Page 73 of Seal of Honor
Gabe quietly shut the door, leaned his forehead against it, and thought back to all of his plans for raiding Mena’s estate. They’d had intel on the servants’ and the guards’ shifts, on the placement of all the cameras and motion sensors. He knew the house, the grounds, and the security system’s strengths and weaknesses like he knew his own name. Escape would have been difficult if he was in prime condition and had his SEAL teammates for backup. Escape while seriously wounded with an untrained woman in tow…
Fuck.
Audrey returned to his side with a roll of Colombian bills. “No keys.”
“Doesn’t matter,” he said and shoved the roll into his pants pocket. “We can’t get to the garages from here. Hallway’s guarded.”
“What are we going to do?”
Gabe pushed away from the door and, ignoring his lightheadedness, weaved across the library, out onto the terrace, all the while scanning, searching for an out. Hallway was a no-go unless he took out the guards, but where there were two, there would be more. Could he take them all in his weakened condition? Maybe if he got lucky. Was he willing to risk Audrey’s life like that? No fucking way.
So his only option was the terrace. He leaned over the railing and scanned the ground below. The pool glowed a soft blue-green two stories down, but jumping was out of the question. The terrace overlooked the shallow end, and any miscalculation on his part would send him slamming into the concrete deck. He was already in enough pain and didn’t need to add the possibility of breaking every bone in his body to the equation.
“Don’t tell me you’re thinking of jumping?” Audrey’s voice trembled in the cool night air as she joined him by the railing.
He gave her a weak smile. “Thought of it, but it’s not an option.”
“What’s that up there?” She pointed to the roof one story above them. He straightened away from the railing and gazed up.
Well, shit. Why didn’t he think of that? They might just have a shot at escaping yet.
“Mena’s helo.” He grinned and grasped Audrey’s face in his hands, planting a hard kiss on her open mouth. “You’re brilliant, honey. Can you climb?”
She gave him a look that said duh and started unbuckling the straps on her high heels. “Can you fly?”
“It’s been a while.”
A shout went up inside the estate, followed by hurried footsteps echoing down the hallway. Their window of opportunity was rapidly closing.
“Good enough for me.” She kicked off her shoes and stood on the balcony railing to grip the edge of the flowered trellis overhead.
The library doors burst open.
“Go!” he hissed, and Audrey didn’t hesitate, scrambling up the wooden lattice and disappearing over the edge of the roof in a flash.
Gabe wasn’t far behind, but his injuries slowed him down. He grunted with each pull, trying to ignore the searing pain radiating from his side.
So much for not feeling it.
His fingers scraped against the rough wood, losing their grip more than once. But he had to keep going.
Audrey was waiting for him.
She needed him.
The thought injected a fresh wave of adrenaline into him, enough to get him the last few feet onto the roof. When he finally hoisted himself over the railing, he found her crouched by the helicopter’s landing skid, her golden hair wild in the wind.
Relief brightened her eyes. “You made it.”
“Get in.” He pointed to the helicopter’s door. She obeyed without question, her dress fluttering around her legs as she climbed aboard. He followed her across the landing pad at a crouch, keeping himself small in case of snipers, each movement sending a fresh wave of agony coursing through his side. When he finally dropped heavily into the pilot’s seat, he had to lean back to catch his breath. But there was no time for recovery. From the sounds of the shouts below, the guards had figured out where they’d gone and would be here in seconds.
He glanced around the cockpit, taking note of the instruments. He wasn’t a pilot but had learned enough to get them off the ground and back down safely. He’d done it once before in Afghanistan, under fire and with lives hanging in the balance. Not so different from their current circumstances. He ran his hands over the console, flipping switches, turning dials. The helicopter roared to life, blades slicing through the air overhead.
“Hang on,” he called.
The helicopter lurched as he pulled back on the stick. His vision swam, and for a moment, he feared he might pass out before they even left the ground. But Audrey’s soft touch on his arm kept him anchored. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to focus. Any lapse in attention now could mean their lives.
Below them, men burst onto the roof, guns raised. A hailstorm of bullets peppered the side of the helicopter as Gabe jerked the controls back even harder, lifting them higher into the night sky. The gunfire grew fainter, then disappeared completely as they soared above the mansion’s brightly lit grounds.
