Marcus

Chapter Forty Two

Please forgive typos - I'm typing all of this out on my phone lol.

Caroline ~

Marcus took the lead, letting Caroline rest behind him as he moved toward the door and surveyed the hallway.

"Empty." Marcus said over his shoulder to Caroline who was gearing up for round two if need be. She jumped in place, making sure her footfalls were silent, as she tried to get her adrenaline pumping again.

Watching the muscles in Marcus' back flex as he leaned further into the damp, dark hallway, Caroline mentally prepared for there to be dozens of combatants waiting for them outside, but hoped for the opposite.

Her body was tired and starting to feel the consequences of her hand to hand combat, but she readied herself to do it again if she had to.

Caroline rested her hand on Marcus' back as he led them down the hallway, making sure their calculated steps were completely silent as they approached an open doorway.

Marcus stalled and leaned forward, listening intently for any voices, but there was nothing but silence.

They slipped past the open door that was thankfully vacant, but Caroline froze and latched onto Marcus, stopping his forward motion as he whipped around.

She narrowed her eyes, trying to focus through the throbbing in her head, signaling to Marcus to look at the bag sitting on the floor beside a table.

Is that Marcus' go-bag? We couldn't get that lucky could we?

Marcus cautiously entered the room and snatched his bag from the floor, quickly rummaging in the pocket for the satellite phone.

Caroline's heart jumped up into her throat as Marcus pulled not only the satellite phone, but also a fully loaded weapon out of his bag. He checked the magazine and snapped it back into place before giving her a smile that made her feel like everything was going to be okay.

She let Marcus take the lead as he cleared every corner while she called Nate on the SAT phone.

"Mac what the fuck happened?" Nate said on the first ring.

"It's Red, I've got your tracker on, send evac to my location, Mac is with me. Go around Fox he's compromised." Caroline whispered into the phone.

"Copy that. Stay on the line with me as long as you can and talk to me when you're able. I need all the info I can get." Nate said.

"Injuries? Need medevac?" Nate asked.

"Negative."

"What the hell happened Red?"

"Fox set us up. Made some kind of dirty deal with Hashim, handed me over to him then sent Mac on a rescue attempt that turned out to be an ambush. Asshole thinks we're captured and dead, let's keep it that way."

"That motherfucker. He's been stalling Charlie team with all sorts of red tape and mechanical problems. No wonder he's taking his sweet time. He wants y'all to be gone or dead by the time Charlie team finally gets to you."

"Don't worry Red, Hunters fucking pissed, which means it'll get handled soon. Stay on the line with me."

Caroline's hope grew with every passing. It was due to a combination of the multiple empty rooms that they passed and the fact that Marcus' team was going to send help as soon as they could.