Ghost gave an agreeable tilt of his head, right before he got close enough to press the cold steel of his gun to the back of Nasa's head.
“No, but I'm not the trusting sort. Move.”
Nasa dropped the arm closest to Ghost, letting the bastard peer in to see Dillon lift her hands as much as she was able and give the cuffs a rattle.
“I'm not going anywhere,” she snapped, causing Elka to peel her lips back in a vicious snarl. Dillon told Elka to stay, but didn't tell her to stop making the hellish sounds of warning.
“Excellent. Nasa, let's go. Walk backward to the door and head down the stairs. If I see that dog, Duchess, I'll take my chances with the lockdown.”
Nasa could see the anger war with the fear and frustration in Dillon's expression. Her lips were pinched tight, lines of stress bracketing her eyes.
He tried to pour every ounce of confidence in his voice when he told her he'd be back, but the reality was, he might not be. Nasa nodded, drinking in her beauty just in case this was it for him.
“Hands on the back of your head,” Ghost told him calmly, the press of steel against his skin disappearing when Nasa obeyed. “Down the stairs. You got anyone waiting outside for you?”
Nasa seriously wished he did. “No. Dillon and I came in alone.”
It would have been real fucking smart of him to program Dillon's smartwatch to send out alerts and warning messages to someone else's phone. Like Tobias or Duke's.
Tobias had parked only a few streets over, watching to make sure no one blocked in their escape route or figured out the warehouse and the shelter were connected, and Duke was set up to watch the back door of the shelter. It never occurred to Nasa that Ghost would have the balls to walk out the front door.
They were halfway down the last flight of stairs when Ghost broke the silence. “You understand I can't have you chasing after me.”
“Yeah, I figured that 'we can all walk away' line was bullshit.” Nasa braced himself, glad he'd told Dillon how he felt. At least he was going to go out knowing she was alright, and Ghost wouldn't be getting away with whatever was on that drive.
Dillon would take all his stuff back to Austin, and Saint would know how to recover the files from Nasa's tablet.
“You should know by now, I'm a stickler for the rules, Nasa. I said we'd all walk away, and we will. You'll just be walking slower than me.”
The impact of the bullets and Ghost's boot kicking his knee forward sent Nasa flying face-first down the stairs, and the last thing he heard just before he hit the ground, was Dillon screaming his name and Elka's thunderous barking.
*****
As soon as she heard the echo of their footsteps fade, Dillon made her move.
“Elka, keys. Bring it.”
Joshua taught Elka a butt load of tactical commands, but he'd also instructed Dillon to spend time teaching Elka tricks. Dobermans were exceptionally intelligent, constantly in need of stimulation, so Dillon hid stuff all over the house for Elka to find and bring back.
Once Elka mastered hide and seek, Dillon made piles of stuff and asked for one specific item. Elka enjoyed the 'bring it' game immensely and took great pride in winning.
Case and point, Dillon's whispered command sent Elka straight to the sink where she immediately stood on her hind paws, nose in the basin to sift through the assorted electronics and disguised weaponry until she found Nasa's wallet chain and his keys.
They made a merry jingling sound as Elka pranced over and delivered them into Dillon's waiting hands.
As expected, Nasa had a handcuff key right there on its own jump ring. She'd just twisted free of the cuffs and was on her way to the sink to grab her gun when she heard the shots.
Two in rapid succession, the sound amplified by the narrow staircase, followed seconds later by a loud thump.
“Privedi yego!” Dillon ordered, ordering Elka after Ghost. Elka took off like a bat out of hell, snarling and barking the whole way.
Dillon ran after her, leaping down the stairs as fast as she could. She saw Nasa's huge boots first, then his legs, and he wasn't moving.
Dillon dropped to her knees beside him, gun up and tracking around the lobby, searching for anywhere Ghost might have positioned himself.
Elka was at the door, slobbering and barking like a rabid beast, her claws scratching at the glass to get out, which meant Ghost was already outside.
Dillon called Elka back, dropping her gun as she leaned over Nasa and felt for his pulse.
“You unbelievable asshole! Don't you dare be dead!” she swore, her breath hitching on a sob to feel the strong, steady throb of blood beating through his carotid. “Nasa? Can you hear me?”
Lying face down on the floor like he was, she couldn't tell where he'd been shot, or how bad it was.
Had he hit his head?
Broken something vital that punctured a lung? Was he bleeding internally?
She didn't know if she should even try to move him, and in her search for gunshot wounds, all she found were two neat holes in the leather of his cut, low on the left side of his back.
As soon as Dillon yanked his vest and shirt up to put pressure on the wounds, she realized there was no blood, and no gaping holes anywhere. Nasa gave a long, drawn out groan, startling her so badly Dillon gave a short scream in answer.
“Dillon! I heard gunshots... Oh my god. Ohmigod!” Patti shouted as she hurried down to them. “I hit the silent alarm; the cops are on their way. How bad is he hurt? What happened?”
“I'm fine!” Nasa wheezed, causing Dillon to give a choked cry of relief. “Hitting the floor knocked the wind
