A Chip and a Chair (Seven of Spades, #5)(74)

Natasha had ditched her phone, maybe destroyed it, but she’d used her own car-either because she hadn’t considered its GPS, or because she hadn’t been able to get another ride before pursuing Levi. Dominic tracked it down in the time it took Martine to requisition their needed supplies.

They didn’t tell anyone what they were doing or where they were going. Dominic hadn’t wanted to risk returning to his own apartment, which ended up not being a big deal, because Martine was able to gear them both up with a minimum of explanation.

In fact, the substation was in such disarray that she could probably have just grabbed the stuff and walked out. The precarious balance of the past few days was crumbling, the city sliding into the chaos they’d feared since Utopia’s first video. Across Las Vegas, vandalism, petty theft, and bar fights were escalating into Molotov cocktails, looting, and all-out street brawls.

Listening to the news on the radio, Dominic heard the same word repeated by one stunned reporter after another: Riots.

Since Martine’s car had been totaled in the accident, the LVMPD had assigned her an unmarked sedan from the motor pool. Dominic, who was in no shape to drive, inspected their weapons in the front passenger’s seat, calmed by the familiar task of breaking down and reassembling a gun.

From the moment they’d left the hospital, he’d known that Martine was only humoring him. She didn’t believe him about Natasha, and she was going along with him solely because she was out of other options.

He didn’t blame her. If it wouldn’t mean losing his best chance of finding Levi, he’d want to be wrong.

But he wasn’t.

They found Natasha’s car by the side of the road outside an industrial office complex in North Las Vegas. The area was deserted, which it might have been at this time of night even if the city weren’t in a state of emergency. When Dominic, Martine, and Rebel got out to investigate, they saw no signs of life in any direction. The creepy twilit silence crawled across Dominic’s skin, making his hands twitch around the grip of his gun.

Then they heard a spate of gunfire from deep within the complex. Dominic bolted in that direction, ignoring the jarring pain that reverberated through his neck and skull. Martine and Rebel kept pace with him on either side, slowing themselves down for his sorry injured ass.

Past several buildings, well out of sight of the road, was a two-story warehouse with a group of empty SUVs parked outside. A couple of the cars’ doors stood open; three dead men lay crumpled on the sidewalk, their guns inches from their limp bodies.

Martine crouched by the nearest man and felt for his pulse, though there was no way any of these guys were still alive. She frowned as she looked over the others. “These men were all shot. No evidence of knife wounds.”

“Even the Seven of Spades couldn’t survive bringing a knife to this gunfight,” Dominic pointed out.

As they quickly yet cautiously rounded the building, passing a few more dead men on their way, Dominic caught bright muzzle flashes through the second-story windows, along with the sound of more gunshots and shouting. God, if Levi was in there—

They were approaching the warehouse’s rear door when it flew open and a terrified man ran out, sprinting like the hounds of hell were snapping at his heels. Before either Dominic or Martine could react, a bullet to the back took him down.

Natasha emerged from the warehouse, cool as a glacier, and lowered her gun with a small smile on her face.

Although Dominic had known he was right, he dropped his own gun to his side, swaying on his feet. Martine clutched his arm and exhaled an uneven moan like she’d been the one shot.

Another man sailed backward out the door, either kicked or thrown, and sprawled on the asphalt. Natasha spun around to shoot him too, but Levi darted out of the warehouse and shoved her gun arm aside.

The shot missed. Levi kicked the guy in the face, knocking him unconscious, and whirled on Natasha with an expression of utter fury. Then he saw Dominic and Martine and froze.

Heedless of the danger, Dominic rushed across the thirty feet that separated them. Levi did the same, meeting him halfway, where they clutched each other simultaneously.

“God, Dominic, your head,” Levi said with horror. Angling the stun gun he held in one hand away from Dominic, he grazed the fingers of his other hand along the side of Dominic’s face. “You should be in the hospital!”

“I’m fine.” Dominic patted Levi down, searching for new injuries. “Did they hurt you?”

“No.”

Dominic looked past Natasha, who was hanging back guardedly at the open door with her pistol still in hand. “Anyone else gonna come out of there?”

Levi shook his head. “They’re all . . .” He glanced at Natasha. “Well, they’re not going to be doing any more fighting today.”

Now assured of Levi’s safety, Dominic focused all of his attention on Natasha, pulling Levi slightly behind him. He felt Martine’s presence at his shoulder, although she was deathly silent.

Natasha approached them, making no attempt to escape or hide the truth. “Did you find us through my car’s GPS?” she asked. When Dominic nodded, she sighed. “I knew that might be a problem, but I didn’t have time to find another solution.”

Levi looked back and forth between them, his brow furrowing, before he stopped on Dominic. “You already . . . know? How?”