they wouldn’t want her escaping. Too bad for them. Logan spun for the window. Using his weapon and his fist, he broke the glass and shattered the old wooden frame. He glanced down at the street below. Second story. He could handle that drop in his sleep, but he’d have to take care with Juliana.
“Clear,” Gunner said in his ear, and Logan knew the guy was still tracking the team’s movement. “Go now … ‘cause that fire is coming hard for you.”
Juliana’s captors had probably rigged the place for a fast burn. The better to leave no evidence—or witnesses—behind.
Logan grabbed Juliana’s hand. She yelped. He hated that sound, hated that he’d had to hurt her, but now wasn’t the time for explanations.
The knife clattered to the floor.
Now was the time to get the hell out of there. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close against his body. “You’ll need to hold tight,” he told her, voice low and growling.
But Juliana shook her head at him. “I’m not going out that window. I have to—”
“You have to live,” Jasper said from his post at the door. “That fire’s coming, ma’am, and you need to get through that window now.”
She blinked. In the faint light, Logan saw the same dark chocolate eyes he remembered. Her face still as pretty. “Fire?” Then she sucked in a deep breath, and Logan knew she’d finally caught the scent of smoke and flames. “No!” She tried to rip out of his arms and lunge for the door.
Logan just hauled her right back against him. Now that he had her safe in his arms, he wasn’t about to let her get away.
“Area’s clear,” Gunner said in Logan’s earpiece. “Extract now.”
Logan tried to position Juliana for their drop. The woman twisted against him, moving like a slithering snake as she fought to wrench back and break free. “I’m not leaving!” she snapped at him. “Not without John!”
Who?
“Extract.” Gunner’s order.
“Stop fighting,” Logan told her when she twisted again. “We’re the good guys, and we came to take you to safety.”
She stilled for a moment. Heaving a deep breath, she said, “Me … and John.”
Seriously, who the hell was John?
“He’s back there.” Her hand lifted and one trembling finger pointed to the doorway. The doorway that was currently filling with smoke. “We have to get him out.”
No other civilians were in the building. Only Diego Guerrero’s killers. Logan’s team members were pulling back and—
“I’m not leaving without him!”
An explosion rocked the building. Juliana fell against Logan’s chest.
Jasper staggered. “Go time,” Logan heard him say.
And yeah, it was. Keeping a hold on Juliana, Logan tapped his receiver. “Is there another civilian here?” He had to be sure. He wouldn’t leave an innocent to burn.
He motioned for Jasper to take the leap out. He had Juliana; there was no need for the other agent to stay any longer. Jasper yanked out a cable from his pack and quickly set up an escape line. In seconds, he began to lower his body to the ground.
“Negative,” Gunner responded instantly. “Now move before your butt gets fried.”
Gunner wouldn’t make a mistake. He and Sydney Sloan had the best intel there was. No way would they send the team in without knowledge of another innocent in the perimeter.
Juliana blinked up at him. “Y-your voice …”
Aw, damn. He’d lost most of his Southern accent over the years, but every now and then, those Mississippi purrs would slip into his voice. Now wasn’t a good time for that slip.
“You’re goin’ out the window …” Another explosion shook the building. Her captors were packing some serious firepower. Definitely don’t want her getting away alive. “Your choice—you goin’ through awake or asleep?”
“There’s a man trapped back there! He’s tied up—he’ll burn to death.”
She wasn’t listening to him. Fine. He grabbed her, tossed her over his shoulder, held tight and dropped down on the line that Jasper had secured for him.
By the time she’d gotten any breath to scream, they were on the ground.
“Take her,” Logan ordered, shoving Juliana into Jasper’s arms. “Get her out of here.” She was the mission. Her safety was their number one priority.
But …
He’ll burn to death.
Logan wasn’t leaving a man behind.
He grabbed the cable and started hauling his butt back up into the fire.
“WHAT THE HELL is he thinking?”
Juliana stared around her with wide eyes. She was surrounded by two men, both big, strong, towering well over her five foot eight inches. They had guns held in their hands, and they both wore black ski masks. Just like the other guy. The guy that, for a moment, had sounded exactly like—
“Alpha One,” the hulking shadow to her right said into his wrist. “Get back here before I have to drag you out of that inferno.” Wait, no, he wasn’t muttering into his wrist. He was talking into some kind of microphone.
Alpha One? That had to be the guy who’d jumped out of the window—with her in his arms. Her heart had stopped when he’d leaped out and she’d felt the rush of air on her body. Then she’d realized … he’d been holding on to some kind of rope. They hadn’t crashed into the cement. He’d lowered her, gotten her to safety, then gone back into the fire.
“There’s someone else inside … John …” Juliana whispered. The fire was raging now. Blowing out the bottom windows of that big, thick building. Her hell.
They were at least two hundred feet away from the fire now. Encased in shadows. Hidden so well. But …
But she couldn’t stop shaking. These men had saved her, and she’d just sent one of them right back to face the flames.
She couldn’t even see the men’s eyes as they glanced at her. The sky was so dark, starless. The only illumination came from the flames.
Then she heard a growl. A faint purr … and the man to her right yanked her back as a vehicle slid from the shadows. Juliana hadn’t even seen the van approaching. No headlights had cut through the night.
The van’s back doors flew open. “Let’s go!” a woman’s sharp voice ordered.
The men pretty much threw Juliana into the van.
“Where’s Alpha One?” the
