Baldy nodded and lay face down.
“You know this guy?” James asked.
“Yes. He’s Tucker’s best friend.”
Tucker came out of the gloom with a rifle in his right hand.
“Tucker!” Maryn gasped, thankfully a little quieter this time. She sprang to her feet and threw herself into his arms. “How’d you get free? How’d you find us?”
Tucker silenced her with a quick kiss to her lips. Maryn clung to him, joy radiating through her. Johnson finished tying Baldy’s wrists and ankles then attached them together with a thick rope.
James stood. Tucker leveled his gun on him. “As far as I’m concerned you’re one of them.”
“I’m not,” James protested.
“Don’t make me think otherwise,” Tucker said.
“Okay.” James bowed his head as if trying to look humble, but the venomous look he pinned on Tucker said he was far from it.
“How many other guys?” Tucker asked.
“I think just Head Honcho in the office,” Maryn said. “The other two went to get the drugs from James’ apartment.”
Tucker arched an eyebrow at James.
“They usually have a couple guarding the warehouse,” James said.
Tucker nodded. “We took care of them. Let’s get out of here. We can call in the location to the police once Maryn’s safe.”
“Come on,” Johnson said. “It’d be fun to take out Head Honcho for old time’s sake.”
“No.” Tucker shook his head. “I’m not risking Maryn.”
Johnson winked at her. “Way to spoil all my fun.”
She almost laughed. The relief of being safe and Tucker being here made her so weak she leaned heavily into him.
Tucker kept his left arm around Maryn’s waist and ushered her in the shadows toward the doorway. The door burst open from the outside and Beck walked in with his hands held high. The two thugs who were with Baldy earlier came in behind him. One had a gun jammed between Beck’s shoulder blades.
“Shawn!” one of them yelled.
Head Honcho came out of his office. Tucker pushed Maryn behind him and aimed his gun at Head Honcho. Johnson pointed his rifle at the guy who held Beck.
Maryn was too scared to talk. Beck, here? He couldn’t get hurt. Alyssa would never recover.
“We just want the girl,” Tucker said. “Let us go now and I won’t shoot you.”
Head Honcho laughed. “You’re outnumbered and you’re making demands?”
Tucker inclined his head toward Johnson. “Did we not take out two losers outside and tie up the guy who was guarding Maryn? Plus, the fact we’re trained military snipers.” His gaze bore into Head Honcho. “Johnson will take out those two, but you won’t see that because of the hole you’ll have in your own head.”
Head Honcho’s lips thinned. His nose seemed even bigger. Maryn stayed behind Tuck, not daring to move or hardly breathe.
“Then why don’t you do it?” Head Honcho challenged.
“This woman is all I care about,” Tucker said. “I’m not risking her.”
Maryn clung to Tucker, overwhelmed that he was really here and willing to protect her no matter what.