Hungry Like the Wolf(92)

Gunshots echoed in the air. Mac turned to see orange flashes of light in the dark.

Patterson swore. “Get us out of here.”

“What about the others?” the man driving asked.

“Screw them if they can’t take care of themselves.”

Over her shoulder, Mac saw a dark shape hurtling toward them. Even though she knew it was Brooks, she still screamed when he slammed into the passenger door hard enough to shatter the glass and dent the door panel. She screamed again when he yanked off the door and dragged out the man beside her.

She had enough sense to get out while she could. Or would have if the man on her right hadn’t grabbed her at the same time the driver floored the gas and sped away. As they did, she caught sight of movement behind them.

“What the hell was that?” the driver asked.

Patterson was looking around everywhere at once. “How the fuck should I know? Just get us the hell out of here.”

Mac jerked around, trying to get another glimpse of the werewolf chasing them, but it was too dark. It wasn’t big enough to be Brooks, so it had to be either Cooper or Becker.

She braced herself, expecting whoever it was to slam into the car again, but nothing happened and the blurred shape fell back. She kept looking around, but twenty minutes later, they drove through a small gate somewhere on the backside of the airport and stopped in front of a series of hangars. The man beside her dragged her out of the backseat.

“Keep an eye out for Mr. Hardy,” Patterson ordered the man, grabbing Mac’s arm and pulling her toward a metal building. “We’ll be leaving as soon as he takes care of her.”

Mac fought Patterson, trying to jerk out of his grasp, but it was no good. Even with the soft cast on his arm, Patterson easily overpowered her and dragged her toward the door that another man was holding open for them.

“Stay out on the gate, and make sure no one followed us.”

Before Patterson shoved her through the door, she got a chance to see the man alternating looks between the ripped-up car and the darkness beyond the gate. He didn’t seem like he wanted to be out there, either.

Patterson dragged her across the hangar and around the big, sleek jet in the middle of it until they reached a door on the far side. Without a word, he opened the door and shoved her inside, slamming it behind her.

The room was almost completely dark except for an orange glow leaking through the row of small windows near the top of the outer wall. She looked around, but couldn’t see much more than some shelves and a lot of boxes.

Mac ran her hand along the door for the knob, but it was locked. She jerked on it a few times, but it didn’t give. She felt her way around the room, looking for another way out, but there weren’t any other doors, and the only windows were nearly fifteen feet off the floor. There was no way she could get up there.

She didn’t like thinking about what Walter Hardy had in mind for her. He was a vicious man with nothing left to lose. As Patterson had said, Hardy blamed Gage for everything that had happened to him, from the death of his son to the cops being on his trail. The powerful man had tried to take his anger out on the commander of the SWAT team, and failed. Mac could only assume that he’d decided to go after an easier target—her. Somehow Hardy knew she and Gage were together. He figured that if he couldn’t hurt Gage directly, he’d do the next best thing and hurt someone who was important to him.

That thought terrified her so much it made her tremble, but one thing helped her keep it together. Gage and his pack would come for her—no matter how many of Hardy’s men stood in their way.

***

Gage had been pissed as hell to find out Hardy wasn’t home. He’d really wanted to serve the man the warrants personally. But the search of the Southlake residence had still gone well. Not only had they connected Hardy to the men who’d come after him and Mackenzie, but they’d also gotten enough to put the guy away for years on racketeering charges, tax evasion, money laundering, illegal drugs—just to name a few. Gage couldn’t believe Hardy had been so sloppy as to keep records of all his dealings. It was like he didn’t think the cops would dare come after him.

He was still worried no one had seen Hardy yet, though. Gage was just about to go check to see if the deputy chief had heard anything when his cell phone rang.

“Dixon.”

“Hardy’s men grabbed Mac,” Brooks said simply.

Gage’s heart stopped. “What? When?”

“About ten minutes ago. The bastards beat up Zak to lure Mac to the hospital. We chased them for a couple miles, but they got away.”

Shit.

“I’m on my way. Where are you?”