Safe in His Arms (12 page)

“Fuck me, what is this?” Eagle called. Daren swore from where he stood looking over Eagle’s shoulder.

Ace glanced at the note in Eagle’s hand for a second before he sat on the bed. “Where?”

Mac nodded to the wall separating their rooms. “In her room.”

Ace scanned the wall like he could see through it. Probably could. Ace was one hell of a strategist. “When?”

“Just now. Maid said a guy wanted in to leave a note, but she didn’t see him.”

Dare snorted. “No fucking doubt she didn’t see him, or she’d be dead, huh?”

Mac froze and they all stared at him. “Shit, she went back down. I didn’t—”

“Dare, go check on it,” Ace said, “Eagle get a crew in there. Check the place. Mac, you need to get your head on straight, man. What else?”

“A knife. Six inch, throwing dagger. He stabbed the bed with it. He’s made contact, but she claims he didn’t rape her.”

Ace whistled low and Daren swore again. Eagle looked ready to kill someone.

“She claims. What do you mean by that, man?” Dare asked.

Mac shot him a look and saw how tight Dare was holding it together. Mandy had always been everyone’s little girl, like a little sister to these guys. Only she wasn’t little any longer, and instead of them watching out for her, they’d all let her down. Him included.

“She said he attacked her, but didn’t rape her. Doesn’t add up. If he didn’t rape her, he did something to her.”

“Fuck,” Eagle swore, rubbing both of his hands over his face and back over his blond high and tight. “Look, Mac, if the sick shit is on her this quick, it doesn’t matter if he raped her or not, get it? She’s scared, has to be, and you need to just give her time, let her tell you what the bastard did, but in her own time.”

Mac nodded. He got that. But not knowing what she went through was eating him up.

“This why she left?” Ace asked.

“Might be more to it,” Mac said, taking the chair opposite to Ace. “I have to talk to her alone.”

Ace nodded. “Think she wants Lacey here?”

Mac thought about it, but shook his head. Lacey had no idea about this. If she had, she would have said earlier, much earlier. If Mandy wanted to talk to Lacey she could, but, for now, he wanted her here, safe. “I think she’s good here.”

“Look we should smoke the guy out, but with the cartel out—and yeah, they’re out—we can’t stay here. All of us, here? Field day,” Daren said.

“Yeah, the shit’s hitting the fan for sure, boys,” Eagle grumbled. “We’ll check on the maid and the room. Stay tight.”

“Watch your six, man,” Dare murmured, squeezing his shoulder when he passed. “And our little girl, ‘kay?”

Mac nodded, watching Eagle reach the door and pull it open, Dare a step behind him. The blast detonating down the hall blew both men back into the room along with half the hallway. Mac flew backwards taking the chair with him so they both hit the wall first then crashed to the floor.

Next to him, he watched Ace shake his head to clear it and narrow his eyes at the destruction. That look Mac knew meant death to whoever had done this come down on Ace’s expression. Mac nodded through the ringing in his ears.

Someone had just declared war and it wasn’t some sick prick after Mandy.

The cartel had arrived.

Chapter Ten

“Mandy!”

Mac’s shout sent a bolt of panic through her. She had to get to him. Had to see for herself he was okay. See him standing there, strong and tall.

“Mandy?”

“I’m here. I’m okay.” She kept the panic out of her shout by sheer luck.

“Good, good. Get that door open,” Mac yelled.

She got up from where she’d hit the floor when the shuddering had begun, and pulled at the bathroom door only managing to get it a crack open before Mac was in her face, yanking her out and into the rubble that used to be his room.

“Shit, she’s good. She’s fine, Mac,” Dare said before she could comprehend everything. Suddenly Mac had his arms around her, nearly suffocating her against his chest, then just as she got used to him being alive—warm and strong and simply there—he grabbed her arms and pushed her away to examine her face. She knew the feeling. She scanned his face, his arms and body for signs of hurt, but saw nothing, not even a scratch on him.

One glance around her showed Dare, Eagle and Ace all alive, all unharmed that she could see.

“Mac, Mac, stop. What—?”

“We have to get her out of this room,” Ace said.

She shivered at his tone. He sounded so…hard.

“I called. Back-up is on its way. We weren’t the only place hit. They hit the club, too,” Eagle said.

“We need to get the girls out of here,” Dare said, his dark face nearly pale. “They’re fine but we need to move it.”

“Yep, you three go. I’ll wait here, then hit the stairwell. Make sure this shit is contained,” Mac growled.

She reached up and tightened her trembling hand around her throat. No way was this because of her. It couldn’t be. This was something else.

“The cartel won’t stop sending men. They’ll waste two dozen just to hit one—” Eagle started but Ace silenced him by gripping his shoulder.

“Not now. We’re going down, Mac. Give us ten. I hear sirens already, but watch your back, man.”

Mac nodded and before she could even say a word all three men had jumped over the fallen door and headed out as silent as cats. All three of them were armed. All three looked deadly. Still, she felt weak and shaky inside at the danger they were heading into. The cartel. They’d bombed the hotel to get to Mac and his unit.

“We gotta get off this floor, Mandy. To do that we need to make it down this hallway, to the stairwell at the end of the hall, and down four flights. You good with that?”

She opened her mouth to ask what she didn’t know, but he silenced her simply because he pulled her over and hugged her tightly to his chest.

“We’re going to get out of this.”

Instead of saying anything, she wrapped her arms around his muscled body and held on. He needed her, she realised.

“Okay, go get your inhaler. Leave the rest.”

She looked up at his face and saw the sheer determination there. Mac looked deadly. Not angry. Not upset. Not anything at all. His chiselled features were set, hard, and she knew deep inside, where she’d always been able to sense things about Mac, that he’d die rather than let her come to any harm.

“Don’t leave me,” she managed past the tightness in her throat. He froze from where he’d been going to go around her and glanced down with a questioning look. “Don’t get hurt.”

The hardness softened slightly and he bent to brush a kiss to her lips. “Not a chance, sugar.”

God, he was impossibly arrogant, but maybe, she thought, maybe that’s what got him through this horror.

“Good. See that you don’t.”

He winked and motioned with a hand for her to get her inhaler from the bathroom, and turned to pull a gun out from under the bedside table. He had one gun in the waistband of his jeans, she could see, but he held this one and checked the cartridge before he went to the other side of the bed. She grimaced at the guns, but met him at the bathroom door. He looked ready for battle. But then again, that’s what they were in, wasn’t it?

“If we get split up, it will only be for a few minutes. I want you safe, and this over. Do what I say, Mandy. It’s important that—”

“I will, Mac. Don’t you think I trust you?”

He narrowed his eyes and she saw something like surprise shift over his features before he gave her his half grin and a nod.

“About fucking time.”

“Mac—”

“Shh, let’s get out of this room.” He matched words to action by guiding her out of the door and over the destruction of the hallway. White plaster dusted everything, pictures lay crumpled on the carpet, with chunks of the ceiling missing and littering the floor along with bits of wall and two doors that had been blown outward.

“That’s where the bomb must have originated, or below it,” Mac muttered, manoeuvring around the disaster with half his attention on her.

“I’m fine.”

He nodded tightly and got them past a rougher spot then tugged her hand until they ran, half hunched over down the hall. Mac’s body was tightly controlled, his grip on the gun steady and firm. She thanked every crazy god out there for each step closer to the end of the hall. Muffled thuds came through from somewhere, but they sounded too faint for her to be certain what they were. Her imagination went wild, filling in the gaps to paint a gruesome picture. They’d been bombed. What wouldn’t these guys do? The shriek of sirens split the air, suddenly sounding closer. Was everyone dead on this floor?

She winced when he slammed his back into the wall by the stairway door and brought her gently to a stop next to him. He gazed down at her for some reason, his hazel eyes bloodshot and his face so hard she felt like crying. She held it in, not willing to strain what already had to be a tense situation for him.

He nodded once, and motioned to the stairway door, holding up three fingers.

She nodded. They’d move on three.

He counted down, and before she was ready, he reached zero, ducked through the door, holding it open with his foot, while he kept his gun pointed, up then down the stairway. After only a second, he nodded to her and she stepped carefully over the rubble and brushed by him.

“Come on,” he urged, not wasting time but heading down the stairs at a rapid pace.

“What—”

Gunfire sounded ahead of them, not in the stairwell, but through the exit where he had stopped them. “Shit.”

He pushed her back, out of the way of the door, and reached for the handle. She wanted to stop him, pull him back, anything but have him dive in guns blazing, but she knew she had to stay quiet. No distractions. Her brother had always said the least little thing on your mind could get you killed. Her being here was on Mac’s mind.

As she watched, his shoulders bunched under his T-shirt, the muscles clearly outlined by the fabric as he pulled it ajar. More gunfire sounded, but tight, hard rapid fire. He eased the door shut after a quick look and nodded to her. “Contained. They’re down. We should be able to go soon.”

The gunfire stopped. The sudden loss of such a horrible destructive sound numbed her. Her ears still hurt from the bomb, still rang slightly in an odd echoing way, but at least the gunfire had distracted her from the vertigo.

“Mandy, look up at me.” Mac’s voice sounded odd. She turned to meet his eyes, so glad he was alive she couldn’t stop the flow of tears easing down her face. “Damn, no, don’t cry, it’s okay. You’re safe.”

“Me? I’m safe. You, you were going to go in there, leave me here, and die! Those men had a bomb. A bomb. They’re shooting—”

“Shh, I’m tougher than any bomb, sugar. Come on, give me some credit here.”

She gasped and shook her head. “No, no joking. Not now, please, Mac.”

He reached over and pulled her arm until she reluctantly rested against his chest. “You’re doing good, real good.” He sighed in her hair and she hugged him tighter.

“You’re tired,” she said.

He chuckled, sounding like she’d startled him.

“You are tired. I’m tired. What is going on, Mac? Who is doing this?”

“The cartel we busted. They got out,” he said.

The understatement was so Mac, she simply cried harder, hugging him as tightly as she could. “They got out. They got out, like it’s a holiday. God, I don’t want to see you hurt.”

“You won’t. Now come on, be tough for me. Let’s get out of here so we can rest. I need a damn nap. You wore me out all day swimming.”

“Mac.” She couldn’t say she loved him, wanted to, wanted to so badly it hurt, but she stayed silent, keeping her love inside, unable to break it out in the open yet. “Just don’t joke about it, okay?”

“Come on, it’s safe now. No more gunfire.”

She let him go, stepping back, and rubbed her wrist over her eyes. There shouldn’t be this many tears in one person. She hated crying. Hated feeling like she couldn’t take care of herself. She glanced up and saw Mac watching her closely. “I’m good.”

“You’re doing better than good, Mandy. Just keep on being strong for me, okay?” he asked, quickly pulling her along after she nodded. “We go down one more level, that’s ground level, then we’re fine.”

They made it to the next floor without gunfire. She couldn’t hear a single sound, not guns, bombs or anything else they might have to throw at them. Mac stopped her, stood her behind the door, while he moved to the right of it, and slowly eased it open. Sirens suddenly sounded, along with shouts and what she thought could be running feet.

“It’s clear. I can see Ace. I want us to go right to him, he’s directing more of the crew. You and I will check in, then we get in a vehicle and head out. Lacey is already gone, or Ace wouldn’t be here.”

“Okay.” She nodded and tried to even out her breathing. Her asthma was acting up, but she wasn’t about to tell Mac she needed her inhaler. He watched her closely, for what reason, she didn’t know, but he seemed satisfied and nodded.