“I’ll carry her,” Casey said. “I can do it gently.”
“And I’ll stick with you, Jack.”
“No, Ben. I need you to cover Casey and Millie. Casey will have her hands full, so she won’t have her weapon drawn. I need you to cover her all the way back to the car. If things go wrong for me in there, then Casey and Millie will still have coverage.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to cover that door until the three of you are down the driveway, and then I’m going to put an end to this sordid business once and for all.”
“But you don’t even know how many people are in there, Jack,” Casey stated. “You don’t know anything about what’s beyond that door.”
She was right. I didn’t know. I didn’t know how many people were there, I didn’t know how many guns they had, and I didn’t know what I was walking into. I didn’t know if it was ten armed professionals, or one lonely soul.
But I wasn’t going to risk Millie’s life. I was going to see this through to the end.
Keeping low, I snuck to the door, tested it and found it was locked. It was easy to pick the old lock, and I was able to open it within a few seconds. Casey placed her weapon in the gun belt, clipped it, and then she and Ben crept over to the door.
Ben got in position to open the door, and Casey waited behind me. It was time to rock and roll. To kick ass and take names.
I counted down to three on my fingers.
Three.
Two.
One.
Quietly, Ben turned the door open, and I stepped into the room without a sound, gun pointed forward. My footsteps were silent as I scanned the room.
The room was sparse, just a couch, a television, and an old desk to the left.
“Clear,” I whispered.
Casey followed me in and I crossed the floor to the far end of the couch, putting myself between the kidnapper and Millie. Ben waited by the door, covering the exit.
I kept my weapon focused on the back door, ready to fire the second the handle turned.
Casey leaned down, tucked her hands underneath Millie, and gently raised her up. She kept the blanket around her, trying to keep the movements minimal. Millie stirred, but then leaned into Casey’s shoulder.
Casey turned and walked out, and Ben eased the door closed behind them, his weapon still drawn.
Out of the window of the office, I watched as Casey carried the still sleeping Millie safely out of harm’s way, with her head resting on Casey’s shoulder, under the coverage of Ben who still had his gun drawn. They moved to the side of the driveway, under the protection of the shadows. They passed the two cars, moving towards the end of the road. They were hurrying, but cautious not to attract the attention of any sensor lights. I watched the shadows closely, watching them move, and kept my hearing focused on any movement from the other side of the door. I could hear a murmur, but no movement.
Once Casey, Millie and Ben were safely past the end of the driveway, I turned my focus back to the room I was in. There was very little I could do if this turned into a gun fight. If I had to, I could get behind the couch and it would provide some protection for a short while, not protection from bullets, they’d pass through it easy enough, but protection from view, perhaps long enough to get a few shots fired before I was spotted, but I didn’t know if that would be enough. It all depended on how many people were in that room and how hostile they were.
I almost hoped the door would open, and bring the fight to me. Once I crossed the floor to it, I would be exposed and vulnerable.
Whatever happened now, I had done my job, and that innocent child was on her way back to where she belonged.
But for me, this wasn’t over yet.
It was time to open that door.
Chapter 27
I stared at the door for a long moment, waiting for it to open. If it moved, I’d pump it full of bullets, retreat, reload and then come back to pump it full of more bullets. Technically this would be murder. I had no idea who was in there or whether they posed an immediate threat, so in a court of law I’d be convicted sure enough. But morally they deserved it. And that’s what mattered to me. Whoever was on the other side of that door was a criminal, a person who wanted to risk the life of a little girl for money. Thank goodness Millie was now safe, but that didn’t change who I was about to face when I entered the next room.
A kidnapper.
The worst sort. I had no idea what Millie had been through over the past few days. Was she frightened? Did the experience scare her or would it permanently scar her? Had her entire life been changed by the last five days?
Those were questions that I didn’t know the answer to, but I was sure to find out. Whoever was on the other side of that door wanted money, and they were willing to do anything to get it.
Money. I had contempt for what it led people to do. I only wanted as much as I needed. Beyond that was greed, and look what that led to. People like Chase. Situations like this. Evil. Endangering an innocent little girl’s life, for what?
I took one last look around the dimly lit room I was standing in and took a deep breath—there was nothing to suggest that the person on
