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“The place is clean. There are no bombs anywhere on the premises. The dogs found a few people with guns, and we’ve sent them into the office with the security officers, but they were all very cooperative, and I have no doubt that they will all pan out as having licenses for concealed carry. We’ve swept the casino, and all the shops. We’ve not done the hotel rooms. We can, but we wanted to go ahead and give the all clear here first. The threat that was called in specifically focused that it was somewhere on the first three floors.”
“Wait a minute. The threat specifically said the first three floors? Where the casino and all the shops and restaurants are? And all three floors were checked and came up clean? Why would they do that?”
The man shrugged. “I just control the dogs, man. I don’t know how criminals think.”
“Shit! It was a diversion! Diamond’s upstairs all alone! There was never a bomb! They needed a distraction.”
The SWAT guy was looking at Pax oddly, as if he couldn’t decide if he had a good point, or if he had just done lost his mind. “I don’t know, man. There are no bombs. Do you want us to start sweeping the upper floors where the rooms are? It will take a while.”
“Don’t bother,” Pax shouted, running past him. “There were never any bombs!”
He sprinted across the casino with Jase at his heels, cursing his own stupidity as he went. How could he have been so stupid as to leave her alone in the middle of a bomb threat? His chest was tight with dread as the elevator carried them up to the forty-ninth floor. Was it always this slow?
The sight that greeted them as they stepped from the elevator made his blood run cold. Will, the only person with access to the private floor sat in a chair outside Pax’s suite. Saying he sat was an understatement of the situation. He was bound to the chair tightly. Even from the elevator bank, Pax could see that his circulation was failing. He was sallow and weak looking, with a ball gag crammed into his mouth.
“Shit!” Beside him, Jason swore, running to kneel at Will’s feet, his hands quickly working the knots that bound him.
Pax shook his head. “Loosen them, and remove the gag. Make sure he doesn’t yell. We’ll get him in a minute. I need backup inside.”
As soon as he said it there was a loud crash inside the suite. Jase sprang to his feet, pulling his gun from its holster and standing behind Pax.
Both men held their guns out in front of them as they entered, and it was all Pax could do not to pull the trigger as the door opened slowly, and he caught the glint of metal. His finger to his lips warned the other two men to be quiet.
He sent up a silent prayer and shoved the door open, entering SWAT team style with Jase behind him. Diamond was holding the gun, pointed at the floor. She was shaking like a leaf. Shit. Training his gun at the man on the floor—whom he assumed was Fitch—he slowly walked to stand beside her.
“Put the gun down.” He had his dom voice on even as it killed him. There was a fury in her glazed eyes, and she looked at him sideways—not fully registering his command, or even his presence.
Jase moved into the line of fire—covering the body on the floor with his own—and binding Fitch with the same rope that hand bound Will’s arms to the chair. He looked over his shoulder at Pax, nodding towards Diamond. “I’ve got him. You deal with her.”
Placing his own gun on the table, he quickly disarmed her, prying the cold metal from her hands as he whispered promises and praises in her ear.
She was completely zoned out—her arms still out in front of her, positioned to grip the gun that she no longer held.
His heart was breaking as his instincts took over. Now that he was certain she couldn’t shoot him, he stepped in front of her, grabbing her by the shoulders.
“Look at me,” he barked.
By some miracle, she did. When she finally looked in his eyes, it was like a spell broke. Her arms dropped to her sides, and her body slumped against his in wracking sobs.
“It’s okay, you’re safe. I’ve got you,” he whispered.
The story came out in a rush, strangled frantic sentences that made very little sense on their own. Spoken through heaving sobs, they were completely nonsensical.
He turned to Jase who had moved to the doorway, and was working quickly at freeing Will. “Did you catch any of that?” he asked helplessly over the top of her head. Jase shrugged.
“Did she shoot him?”
“Naw, it looks like she just hit him upside the head. There’s a bullet lodged in the window over there. Maybe a struggle? There’s a broken lamp on the floor, too. I’m guessing she struggled to get the gun from him, and then knocked him upside the head with the lamp. There’s a cut on his head, but it’s not too big or deep. He’ll probably come to soon.”
Pax nodded. “Call downstairs. Tell them what’s happened. Luckily, the place is already crawling with cops. In the meantime, let’s get her out of here.”
“Take her to her room. I’ll stay up here until they get here, and take care of Will. I’ll catch up with you later.”
Jase preferred to do anything that kept him out of the line of hysterical females. That was just how he worked. But really, he was taking the harder job, and had been Pax’s rock since the ordeal began. Nodding his thanks, he scooped Diamond into his arms and carried her out of the room. If Fitch was coming to soon, as Jase predicted, he didn’t want her anywhere in the vicinity.
* * *
Within minutes, he had her at the door to her suite.
