So he wouldn’t be alone. Michael would be coming in, and he knew what to do. And if Michael was making his way in, that meant he’d put out a call.
Hutch moved to the door. He couldn’t see where anyone was inside the building, but he knew the club’s blind spots. Knife in hand, he started to make his way down the hall and toward the lobby. He peeked around. The lights were sporadic, placed only as backups so a person inside could make their way. They sent long shadows. He flattened against the wall and risked a look into the lobby.
One man stood at the base of the stairs, guarding it for the rest who’d gone into the dungeon. He pulled a radio from his utility belt. “We’re clear here. No sign of the girl.”
There was the sound of static, and then a deep voice came over the radio. “Keep a look out. We don’t know if the other male is here. We’re giving this thing five minutes and then we’ll torch the place. According to our friend no one’s here, but she lied about Kyle, so I suspect this is where they stashed LaVigne.”
Hutch moved quickly and quietly before the man could turn. He hadn’t been in the field in a long time, but his body remembered this dance. He eased behind his prey, securing the man with his free hand, and before he could even start to struggle, Hutch found the man’s jugular and sank his knife in. It took real force to slit a throat, but adrenaline gave Hutch the strength he needed. He lowered the man to the floor.
His hands were bloody. He’d hoped to never see his hands covered in a man’s blood again, but this was necessary. The stairs were steep, and he couldn’t see the landing from this vantage. He was contemplating taking the back stairs that led from the men’s locker room to the west side of the dungeon when something moved out of the corner of his eye.
He turned and Kyle was shuffling his body to the door. He was covered in blood and held a hand to his chest, but the tough motherfucker was on his feet.
“Noelle, she’s running out of time,” Layne said over her loudspeaker.
Hutch opened the door as quietly as he could and helped Kyle in.
“MaeBe’s still alive?” Kyle whispered the question.
“Yes,” he whispered back. “And Michael’s on his way. I’m stashing you here. Try not to die.”
He helped him to the security desk. It was the only cover he could easily get Kyle to.
“I’m here.” A familiar voice floated down from above.
Noelle. Damn it.
“You should spank her more,” Kyle said. “Way more.”
Oh, he would. He would slap that girl’s ass silly if they got out of this. “Stay alive, brother. You hear me?”
Kyle nodded and sagged down to the floor. “You, too.”
“She’s coming down from the third floor.” The dead man’s radio was talking again. “Everyone come back to the rally point. We’ll move out as soon as the queen is ready.”
Oh, Jessica Layne was not a freaking queen. She was a user, a parasite. She’d spent her whole adult life stepping on the people around her, dragging them down because it was the only way she could succeed. She hurt people because it was easier to take from them than to do for herself.
He wasn’t going to let Noelle be her latest victim.
He pulled the second knife out of his boot and handed it to Kyle. He couldn’t leave the man without a way to defend himself.
“Please let MaeBe go. I’ll come with you,” Noelle offered.
He was going to spank the hell out of her. Hutch couldn’t take the safe route. He was going to have to go right up the stairs and try to sneak around the edge of the dungeon. Michael would almost surely be coming from the opposite side. If they could trap Layne in the middle, they could take her down.
“What the hell kind of name is MaeBe?” Layne wasn’t using the app now. Her voice was softer, but he could easily hear her. “And this seems like an odd place to hide, but then you have hidden depths, Noelle. I honestly bought your ‘I’m a sweet country girl’ act. Who could have guessed that you would play such hardball? Too bad you’re playing against the best.”
Hutch clung to the shadows now as he moved up the stairs.
“I’m not playing at all,” Noelle replied.
“I disagree. You downloaded your research last night,” Jessica accused. “Did you make a deal with Sidirov and the others? Because they won’t pay more than ten million now. I could have gotten twenty out of them if you hadn’t fucked everything up.”
“I didn’t do anything. You’ve got another enemy.” Noelle’s voice sounded closer now.
“When you’re as good as I am, you make a few,” Jessica admitted. “But don’t even try to lie to me. Austin had an alarm on the system, and he’s the one who caught you.”