Lachlan touched his earpiece. “Contain Airman Kowalski and then round up these assholes.”
He scanned around and saw the man who had Rowan dragging her down an adjacent alley. They disappeared from view.
Shit. “I’m going after Rowan.”
“Wait!” Seth called.
But Lachlan wasn’t waiting. He ran for the alley.
As he turned the corner, there was a volley of gunfire. He felt a burn on his arm and ducked back. Shit. He pressed his back to the wall.
He glanced at his arm and saw where the bullet had grazed his bicep. It was bleeding, but it wasn’t a life-threatening wound.
“Come any closer and I’ll kill her,” a gravelly, French-accented voice shouted from the alley.
Lachlan crouched, and pulled a small device off his belt. He flicked open the small mirror and turned it around the corner. The guy had a gun to Rowan’s head. Of course, she didn’t look afraid, but instead looked angry.
“You aren’t after her,” Lachlan called out.
“I wasn’t, but now she’s my way out of here.”
Lachlan tried to calm his pulse and pulled in a deep breath. Usually, it was easy to find the combat calm he’d perfected over the years. But now, that feeling eluded him.
Rowan’s life depends on you, asshole. Lachlan gripped his weapon and stood. He counted to three, then spun around the corner, raising his weapon.
The bearded soldier holding Rowan narrowed his gaze. “Merde. Stay back!”
Lachlan fired.
At the same time, Rowan yanked down hard and kicked her captor’s shin.
Lachlan’s bullet hit the man between his eyes.
But the soldier’s weapon discharged as well. Right at Rowan’s head.
Chapter Fourteen
Rowan staggered dizzily. Her ears were ringing.
God. She was so mad. Clutching her head where it burned, she spun, and saw her captor was down on the ground.
And very dead. Her stomach rolled.
“What the hell were you thinking?”
Lachlan’s roar made her ears ring even more. She turned back to face him, and relief ran through her. She stepped toward him and saw his eyes widen as he took her in.
His face changed and he cupped her head, tilting it to the side.
“Fuck. Fuck.”
“Lachlan?”
“It’s only a graze.” He yanked her close and pressed her face to his chest. “Just a graze.”
Then he pulled back and kissed her.
Rowan forgot everything—the artifact, the bad guys, her aching head. She opened her mouth and kissed him back, her hands gripping him hard.
Lachlan kissed her like she was air and he needed her to breathe. Warmth flooded her.
It was the sound of running footsteps that made them pull apart. Lachlan kept her pressed close to his chest.
Seth appeared and lowered his weapon. “Shit. She okay?”
“Graze.” Lachlan’s hand slid into her hair. “Don’t want to lose you, sweetheart. Can’t lose you.”
God. God. Her heart was beating so hard, emotion choking her. She curled her fingers into his vest.
The rest of Team 52 sprinted into the alley.
“I’m fine.” Rowan reluctantly stepped back, looking at them. “I think I need a drink, and chocolate isn’t going to cut it this time. Maybe tequila.”
The team all sucked in shocked breaths and stared. She took in their serious, grim looks and reached up. Her hand came away, sticky with blood.
She winced and looked at Lachlan. “It looks bad, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah.” He pulled her close again.
“Airman Kowalski got away,” Blair said. “The tranq wasn’t strong enough to stop her.”
Lachlan cursed. “Smith, can you track her?”
“I can try,” the big man said.
Lachlan nodded. “Do it. Axel, go with him.”
The pair swiveled and were gone. Lachlan took Rowan’s hand and led her out of the alley.
“SUV’s down that side street,” Blair said. “Police are en route. Figured just one of us can deal with them.”
Rowan blinked and saw the soldiers who’d tried to capture Airman Kowalski all sitting in a bunch, their hands and feet zip-tied. Callie was standing watch over them.
“You got this?” Lachlan asked.
Blair huffed out a breath, her gaze skating over Rowan’s head. “Yeah. You get Rowan cleaned up.”
“I’m fine,” Rowan said.
“I’ll stay with Blair,” Seth murmured. “You take care of Rowan.”
“I’m fine,” she repeated.
They’d just reached the SUV when Rowan heard the sirens and the screech of cars pulling up. She looked over her shoulder. Blair’s stance was strong and defiant.
A tall man, wearing jeans and a black, button-down shirt, swung out of the lead police vehicle, a badge clipped to his belt. His gaze locked on Blair and he started walking toward her.
“Who’s that?” Rowan asked.
“Detective Luke MacKade,” Lachlan said. “He’s our contact at the LVMPD. He’ll help smooth things over.”
Rowan had the vague idea that Blair and the detective looked like two gunslingers meeting down a dusty street. Then Lachlan opened the SUV’s back door and nudged her in.
Before she knew it, he had a first aid kit out and was pressing some antiseptic wipes to her temple. The sting made her hiss.
“You were lucky, Rowan. Another inch…”
She nodded. “I really am fine, Lachlan.”
When he pulled back the wipes, she saw they were soaked with blood. Oh. God. Her stomach pitched. “Wow, that’s a lot of blood.”
“Head injuries bleed a lot,” he told her.
“Jeez.” She glanced down at his shirt. It was covered in blood, as well. “That’s all from my head?”
“Yep.”
Dizziness hit her.
“Hey.” Lachlan stepped closer, sliding a hand behind her neck. “You’re fine, remember?”
At that moment, she saw the wound on his arm. “My God, you’ve been shot too!”
“I think being shot in the head takes precedence over a flesh wound on the arm.” His face changed. “You should never have followed Airman Kowalski.”
“I couldn’t let her get away.” Rowan gripped his uninjured arm. “I couldn’t let her hurt anyone. Lars has to live with killing his friends for the rest of his life. I just couldn’t…”
“Okay, okay.” Lachlan blew out a breath.
He went back to work, cleaning her wound and lecturing her about fighting with bad guys who were holding a gun to her head. She looked back toward where the police were rounding up the prisoners. She watched Blair throw her arms in the air, and the tall detective lean down and get in her face. That looked like it was going well.
Rowan’s gaze fell on the SUV she’d been driving. The front of it was a crumpled wreck.
“Sorry about the SUV.”
Lachlan stopped his lecture but didn’t even glance at the damaged vehicle. “I don’t give a fuck about the SUV.”
Man, he was really angry. Her head throbbed. “Lachlan, my head hurts. Can you stop yelling, please?”
She watched him suck in a breath and try to rein it in. Then he stepped closer, wrapped his arms around her, and scooped her into his arms.
It felt good. Really good. She held on to him and nestled closer.
“This has got to stop, Rowan. You being in danger.”
“It’ll be over soon.” She stroked his stubbled cheek. “I’m glad we’re all alive.”
His hold tightened. “Me, too.”
He put her back in the SUV and buckled her in. It wasn’t long before an amused Seth and Callie, and a silently fuming Blair, returned.
“I’m driving,” Blair snapped.
“Everything okay with MacKade?” Lachlan asked.
“Peachy.” Blair slammed into the driver’s seat.
Rowan found herself wedged between Lachlan and Seth in the backseat as Blair drove them back to Lachlan’s condo.
Once they were back inside, Rowan collapsed on the couch.
The others instantly got to work, with Brooks on the screen, and got in touch with Smith and Axel. It sounded like the men weren’t having much luck tracking down Airman Kowalski.
When a glass appeared in front of her, Rowan looked up at Blair.
“Drink it,” the woman said.
Rowan took it and tossed back the whiskey. She tried to enjoy the burn, but wrinkled her nose.
“You scared him,” Blair said.
Rowan’s gaze slid to Lachlan across the room. His palms were pressed to his kitchen counter, his back tense. He was clearly still mad at her.
“You scared us all,” Blair added.