What Are You Afraid Of? (The Agency #2)(99)

“Yeah, I got it,” Matthew promised.

Griff pointed his gun directly in the younger man’s face. “Screw me over and I’ll make sure you regret it.”

Surprisingly, Matthew didn’t cringe in fear. Instead, he sent Griff an angry glare.

“Just go save Carrie,” he said.

With no choice but to hope Matthew was capable of performing the simple task—oh, and wasn’t plotting to stab Griff in the back—he turned to leave the office.

He scurried along the nearest line of shelves and darted toward one of the forklifts that was parked in the bay. He wanted to be as close as possible when the sprinklers went off.

Peering around the back of the heavy equipment, his gut twisted as he watched Ronnie point a gun directly into the face of a cringing Carmen.

Time was running out.

He glanced up, impatiently waiting for the sprinklers to kick on. Nothing. Seconds ticked past. Then minutes.

Still nothing.

“Shit,” he breathed.

Matthew had either bolted as soon as Griff had left him alone in the office, or he was involved with Ronnie.

Right now it didn’t matter. He was going to have to take a calculated risk before it was too late.

Casting a frantic glance around, he caught sight of a large wrench that was lying on the cement floor. He bent down, grabbing the tool, which was made of solid steel. Perfect.

He turned to the side and threw the wrench with all his might toward the nearby rack of fencing posts. As he hoped, it hit a stack of wood on the top with enough force to send several posts crashing to the floor. The sound was deafening as it echoed through the warehouse.

It was a trick that’d been used a thousand times in cheesy films, but sometimes the oldies were goodies.

On cue, Ronnie whirled toward the noise, and Griff stepped around the back of the forklift, his gun pointed directly at the man’s head.

“Turn around and drop your gun,” he commanded.

Ronnie jerked his head to the side, his eyes narrowing as he caught sight of Griff.

“You,” he spat out, his features twisting with fury. “I should have killed you.”

“You could try.” Griff stepped to the side, moving so he could keep his gun pointed at Ronnie but with his back next to the wall.

He grimaced as Ronnie pointed his gun directly at Carmen instead of dropping it.

“Oh, I’m going to do more than try,” he taunted. “First you drop your gun.”

Griff ground his teeth. Did he take a risk and shoot Ronnie with the hope that the maniac didn’t squeeze off a shot and hit Carmen?

Or did he put down his gun and pray that he could somehow overpower Ronnie?

It was Carmen who made the decision. Catching both men off guard, she was abruptly hurtling toward Griff at full speed. His heart stopped as the sound of Ronnie’s gun blasted through the air, but he managed not to panic. Instead, he reached out to wrap an arm around her waist as soon as she got close enough. Then, using the power he’d developed after years of morning jogs, he leaped to the side, taking Carmen with him.

They landed in a tangle behind the forklift, with Carmen beneath him. Griff risked a quick glance down. Anger instantly thundered through his body.

Her face was already showing deep bruises where Ronnie had hit her, and blood dripped from the cut on her swollen lip. He cursed, his finger tightened on the trigger. He wanted to leap to his feet and start shooting. He wanted Ronnie to be sprawled dead on the floor.

But he possessed an aversion to impulsive actions.

Plus, he still didn’t know if Matthew was a traitor and was about to leap out of the darkness.

For now, they were safe behind the forklift. There was nothing but a cement floor beneath them and a thick steel wall behind them. The only way to get to them was around the front of the tractor.

Unfortunately, that meant they didn’t have an easy way to escape. For now, they were trapped.

“Are you okay?”

“No.” She managed a pained smile. “But I will be.”

Despite the danger and the blood that continued to leak from her wounded lip, Griff felt a small flare of relief. She’d been terrorized and beaten by the madman, but her courage hadn’t been broken.

“Come out,” Ronnie called, his voice thick with frustration.

Griff grimaced, brushing a light kiss over Carmen’s forehead before he pushed himself to his knees and inched his way to the edge of the large tire. The forklift sat low to the ground, so he didn’t have to worry about a stray bullet ricocheting off the floor and striking him.

“I don’t think so.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He dialed Rylan’s number and set the phone on the ground. It wasn’t that he hoped his friend could help. Even with his foot heavy on the gas pedal Rylan was probably still a half hour away. But whatever happened, he wanted to make sure his friend heard exactly what was going on.

Ronnie made a sound of impatience. “How did you find us?”

Griff didn’t miss the word us. Was the man talking about Matthew? Or was there someone else in the warehouse? Maybe more than one?

“Does it matter?” he demanded, peeking around the tire to discover Ronnie had taken cover behind a stack of cinderblocks.

“I like to learn from my mistakes,” Ronnie called out, his shadow a thin strip of black across a nearby shelf. “It’s what makes me such a fine hunter.”