Cruz advanced through the doorway, his handgun at the ready, focusing on the armed threat and relying on his peripherals to catch any other threats in the room. Farthest from the ideal situation, but based on conversation he’d identified Lyn and someone she knew. She was smart to keep up the conversation and distract her captors. Her discussion had covered the majority of their approach and the exchange let him get a basic idea of location, at least for the two speakers.
Only the asshole, Zuccolin, had the timing to encounter them when there’d been no cover. Only choice had been to engage without the advantage of surprise or any chance of stealth. Atlas had stayed true to his training and taken point.
But Cruz couldn’t think about that now. The primary objective was Lyn. Locate. Extract.
He’d worry about the rest after.
The solider who’d accompanied Zuccolin was drawing his weapon.
“Stop moving,” Cruz growled. He immediately stepped to one side of the door, away from the hinges, to have his back to the near wall plus a foot or two of extra buffer space. There were a few crates in case he needed to dive for cover. “You’re going to want to get the safety back on that and put it on the ground. Now.”
A procedure they were both familiar with and in the other soldier’s place, Cruz would be fighting a nasty internal battle. But the other soldier valued his life and complied quickly.
Lyn was tied to a chair overturned in the middle of the room, and to the other side of her had to be the person he’d heard her talking with earlier. An older man and an officer, with his hands out to his sides. No immediate threat.
Still, Cruz was only one man and he had two potential hostiles in the room with a completely immobilized Lyn.
“Lyn?” He kept his gaze on the nameless soldier with the officer at the edge of his periphery.
“Hi.”
Relief flooded through him and he blinked quickly to keep his sight clear. “Good to hear your voice.”
“I’m pretty happy to see you, too.” Her words were wobbly but she was talking and making a good attempt at upbeat.
“Can you get up on your own?”
There was a creak as she wiggled on her side. “No.”
Her frustration was much better than the possible alternatives. If she’d been hysterical or panicking, or even devoid of hope, he might not be able to get them moving. But his girl had fight in her and he could work with that.
He skirted the room, keeping the wall to his back and getting closer to her. “Hang out for another second.”
The nameless soldier’s eyes gave away his intent. Cruz charged and crashed into the man shoulder to shoulder as the other man tried to reach down for his gun. The other man stumbled and Cruz followed through with a knee to the head. His opponent fell to the floor unconscious.
Cruz let his momentum carry him forward and gathered his feet under him for a smooth controlled turn, expecting the old man to have taken advantage of his back being turned.
“Son, why didn’t you just shoot him?”
Cruz trained his handgun on the officer, the last man standing.
The officer held his hands up, still empty. “Well, don’t start shooting now.”
“Who are you?”
“Captain Jones…”
“Her father…”
Both the officer and Lyn spoke at the same time.
Well, shit.
“My step-father,” Lyn clarified. “Which doesn’t matter considering the circumstances.”
“You are not in a position to fully understand the current situation.” The other man’s voice definitely sounded patronizing in a familiar way.
“Trust me, I’d be very happy to survey things from a higher viewpoint. All I’ve got now without craning my neck is a bunch of shoes and an unconscious man. At least, I think he’s unconscious. Hard to tell from here.” For her part, she obviously wasn’t letting on whether her stepfather was a threat or not.
When in doubt, everyone is a threat. Cruz did not lower his weapon.
Despite his exchange with Lyn, her stepfather was watching Cruz.
Cruz tipped his head in her direction. “Help her up.”
Her stepfather complied with slow, deliberate movements. The man could’ve yanked her chair up or followed the order in a number of ways that could hurt her. It was a calculated risk to let the man touch her at all.
But Cruz was going on a hunch.
Her stepfather cradled her head as he helped set her upright and broke the duct tape binding her to the chair. Odd gentleness for a kidnapper.
“She wasn’t supposed to end up here.” Her stepfather stepped away from her again to a safe distance. “Only the canine was supposed to have been retrieved.”
“Is Atlas hurt badly?” Lyn was yanking off the remainder of the duct tape and rubbing her arms. It’d probably been tight enough to cut off some circulation.