“Stop that man!” Noah shouted, pointing even as he took off in the same direction.
People started screaming, probably thinking someone else was going to start shooting, but Noah only had eyes for Magpie. The man was walking fast to get away, but with so many people freaking out, it wasn’t like anyone noticed. Certainly not enough for somebody to stop the guy.
Noah jumped through the body scanner, intent on his target, when a uniformed cop stopped him.
“Freeze!” the cop shouted, his sidearm coming up even as more people began to scream and run. “Don’t move.”
Noah slid to a stop, cursing in frustration. Magpie—the only person who might know where Peyton might be—was getting away while a cop stood here slowing him down.
“The dark-haired guy who just went through security is an international terrorist,” Noah said. “If he disappears, a woman could die!”
His announcement didn’t faze the cop in the least, nor the other one that joined him, this one carrying a Taser. “Nice story, but if you take another step, my partner will tase you.”
Noah caught sight of Magpie far away in the panicking crowd. The man turned and gave him a broad smile and a cavalier wave of the hand before disappearing from view. Cursing, Noah tensed, ready to take a swing at the first cop who got close to him.
He didn’t get the chance.
Two figures came crashing through the body scanner, taking both cops down to the floor, disarming them at the same time.
“Go after him before he gets away!” Sam shouted, lying on top of the cop who’d been holding the Taser. “We’ll give you time.”
Noah glanced at Wes, who was pinning the other cop to the floor. There was no way in hell this didn’t end badly for all of them. But he wasn’t going to waste the sacrifice, even if it did end with him and everyone else going to jail.
He took off running, people climbing all over each other to get out of his way as he pushed and fought to get to the place where he’d seen Magpie disappear. When he got there, he skidded to a stop, cursing as he realized that the concourse branched off in two directions. Noah didn’t pause to think. He simply turned right and kept running, praying for the best. People in this part of the terminal were far enough away from the insanity in the main concourse that they really had no clue what was going on, but they still stared at him running past them like a psycho. He ignored them and kept going. His knee throbbed with every step, but he ignored that, too, and forced himself to move even faster.
He reached the last gate at the end of the terminal without seeing anyone close to his target. His gut twisted into knots as he realized he must had taken the wrong direction and would have to backtrack and head toward the other end of the terminal. His heart plummeted when he saw more cops and TSA agents heading his way from that direction. There was no chance he’d be able to slip past them.
Then a dark-haired man came out of the restroom not ten feet away. Magpie.
For a moment, Noah considered drawing his 9mm, but instead, he lowered his shoulder and charged.
The guy barely had time to flinch before Noah slammed into him, tackling him to the ground. Magpie grunted, the air rushing out, and Noah was sure that’d be the end of the fight. After all, Magpie was little more than a frigging glorified investment banker.
Turns out Noah was wrong.
Magpie slammed an elbow into the side of Noah’s head, then slithered out from under him like a greased snake, moving so fast he was completely loose before the stars faded from Noah’s vision. Then the man was on his feet, pulling Noah up to punch repeatedly at his throat, eyes, and groin, intent on killing or maiming him…in no particular order.
Noah fought back by pure instinct, blocking the worst of the blows with his forearms and thighs, getting in his own hits whenever he could. At the edges of his peripheral vision, he could see some people running while others pulled out their cell phones and recorded the fighting. He wanted to think there was something wrong with them, but that was simply how people were these days.
Another quick glance to the side revealed the cops and TSA agents closing in. Noah knew he had to finish this and get the answers to his questions about Peyton before the cops took that option away from him.
Noah blocked another ridge hand strike at his throat and countered with a right cross to Magpie’s jaw. The punch should have staggered the man, at least momentarily, but Magpie barely blinked before moving in to drive his knee into Noah’s balls.
Noah twisted, getting his left leg up in time to block the attack that would have dropped him for sure. On the downside, Magpie’s shot caught him on the side of his injured knee and the pain he felt drove the air from his lungs and darkened his vision.
Shit.
He had to end this fight—now.
Getting his hands on Magpie’s shoulders, Noah smashed his forehead into the bridge of the man’s nose. Magpie began to slide to the floor and Noah was more than happy to let him fall, but the man clung to him. Noah thought he was trying to hold himself up, but then he realized what Magpie was doing and he cursed.
“He’s got a gun!”
“Don’t shoot!” Noah shouted, saying the first thing that entered his mind as Magpie backed away, Noah’s 9mm in his hand. “He’s got information vital to national security!”
For a fraction of a second, Noah thought that might stop the cops from taking out Magpie, but then three shots rang out.
Noah lunged for Magpie as the man went down. There was almost no chance the man was alive, not after getting hit three times. But the only wound Noah could see was
