Free Atoning by Kelley Armstrong

cat scream, guaranteed to echo unmistakably through the building. She’d yowl, Derek would get to her, and, between the two of them, they’d take down our captors while Daniel went through a bag of zip-strips tying them up.
    It was now 1:10.
    “It’s a slight delay,” I whispered. “But as long as everything’s quiet, that’s all it is: a delay. If something went wrong, we’d hear it. And we do have a backup plan.”
    “Which is that if we see trouble or it goes past one-thirty, we get out. Any way we can.” Jacinda squeezed her daughter’s shoulder. “It’s okay, baby. Chloe has this—”
    Footsteps pounded down the hall. We simultaneously dove under the old saw. That’s why we’d been waiting there—the big hunk of machinery was conveniently raised just far enough off the floor to provide a good—if tight—hiding spot.
    “Sorry!” Liz whispered as she crouched beside the machine and peered under it at me. “I was checking the other direction and didn’t see him coming. It’s one guy heading straight this way, so don’t move.”
    I nodded and whispered something to Jacinda. She agreed and passed on the message to Rae, on her other side.
    “Murray’s right,” a voice said. “The kids are gone. Whatever he heard over in the west quadrant? It wasn’t rats.”
    A reply came across a radio. The footfalls stopped with a squeak.
    “Hold on,” he said. “I think I’ve got something. I’ll call you back.”
    The radio clicked off. The footsteps continued. Then, a hand reached down and grabbed Jacinda’s ankle, and the man yanked her from her hiding place as she squeaked in protest.
    “Are you girls under there, too?” He bent and peered beneath the saw. “Why, hello, Rachelle.”
    “Hello, asshole,” she said and held up her glowing fingers. “Want to try pulling me out? Don’t worry—I only give second-degree burns.”
    He snatched for her outstretched leg—and I slammed a sedative dart into his shoulder as Jacinda slapped her hand over his mouth. I’d crawled out the other way while he’d been focused on Jacinda and Rae. The darts came courtesy of Derek. He’d brought them in, hoping—correctly it seemed—that they wouldn’t be so thorough checking for weapons on a werewolf, presuming he came with his own built-in. When I’d realized it was only one guy, I’d had Jacinda stick her leg out. Better to take this guy down while we could.
    We bound and gagged him. Then, we took his gun and radio. Rae wanted to stuff him back under the saw, but if we did that, a few kicks against the metal would bring everyone running. I didn’t say that to Rae, or she’d feel like she’d overlooked the obvious. Eighteen months ago, I’d have suggested the same thing. Jacinda understood the issue, though, and suggested we haul him deeper onto the shop floor, hidden between pieces of machinery. We did, and Liz found an old oil-soaked tarp that we draped over him.
    We had to find a new hiding spot, in case he still managed to make enough noise to alert the others. After a whispered conference, I gave Jacinda the gun. I could handle it, but I had two more tranq darts and needed to keep my attention on Liz as she zipped back and forth. Jacinda also knew how to use a gun and didn’t have any supernatural powers.
    Rae took the radio. We kept it on low, and she heard someone looking for the guy we’d disabled, but they didn’t seem to know exactly where he’d been when he went offline, and they were too busy hunting for us. Liz was hunting too—for a good hiding place—when she raced back, calling, “They’re coming! Two of them! Right around the—”
    Right around the corner is what I’m sure she’d been about to say, but by that time they were turning the corner. A man and a woman, both carrying guns. We scooted, doubled over, through the machinery, but they’d spotted us, and footfalls pounded as they gave chase and radioed the others. That’s when it finally came: Maya’s catamount