Page 158 of Rescuing You

He peeked into the room.

Heard a gasp.

Leila slapped her hand over her mouth.

A man moved into Michael’s line of sight from around the corner.

Michael fired, and the guard lurched backward.

Another guard was there. He must’ve been in the galley behind the women.

The man shoved Jasmine out of the way and yanked Leila up from the couch, putting her between Michael and himself.

Blocking Michael’s shot.

Jasmine crouched as if she might attack the guard, which could have him firing the gun he held to Leila’s head. Killing her.

He shook his head. Please, don’t.

Jasmine didn’t move, just looked between Michael and Leila.

Leila’s eyes went from wide and afraid to something else.

Determined.

Her hand came down, hard, against the man’s leg.

Blood spurted.

The man cried out and pitched to one side. Leila ducked to the other.

Michael fired, drilling the shot in the center of his forehead.

The man collapsed.

Footsteps and shouting came from above and then on the steps.

A man burst into the room.

Michael fired, and the enemy tumbled into the cabin and fell.

“Come on. Hurry!” Michael gestured to the tiny space behind him.

The twins bolted past him and inside.

He closed the hatch and jammed it with the pry bar.

“I have them,” Michael said. “We’re in the engine room.”

“Copy.” Brock this time.

The cabin hatch rattled, along with shouts and curses and demands that they open up.

Someone must’ve gotten the bright idea to shoot their way in, based on warnings not to.

So the terrorists weren’t all stupid. Firing at an engine was rarely a good idea. It probably wouldn’t explode—this wasn’t the movies, after all—but it could cause the engine to seize up.

Which meant, as long as the pry bar held, Michael and the twins would be safe from that direction.