Page 91 of Fury
“Move! Out of the way!”Davis barked in Arabic at the people running the opposite direction down the stairs.
Fury threaded the legs of the hundreds moving en masse down the stairs in a panic. He dodged more than one person unwilling to move and bounded up the stairs like the master tracker he was.
Davis struggled to stay with him, people not as willing to yield their path to him. Clearly, the landshark had a scent he was tracking, so Davis wouldn’t call him off. They needed to find Hollyn before the twerp got her killed.
Gun in position, he negotiated the fastest path through the flood of bodies. The deafening claxon of the alarm drilled into his nerves. His gut tightened when he realized he’d lost line of sight on Fury. “Moving to third floor,” Davis huffed into the comms. “Fury has a scent.”
“Copy,” Glace replied. “Two and Three twenty meters behind you.”
Good. Davis strained to find Fury.
A blur of fur ahead keyed him into Fury shooting left at the landing.
Davis plowed through the oncoming throng and hauled it up the last few steps. Weapon tucked close in position sul once more, he cleared the corner and moved into the passage. Past seven stragglers making their way toward him, he spotted Fury hauling scents up and down the hall.
Two faltered halfway down the hall and pinned themselves to the wall, terrified of the dog working the scent cone.
“Clear out, clear out. Move,” he ordered the three, motioning them past him as he closed the distance. They bolted for the stairs as soon as Davis stalked by. He shifted and gave his four-legged partner room to work. Listened for anything out of the ordinary. Which was difficult with the alarm still trying to split their ears open.
When the shepherd went from a brisk walk to a full-on run, Davis took off after him. Near the midway point of the hall, Fury suddenly slid to a stop. Head swung back and forth, tail up. “Whatcha got, bud?” he asked, closing the distance, keeping his weapon held close and down as he visually searched the door and threshold. He strained to listen around that stupid fire alarm?—which was clearly a false one. Who’d triggered it? He advanced to his dog and heard a noise. Paused. Cocked his head to hear better.
Was that a muffled yell?
Fury bolted two doors down and, snout pressed to the threshold, dragged in thick draughts of air. He did a head tilt, then planted his butt in front of the door. Stayed there, statue still, gaze boring holes in the door.
“Good boy,” Davis breathed, moving to the door. He palmed it to verify it wasn’t hot from a fire, even though he saw no smoke. Ear to the barrier, he listened again. Rapped on the door. “Security! Anyone in there?”
He heard something that blended with the alarm. “Hollyn?” he shouted.
“Yes! I’m here!”
Davis saw Benn and Glace hustling up on his left, so he stepped back, lifted his right leg, and nailed the door with his boot. It bucked, but a crack splintered down the jamb. He did it again amid an excited whimper from Fury, who barked.
The door surrendered. Cracked open.
Fury sailed into the room like the landshark he was.
When nobody fired at Fury, Davis moved into the room, weapon up. First thing he spotted was Hollyn anchored to a marble column like a horse at a hitching post. It ticked him off, but he kept himself in check. Knew that was a classic lure—get him to rush into the room to save the hostage, then kill him. So he focused on clearing. Heard Bennion do the same and Glace rush to Hollyn. The room held a table littered with papers and a wall of monitors. Checked a door—closet. Another accessed a bathroom.
“Clear.” Davis holstered his weapon and pivoted toward Hollyn. Dropped to a knee and produced his KA-BAR. “You okay?”
“Light bruises. Nothing significant.” Glace provided the medic’s rundown of her condition.
“Yeah . . . ”
The tremor in her voice punched his gut. He sliced through the zip ties, his gaze scanning her for injuries. In a blink, she leapt at him. Thudded into his chest, arms coiled tight around his neck.
“You’re okay. I’ve got you.”
“You came. I can’t believe you came.”
Davis swallowed at how deeply those words dug past his tac vest and years-hardened heart.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured, her lips moving against his neck as she shuddered. “I’m so sorry! I should’ve listened. Stayed put.”
Surprised at her words and the way she’d thrown herself at him, Davis held her tight. Heard as much as felt Fury sniffing Hollyn’s face and swiping his tongue along her cheek. He ruffed the shepherd’s head, knowing Fury wasn’t too thrilled when others “attacked” him. “You’re okay now. It’s okay. I wanted to kill you when I heard you’d left.”
He tried to laugh but couldn’t. Felt a primal need to know she was okay, wasn’t injured. “You’re safe now. That’s what matters.” He wasn’t sure if he was saying that for her or for himself. That’s when the desperate, frantic realization rushed through him—he loved her and would do anything for her. “I’ll always come for you.” When she eased back, he framed her face with a hand. Swept his thumb over the bruise forming on her cheek. He bent in to be sure she was listening, she truly heard that. “Always.”