Too Close

Chapter 37

Tyler's P.O.V

We crouched behind a group of trees in front of the warehouse. Seven men were on the outside.

Reed nodded at me.

I aimed my silencer and fired the first shot, taking the guy farthest from the others. His head hit the wall and he slumped to the ground. None of the others noticed. Colton, Curtis, and Reed began firing, their silencers silently taking them out. The last three started shouting and peering into the trees when they saw their bodies falling to the ground. I fired again.

"There!" one of the remaining two pointed to where we hid. A second later he and the last one standing fell to the ground.

We stood from our position and headed toward the building. My friends flanked me, crouching low and surveying the area in case there were any more men. Me? I walked straight into the building without a second look around.

"You're suicidal," Curtis muttered from my right, his gun raised. I kicked the door open and we walked down the first flight of stairs. Two guards stood near the bottom who Reed and I took out.

More stairs until we finally reached double doors that led into hallways. I was surprised to see that the halls were kept empty. What if we were too late? I had a bad taste in my mouth at the thought. Reed sensed my unease.

"We're almost there. I think it's this—"

Someone slammed into me when we came up the rear of another hallway. I lowered my weapon.

"O?"

She was wide eyed and breathed like she had been running. Her eyes were pink from crying. Pieces of her hair stuck to the tears on her cheeks and she was dressed in red lingerie with a robe over it that barely covered anything. There was blood on her hand and I hoped it wasn't hers.

"Tyler!" She threw her arms around me. She shook in my arms and I realized she was crying without a sound. "How did you find me? You wouldn't believe...this place is...I was so scared."

"Damn, I wish a Victoria's Secret model would fall into my arms!" I heard Curtis say behind us. I pulled her out of my arms to look at her.

"Are you hurt?" I gripped her arms and inspected her legs. "Tell me they didn't touch you."

"I'm okay."

"Come here," I pulled her into my arms again. "I'm getting you out of here." I steered her in the direction I'd come from. She pulled away.

"Wait, we have to go back. There are more girls here. They need some help."

"O, we don't have enough time. They're probably already looking for you. Let me just get you out of here and then I'll try to come back for them." Though with one look at her, I knew she wouldn't change her mind or move from this spot no matter what I said.

"I have to help them."

"Fine," I blew out. I pinched the bridge of my nose, unable to come up with a good enough plan. "But Curtis is going to take you back to the car, as far away from here as possible, and we'll go." I motioned to Reed and Colton.

"You don't even know where they are," she insisted.

"Olivia, I need you the hell out of here. We'll do what we can." She looked at the four of us then nodded and told us where we could find the cell she'd been in.

"Be careful." She kissed me long and hard. When she pulled away I took off the long sleeve over my under shirt and pulled it over her to cover the red nightclothes she wore, cursing all the while under my breath. It had to have been Jason who made her put it on. Her legs were still exposed but it was better than before.

I gestured for her to follow Curtis and watched them disappear down the hall. Then Reed , Colton, and I continued to the otherside of the building. Finally, we reached a hallway that split into one with a staircase and another with heavy metal doors.

"I have a feeling Jason is past these doors. I'll take it from here. You guys find where they're keeping the girls and get them out." They nodded and then I was alone in the hall.

I turned back to the doors.

I pushed it open.

Inside, Ciro members lined the walls. I knew all of them. They were mostly young. When they saw me, hands immediately went to their guns and pointed them at me. I tucked my gun into the waist band of my jeans and held up my hands.

"I come in peace, boys. Sorry I'm late," I said, looking every single one of them in their eyes.

"You're here to get the girl." I turned to face Walker. I cocked my head to the side.

"I wouldn't have come alone if that were the case. I know you think you're the shit, but I'm smarter." I lowered my hands and looked around the room that seemed to be an office. "Where's my father?" I hoped calling him 'my father' instead of 'Jason' made what I'd said a little more believable. They all lowered their guns, including Walker.

"He's in a meeting," someone new spoke, eyes trained on one of the two doors behind the desk on the far side of the room. I walked toward it and as soon as my hand clamped down on the doorknob, a screeching alarm shook the room.

In one smooth motion I turned and flipped the desk upside down, crouching behind it and peered over top of it. The guys were confused, looking around each other, trying to figure out what was happening and why the alarm had sounded before they saw that I was behind the upturned desk. My guess was Colton and Reed had been discovered.

"What's going—" I pulled the trigger on my gun and he fell to his knees then fell over. I fired a few more rounds, using my neutralizers before I ran out, and more bodies fell to the ground. Walker fired at me and a bullet flew over my head. The remaining men followed his lead and I ducked behind the desk.

I peered out of one side of the desk and fired more rounds, using up the real bullets in the gun. Now there were only five guys remaining. One of them was close enough to kick me in the face, making me lose the grip on my gun. I pushed up from the ground, grabbed his legs, and dropped him. I covered my chest with his body and put him in a headlock. He sputtered and tried to pull my arms away but I held my grip and pushed out so that we were exposed to the others, with him blocking my body.

Just as I suspected, they kept firing, shooting bullets into him. He slumped forward and I rolled him off me before ducking behind the desk again, feeling a pinch of regret at the amount of damage I'd done to those who were already on the ground. I effortlessly took out the other four. I hadn't noticed Walker backing out of the room until he slipped away.

He was long gone by the time I reached the hallway.

"Colton? Reed?" I said into my earpiece. "What's going on?"

"We're here! Reed's shot but we're good. Don't go after Jason, just get out of there." Colton's voice said into my ear.

I started toward the way out, retracing the steps we'd made earlier to get here.

Then something hard splintered on the back of my head and everything went black.