He raced out and stopped at the door that led into the warehouse beyond. This was the only way they could have escaped. Locked, of course, but he shot again and pushed through. He could hear the sounds of the trucks starting.
Hell and damnation. They were leaving. Where was Meredith? Darcy? And where the hell was this landing pad?
He was in the large open space he’d seen moments ago on the screen. The bright spotlights nearly blinding him. He was close.
“Meems? Still there? Where the hell did they go?”
“Keep going. There’s a stairwell at the back, by the exit. But hurry. They’ve reached the roof.”
He saw it and took the stairs, two at a time. At the landing, he threw open the door and ran out onto the roof. He heard it before he saw it.
A helicopter.
They were climbing in. Meredith’s unconscious figure was handed off to someone inside. Another wrapped figure was pushed inside before the goon joined them.
Peter started climbing in next, and Travis’s chest felt like it might explode as he raced toward them. The pilot must have seen his movement and said something to Peter, who clung to the door as the helicopter began to rise before he could get inside.
Travis leaped into the air and managed to gain purchase by holding onto the copter’s open door, as did Peter. The copter hovered, thankfully, not flying farther up as the pilot decided what to do with the men dangling on the side. The goon’s fist crashed into Travis’s head, but he needed to hold on. The man came at him again, and this time Travis used his left arm to sucker punch the guy, taking the seconds he needed to drop the tracker into the guy’s jacket pocket.
Peter took the moment to try and squeeze in through the doorway, but Travis grabbed him and clung to his arm before falling back. Peter, without time to grab onto anything, fell with him, landing eight feet below on the ground.
The copter hovered another moment before someone inside yelled, “Go!” and then it lifted and climbed higher into the sky.
A fist slammed into Travis’s skull, and his head whipped back before another fist caught him in the gut. Damn. The other goon. From the corner of his eye, he saw Peter try to stand but buckle as his leg twisted to the side. Broken. It was the least of the broken bones he’d suffer after Travis got his hands on him.
But first to incapacitate this asshole, who lunged again for him. Travis got to his feet and dodged the next fist and delivered a punch to the guy’s side. He arched his back in pain, and Travis delivered another quick hit to the sternum before kicking out, the crack of the guy’s knee sending him crumpling. He finally heard the wailing of sirens, as the sound from the helicopter was trailing away. Heading south.
Peter’s groan caught his attention, and he looked down where the man was clutching his leg. For good measure, Travis kicked him in the same leg and relished the cry that Peter let rip.
“Meems?” he asked, speaking loud enough into the microphone to be heard over Peter’s howling and the sound of sirens in the distance. “You’ve got to find where that copter’s heading. I tagged it with one of your bugs.”
He couldn’t fail Meredith.
No matter what had passed between them, he would keep his promise that she could trust him. Depend on him.
To save not only Darcy, but her, too.
Chapter Nineteen
Someone was crying. Through the throbbing pain in her head, the heaviness in all her limbs, the sound was unmistakable. Meredith tried to open her eyes, but it felt almost like they were superglued shut.
Arms cradled her, she realized. Soft, slim arms held her, and there was a familiar scent.
Darcy.
New hope filled her heart and she fought against the fog to open her eyes. Dark brown eyes flooded with tears searched hers. Darcy’s eyes.
Oh dear God. Her daughter. Here. Holding her.
“Mom.”
The tears still streaked her sweet face, and Meredith lifted her hand to touch the familiar profile. “In the flesh. Oh, Darce. I am so happy to see you.”
She pulled her d
aughter into her arms, feeling Darcy’s heart beat against her chest. Something she’d wondered if she’d ever be able to do again.
“I’ve been so scared. The clearest memory I have is being at a club. And drinking a Coke and then…then it was all a blur, like a dream—no, a nightmare. There were other girls. Amy, Kelly, Carly, and Tonya. Just like me. I don’t know where they went. Where I am. We are.”