But now he was out of ammo, and more vulnerable than ever.
Marcus rushed at him. The man rolled to his back and swung his pistol upward, the shifted position revealing his face.
The bodyguard.
There was no time to hesitate. Bracing his weight on his good leg, Marcus kicked out with the other. The top of his boot connected with the man’s wrist, snapping it and knocking the weapon to the floor as fire ripped through his hip.
The kick had saved him from being shot, but cost him dearly. His weaker leg buckled, sending him crashing to one knee as the disarmed man scrambled away to the right.
Dizzy under the onslaught of pain, Marcus sucked in a breath, sweat breaking out over his body as he struggled to his feet. Both pistols lay on the floor out of reach down the hall to the left. The bodyguard was halfway down the hall in the opposite direction, racing to what looked like a dead end.
Gritting his teeth, bracing for more pain, Marcus shoved upward. The room spun for a moment, but his focus remained locked on the man at the other end of the hall. The guy was pressing something in the wall. A panel popped open, revealing a keypad and screen.
Safe room.
His heart pumped hard and fast. Was Kiyomi in there? Was she trapped inside with Tarasov?
He drove himself forward, every choppy, running step a separate agony. His bad leg threatened to buckle every time his foot hit the floor.
Kiyomi. He would endure any amount of pain to get to her.
The bodyguard was still frantically trying to get through the security measures. With a mingled roar of pain and fury, Marcus launched himself at his target. They hit the false door with a bone-jarring thud and dropped to the floor, rolling away into the wall.
Marcus came up on top, balancing his weight on the knee of his good leg, then grabbed the bastard by the throat with one hand and drove his fist into the man’s face. He barely felt the impact on his knuckles, the pain in his leg eclipsing everything else.
The bodyguard let out an enraged snarl and twisted, throwing up a palm-heel strike and tried to buck him off. Marcus dodged the blow but his leg buckled again as he tried to maintain his balance. Alerted to his weak spot, the bastard delivered a sharp punch into the side of Marcus’s damaged hip.
The breath exploded from his lungs. Agony engulfed him, all the muscles protecting the joint seizing.
He clenched his teeth and drew his fist back to deliver another blow, temporarily blinded by the pain. This time bone crunched under the impact of his fist. The bodyguard’s head snapped back, his skull ramming into the unforgiving floor, momentarily stunning him.
That single pause was all Marcus needed.
Sucking air into his nose and trembling, Marcus pinned the man to the floor with all his remaining strength and locked a forearm across the front of his throat. “Where is she?” he growled, his voice low, guttural with a mix of rage and pain. “The woman. Is she in there?”
“Fuck you,” the bodyguard snarled back, struggling to break Marcus’s grip.
Marcus shoved his forearm harder against the man’s throat and landed another punch to the side of his face. “Give me the code,” he snapped, out of patience. Kiyomi was on the other side of that fucking door, and he would get to her even if he had to break it down with his body. “The code, goddammit!”
The man groaned, flopped as Marcus seized him by the front of the shirt and dragged his upper body from the floor. His head lolled, blood streaming from his nose and lips.
Jaw set, Marcus squeezed his eyes shut and bit back a scream as he forced himself to his feet, dragging the man with him. The guy stumbled, threatening to unbalance Marcus.
He wound up shoving the asshole against the false door, holding his face turned toward the panel inches away. Marcus could see now that the screen was a biometric scanner. He prayed the bodyguard’s prints were in the system.
He grabbed the bastard’s right hand, hanging limply at his side, and wrenched it up to the keypad. “Enter the fucking code,” he snarled, giving his prisoner another shove into the hidden door, all his weight on his good leg.
Fear stirred low in his gut when the bodyguard resisted, the frantic need to get to Kiyomi beating at him. He couldn’t maintain the position for much longer. His muscles were already trembling with the strain of holding the both of them up and the pain was making him dizzy.
“Now, or I snap your sodding neck!” he shouted.
The limp hand started to move, the battered, bloody fingers stretching toward the metallic buttons. Heart in his throat, Marcus could only hold him there and wait, dying a little with each passing second.
The bodyguard entered the first number. Then the second.
Sweat slicked Marcus’s skin, his injured leg shaking. Weakening more and more with every heartbeat. Come on, come on, dammit!
He heard something behind him.
Snapping his head around, he stared at the bottom of the staircase as someone ran down them. Ice slid through his veins.
He was trapped. Had no weapon, and his strength reserves were draining fast.
But he couldn’t release the bodyguard. Kiyomi’s life depended on getting through this door.
Marcus tightened his grip on the man and braced himself for whatever was about to come at him.
****
“Hold on.” Megan shifted her grip on the wheel as they approached the last turn. Barely letting her foot off the gas, she turned hard.
The car’s back end swung around the corner, tires squealing on the asphalt, but she didn’t dare slow down. Marcus and Kiyomi were in deep shit, and Trinity had dispatched her and Ty to stave off disaster.
The road ahead was full of cars. She didn’t hesitate, merely eased out of the controlled skid and pressed harder on the accelerator, shooting past the other vehicles as she wove in and out of slower traffic. Beside her, Ty didn’t say a word, one forearm braced against the door.
Up ahead, a few pedestrians were using a crosswalk. Megan zipped back into the correct lane and laid on the horn without slowing. The people’s heads jerked around, and they quickly scrambled out of the way as she barreled toward them.
At the intersection she made a hard left, swerving to avoid a BMW parked at the curb. She sped for the next corner, laid on the horn again as she made a right turn, narrowly avoiding a collision with a delivery truck. Tires screeched around her, angry horns blaring as she shot past the restriction and kept going.
Tarasov’s place was only another two blocks away. They were almost there.
She navigated her way through the maze of narrow lanes behind the house, finally coming to a rocking stop a few dozen yards from the back of it.
A column of black smoke billowed high in the sky above the garage. Sirens were screaming in the distance, more first responders on their way. They had to get Kiyomi and the others out of the house now.
Ty threw open his door and started racing for the side entrance. Megan jumped out and ran after him, drawing her weapon. It was loaded with non-lethal ammo, but if killing was the only way to protect Marcus and Kiyomi, then she would use other means. She would face whatever consequences came as a result.
Chloe met them at the door, face grim. “They’re both still down there. This floor’s secure now.”
“We’ll get ‘em.”
“How’s Heath?” she demanded as Megan and Ty started to rush past, expressions set. “Trinity wouldn’t say.”
Megan couldn’t lie to her. “He’s being taken to the hospital. You need to get there fast. We got this.”