Her Striker by Charlene Raquel
Chapter Twenty-seven
“Son of a bitch! I’m going to kick that kid’s ass. Crash, cover the south side. I’ve got to go rescue Striker before he fucks up the mission.” Rip spewed a string of curses over the radio that made his teammates chuckle as he made his way to the garage. He had seen Drew slip inside and had been keeping an eye out for him. Jeff had told the team that Drew was one hell of a mechanic and electrical engineer. Rip figured Drew would go disable the vehicles. He hadn’t expected someone to enter the garage after Drew.
“Non-lethal, Rip.” Grumbles were heard over their communication devices. Jeff had made them all promise a zero-body count unless absolutely necessary. There was too much paperwork, and explanations that would be required on an ‘off the books’ job. They would try their best to follow through as much as possible, but things happened.
“Confirm security system and house communications are down.” Rip didn’t have to wait for a reply.
“Both systems are down, and cell signals are blocked.” Sam’s voice was strong as she replied. They hadn’t asked for the cell signals to be blocked. She added that feature. It had been something they were working on in class. Actually, it was a cell signal booster, but she figured out how to reengineer it to block the signals for a designated range. It was the first time she was able to really test it out.
“Please repeat, Pixie. All phone signals blocked?” Crash cut in, wanting to confirm what she had said.
“Did he seriously just call me, Pixie? Listen up, blockhead, yes. I jammed the cell signals.” Sam knew that military guys always gave each other nicknames, but Pixie? Yuck. She knew she was short, but she could kick butt. She wanted a kickass nickname.
Jeff chuckled. Crash had a blocked, buzz hairstyle, so Sam’s cut was pretty accurate. “Pixie, you’re going to have to show me your tech when we’re done here. Good job, kid.”
Sam rolled her eyes but was pleased. “Don’t…”
“Cut the shit. We’re in the middle of an op.” Boomer growled into his mic.
Everything went quiet.
Rip made it to the side of the opened door and waited, listening for any sounds inside. It was quiet, but he knew there were two men inside, one friendly and one target. Moving quickly, he glanced inside, gauging the situation. He didn’t see anyone but could hear slight sounds coming from the opposite side of the building.
He slipped through the door, keeping his back to the wall and making his way around the perimeter to survey the area. Drew had just exited the van with a bag over his shoulder. Rip circled around trying to find the man stalking Drew. The kid walked toward the door completely unaware he was being hunted.
There were too many places to hide behind and equipment that blocked the view of the entire place. Rip sensed that the man was close, but he couldn’t see him. The target stepped out from behind a large tool chest and approached Drew’s back. Rip was too far away to prevent the kid from being hit on the back of the head, but he would easily take the asshole out.
Rip grabbed a pipe from the rack next to him, swung it back and brought it down to the back of the target’s knees, making him stumble forward. The guy was dressed as a mall cop, but he seemed more like a mob enforcer, with numerous tattoos, piercings and jewelry.
The guard had just knocked Drew to the floor and almost fell on top of him. Luckily, Rip saw Drew roll away from them. He was afraid the soccer player would interfere, but Drew seemed to be dazed enough to stay down.
Mall Cop jumped up and spun to face Rip. “Come at my face, surfer dude.”
Rip rolled his eyes. “Oh, that’s original.” He didn’t wait for the guy to finish dancing in place, he shifted his weight, and kicked out with a right and then left foot. He followed it up with a right-left punch.
Mall Cop got in a walloping punch to Rip’s jaw that only managed to energize Rip and piss him off at once. Rip cracked his neck and kicked Mall Cop in the nuts before finishing him off with a punch to the head. “Take that jackass.”
“Get over here and help me tie this fucker up.” Rip kicked the guy again. “Man, I should kick your ass myself. You never leave your assigned area without checking in or without backup. You never enter an establishment alone without a lookout or being alert to what’s around you. That guy could’ve killed you!”
Drew groaned as he pushed himself to his feet. He hated being yelled at like a little kid, but Rip was right. He fucked up. He could’ve gotten himself killed or risked Gwen’s life. “I’m sorry, man. I screwed up. I don’t have an excuse.”
Rip rubbed a hand down his face. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll let you know later.” Drew searched the shelves behind him. “Here. Will this work?” He tossed Rip a bag of zip ties.
“Perfect. We need a rag to gag him.” Rip secured the zip ties around the man’s wrists and ankles and attached him to a steel pipe. He also tied a rag across his mouth. It wouldn’t hold forever, but it would for a while. They needed to be more careful. There could be more guards around.
Drew walked behind Rip as they made their way back outside. “I disabled their cars.”
Rip scanned the yard and motioned for Drew to follow. “I figured you did.”
Drew put his hand on Rip’s arm. “Thanks, man.”
Rip nodded. “No problem. Stay out here, find a place out of sight, and keep watch. We’re going in to get your girl.”
~*~*~
Gwen wasn’t sure what woke her up, but she was happy she hadn’t slept that long. The house seemed quiet, so it was her opportunity to try to escape.
Making her way to the door, she tried it again. Of course, it was locked, but she needed to test it. The little hole in the center of the knob led to the lock. If she could find something small and thin, she might be able to spring the mechanism to unlock it.
She had already searched the room for a weapon, but now she was going to search it for something she could stick into the doorknob. The hangers in the closet were the built-in type, no metal hangers. There were no lamps. The lighting was either in the ceiling or mounted on the walls.
Crossing her arms over her chest, she scanned the room, but realization hit when she felt her bra. She had an underwire sewn into it. Gwen slipped her arm inside the t-shirt and took her bra off. It took a little bit of work and picking at threads with her teeth and fingernails, but she was able to slide the curved metal out of the band.
She wanted to yell out her victory, but she stifled the urge and rushed to the door. The metal was the perfect size for the hole and slid inside easily. She held her breath and mentally crossed her fingers. This had to work.
It only took a small amount of wiggling before she heard the distinctive click of the lock releasing. Gwen was almost too afraid to open the door. She placed her head up against it to listen. She couldn’t risk running into anyone in the hallway. Turning the knob oh so slowly, she cracked the door open enough for her to look out.
She couldn’t see or hear anyone, so she became braver and pushed it wider to squeeze out. Heart pounding in her chest, she stepped into the hall. She kept her back to the wall as she had seen in the movies. She had no idea why they did that, but it always seemed important.
Gwen knew she was being held on the third floor, so she would have to get down two flights of steps and out of the house without anyone seeing her. The chances of that happening were not good, but she wasn’t going to think about that. One small step at a time. If she didn’t try, she would never escape.
The next door was only a couple of feet ahead of her, yet it seemed miles away. Gwen paused to listen, trying to calm her racing heart so that she could hear if anyone was moving about inside. It seemed quiet, too quiet, but it was the middle of the night. Could everyone be asleep?
Creeping forward, she concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. Pausing at each door was taking a long time, but she needed to be extremely careful. Her breathing was getting louder as her anxiety rose, so she tried to calm herself down. She was not going to allow herself to hyperventilate and pass out.
The first set of stairs was just ahead of her, beckoning her to come closer. Her feet felt stuck to the plush carpet. What would they do to her if they found her wandering around the house? Would they tie her up? Beat her?
Closing her eyes, she tried to remember that meditation crap that Sam had tried to get her to do. Finding her center and becoming Zen, had not been her thing. Now, she wished she had paid more attention. What did Sam tell her? Slow down her breathing, clear her mind and what? Gwen had no idea, and it wasn’t working.
Well, maybe it was. She was focused on trying to remember that yoga stuff and it did take her mind off her situation and the steps. She’ll have to tell Sam it worked. Ha. Who would have thought? Feeling slightly more in control, she slid to the first step and prayed it didn’t creak. She tested each tread before putting her weight down. The smallest noise would echo in the vast mansion.
When she reached the bottom, she wanted to sit there in relief, but she knew someone could come upon her at any moment. The darn steps ended on this floor. The next set was at the opposite side of the house. Whoever had built the place did had made it a maze of zigzagging lines.
Pushing herself off the last step, she faced the long hallway. She could do this. A noise from somewhere below terrified her. Was someone coming for her? Did they know she escaped her prison room? Should she run?
Gwen wondered if she should hide in one of the rooms, but she didn’t know which were occupied. Her incredibly bad luck would have her walking into one of her kidnappers’ rooms. The faint sound of breaking glass made her charge forward.
