Her companion went in the opposite direction from the main stairs, and she hoped he had a good alternative route. She wasn’t disappointed.
He led her to a staircase in a quieter part of the house, away from the faint noise of raised voices. They descended slowly, treading lightly, ears strained for any sound that might indicate they’d been discovered.
At the bottom, J.C. gestured to his left, and they tiptoed through a couple of turns until he steered them toward an empty, darkened room. Just as they reached the open doorway, three guards rounded the corner at the end of the hall, and he pushed her through.
“I think they saw us,” she hissed.
“Shit.”
Together they hurried for the glass patio door, and J.C. slid it open, urging her out. They rushed into the night, and she wanted to ask what his plan was, how they were going to get off the premises, but there was no time. The details could wait.
Then, disaster.
“Stop right there!”
“Freeze!”
Oh, no! “J.C.—”
Her companion whirled, pushing her behind him, and brought up his weapon. She stumbled and looked toward the house to see three guards doing the same, and in the next split second, the staccato bark of rapid gunfire rent the air. J.C. jerked and went down on one knee, returning fire.
“Emma, run!”
“No!” she screamed. Three on one wasn’t fair odds, and she wasn’t about to leave him to be slaughtered. Raising her arm, she was about to fire her weapon when more gunfire came from another direction. She waited for the inevitable agony of bullets ripping through her body, but it never came.
Instead, the three guards slumped to the patio in a hail of bullets and lay unmoving. Footsteps pounded toward her and J.C., and it took Emma a second to process the appearance of the big, imposing man in the lead. Tall, dark, broad-shouldered, hair pulled back in a ponytail…
“Emma!” the man bellowed. “Are you all right?”
“Blaze?” She blinked at the apparition that stepped up and grabbed her by the shoulders. “How did you —”
“Thank God you’re all right, baby.” He crushed her to his chest, kissed the top of her head, and said hoarsely, “Doesn’t matter
She glanced at this man, Byrd, and burrowed into her man. “Why can’t you come with us?”
“Because I owe that slimy bastard for taking my woman, that’s why.” He pulled away and crouched in front of J.C., placing a hand on his shoulder. “You gonna make it?”
“Yeah,” her friend said, panting, expression strained. “Took one in the thigh, but I’ll be okay.”
“Good. Who do I have to thank for taking care of my girl?”
J.C. hesitated, giving Blaze a wary look, but evidently decided to come clean. “Special Agent Jackson Collins, FBI. My friends call me J.C.”
“Agent Collins, you have my undying gratitude. Next time you need a favor, you have only to ask.” Cutting off any protest the man might’ve made, Blaze turned to Byrd. “Get them out of here. I’ll help the others round up our traitors.”
“Will do.”
She wanted to cling, demand that he return with them, but this was a mission, not date night. Instead, she accepted the kiss he pressed to her lips and let him go, worried as hell about what must be going on in the house by now and what Blaze would be facing. Because Dietz surely had heard the commotion. Why hadn’t anyone inside come running?
Blaze’s bald friend slung one of J.C.’s arms over his big shoulders, hoisted him to his feet, and started off, herding her away as well. She glanced back to see Blaze disappear into the house and out of sight, and sent up a fervent prayer that he’d be fine.
He’d come for her. Just like she knew he would.
The knowledge sent a warm rush through her veins, filled her with happiness… until her night with J.C. hit her with a slap. Despite Blaze’s assertion that sex was natural, she worried that he’d see her actions as a betrayal.
Were they? Especially considering his lifestyle and the stuff he’d said about sharing? And they weren’t even officially a couple again, right? They’d agreed to see how things went — nothing more.
It was all too confusing, and she was exhausted from stress, thinking she might not survive to ever face these issues with him. She was hardly aware of placing one foot in front of the other, and before she knew it, they’d reached a clearing where two black helicopters waited.
Byrd helped J.C. into one of them, and she climbed in after them, wincing at the blood oozing from his thigh between his fingers. The flow appeared sluggish, but that didn’t do much to alleviate her worry. He deserved better than to die protecting someone who wasn’t his problem.
The pilot started the engine, and Emma jumped, looking at Byrd in alarm. “Aren’t we waiting for the others?”
“Ross will send another transport,” he said, grabbing a first-aid kit. “We need to get our Fed buddy back to SHADO and have McKay fix him up before we send him home to momma.”
She nodded her understanding. While his wound might not be life-threatening, J.C. didn’t really look great, and it was best not to take any chances.
J.C. shot Byrd a sickly smile. “Thanks.”
“No problem. You saved one of ours, so we return the favor.”
“What’s SHADO?” J.C. asked, curious in spite of his pain.
“Need to know only.” Byrd gave him a dangerous grin. “If I told you, I’d hafta let you bleed out.”
“In that case, never mind. I like breathing.”
She watched Byrd cut her friend’s pants up the seam and pull the material from the wound. J.C. grimaced as the other man began to wrap the leg tightly. To distract him, she asked, “Out of curiosity, how were you going to get us away from here if all had gone well?”
“I appropriated one of Dietz’s cars and stashed it off a country road about a mile from the house. I figured we’d get there and make a clean getaway. I’m sorry I fucked up.”
“No, you did what you could. It was a good plan.”
“Except for the part about getting caught,” Byrd added, needling him.
“Shit. Does that have to be so tight?”
“Yep. Sit back and enjoy the ride or I’ll have to give you something to knock you out. Like my fist.”
“Your bedside manner needs improving.”
“At least you’re alive to bitch about it.”
Suddenly, she glanced around in surprise. Although she hated flying in a helicopter, between the adrenaline and listening to the two men spar, she hadn’t even noticed they were airborne and under way. Wonders never ceased.
Now, if Blaze would return to SHADO safe and sound, they might finally set themselves on the right path together.
A girl could dream.
It was past four in the morning before Blaze dragged his tired, disgusted ass to the compound’s hospital to get his scratch tended. He didn’t think it needed any special attention, but Rivera wouldn’t hear of it. Nobody on his op was going home without getting their boo-boos fixed, period.
Jesus. He just wanted to get out of here and find Emma. Holding her was the only thing that would fix everything that had gone wrong with this night. Well, almost everything.
He shuffled to the desk, thinking it was too much to hope for that she’d hung around waiting for him to get
