Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 63082 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63082 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
The sat phone in his pocket buzzed. He ripped the device from his pocket. Karliah. “Where is she?”
“The doctor has her. I took down three of the four guards, but three more were waiting in the hall. I eliminated one of them but—”
“Location?”
“Main floor. Medical wing. I’m en route.”
He was already moving. “On my way.”
Please, please don’t let me be too late.
“Hurry!”
As quickly as he’d charged upstairs, he hurtled back down, his superior training allowing him to punch, pistol-whip, or headbutt every guard who got in his way with brutal efficiency.
On the main floor, panicked guests scattered in every direction. He blended in, slipping past the overwhelmed guards.
In the medical wing—a sprawling T-shaped space—shadows danced in the emergency lights, bouncing off thick concrete walls. The main treatment room intersected with a longer hallway connecting to labor and delivery. He’d memorized the layout his first day here, knowing it might become crucial. Now that knowledge might save Haisley’s life.
The sound of female voices behind a blue metal door brought him to a screeching halt.
“Damn the guards for leaving me as soon as we got here,” Dr. Haynes griped. “Give me the gun, bitch!”
“No.” Haisley’s voice shook but held firm. “Get that syringe away from me!”
Shuffling, followed by a scuffle. Feminine grunts. Chairs scraping against linoleum. Then a crash that sounded like someone shoving a medical cart that collided with a wall.
Veins filled with icy terror, Nash yanked on the door.
Locked.
The keypad wouldn’t be simple to breach. He didn’t dare risk shooting it for fear of hitting Haisley. Fuck, he needed to clear his head, to think. Normally, he’d be cool and tactical…but this was the woman he loved—and their baby. Fear choked him, clouding his thoughts.
“Get away from me!” Haisley insisted.
“You better give me the fucking gun or Black Velvet will kill you.”
“I won’t. I’m not giving up.”
More commotion followed. Nash’s fingers whitened on his weapon as he heard the high-pitched desperation in her voice.
Nothing was more lethal than someone with nothing left to lose.
“How can you help these monsters ruin innocent women’s lives?” Haisley demanded. “How do you live with yourself?”
“Don’t you dare judge me! I was taken three years ago and told I could either work for them or be sold to the highest bidder. What would you have chosen?” Dr. Haynes’s voice broke. “Now cooperate and let me administer this sedative. It won’t hurt you or the baby.”
“And once I pass out, then what?”
“That’s up to Black Velvet. But if I don’t do this, they’ll kill me.”
“What makes you think I won’t?” Haisley challenged.
“Nash.” A whisper behind him. Tiptoed steps in his direction.
He spun to find Karliah and pointed at the keypad. “Combination?”
She shrugged. “There’s a connecting door through labor and delivery.”
He remembered now. “On it. Watch my six.”
With a nod, she followed.
“Location?” Ethan’s voice cracked through his earpiece.
“Medical wing. The doctor has Haisley trapped inside.”
“Mila is heading that way. We’re in pursuit, but she’s surrounded by guards. She’s armed, and she’s pissed off.”
Not the news he wanted. “ETA?”
“We’ll be there in two.”
Goddamn it, he feared this battle would be over before then. And if he and Karliah couldn’t reach Haisley in time…
He refused to think the worst.
Ethan went on. “Feds are rounding up all the buyers and are getting the women from tonight’s auction to safety.”
Good. “And Gray?”
“Dead. I double-tapped that son of a bitch in the head and planted another one in his black heart just for fun. He felt Kaylee up before he ‘sold’ her to me, so I took care of him. Personally.”
Ethan was a good-timing, beer-drinking manwhore who loved pranks and had a snarky sense of humor. But Nash had always known his roommate was lethal—not a man smart people crossed if they wanted to live.
“Good. One less armed pervert to contend with.” Nash swiped blood and sweat from his face as he reached the next door. Unlocked, thank god.
In case the hinges squeaked, he eased it open. He couldn’t give away their approach, but he didn’t hear Haisley anymore. That unnerved him.
Dread twisting his gut, he crept into the labor and delivery room, crossed the dark room dominated by three empty beds with blank monitors and empty incubators beside them. Women gave birth here, probably before they had their newborns ripped from their arms forever.
His fury climbed another ten notches. Every one of these fucking monsters deserved to die. And for threatening his woman, he’d be more than happy to start with the doctor first.
“Back up or I’ll shoot you.”
Haisley. Nash nearly sagged in relief to hear her trembling voice again.
As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he caught a glimpse of her through the observation window, wearing a flimsy blue shift, torn in the scuffle, and a narrow-eyed glare of determination.
His training screamed at him to act, to protect, to eliminate the threat. But one wrong move, one misplaced shot through this maze of medical equipment and thick glass, and he could get Haisley killed. The doctor was using her as a shield too effectively.