Page 19 of Danger
“And what about my brother?” Lil asked. “You do know that he has feelings for you, right?” She did know that, but she couldn’t think about feelings and all that stuff right now.
“I can’t think about Declan right now. My focus has to be on keeping my brother safe, and after I do that, I’ll let Declan know that I’m okay,” Danger said. It was the only way to get her brother to safety, then she’d think about feelings and everything else that had happened between her and Declan.
“I’m not going to tell you what to do, but think carefully before you ditch my brother. He could help you,” Lil said.
“I’ll think about what you said, but right now, we’ve got movement,” Danger said. Two men came out of the building, got into an old pickup truck, and left the parking lot.
“Well, that helps,” Lil said. “My intel was that there were eight Dead Rabbits in that building and your brother. “Two just left, so we’re down to six guys that we’ll need to take out to get to Anthony.
“I can do the math, Lil,” Danger grumbled. “The odds still aren’t great.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Lil challenged.
“Six to two, Lil,” Danger drawled, “those aren’t the best odds.” Lil nodded across the street and Danger looked to see who she was looking at.
“Actually, it’s six against seven,” Lil said. “The odds are in our favor. I brought some backup.” Danger recognized the bartender from Savage Hell—Sprite if she remembered correctly. Savage and his husband, Bowie were in the front of the vehicle and Lil’s brother Cillian and another guy were in the back seat with Sprite. “Who’s the guy sitting next to your brother?” Danger asked.
“He’s my husband, Cian,” Lil said. She smiled at her husband and blew him a kiss, causing Danger to roll her eyes.
“Are you sure that it’s a good idea to get them all involved in my mess?” Danger asked. “I’d feel awful if something went wrong and they got hurt.”
Lil laughed, and Danger turned back to look at her. “You have no idea how capable they are,” she said. “Don’t worry about us. Just focus on getting in there and finding your brother. We’ll handle the Dead Rabbits. It’s not our first run-in with them.”
“I appreciate the backup,” Danger said. “We should get going before those guys come back.” Lil signaled to the guys across the street, and they all got out of the truck. Lil and Danger followed them to the back of the building, hoping to get in unnoticed.
“You go find Anthony,” Savage whispered. “We’ll handle the rest.”
“Got it,” Danger said. She headed off down a long, narrow hallway, opening doors as she went. The building must have been used for offices, judging by all the doors and the desks left behind. Whatever it was used for, the place looked like it had been left in a hurry.
Danger heard someone talking at the end of the hallway and she pulled her gun from the shoulder holster. She walked down the hallway, hoping that no one would hear her and get spooked. The last thing she needed was to end up in a cell with her brother.
She was just about to turn the corner when shots rang out in the opposite direction from where she had just come from. Danger knew that the Dead Rabbits were aware of them being there. Time was running out and finding Anthony was going to be harder to do.
Danger turned the corner and found it empty. Whoever she had heard earlier was gone, probably to find out what was going on. She quickly worked her way down the hallway, opening all the doors on her way, and by the fifth door, she was about to give up. She opened it and found her brother, bound to a chair, gagged and unconscious. He looked as though he had been beaten to a pulp and she worried that she might not be able to get him out of the building in his current state.
“Anthony,” she breathed, running into the room to her brother. “Can you hear me?” She quickly pulled the gag from his mouth and started to work on the ropes that bound him to the chair. “Anthony, wake up,” she shouted.
Lil ran into the room and Danger stood, drawing her gun. “Calm down, it’s just me.”
“Jesus, Lil,” Danger spat, “I almost shot you.”
“He looks like hell,” Lil said, looking over her brother. “Do you think he’ll be able to walk?”
“I can’t wake him. Maybe they gave him something,” Danger said.
“We’ll have to carry him out together. You take one side and I’ll get the other,” Lil ordered.
“What about the others?” Danger asked.
“They are wrapping things up with the Dead Rabbits. We got all six of them and Savage is making sure that they are good and secure before he calls the police. He has a friend on the force, and he’ll take care of them once he gets here, but we need to be gone by then—unless you want to answer a whole lot of questions. They said that they’ll meet us later, up at the safe house, and we’ll all come up with another plan to get Anthony to safety. Just give us a chance to keep you both safe, Danger. Don’t run away just yet. My brother deserves more than that from you.” Danger didn’t bother telling her friend that she didn’t plan on going back to the safe house or Declan. She didn’t want to take the responsibility of having to worry about both him and Anthony. Her brother had to be her top priority and then, she’d find a way to deal with her feelings for Declan. She was just going to have to lie her ass off and figure the rest out later.
“Sounds good, thank you for everything, Lil,” Danger said. She wasn’t sure that she’d get another chance to thank her friend once she and Anthony went off-grid.
“You don’t have to thank me,” Lil insisted, “it’s what friends do.” They worked together to finish freeing Anthony and pulled him up from the chair. By the time they got him to Danger’s car and put him into the passenger seat, Anthony started to come around. She promised him that he was safe now and that she’d take care of him as she buckled him in and shut the door.
She pulled Lil in for a hug, knowing that it might be the last time that she would see or talk to her friend. Danger released her and nodded. “See you back at the safe house,” she lied.
“Yep, see you there,” Lil agreed. Danger rounded her car and slid into the driver’s seat, not bothering to look back at her friend as she drove off. There was nothing more to say or do—she had to get herself and Anthony out of the country before the Dead Rabbits figured out who took her brother and came after them. She just hoped like hell that the UK was going to be far enough away for them never to find her and Anthony.