Spy Games (Tarnished Heroes #1)(52)

“I knew we shouldn’t have…” The rest of Sarah’s statement was lost in fabric.

They dressed in a rush. Rand kept one eye on the door, watching for shadows, the hint of movement, something that would tell him they’d been spotted.

“Dress to move. Put what you can carry in the black bag.” He’d prepared a bug-out bag just for this instance, though unlike Seoul, he had next to zero bolt holes and none of his contacts had hit him back yet.

They were flying blind.

In less than five minutes, they were both dressed and the essentials loaded. Rand secured his shoulder holsters and two pistols under his coat. They weren’t playing around anymore.

He took a clip holster out of the bag and held it out to Sarah.

“No, I don’t have a license to carry. I live in China most of the time. Owning a gun there is a red flag.” She glanced from the weapon to him.

“They wouldn’t put you in the field if you didn’t know how to use it. Take it.” He grabbed her by the waistband and jammed the holster on her hip. “Ready?”

She flipped her jacket over the weapon.

“I go first. We go to the stairwell, go down a floor, assess where we’re at.” If someone had attempted to break into the laptop and failed, they’d start asking around. It wouldn’t take long to make the assumption that Sarah was a good place to start pointing fingers.

Ultimately, his gamble of hiding in plain sight had failed, but they knew one crucial piece of the puzzle.

The briefcase was on American soil.

“We’re going to be okay, Sarah.”

She nodded.

He hefted the bag higher on his shoulder, placed one hand on the gun at his side, and pulled the door open. Using a firearm in a hotel was a bad idea. The walls weren’t all solid, people could get hurt, innocents could die. Which was why they had to run.

Rand peered left, then right. The hall was empty at this late hour. “Come on,” he whispered.

He set a fast, almost jogging pace to the stairwell. Again, he peered inside first, then ushered Sarah in. They went as quietly as they could, but the concrete and cinderblock stairwell echoed.

Somewhere below, a door clanged open.

“This way,” Rand whispered. He pushed the door to the next floor open and peered out.

Coast was clear.

He could always be paranoid, but then again, he was still breathing so maybe it paid to be suspicious. This was Seoul all over again. The noose around their throat tightened a bit more. They had to get out of the hotel now.

Five minutes to bug out had been too long. They should have gone for three.

There was another stairwell down the hall, past the elevators. If the Chinese were looking for them, they’d start a scatter search, placing people at various floors, sweeping and repeating until they’d covered the entire hotel.

“Come on, keep up.” Rand reached back and took Sarah’s hand. He peered into the elevator alcove as they passed.

One of the lifts dinged, the doors opening on a man with dark hair and a frown on his face.

“Go,” he whispered, shoving Sarah none too gently across the space.

They weren’t fast enough.

Rand grabbed a decorative vase off a table and turned. The man went down hard. Rand followed him to the floor, slapping his hand over the man’s mouth.

“Oh my God.” Sarah’s whisper-voice was still high pitched.

The man twisted and struck out, gasping for breath. The blow glanced off Rand’s arm. He moved with the man, hooking his arm around his throat and squeezing.

Sara’s shocked face stared back at him as the protests died. “Did you just…?” She was pale.

“He’s unconscious.” Rand patted the man’s pockets until he found his cell phone. “Here. Take the bag.”

He hooked his hands under the man’s armpits and dragged him back to the linen closet. A little force applied to the lock, and he dumped the would-be attacker on the floor.

“Come on.” Rand took Sarah’s hand and the bag. “He’ll be awake in a minute. Run.” Not only would the guy alert the rest of the Chinese, but the hotel would have the attack on video.

“This way.” He ducked into another stairwell, holding his breath and listening. There was someone below them, not too close. Rand held his finger up to his lips and met Sarah’s gaze. She nodded.

They tiptoed down two flights before he didn’t dare go farther. As carefully as he could, he opened the door to the sixth floor and peered out. He nudged Sarah out first before closing the door.

“Rand,” she whispered.

“Huh?” He ushered her toward the rear of the building. He’d swiped a hotel staff key card earlier. If they were really lucky, they could use it to get out through the service elevator.

“Look.” She twisted the stolen phone to face him.

The characters didn’t mean anything to him, but he guessed she understood most of it. “What’s it say?”

“They’re looking for us floor by floor. Four men, plus Wei, I think.”

“Okay.” They’d seen one, narrowly avoided a second.

That left three out there. He at least recognized the first one from the delegation, so they weren’t exactly dealing with field operatives. With the exception of Wei. Yet. Soon they’d call in the big guns or a private security force. Mercenaries. Great.