Invasion (The Alien Wars #1) (32 page)

As the bullet pierced
Baldy’s
heart, he turned to Muscles. “Sorry.” With that one word, he fell to the ground.

“You think you’re so smart, don’t you?” Muscles said, glaring at Sanchez. He moved toward him but paused as the men that surrounded him moved a tad closer.

Sanchez’s grin was as wide as his chin. “I am smart. After all, it was a good plan to kidnap the second in command of my biggest enemy, kill his family, and then convince him to work for me.”

“A diabolical plan more like it,”
Logan
muttered. “I assume you’re the one who gave him those scars on his back?”

“Not me personally, but yes, one of my men.”
Sanchez smiled. “I rather enjoyed listening to all of your plans, especially the one about the attack. Imagine, one hundred men. I wouldn’t have believed it if Baldy hadn’t told me personally.”

“You better believe it. They’ll be attacking within ten minutes,” Muscles sneered. “You’ll be wiped out.”

Sanchez glanced at his watch. “It’s time.” At the flick of his hand, his bodyguards came forward and made sure that the prisoners didn’t try anything as Sanchez handcuffed the three of them.
“Just a little precaution.
We wouldn’t want you to get loose while we wait for the attack. After all, I can’t wait to see your faces when my soldiers wipe out your hundred men. Then I’ll kill you.”

Sanchez glanced at his watch. He turned to the men. “You know what you have to do. Get on with it. Oh, and escort the women to their rooms.”

Logan
, Muscles, and Jet stood still and watched as the women and the majority of the men hurriedly left the room. Soon, it was just them, Sanchez, and three of his guards.

“I’ll be back in a moment,” Sanchez said as he puffed cigar smoke into the faces of his prisoners. “So, don’t go anywhere.” He laughed.

Sanchez turned and hurried back to the kitchen. As he disappeared,
Logan
shared a glance with Muscles. “What do you think he’s doing in there?”

Muscles shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, but I can’t imagine that whatever he has up his sleeve will be good for us.”

Logan
glanced around the room, trying to see if there was some way they could escape. But with the guards and handcuffs, it looked impossible. Hearing footsteps, he looked toward the kitchen doors. His jaw dropped as he saw a woman come into view.

It was Lucy. She looked as lovely as she had the last time he had seen her, standing on the rooftop of The View. She was dressed in a pink, knee-length cocktail dress. Her long, blonde hair was draped over her bare shoulders. She had bright red lipstick on, as well as diamond earrings.

Logan
looked on as Lucy gazed at him with her stunning blue eyes. Even though she was smiling, he could see the concern in her eyes.

Logan
smiled back, trying to comfort her. “I’ve missed you so much.” He walked forward to greet her, but paused as Sanchez walked up to Lucy and put his arm around her.
Logan
bristled, but didn’t say anything.

Sanchez smiled. “When I first saw Lucy, I wasn’t quite sure who she was. Then when I got her to tell me her name, it dawned on me. She seemed like the perfect companion. After all, we’re staying in a building built by a certain Thorn, so I thought it’d only be appropriate if I had a Thorn with me at all times, especially one so pretty.” He grasped Lucy’s waist and planted a kiss firmly on her lips.

Xavier took one more look around the outside of the generator room before setting the timer for ten minutes. Then, with a push, he began the countdown.

After grabbing his backpack, Xavier took hold of the man that he had hit on the head earlier and dragged him outside. Finding a spot where he wouldn’t be seen, and yet was far enough from the explosion to keep all his arms and legs, didn’t take long.

Rushing back to the timer, he saw that it was already down to eight minutes. He shut the door, hurried to the service elevator, and waited for it to arrive.

It took less than half a minute. Xavier leaped in as soon as the doors opened. After pushing on the button for the eightieth floor, he waited for the doors to close.

As the elevator began its long ascent upward, Xavier glanced at his watch. He was pushing it, but it’d be fine, just as long as he didn’t run into any difficulties.

As the elevator breezed past fifty and continued upwards, Xavier breathed a sigh of relief.

~*~*~

Logan
glanced at his watch, and as
nine o’clock
came and went and there was still no noise from down below, he knew something was amiss.

Suddenly, the
ratter-tatter
of machinegun fire broke the silence.

With a grin on his face, Sanchez put his brandy down and walked to the window. As the shooting got louder, searchlights lit up the street below from one of the nearby towers and the snipers went to work.

Sanchez squealed in glee. “Look at them run! Hey …” He frowned as, a few moments
later,
the shooting had all but stopped. No one was in sight on the street below. He turned to one of the guards. “Go down and see what’s going on!” As the man left, Sanchez turned his attention back to the others.
“A hundred men.
You call
that
a hundred men? Why, that only looked like five.” He pulled out his pistol. “Now that the fun is over, I might as well kill you.”

“That was just the pre-attack,” Muscles said.

Sanchez frowned. “Pre-attack? What do you mean?”

“The real attack comes at
fifteen past nine
.” Muscles gazed at Sanchez. “But if you unlock the cuffs now, I’ll be able to call my men and stop them. Otherwise, it’ll be murder. For your men, of course, not mine.”

Sanchez tucked away his pistol. “I guess the party can go on for a little longer.” He turned to the nearest guard. “Keep an eye on them. And tell me when it’s fifteen past.”

“Yes, sir,” the guard said.

Sanchez walked back to where Lucy was sitting. Putting an arm around her, he kissed her on the lips. As his hands began to wander all over her body,
Logan
looked away. He didn’t want to watch anymore. Besides, that wasn’t going to help them escape. Looking at the guard, he saw that the man was also looking at Lucy. He only turned every now and then to make sure that the prisoners were not making any trouble.

Not wanting to waste a second longer,
Logan
dropped to the ground and cried out in agony.

The guard whipped around. “What’s wrong?”

Logan
winked at Muscles before screaming out again.
“
Agh
!”

Sanchez glared at them. “Shut him up!”

The guard hurried over and aimed his pistol at
Logan
. “Be quiet!”

“My leg’s hurt. Just let me sit down, please?”

“Okay, but be quiet.” As the guard retreated back to his seat,
Logan
scooted over to Muscles.

Before
Logan
could whisper to Muscles, the man spoke. “Do you have a plan?”

“No, but if we wait until fifteen past—”

“We’ll get shot,” Muscles interrupted.

Logan
frowned. “What? But—”

“Quiet!” Muscles glanced at the guard to make sure he couldn’t overhear them. Satisfied, he turned back to
Logan
. “That attack we just had is all that we’re going to get.”

Logan
looked shocked. “What? Why?”

“Just in case my son was right and there was a traitor in our group, I made up the story about the hundred men. In truth, it’s just five of my best men. So, if we’re going to escape, we’ll have to get out of these handcuffs in the next ten minutes.”

“And how do you suggest we do that?”
Logan
questioned.

“I don’t know. If Xavier—” Muscles paused as the power suddenly went out. A moment later, he whispered to
Logan
, “Take out the guard!”

Logan
stood up and hurried to where the guard had been standing, Muscles following right behind him.

Just as a beam of light flooded the area,
Logan
and Muscles smashed into the guard. The impact sent the flashlight tumbling across the floor. A pistol rang out, and by the spark of the muzzle flash,
Logan
knew that it had come from Sanchez.

Bodies tumbled to and fro as
Logan
attempted to get the pistol from the guard. Even though they had a dim light, it was hard work to tell who was who.

As Muscles punched the face of the guard, a gunshot rang out and a bullet hit the wooden floor just a few feet from where he was kneeling. A moment later, another one hit the floor, both coming from the direction of the couch. “Where’s the gun?”

“I’m trying to find it.” Moments later,
Logan
pulled the weapon out from the pocket of the unconscious man. “I’ve got it! Find the key to the handcuffs.”

Logan
glanced around the darkened room. As he did, he realized he didn’t know where Jet had gone. As he heard a struggle over by the door, he assumed that he was fighting the guard. “We need to help Jet!”

Muscles kicked the flashlight in the direction of the door. It rolled over and over, stopping close to where the fight was going on. In the dim light, he saw the guard punching Jet in the face.

As Jet collapsed to the floor,
Logan
raised the pistol and fired three times. His aim wasn’t perfect as his hands were still handcuffed, but it didn’t matter. At least he was fortunate enough that he could fire, which was only possible as his hands had been handcuffed in front of him. The man sank to the ground as blood spilled out of his chest. “Are you okay, Jet?”

“Yes, I’m coming to join you now.” Jet took hold of the flashlight and hurried over.

Remembering Lucy,
Logan
got Jet to shine the flashlight toward the couch. It was empty. Suddenly, the flashlight crashed to the ground as bullets whipped past Jet’s face. He skirted out of harm’s way and hid behind a chair.

Wanting to find out where Lucy was,
Logan
hurried over to the flashlight and kicked it in the direction where the shots had come from.

As the light lit up Sanchez,
Logan
prepared to fire, but he paused as Lucy was thrust in front of the mob boss. Sanchez aimed his weapon against the woman’s head. “Kill me and she dies as well.” Sanchez toyed with his trigger.

“Okay, okay.”
Logan
lowered his pistol. “Just take it easy. No one is going to shoot you.”

With the weapon still to her head, Lucy reached down and picked up the flashlight.

“If anyone tries to follow me, she’s dead. Understand?” No one said anything. “Understand?” Sanchez repeated.

Logan
stepped forward. “Let her go. It’s us you want.”

Hearing footsteps, Sanchez pressed the gun tightly against Lucy’s head.
“Stop!
One more step and I’ll shoot.”

Logan
didn’t move. There was no way he was going to risk Lucy’s life. As much as he despised Sanchez, Lucy meant the world to him and he would do everything in his power to see that she survived this ordeal.