Marked By Magic by Christa Wick

Chapter Seventeen

Tanner puta bullet through Frank's gut and another through the man's skull while Joelle dropped Glass Eye with the same unerring accuracy.

With the hollow point bullets she used, that meant a big hole in his crotch and another in his chest.

When the smoke cleared, the only sign of Dead Cat Guy was the return swing of the double doors leading to the stockroom.

"Cover me!" Michelle yelled before racing across open space and diving behind the counter.

As she ran, Tanner unloaded the rest of his ammo load at the swinging doors, then slid in a fresh clip.

Keeping her head low, Michelle rummaged around the area where Frank had first stood when Tanner's team entered the building.

"Colt and Jet are out front," Joelle yelled, her phone in one hand and her pistol in the other. "I texted them an SOS right before that asshole tried to slap the phone out of my hand."

"I know!" Michelle shouted, her hands feeling around the counter's lip. "I can see them on screen. I can't find the damn button!"

"Look on the floor," Tanner ordered, his voice calm and in control as he aimed his pistol at the double doors Dead Cat Guy had escaped through. "It's probably by the register. Frank didn't trigger the lock. They did it from the back room, but there's probably a panic button up by the register. In a robbery, they'd have to keep their hands in view."

"I think I found it," she said. "It's like a foot pedal on a piano. But what if it calls the cops?"

"These assholes can't afford to call the cops," Joelle answered. "They've murdered people in that back room."

"Done!" Michelle shouted, finding and stepping on the pedal.

The bolts on the front door slid back. Jet and Colt burst into the building, each one instinctively diving away from the other in search of protective cover. As soon as the door closed, Michelle stomped on the pedal again and the bolts slammed back in place.

"We've got at least two hostiles in the back room," Tanner warned Jet and Colt. "At least one pump-action double-barrel shotgun, but expect an arsenal."

"Roger that," Colt acknowledged, Jet repeating the words half a heartbeat later.

"On my six," Tanner said, moving at a crouch toward the double doors, his pistol and outstretched arms leading the way.

Reaching the doors, he moved to one side, then signaled Joelle with a head jerk. The young she-wolf leaped across an open aisle, then vaulted the counter to stand guard next to Michelle. With Joelle in position, Jet and Colt move forward until they stood opposite Tanner.

"Wait," Michelle hissed low, interrupting Tanner as his fingers counted down to the moment he wanted Jet and Colt to breach the stockroom with him. "There are more view options on the camera."

"Shit!" Joelle cursed, switching her 9mm to her other hand, then clicking the mouse like crazy. "Okay…let's see…"

She filled the silence with hand signals indicating Dead Cat Guy was hiding behind tall cover on the west side of the stockroom.

Gaze zipping side to side, Joelle continued moving the mouse around and clicking.

"There," Michelle whispered, one nail tapping at the screen.

Her expression flatlining, Joelle lifted and turned the monitor so Tanner could see. The screen revealed that a fourth Hunter had been in the building all along, but had kept silent and hidden. The bastard had a sniper's nest atop the floor-to-ceiling shelves on the east side of the room, opposite from Dead Cat Guy.

Anyone caught between the two Hunters would be shredded.

Tanner signaled the information to Jet and Colt. Easing his way in front of the stockroom's doors, Jet snagged the double-barrel shotgun Glass Eye had held, rolled along the floor to Tanner's side, then checked the weapon's load.

"Buckshot," he grinned, then looked at the opposing wall, the screen, then at both walls again. Cradling the shotgun, he ran through a series of hand signals.

East shooter, twenty feet, top center rack.

I'll roll in first on three and take out the shooter behind the boxes on the west.

You follow and take out the one on the east.

Shouldering his rifle, Colt nodded. "Just make sure you drop your motherfucker before he can shoot me in the back of the head."

"Same," Jet agreed as they moved into position.

They exchanged a look, then Jet bobbed his head.

Once…

Twice…

On the third bob, he immediately burst through the double doors and dropped to the floor in a combat roll. The doors didn't have a chance to swing back before Colt rolled in after him. Coming to a stop in a crouched firing stance, each wolf lifted their weapon and fired.

The Hunter perched atop the shelves fell to the ground, his head cracking like an over-ripe watermelon.

"Jet!" Joelle shouted from where she watched the camera feed. "Your target is on his back, clutching at his chest."

Tanner swept into the room. To his right, Colt was making sure the Hunter who had fallen was dead.

"Careful," Tanner warned Jet as he and the young wolf crept toward the boxes. "Bastard could be playing possum."

They found Dead Cat Guy gasping and gurgling up blood. Jet slid the man's shotgun out of the way. Tanner moved in and finished the job with his pistol.

Tucking the weapon into the back of his jeans, he tossed the SUV's keys to Jet.

"You two, bring the vehicles around back," he ordered, returning to the front of the store. Hopping the counter, he started pulling open the cupboards on the other side. "We need to find the hard drive for the video feed and take it with us. I just hope there's no damn off-site storage."

"What about the supplies?" Michelle objected, picking her list up from the floor, Frank's blood splattered all over it.

"No time," Tanner answered, his gaze lighting up as he opened the next-to-last cupboard behind the counter and found a hard drive array. "We'll need to find another source for the supplies."

"No." Shaking her head, Michelle covered her eyes, drew a deep breath and slowly exhaled it before explaining. "I saw something when Frank was looking over the list. A thought flashed through him, but I didn't understand it at first."

Kneeling, she pressed her palm against Frank's forehead. Her face contorted, then she smiled and jumped up, racing back into the stockroom. Forgetting about the array for a second, Tanner followed close on her heels.

"Quentin was getting his supplies here," Michelle explained, zeroing in on two plastic bins a few feet beyond Dead Cat Guy's body. "There's a chance our list would match his!"

Pulling the lid off the first bin, air left her in a hiss as she found nothing more than a mix of energy bars and military ready-to-eat meals in their sealed tan pouches. Moving the bin to the floor, she opened the one beneath it and pumped her fist in the air.

"Yes!"

Peeking into the bin, Joelle whistled. "Looks like we'll be loaded for antibiotics, painkillers, and…uh…baby formula?"

"Just grab the damn bins!" Tanner shouted, racing back to the sales floor for the hard drive array just as Jet and Colt pulled up to the back door, one in the van, the other in the SUV.

"And these!" Joelle whooped as she spotted a shelf with jumbo bags of sanitary napkins. Tossing a bag on top of her bin, she winked at Michelle. "I always knew Hunters were a bunch of pussies. Now I have proof!"