“Mia,” she heard the fierce whisper from behind her.
She ducked back out of the way. Blaine’s fist shot across the space and clocked Charlie in the head. Charlie cried out in surprise.
“You aren’t the best,” Blaine snarled at him as they started hitting each other. Mia scurried behind Blaine’s chair as far from Charlie as she could get.
Blood was everywhere, and they were punching each other with little room to do so properly. It was awful, but Mia felt hope. She tried the back doors again with slick palms, but neither of them would ruddy open.Please, she begged heaven above.
“Mia,” Blaine called to her, tossing her a phone. “Call Cap. Get help.”
Cap. Zeke would come. Mia fumbled with the phone and it turned on but needed face ID or a code.
“Code?” she begged Blaine.
“5209.”
She typed it with fumbling fingers, keeping an eye on the fight. Suddenly Charlie clocked Blaine in the head, right where the blood was seeping out, and Blaine sagged against the seat.
“No!” She clicked on the phone button and dialed 999. Wait. That wasn’t it.
Charlie turned, scrambling out of his seat and toward her.
“No!” She tried to dial 911.
He knocked the phone out of her hands.
“You and me, love,” he snarled at her, grabbing her face and squeezing so hard she thought her jaw would pop.
A car came around the bend from down the canyon and she heard vehicles coming from behind as well.
“I will win,” Charlie said. He reached back to the front seat. She could see the gun on the floor by Blaine’s feet.
Zeke leaped out of the vehicle and pounded across the pavement to Charlie’s door.
He was here! But he would be too late. Charlie gripped the gun and rose toward her. She shrank behind the seat, praying for Zeke to reach them before Charlie got a shot off.
Zeke ripped the door open and yanked Charlie out like he was a rag doll. Charlie yelped in protest and brought the gun around to shoot Zeke.
“Zeke!” Mia screamed.
It was all happening too fast yet in awful slow motion. Charlie was going to kill Zeke. He was pulling the trigger.
Zeke chopped his hand down hard on Charlie’s and she literally heard bones break. Charlie screeched and the gun dropped to the concrete. Zeke banged Charlie’s head against the car’s roof and then tossed him away. He fell in a crumpled heap at the feet of various Deltas.
“Don’t worry. I got him,” Thor called.
Zeke leaned down in the car. Her hero. His eyes sought hers. “You okay?”
She nodded. “Yes. But Blaine…”
“Lewis?” Zeke called to him.
Blaine leaned his head back against the headrest, eyes closed and blood covering his head. “I’m good, Cap. I’ll have a bit of a hangover, but luckily Air Force guys have even worse aim than the Navy.” He pointed to where the bullet had lodged into the plastic door frame. Mia hadn’t even noticed it in the chaos.
“We’ll get somebody here to check you out,” Zeke told him, then called over his shoulder, “Medic!”
“Coming.”
Sirens were indeed blaring up the canyon. How had they all known to come?