He was trying to find the words to explain that his mind didn’t associate any of his bad experiences with Kairo. If anything, the man was the one bright spot in this mess. But gunshots echoed through the house from the lower floors and words never came out.
Isidore flinched at the sound and pulled back while Kairo jumped to his feet yet didn’t move closer to the door. They were both frozen. Isidore’s heart raced as he strained to hear what the hell was happening. Was Athena in danger?
“Have your friends found us?” Isidore whispered. It was the only thing he could think of, the only logical reason for the house to be under attack.
“No. They would have found a way to contact me first. To warn me when they’d make a move.” There was zero doubt or hesitation in his tone.
“I—” Isidore’s words were cut off again by shouts and more gunfire. But it was the female scream that had Isidore launching himself off the bed and racing to the door.Athena!
Thankfully, Kairo didn’t try to stop him. The mercenary was a step in front of him. Kairo jerked open the door and the guard who was stationed in their hallway turned toward them. The younger man with greasy dark hair and scruffy beard didn’t appear surprised by their appearance.
He lifted a hand and started to order them back into their prison, but Kairo didn’t allow him to get more than a couple of words out before he was knocking the man unconscious. As soon as the man hit the floor, Kairo snatched his gun and checked the magazine to make sure it was fully loaded. He tucked the gun into the waistband of his pants and ran his hands over the man’s pockets, searching for something.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but shit is possibly going to happen fast. If I’m going to keep you and Athena safe, it means that you have to do exactly what I say when I say it. Do you understand me?” Kairo barked at Isidore.
“Yes, I do,” Isidore quickly replied. He took back his earlier thoughts of not understanding how Kairo did this job. It was now very clear that he was well-equipped to handle this insanity.
“If I say hide?” Kairo prompted as he pulled out the unconscious man’s wallet and pulled out a few euros.
“I hide,” Isidore automatically answered.
“And if I say run?”
Isidore swallowed hard. “I run.” He didn’t like the idea of running without Athena, but if he ran to safety Kairo could turn all of his attention to saving his sister. It made sense even if he didn’t like it.
“No keys,” Kairo grumbled as he stood. He withdrew the gun again and held it in front of his body with both hands. “If I tell you to search, I want you to search any dead or unconscious person for keys. If we get out, we’re going to need a car.”
“Got it. I can do that!” Yes! He was going to be helping. He wasn’t a useless victim dragging the hero down.
Kairo led the way along the hall and descended the stairs quickly and quietly, though they probably didn’t need to be all that quiet since there was still a lot of shouting happening on the first floor. Athena was no longer screaming, but he could pick out her angry shouts mixed in with the others.
The mercenary paused as they reached the second floor and they both looked to make sure there were no guards about. Isidore leaned close to Kairo, his chest brushing against the man’s shoulder as he pointed past him down the hall to the right. “The third door on the right is where they’ve been keeping Athena.”
“Good to know, but the woman we’ve heard shouting, that is your sister, right?”
“Yes, it definitely sounds like her.”
Kairo nodded once and continued across the second floor to the stairs leading to the first. Isidore followed, keeping one hand on Kairo’s shoulder as if he were afraid the man was going to suddenly disappear. As they reached the ground floor, the noise had reached almost deafening levels. A couple of gunshots went off, arguing continued, and then it was as if someone were moving furniture. What the hell were they doing?
“Unlock the front door and make sure the security system is disarmed,” Kairo commanded.
Isidore darted away to the double front doors that were just a dozen steps away from the bottom of the stairs. The little security keypad close by required only a few quick taps to make sure the system was disarmed before he unlocked the door. He even opened it a crack and peeked outside.
Oh, God! Fresh air!He hadn’t been outside in so long. It was midafternoon and the air was hot and stuffy. Maybe not as hot as it might be if they were still in Athens or on an island thanks to the higher elevation and shade. Regardless of the summer heat, it was still nice to just take a breath of the outdoor world.
Hurrying away from the door and back to Kairo’s side, he silently followed him toward the interior of the house, barely fighting the urge to grab a pinch of Kairo’s T-shirt just to hold on to the man. He didn’t need to cling to Kairo.
No, he simply wanted to.
At the large open doorway to the main parlor, they froze and tried to take in the chaos that was happening in front of them. About a half dozen brutes dressed in jeans and T-shirts were waving guns, pointing at the large sofa. One was standing on a cushioned chair while a second was standing on the coffee table.
Athena was pulling on the gun arm of another man, her face bright red as she shouted at him in Greek. “Leave him alone! All you’re doing is scaring him! Joey will come out on his own to me if you stop scaring him!”
“Oh my God,” Isidore breathed.
“What’s going on?” Kairo demanded, keeping his voice low. They had yet to be noticed by the guards.
“Athena’s ferret, Joey, has escaped and appears to be hiding under the furniture.”