Her ears rang—high, sharp, and endless.
For a moment, there was nothing but that ringing. Then pandemonium bled through it.
Heavy footsteps moving fast.
Men yelling.
Someone cursing.
She couldn’t tell what was happening.
Her heart leapt into her throat.
A single gunshot cut through the cacophonous din?—
Close.
Sharp.
Final.
Her body went rigid, and she waited for the pain and darkness that was sure to follow.
But neither came.
Something large and heavy dropped beside her with a sickening thud, close enough that the impact vibrated through her ribs.
“SBI! Drop your weapons!”
“On the ground! Now!”
The voices were different. Commanding. Clear. And definitely not Diego. Not any of the others she’d heard over the last hour or two—or however long she’d been there.
“Hands behind your head!”
None of the words registered at first. It was all a jumbled mess inside her brain.
She lay there trembling, the hood still over her face, her ears ringing, and her heart trying to break out of her chest.
Someone moved close enough that she felt the air shift. Her name was spoken softly, barely audible over the clamor.
Brian?
Oh, please tell me I’m not imagining him!
The hood was quickly but carefully lifted. Fluorescent light stabbed at her eyes, and she blinked against the sudden brightness, her vision swimming. The air was thick with smoke and dust, and she coughed as her lungs searched for clean, fresh air.
And then she saw him. Brian.
Kneeling beside her.
He pulled out a knife and quickly cut through her restraints. Her aching arms and shoulders dropped the second the zip ties snapped, the sudden freedom sending a rush of fire through muscles that had been locked too long. Pins and needles stabbed down to her fingertips, sharp and merciless, and she gasped as blood flooded back into numb hands.
It hurt to move them—hurt like she’d been torn apart and stitched back together wrong—but beneath the pain was something stronger.
Relief.
She was free and could move, but her stiff legs weren’t ready to be of use yet. She flexed her fingers slowly, wincing, then lifted her arms shakily as if proving to herself they still belonged to her.