup generators likely being damaged from the EMP blast, the lights flickered on and off, making the tunnel look like something out of a terrifying video game.Sloane withdrew a small flashlight from her pocket and mounted it onto her rifle, the small light giving off impressive distance.