“Hansen just texted.” Christian pointed to the wireless earpiece in his right ear that had presumably verbalized the message for him while he drove. “He and his team are headed this way, and he’s put in a call for an ambulance.”
“Lights and sirens?” Brody asked, praying the answer was no.
Christian shook his head with a confirmed, “They’re coming in dark.”
Dark was good, because it left them with the element of surprise.
“I’ll pull in here in case he’s watching.” Christian turned into an alley separating the two buildings just south of their target. “We’ll walk the rest of the way.”
Minutes later, the team was out of the vehicle and marching in a well-trained, hand-to-shoulder single file line. While they weren’t wearing the usual combat gear they kept for situations such as this, the bullet resistant vests the team kept in the SUV would have to do.
Along with their pistols, and extra mags.
Keeping his left hand on Christian’s shoulder, Brody held his Glock steady with his right as the team made their way along the buildings toward where he prayed Ro was waiting for him. He didn’t let himself wonder how badly she was hurt, or whether she’d woken to find herself essentially buried alive.
His mind—his focus—was kept solely on getting into that building, getting her to safety, and taking down the threat. In that fucking order.
The team reached the side alleyway door they’d opted to use for entry. Looking back, Christian signaled Rocky to do his thing.
As the team’s demolitions expert, the man had the tools and knowledge to check for possible triggers. Trip wires, stationary bombs…you name it. Right now he was checking the door to make sure Ainsworth hadn’t set up a trap to take Brody and the others out in one fell swoop.
“All clear.” Rocky stood from his crouched position.
“We can wait for Hansen if you want.” Christian kept his voice low. “More back-up means more help for—”
“We’ve already taken too long.” Brody moved around his friend and team leader and reached for the door. “Ro doesn’t have time for us to wait.”
He opened that door and stepped inside. It was dark and the place smelled like mold and mildew. Flipping on the light mounted to his weapon’s barrel, Brody made his way through the small room where they’d entered and into a long, dark hallway.
The others followed, the team clearing every nook and cranny as they passed. With one door left to clear on the building’s main floor, Brody ignored the terror sending his heart racing, and made his way across the open space toward it.
Emotions clogged his throat, but he swallowed them down and reached for the handle. Terrified of what he’d find on the other side, Brody called upon every ounce of training he’d ever had to do what needed to be done.
With a final nod to the others—a signal to let them know he was ready—he turned the knob and went inside. There, in the middle of the room, was the locked and lidded trunk.
“Help me get her out!”
With no other hiding spaces in the large, open room, the team cleared it in seconds before racing to Brody’s side. Using the bolt cutters he’d brought with him, he cut the padlock free and he and Christian shoved the trunk’s hinged lid up.
“Aurora!”
Just like in Ainsworth’s picture, she was lying on her back with her eyes closed. One side of her forehead was a myriad of purples and blues, dried blood smeared around a cut that was swollen up from the center of the bruise.
Her skin was paler than he’d ever seen it, and a bluish tint had begun to saturate her ruby lips.
“Get her out of there!”
Brody reached in to pull her from the makeshift coffin. With Christian’s help, the two men carefully laid her on the tile floor.
She was so still. So quiet. And it wasn’t until Brody looked at her chest that he realized—
“She’s not breathing.” He put an ear to her chest and listened. Seconds later, “She’s not fuckingbreathing!”
His fingers flew to the side of her neck, a feeling of overwhelming loss consuming his very soul when he couldn’t find one.
“No!”
Brody immediately called upon his training and began to administer CPR. Tilting her head back and her chin up, he ensured an open airway before sealing his lips to hers. He blew in two long, powerful breaths before lifting up and crossing his palms over each other in the correct area of her chest.