"That"s Aidan," Liam said. "Her idea is bulls.h.i.t, which we"ll deal with later. How long ago did you lose contact with her?"
"Just a few minutes ago. I warned her that someone was coming, but too late for her to hide." Ian c.o.c.ked his head. "You and Aidan are related. Twins?"
"Yeah."
"How"d you know that?" Aidan asked.
"Your heartbeats are almost identical." Though Aidan didn"t seem to work as hard for control as Liam.
"This is all very fascinating." Anxiety pinched Tyler"s voice. "But we have a teammate who needs our help."
"Ian, you said you have ears on two of the men."
"Yes." He leaned into the car and grabbed the pocket PC he"d brought along. He tossed it over the car toward Breck, who caught it neatly judging by the slight slap of hard plastic against skin. "It"s muted. Just press the speaker icon and you"ll hear them if they"re talking."
Aidan cleared his throat. "Is that like a sonar thing, Batman?"
Ian grinned and shrugged as he rounded the car to stand with the men. Anyone watching hopefully wouldn"t see them as more than a group of guys shooting the breeze. Unless they recognized Ian. "Sort of."
Breck pressed the sound b.u.t.ton.
The metallic striking of a lighter flint came through the small speaker. "One of these days you"re going to do some damage with that thing."
"I look forward to it."
Great. They were dealing with a pyro.
"That"s Danielson and Sanders," Ian told Kieralyn"s team. "They"re the ones who are wired."
"Do we want to know how you managed that without them knowing?" Tyler stepped to his left and leaned against the hood.
"You"d have to see it to believe it."
"Sanders! Is the van ready?"
"Yes, boss."
"That"s Isaacs," Ian identified for the team. "It sounds like they"re in the main part of the club. Near the end of the bar by the hall leading to the office, kitchen and restrooms."
"El Dogo is inspecting the women. We"ll be moving them out in five."
Ian"s jaw tensed as a flash of rage washed over him. His father had answers to provide. If he was still on the good side and knew what was going down he should"ve found a way to reach out for backup. No one was lingering in the area. And d.a.m.n it, he"d done something to Kieralyn. But what? Isaacs didn"t act like he knew about her.
"Then I"m going to torch the place." Danielson laughed.
Four sets of teeth ground around him. "You know your way around the club, Ian?"
He nodded to Breck. "Yeah."
"You"re going in with us."
A gunshot reverberated off the walls inside the club. "Son of a b.i.t.c.h!" Isaacs yelled, but who"d been shot? Who"d done the shooting?
Kieralyn"s team shuffled. Four weapons were c.o.c.ked and primed.
Liam stepped forward and tapped Ian"s shoulder. "With me. Stay close."
"Head toward the back for the most direct route." Tracking the men around him by their sounds, allowing them to be his armed shields, he kept pace. "There should be a door about fifteen feet down. Sanders used that one earlier."
As they went, he gave them the layout of the club as he knew it. He"d been too distracted with Kieralyn to pay attention to the interior sounds when Sanders had opened the door, but he suspected it would take them into the hallway. "They may be at the end of the hall when we go in. Or they could be about fifteen feet inside where I think the door to a hidden room is."
"Seriously, dude," Tyler put in. "You"re going to have to tell us your secrets when we"re finished here."
"Sure. Just do me a favor. If you have to shoot a man who looks anything like me, shoot to wound, not kill." They all stopped. He knew they"d turned to look at him, as if they had time for this s.h.i.t in the middle of broad daylight. "He"s my father, I think he"s undercover, and I want answers. Kieralyn or I will fill you in on the rest when we all get out of here."
"Stay behind us unless you can dodge bullets," Breck ordered.
"Sorry "bout that." El Dogo"s voice cracked through the speaker Breck still held. "That reporter was getting mouthy."
Son of a b.i.t.c.h! Ian stumbled and then surged forward. Screw caution. A woman had just lost her life. Kieralyn was going to be heartbroken when she learned about Lana. Ian would personally see to it that his father shared her agony.
"Whoa!" Aidan grabbed Ian and blocked his path. "You aren"t flying in there, well blind, and getting yourself killed."
"That b.a.s.t.a.r.d is mine."
"Fine, but on our orders."
"Fine." Ian jerked free of Aidan. His jaw clenched with suppressed rage.
They proceeded to the door. Tyler and Aidan took the low positions. Breck and Liam took high, just behind Tyler and Aidan. From the sounds of it, they"d move into the door all at once. Four weapons trained and ready to fire.
Was he occupying the spot they a.s.signed to Kieralyn? Even blind and unarmed, he understood her frustration if he was. She would want to be in the middle of the action, not shielded from it.
One of them grabbed the door k.n.o.b and twisted it slowly. The latch clicked almost inaudibly. "Three. Two. Go."
The door swung open. Rushing feet thundered.
"FBI!" Gunshots ricocheted. A door creaked. Isaacs, Danielson and Sanders shouted.
Women screamed from within the secret room. The door was cracked partially open.
Sanders and Isaacs turned and fled toward the main part of the club.
A lighter flint sc.r.a.ped. The stench of gasoline a.s.saulted his nose an instant before the hiss of fabric catching fire arrested his attention. A kitchen door creaked as it swung open. Gla.s.s rolled across the tile floor.
One of Kieralyn"s team popped off another shot. Whatever Danielson had lit caught fire in the kitchen. Danielson fell to the floor. His heart stopped.
s.h.i.t. She had to know her team had moved in. Unless she was unconscious. s.h.i.t.
Tyler and Aidan went after Sanders and Isaacs. More shots rang out as they demanded Isaacs and Sanders put their weapons down. More gunshots volleyed.
The hissing pop of flames lapping at the walls held Ian frozen. His heart raced, pounding louder than ten drum lines at a high school football game and drowning out everything. He had to save Kieralyn.
A gun c.o.c.ked to his left. Breck and Liam spun in that direction. "Freeze, a.s.shole."
El Dogo. Ian"s blood boiled. He pivoted toward his father and charged him with an animalistic war cry ripping at his throat. The shift of metal in his father"s hand had him reaching out to knock the weapon away. Ian grabbed him by the throat. "Where is she?"
With the strength of momentum, Ian forced his father back and shoved him against the wall.
"Who?" His father struggled and jerked his head back and forth. He clawed at Ian"s fingers on his throat.
"Agents, check on the women. See if Kieralyn"s with them." Something told him she wasn"t.
Flames lapped up the walls, quickly consuming the place. Heat licked at Ian"s arms, singeing the hair, shrinking his skin. He struggled to stay in the present ...to not revert back to the scared kid trapped in a burning house. Smoke roiled and sucked the moisture from the air. Breathing would not be an option much longer.
Breck and Liam moved toward the hidden room.
El Dogo jerked his head and made choking sounds.
"We"ve got these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds." Tyler and Aidan hustled back into the hall dragging two bodies-Isaacs and Sanders, based on everyone"s locations.
"Hold him, Ian," Breck commanded as he came through the door of the room with the five sobbing women. Kieralyn wasn"t one of them, judging from heartbeats. Where was Liam? "Tyler, Aidan, take those a.s.sholes outside. Tie them up, knock them out, I don"t give a s.h.i.t, but I want them controlled."
Liam came through the door carrying a woman whose heartbeat and choppy breathing were her only movements. Not Kieralyn. Lana? Had she not been killed?
"Beckett!" Ian tightened his grip on his father"s throat. The building was burning down, and Kieralyn wasn"t with the other women. His father had seen to that. "Where is she?"
El Dogo clawed at Ian"s hand gripping his throat. Ian loosened up enough to allow the b.a.s.t.a.r.d to speak. "K-kitchen."
Of course she was in the kitchen. Near the fire. f.u.c.k.
"Breck!" He couldn"t let his dad go, but neither could he leave Kieralyn alone.
"Here!" Breck raced back into the hallway.
"Take this son of a b.i.t.c.h." Ian shoved his father at Breck.
"You can"t save her alone."
"The h.e.l.l I can"t." He darted toward the kitchen and Kieralyn. He"d pick up the pieces of his shattered heart later. "She needs me."
Like the song that had been playing last night when they"d made love said, their darkest hour had struck. He hoped like h.e.l.l that Kieralyn would wait for him to get to her.
He pushed through the doors, toward the heart of the fire. The paint on the walls bubbled and cracked. Gla.s.s in the pictures fractured and shattered. Blazing heat surrounded Ian as if he"d walked into an inferno. He hesitated. Didn"t hear her heartbeat.
"Kieralyn!" Ducking his head, he worked his way through the kitchen. Flames licked at him. Smoke smacked him in the face. He covered his mouth and nose with his T-shirt. "Where are you?"
Nothing. He couldn"t make out her heartbeat or anything else above the din of the fire. Panic set in and threatened to carry him back to his childhood. His heart raced-nearly obliterating his working senses. No! I"ve done this before. I can do it again.
He shook his head and focused his senses. She was in here. Somewhere. "Kieralyn! d.a.m.n you, woman! Answer me!"
Thump.
"Kieralyn?"
Thump. Thump.
There. To the right. He moved slowly, unfamiliar with the layout of the kitchen. Leading with his feet so he didn"t burn his hands, he felt for obstacles. "Kieralyn, come on. Talk to me, baby. Where are you?"
He couldn"t lose her. He couldn"t lose the woman he loved.
Thump. "Ian?"
Yes! She sounded weak, but alive. He could work with that. Hurrying toward her, he tripped over something that had fallen onto the floor. Sprawled on his hands and knees, he could breathe a little easier in the thinner air.
"Kieralyn. Talk to me."
She coughed. Two feet ahead.
He crawled forward. His hand brushed against her shoe. Rushing, he grabbed her and pulled her to him. Her heart beat timidly. Her breaths were more like gasps. He slid his hands over her quickly to check for injuries. A b.u.mp on the head seemed to be the worst of it. Physically anyway. Smoke inhalation was a different story.
"Come on, love. We have to get you out of here." He eased up until he was standing with her clutched against him. Stooping a little, he slid an arm behind her knees and picked her up. She buried her face into his chest. He turned to go back the way he"d come.
Wood groaned. Something that sounded like a beam crashed to the floor. Flames formed a solid wall. They were trapped. s.h.i.t!
Where was her team when he really needed them? How in h.e.l.l was he supposed to get her out of this?
Clutching her in his arms, listening to the soundtrack of her heart and her ragged breathing, he turned circles. Ideas and scenarios streamed through his head lightning quick and mixed with the terror he"d felt at ten. He"d been able to see then. He"d known where he was and how to get out. Now, the way he"d come was blocked. He didn"t know of another exit. They would burn together.
The screeching hiss of the flames was awful. The smoke grew thicker by the second, flames hissed viciously as they climbed the walls and ceilings, eating everything in their path. They would devour him and Kieralyn. Melt the skin from their bones.
No! He would save her that h.e.l.l. He would save her even if it meant he lived without her.
He buried his face in Kieralyn"s neck and breathed deep. The smell of his soap coating her skin soothed him. Focused him. The only thing that mattered in this moment was her.
Ian stopped turning circles and told the frightened little boy inside to shut the h.e.l.l up. He"d survived a fire. He"d found his way out of the swamp during one of his training sessions. He could get them out of here.
He took tentative steps forward, again leading with his feet though it was more difficult with Kieralyn in his arms. He b.u.mped into a hot metal table. He steadied his balance and lifted his foot to get the feel of the table. His foot hit what seemed to be a bottom shelf. He shoved at the table, but it was either too weighted down with equipment or dishes or it was mounted to the floor.
To his left, a solid wall of flames from the fallen wood blocked him and grew hotter. He turned right and edged along the table. Another few careful feet away, the s.p.a.ce opened up. The s.p.a.ce to walk around. The table was the main work center. Fire hadn"t reached this far into the room yet, but the temperature was climbing more with every second.
He coughed. Kieralyn wheezed. The smoke was taking a toll on their lungs.
He sidestepped left to check for another opening, but b.u.mped into a fiery hot metal table. Was it L-shaped? U-shaped? d.a.m.n it! He was running out of time.
A pipe popped maybe three feet behind him to the right. A high pitched whistle followed. His heart stalled for several agonizing seconds before kicking into overdrive.
s.h.i.t! He"d heard that whistle before. He was out of time. Any second now the gas fumes from the busted pipe would hit the flames. They were too close to avoid being hit by the explosion. They wouldn"t survive.