Page 37 of Kidnapped Bride

That meant at least five against four, which wasn't great given they had a hostage, but it wasn't impossible if we hit them from multiple angles and didn't give them time to organize.

"Vlad, take the back," I said. "You handle the men at the rear door quietly and push in." Then I turned over my shoulder, andsaid, "Tyren, you're with me through the front. Yakov, give us thirty seconds and then come through the side window. We hit them from three directions at once."

"And if there's more than five?" Yakov asked. He wasn't wrong to point out a weakness we might have, but we didn’t have time to think in worst-case scenarios. We had to get into that store and take it back before Markin's men got comfortable believing they'd taken another block. I was done being patient, hoping he'd use some sense. I didn't care if someone called the police. I had to take back what was mine.

"Then we deal with it."

Yakov checked his magazine and slid up the side of the building out of the view of the lights, while Tyren moved up beside me. He was calm but his eyes were wide and observant.

Still, of all my lower-level men, Tyren was the one I'd promote first if I needed a trusty hand. The adrenaline didn't rattle him. It just made him sharper.

Vlad disappeared down the alley as Yakov positioned himself near a side window that was propped open a few inches for ventilation. Tyren and I crossed the street and hugged the storefronts, moving quickly from doorway to doorway until we were right beside the entrance.

I counted to thirty in my head. Then I kicked the door in.

It swung wide and cracked against the magazine rack, and both men at the register turned at the same time.

The one leaning on the counter grabbed for his waistband, but I put two rounds in his chest before his fingers touched the grip.

He fell backward into the cigarette display and slid down the wall, scattering packs across the floor as blood spatter ran down the shelving.

Deshi screamed through the gag and curled into the fetal position, mumbling something incoherent and rocking back and forth. I looked past him to the second man, who was faster.

He cleared his weapon and fired twice, and I heard the rounds snap past my ear as I ducked behind an aisle endcap.

Tyren returned fire from the doorway and caught him in the shoulder, spinning him into the aisle, but the man didn't drop. He stumbled and kept shooting, punching holes through the shelving and blowing cans and bottles apart in every direction.

Glass shattered on the far side of the store and I knew that was Yakov coming through the side window.

Two rapid shots cracked from the back of the store in quick succession, and everything collapsed into chaos after that.

I came around the endcap and fired at the wounded man in the aisle. He'd dropped to one knee and was trying to steady his gun with his good arm, but I hit him twice in the torso and he folded over onto the tile and went still.

Behind me, Tyren pushed deeper into the store, sweeping right toward the coolers where two more of Markin's men were scrambling for cover behind a bottled water display.

One of them popped up and fired a burst from an automatic rifle that stitched across the ceiling and peppered the wall toward Tyren.

I heard him return fire with three shots that punched through the plastic bottles and sprayed water across the floor in every direction.

The man behind the display stumbled backward and Tyren came around the side and put him down with two more to the chest.

Then the last one broke for the back door, sprinting down the center aisle, and I tracked him and squeezed off a round. But he ducked behind the beer cooler and I missed.

Vlad shouted from the back, "He's coming your way!" and then Yakov stepped out from behind a shelving unit and cracked the runner across the face with the butt of his pistol.

The man's legs went sideways and he hit the wet floor hard, sliding through broken glass and pooling water until Yakov kicked his gun away and put a boot on his wrist.

For a second, I thought it was done.

The store was destroyed. Shell casings and broken glass and water covered every inch of the floor.

The shelves were shredded and Deshi was still alive behind the counter, his eyes wild above the gag, breathing hard through his nose.

I started toward him to cut him loose.

Then the back door burst open and another man came in already firing, and shit hit the fan.

He was covered in blood and looked like a crazed lunatic, but he caught us off guard. His first round went wide and blew out a section of the front window. His second hit Tyren in the neck.