Midnight Captive Read Free Page A

guys
and
save the innocents.
    Truth be told, usually
he
was that man. His brother lectured him daily about his act-first-and-think-much-much-later approach, but Sean had inherited the reckless gene from their father, while Oliver had gotten their mother’s more practical approach to problem solving. In his defense, Sean was more than capable of getting the job done, even when acting on impulse. The child’s-play exercises the Garda officers underwent were nothing compared to his extensive training.
    On the upside, the Irish weren’t as aggressive as other folks—ahem, the bloody Americans—which meant there
was
a chance he could avoid a bullet in the head today.The ERU rarely acted with lethal force unless the threat to innocent life was imminent, and at the moment, all the hostages were safe and sound.
    Sean figured he had another hour. Two, tops. After that, the negotiator would realize the gunmen were stalling and the response unit would make their move.
    If the ERU had even the slightest inkling about the dead body currently taking up space in the bank, they would’ve acted an hour ago.
    Sean swallowed his anger as he shifted his gaze toward the long teller counter spanning the back wall. A cop. A bloody cop—literally, because the garda’s head was surrounded by a sticky crimson puddle. Paddy Lynch had blown the man’s forehead clean off with a sawed-off shotgun, the crazy maniac. If by some miracle they managed to claw out of this clusterfuck alive, first thing Sean planned on doing was knocking Paddy’s crooked teeth out.
    But at least Lynch had possessed the good sense not to shoot the undercover officer in the lobby. The garda had made his move closer to the doorway at the edge of the counter. The bullet had sent him tumbling backward, and Lynch had hastily dragged the lifeless body under one of the desks, where it remained hidden from view.
    In the commotion, however, one of the tellers had dashed behind the counter and triggered the panic alarm—which was why Sean and his cohorts now had the equivalent of an American SWAT team bearing down on them.
    He was definitely gonna die today.
    A loud sob broke through his pessimistic thoughts, drawing his attention to a slim, ginger-haired girl crouched on the floor five feet from his scuffed boots. Another thorn in his side—the little bird had nearly been killed too, thanks to the stunt she’d pulled with her phone. Herlife had been spared only because Sean had stepped in and talked Gallagher out of shooting her.
    Stifling a sigh, he headed for the girl and squatted beside her. “I promise you, it’ll be all right, luv.”
    Her head lifted slightly, big blue eyes peering up at him. She was young, no older than twenty or twenty-one. Tears stained her pale cheeks and she’d bitten her bottom lip so hard it had started to bleed.
    “He’s going to kill me,” she whispered.
    Her gaze darted toward Gallagher, who stood in the doorway separating the lobby from the rear offices. The tall man frowned when he caught sight of his accomplice chatting with a hostage, but Sean gave a brief nod to signal that everything was fine.
    “He won’t kill you,” Sean murmured. “I won’t let that happen.”
    A panicked breath blew out of her mouth. “He
will
. He knows I uploaded the video. He said he’s going to kill me.”
    “You shouldn’t have done what you did,” Sean agreed.
    Alarm filled her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Please don’t hurt me.”
    Bloody hell.
    She truly believed he would hurt her.
    How had it come to this? He was no saint, but he sure as hell wasn’t a bad guy. A man who instilled fear in a young woman’s eyes.
    Anger bubbled in his gut as he wrenched his gaze off the redhead’s tearstained face. The hot, suffocating emotion wasn’t directed at the girl, but at his former employer. Why the
fuck
had Rabbit put him in this position? He’d given that bastard nothing but loyalty for more than half his life. He might have left