Chapter 19
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My heart hammered wildly in my chest, but I refused to cower. I stood tall, stepping slightly behind Liam, who hadn't moved a muscle. He exuded an absolute, terrifying calm.
"You boys are a long way from the corporate boardroom," Liam said, his voice smooth and deceptively relaxed.
"Hand it over, Hayes," the scarred man barked, stepping closer, his weapon leveled at Liam’s chest. "You are outgunned."
"Am I?" Liam asked.
In a blur of motion too fast for my eyes to track, Liam moved. He didn't raise his gun; he dropped it, diving forward and sweeping the scarred man’s legs out from under him. As the man fell, Liam grabbed the man’s weapon arm, twisting it violently until a sickening snap echoed through the clearing.
The man screamed, dropping his gun.
The other two men hesitated for a fraction of a second, shocked by the sudden violence. That hesitation was all Liam needed. He drew a second, smaller weapon from an ankle holster and fired two suppressed shots.
Thwip. Thwip.
The two men collapsed, groaning in pain, both shot precisely in the knee. They weren't dead, but they weren't getting up anytime soon.
Liam kicked their weapons away into the thick brush and grabbed the scarred man by the collar, hauling him halfway up.
"Tell Julian Cross that if he ever sends armed men near Claire Bennett again, I won't shoot for the knees," Liam growled, his eyes burning with a lethal intensity. He shoved the man back to the ground.
Liam turned to me, picking up the plastic bag with the USB drive.
"Are you okay, Claire?" he asked, his voice instantly softening as he checked me for injuries.
"I'm fine," I breathed, my adrenaline spiking. "You... you just took down three armed men in five seconds."
"I told your grandmother I was worth my fee," Liam said with a grim smile. "We need to leave. Now. Before they call for backup."
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We sprinted back down the trail, the cold air burning my lungs. As we reached the car and peeled out of the parking lot, I looked at the silver flash drive in Liam’s hand.
We had the evidence. Now, we needed to make sure the entire world saw it before Julian Cross could silence us forever.
