Edge of Control: An Edge Security Novel (Edge Security Series Book 1) (16 page)

Vladimir turned and jogged down the metal stairs to the main floor.

“Come on,” Petroff said, pushing her toward the stairs.

She couldn’t let him take her anywhere. Reaching back with her free hand, she found his face. He squeezed her neck harder, cutting off her meager supply of air. She scratched at his cheek as her lungs burned and her head pounded. Darkness blurred her vision when she finally found his eye and used her thumb to dig in.

“Fuck,” he shouted and flung her away from him.

Unable to stop herself, she fell to the walkway, rolling to the edge. She gasped in a single breath before the feeling of openness behind her sent adrenaline rushing from her core and down her limbs.

She lunged for any kind of hold in that split second before she fell. Her hands grabbed the edge and gripped tight as she toppled over the side.

The weight of her body pulled on her shoulders and a scream ripped from her throat as she dangled three stories above the concrete floor.

“Stupid bitch,” Petroff said. He pulled a gun from under the back of his shirt.

He raised it and she stared down the barrel, debating whether to let go, wondering if she’d survive the fall. She certainly wouldn’t survive a bullet through the head.

A smirk crawled over Petroff’s face. “I never liked you. I could never see what Vladimir saw in you.”

She adjusted her grip. “Jealous, were you?”

His face reddened. “I’m gonna enjoy this.” He bent closer.

The crack of a gunshot sounded and he jerked back with a grunt of pain.

“Dani,” Jake shouted.

She looked down. Jake stood there, in a classic firing stance, his gun trained on Petroff. Rhys stood at his back, gun out and scanning the warehouse. She could see two other operators back near the crates. The truck with the women and the men guarding it were nowhere in sight.

Petroff lumbered up to the edge of the walkway, holding his bleeding shoulder and aiming his gun below.

“Watch out,” she shouted.

Petroff’s gun went off and sounded louder than she’d expected. A quick look showed Jake and Rhys taking cover behind the metal shipping crates. They returned fire. Petroff scuttled back to the hallway of offices, but even from her vantage point she could see the thick smoke through the window. He continued to fire his gun.

“Hang on, Dani,” Jake shouted.

“Hang on?” she muttered. “Screw that.” She’d had enough of pretending she was a trapeze artist. She swung her leg onto the walkway and pulled herself up onto her stomach. She lay there for a moment, breathing heavily.

Hot metal touched her cheek and she jerked away. Petroff stood over her with the barrel of his gun against her face. Now he pressed it against the back of her head. “Get up,” he growled.

She slowly stood and raised her hands. He pulled her back against his body and put the gun to her temple. “Down the stairs.”

They moved slowly to the metal stairs. Jake and the others had stopped firing. Dani couldn’t see or hear them anymore. She swallowed hard as Petroff forced her down the first steps.

Jake appeared on the landing below them. She knew his gun was trained on Petroff, but it looked as though he was pointing it straight at her.

“You okay, Dani?” he asked her, though he never took his eyes from Petroff.

“Yeah, I’m great. Except for the gun pointed at my head.” She’d never been able to control her mouth in tense situations. She compressed her lips. Maybe she should start avoiding tense situations.

“Shut up,” Petroff said, tightening his arm around her neck.

She coughed. “Easy, big guy.”

“Out of the way,” Petroff said to Jake. “Or I’m gonna blow your girl’s brains all over this warehouse.”

Jake stilled and kept complete focus on Petroff. “Do you trust me, Dani?”

What was she supposed to say to that? “Trust you with what, exactly? I really don’t even know you that well.” She grunted when Petroff’s arm tightened further.

Jake’s sigh was loud, but his gaze never left Petroff. “Just answer the question. Do you trust me?”

She really wished she could sigh, but she could barely breathe with Petroff slowly cutting off her air. Did she trust Jake? Her body seemed to respond rather than her mind. “Yes.”

“Then don’t move.”

Petroff moved them both down another step. He kept most of his bulk behind her body.

“I don’t really have much choice about this,” she said.

“She’ll move if I tell her to move,” Petroff said. “Now where’s your friend? Get him where I can see him. I don’t feel like getting shot in the back.”

Jake nodded while still watching Petroff with that focused, predatory look. Rhys called out from below. He must have been watching closely. “I’m here,” he said as he stepped from behind a crate. He too had a gun trained on her. Or rather, Petroff, she reminded herself.

She wondered if she should go limp in Petroff’s arms so Jake could shoot him, or if that would just piss Petroff off. As her mind raced, Petroff forced them down another two steps. Closer and closer to the landing and Jake.

“Move,” Petroff said. “Or I’ll shoot your girlfriend.”

Jake didn’t move. “She’s not my girlfriend. Like the lady said, she doesn’t know me that well.”

Petroff moved them down one more step. They now stood only about ten feet from Jake. Dani could see satisfaction in Jake’s eyes. Her heart rate sped up.
Merde
. He was going to shoot. Didn’t he know how dangerous that was?

“Don’t do it,” she said.

“What?” Jake asked, not looking at her.

“Don’t shoot him. I’m pretty sure the brain can still send impulses after it dies. He could still pull the trigger.” She swallowed. “I’ll still be dead.”

She felt Petroff move her more securely in front of him.

Jake sighed again. “We’re gonna have to work on that trust issue, Dani. Now remember what I said.”

Not to move. Oh god. She almost waved her arms at him. She wanted to squeeze her eyes shut, but focused instead on Jake. He stood tall and strong before them, an immovable wall. Could he do it?

“You’re not gonna shoot,” Petroff said. “Now, get out of my way.”

Jake didn’t move. He didn’t even look like he was breathing. “Not gonna happen. If you shoot her, you’re dead. What’s your next move? We gonna wait here till the cops show up?”

Petroff growled. “If you don’t move I’ll shoot her in the knee first.”

“She’ll live.”

Dani almost protested, but something about Jake radiated danger at that moment, more so than Petroff. Don’t move.
Trust him
, her inner voice told her. She bit her lip. She really didn’t have much choice in the matter. But she also really didn’t want to limp for the rest of her life.

“I’m not bluffing,” Petroff said.

She felt more than saw the gun move away from her temple as Petroff lowered it to shoot her in the leg. A sound of protest escaped her lips, but her eyes stayed trained on Jake’s gun.

Time slowed. She saw Jake’s finger pull back on the trigger and light flashed from the muzzle. A concussion of sound hit her. Petroff’s arm loosened and his body dropped. She stood paralyzed with shock for the first time in her life, her wide eyes on Jake.

He looked at her for the first time, moving toward her, lowering his gun. Her mouth opened but no words came out. Her mind was blank. Jake’s mouth was moving. She focused on it, concentrating past the tinny whine that rang in her ears.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his hand holding her shoulder.

She nodded, automatically turning to Petroff, but Jake’s hand stopped her. “Don’t look,” he advised. “It’s…messy.”

Being shot in the face will do that to a person
.

Jake snorted and Dani realized she’d spoken out loud. She nodded, though no question had been asked. “Okay,” she said. She moved past Jake to the next flight of stairs. “Okay. I’m okay.”

Jake was right next to her and she moved a little bit away. “I’m okay,” she said again.

“Yup,” was all he said. But he stayed right beside her.

They reached the bottom. Blood started to pool on the concrete floor, dripping from the steps above. The little pools started to get bigger.

“Dani?” Jake’s voice was gentle. “We have to go. The place is on fire.”

“What?” She continued to stare at the blood.

A finger under her chin lifted her face. She looked into Jake’s concerned gaze. “Stay with me.”

She straightened her shoulders and nodded. “Right. I’m here. I’m okay.”

His lips twisted. “You’re not okay.” He dropped his hand. “But you will be.”

Rhys strode up to them, his eyes constantly scanning the area. “Ready to move?”

Jake nodded. “Let’s go.”

Dani took a deep breath and lifted her eyes to see Petroff’s body lying on the stairs above her. His arm dangled over the side.

“That’s for what you did to Tass,” she whispered.

The debrief lasted until well after dinner. Dani huddled for warmth in her hoodie and borrowed sweatpants. Her stomach rumbled dangerously as everyone filed out of the conference room—or war room, as she was beginning to think of it. Chuck squeezed Dani’s shoulder as he walked past. She was glad he didn’t stay behind. She wasn’t up for any more talking. The door shut after the last person left.

She let her head drop forward and closed her eyes. Fatigue and guilt weighed heavy on her.

The whisper of sound didn’t surprise her. She’d known somehow that he’d stay. She didn’t move when Jake sat in the chair beside her.

“You did good, you know,” he said.

The words bounced off the armor of guilt she wore. “I failed.” She lifted her head and stared at Jake. “Tassia is still missing.”

Jake studied her a moment. “But because of you, we know for sure who has her and where she’s probably headed.”

“That is, if she’s not already dead.”

“They won’t kill her.”

Dani swallowed hard. “Yet. You mean they won’t kill her yet.”

“We have a bit of time. And now we have a lead.” He pointed to the coaster that sat in the middle of the table. The coaster she’d snagged from the desk in the warehouse. “That’s from a strip club in New York. You heard Blackwell. We’ve already got people checking it out.”

She clenched her fists. “There’s got to be more we can do.”

Jake took her fists in his hands and opened them, massaging the tension out of them. “There is. You can get some rest and be ready for whatever they ask you to do next.”

“But I’m not a field operator. I’m not even an IT tech anymore. I’m on probation until they can decide if I’m an
asset
to the team.” She spat out the words.

Jake shrugged. “Everyone has to start somewhere. It means you have to prove you can work with a team. A partner.” He tossed the words at her as if he expected them to explode. Or rather her.

She compressed her lips together. “I can do that. I’ve already shown I can do that.”

Jake slowly shook his head. “You don’t trust anyone.”

“I trusted you.” The words were out before she could analyze them. She hadn’t wanted to say them, but now that they were out she might as well follow through. “I trusted you when you shot Petroff.”

Jake arched a brow. “You barely trusted me, even though I’m a Navy SEAL and I could have made that shot at fifty yards, let alone five.”

She blew out a breath. “So what are you saying?”

“If you’re going to be on my team, you’ve got to trust me. You’ve got to do what I say, when I say it.” His intense gaze seared her and his hands squeezed hers. “Our lives could depend on it.”

She wanted to turn away, but she couldn’t escape his gaze. So she deflected with words. “Do you trust me?”

Something flickered in his eyes. “To a point.”

She sat back. He didn’t trust her. Somehow that fact mattered to her. She pulled her hands from his.

“Listen,” he continued. “You’re on probation. You’re lucky they’re letting you help. I’ll be in charge, which means you can’t question my calls.”

She held up her hands to stop his speech, trying to process what was happening. “Wait. So it’s okay for you not to trust me, but you’re demanding my trust?”

He went to speak but she stopped him by standing up. “And I’m
lucky
they’re letting me help?” She slammed a palm onto the table. “They’re freaking lucky I helped them, or they wouldn’t have the information they do. And you better believe I’m going to get my friend back with or without your help.”

Jake watched Dani storm out of the room. How the hell was he going to work with her? She let her emotions control her. The anger sparking in her eyes stirred him.

He cursed silently. Who was he kidding? His emotions controlled him when she was around. Emotions didn’t go well with missions. If he was smart, he’d back off this one. Though both Knight and Blackwell wanted him to take the lead on this, to get a taste of what being a field operator for E.D.G.E. meant.

He stood and followed Dani. She was in more danger than she realized, which was why he wanted her close. She strode in her borrowed clothes to the elevator. Did she really think she could just go home?

“Where are you going?” he asked her when he stood beside her.

Her eyes flared and color bloomed on her cheeks. Feisty thing. He asked her the question again just to see the angry sparks in her eyes.

“Home. I need to grab clothes and my wallet.”

“I can’t let you do that,” he said, and almost laughed at her outraged gasp, but she’d had a hard day so he stopped needling her. “You can’t go home,” he said. “Your apartment is compromised. They could be waiting for you.”

“Dammit.” She sighed. “I just want my stuff.”

“Look, I’ll have Rhys swing by first to check it out. If it’s clear, then we’ll give you two minutes to grab what you need.”

The elevator dinged open. Some blonde woman stood there holding files, her high sleek ponytail swinging as she perused Dani from head to toe.

“Really, Danielle? You look like you slept in an alley after a date gone wrong,” she drawled. “I don’t really think the higher-ups at E.D.G.E. would approve.”

Dani flushed and Jake’s anger surged when she just looked away and stepped onto the elevator. He wanted Dani to defend herself, like she’d been doing with him. He wanted to take this woman down a peg for being such a bitch.