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A startled scream bubbled up in her throat, but his hand prevented the noise fro

He bent his head down so that his ainst her ear His words were a mere breath of sound, alet us both out of here alive"

Noelle had no idea what this was about or why thesewas for sure, no matter howuntil he was ready to let her Her body was pressed so tightly against the wall that she could feel the tiny serrations in the bricks behind her

Noelle gave a tight nod to let him know that she would coainst her mouth She pulled in a deep breath, which expanded her chest, bringing her closer to her captor The heat froh the knits of theshe wore to combat her drafty house She felt ainst her breasts and belly, along with the hard edges of a bulletproof vest Her nose was level with his collarbone and she could slove and warm, ave away the location of the intruder above He was in her bedrooroan, the intruder was searching for so Or someone

It was completely black in the baseling with her own frantic, rapid breaths If he was nervous, he certainly hid it a lot better than she did

She found his confidence oddly co

His body shifted, and she could feel the warloved hand still hovered directly over her lips She didn't doubt for a second that he'd be able to stop her froh breath to make a squeak

"Stay put," he co to clear a path to get you out of here"

"But--"

His fingers sealed off her"I knohat I'et you when the coast is clear"

Before Noelle could argue anyone, and she was left alone in the darkness without even the faintest whisper of footsteps trailing behind him

Noelle wasn't about to be trapped in the baseut told her that thisthe truth--that he really did want to help her Logic told her that he was just one ainst multiple arht well be left to her own devices to escape

Using only ht in her jeans' pocket, held her hands out in front of her, and began to inch slowly across the basement floor The dry, splintery surface of the wooden stairs scraped her fingers, but she refused to let go of the only object that could safely lead her to freedo limp and heavy The dead man

She shivered in revulsion as her stoether to keep froht of corpses out of her mind, she knelt and felt around the body until she touched the cold, sger accidentally, she positioned her hands so that she could use the weapon as it was intended Her fingers trembled and her skin was slick with the sweat of terror She wasn't sure that she could actually shoot so at her wouldn't instantly know that was the case

From the floor above, she heard a pop and the heavy thud of a body collapsing Fear slithered along her spine as she wondered which of the men had fallen

She prayed it wasn't thetone and the smell of leather on his skin

David picked up the weapon of the h his NVGs confir was nonlethal Tranquilizer darts

The men after Dr Blanche were not here to kill her They wanted her alive

The thought should have ain, the Swares alive At first

Bitter ut clench He'd failed one woman and it had cost her her life He wasn't about to make the same mistake twice

He looped the strap of the confiscated weapon over his shoulder and headed back down the hall toward thearea

The door to the basement was open, as was the shattered kitchen door that led to the backyard Cold, black air swept over the ancient tile floor and curled around David's legs The scent of burning leaves and woods hihts spent on frozen, enemy soil

So far he'd taken out three men The comm unit in his ear buzzed with another voice, frantically trying to locate his buddies If David had been running their mission, there would be at least onethe outside of the house on the off chance that the woman would be able to escape the trap they had made of her home

A shadow fell across the concrete slab just outside the kitchen door, giving away the presence of another ht outside To David's left wooden stairs creaked, and he knew that Noelle was heading right into the line of fire

David crouched lon to the right so he could cover her entrance into the kitchen Theof his weapon and silencer blended into the shadows If anything was going to give him away to his eneht that surrounded him

Slowly, the eneet Before David had tier, Noelle stepped out into the kitchen directly between David and his target

With a silent curse, the"Get down!" He shouted

TheNoelle with a dart

Noelle ju on the tile floor Her file stated she had no co, but, to her credit, it only took her a split second to respond She spun around toward the sound of his voice and ducked low, covering her head with her arms