My eyes scan the yard, noticing the lack of actual Columbia students. Instead, more men pull out their weapons, aiming them straight for the guards I’d posted around the building. Shots go off, echoing around the small strip between two of Columbia’s buildings. I watch helplessly as my men go down one by one, unprotected and out in the open.
It’s a fucking ambush.
And I’d thought Cara would be safe.
Fuck. I try to gauge how quickly I can reach the security box without dying in the process. It stood halfway between the lot and Cara’s building, right next to one of the side doors. If I can reach that, then I can have Niccolo, and the brothers cover for me as I try and make it to the door.
It’s not the best plan, but it’s the only one I’ve got.
“Did you text Dante?” I growl, peering around the door back at the SUV. A bullet lodges into the side of our car, forcing me back. We need back up. Now. There’s no way Niccolo can hold off this many on his own while I try and find Cara.
“Almost!” Niccolo shouts back. He’s ducked behind the other door, hunkering down. I see his screen light up, his fingers flying. He sends the text, pausing to take a few shots between the door hinges and car frame before ducking back down. “Alright! Reinforcements in five. Go—I’ll cover you.” He glances over his shoulder at me.
“Just don’t fucking die,” Declan shouts.
We wait for the gunshots to stop before making our move. Niccolo straightens just as I dart from behind the car door. I can hear him pull off a few shots before the Russians answer. The brothers’ guns fire one by one, letting off another round. One man to my right raises his gun, but I take him down before he can pull the trigger. His buddy behind him goes next, dropping to the grass.
I make the security box in ten strides, lunging behind it just as another round of fire goes off behind me. Sparks fly against the side of the hall, bullets lodging in the brick. I wince as more rounds go off, unable to count how many men the Bratva had sent. Too many, that’s for damn sure.
With most of my men out and Niccolo and the brothers waiting for backup, I don’t like our odds. But it’s not like I can just leave Cara here on her own. Fury grips me at the thought of something happening to her. We hadn’t expected an ambush in such a public place. She should have been safe.
Taking a deep breath, I wait for a lull. I can still hear their guns going off, which at least gives me a little bit of comfort. Steeling myself, I bolt from behind the guard’s box, heading straight for the door. I’m nearly there when I hear more shots going off. A bullet lodges into the bricks beside the door, and I curse, ducking down again behind the steel railings. Ripping the door open, I slip inside, immediately getting as far away from the glass door windows as I possibly can.
The hall is completely empty. Which, you’d think there’d be a mass of screaming students if they heard a damn firefight outside. Or maybe the students had all locked themselves in the classroom. But a quick check through the first room’s door window tells me otherwise. The space is completely empty as well. The lights are off.
Cursing, I try to figure out where Cara’s classroom is in relation to the door I’d just come through. If I remember correctly, her classroom is near the front. I start down the hallway, my gun at the ready. The entire place seems abandoned. All I can hear is the muted sounds of the firefight outside. It almost looks like the Russians had paid off the whole fucking building for this ambush.
“Hey! Stop right there!”
I freeze. Two campus security guards pause at the end of the hall. For a second, I feel relieved. One is short and stubby, his balding head littered with gray hairs. He can’t be less than sixty and has probably had the same shitty position here for decades. His partner is younger. And bigger. The school’s security uniform barely fits him. His blond hair is shaved close to his skull. Something about him seems off.
I don’t have much time to think about it.
“What the hell is going on?” The first guard yanks my attention back to him. He stalks down the hall, looking confused and pissed off. “I heard—”
I have no time to warn him. A shot rings out just as the man goes down. Behind him, the guard’s partner aims his gun at me, but my finger’s already pulling the trigger. He goes down before he can take his shot, falling harder than his partner had.
If the Russians had infiltrated the school’s security team, then we’re more fucked than I’d thought.
Wary of any more fraudulent campus guards, I hurry down the hall. Pressing my back against the corner, I check to see if it’s clear. There’s no one in this corridor, but I have no idea if it’s leading towards the front of the building. This place is like a fucking maze from hell. Every hallway looks the damn same.
I check the room numbers, counting down as I stalk down the corridor. My gun feels heavy in my hand, my heart pounding as I near the end. Cara has to be alright. The Russians wouldn’t kill her—at least not yet. She’s too valuable to kill now. The Bratva could use her to reign in her father and end this alliance between the Irish and us. That’s the only hope I have that she’s still alive.
There’s no way to tell how long it’s been since Niccolo texted my brother. I hope to God Dante and his men arrived in time to help him. I stop at the last corner, checking to see if it’s clear. Just as my head pops around the corner, I hear the sound of a gun going off. I duck back around the corner just as a bullet flies past, burying into the opposite wall. Cursing, I check the corner again, only seeing one man at the other end. He’s also dressed as campus security.
Fuck it all to hell.
I wait for him to shoot first, letting him waste his bullet before I take my shot. Blood splashes across the white walls of the corridor as he slumps to the floor. I don’t have time to check if he’s the only one. If there’s any more fucking Bratva running around in guard’s uniforms, then they might already have her. I snag the bastard’s gun from the floor as I pass him. It couldn’t hurt to have more than one weapon, just in case.
Checking the door numbers again, I realize I’m getting closer. Fucking finally. I hurry down the hall, checking my clip as I go before just to make sure I have enough bullets left. Cara’s class is just around this corner—
I freeze as Cara’s scream echoes down the hall. She sounds terrified, the sound chilling me to my core. And I know—I’m too late.
The fucking Russians got to her before I could.
36
CARA