Chapter Six
“A rms up, motherfucker !”
Every muscle in Sawyer’s body tensed as his grip around me tightened. His eyes on me, he spoke to the masked man behind him who was holding a gun to his head in a lethally quiet tone. “If I raise my arms, I drop her.”
Sheer panic stole my breath.
“I’ll drop both of you with a single bullet, asshole. Keys, now !” the masked man demanded.
Slow, like he had all the time in the world, Sawyer’s hold on me shifted as he pushed me upright and grasped my chin. “You’re okay,” he quietly enunciated.
The masked man shoved the gun harder against Sawyer’s head. “Hurry the fuck up!”
Sawyer released my chin and slowly raised one hand. “Calm down. I’m reaching for my keys.”
“You calm the fuck down, motherfucker. Hand over the keys! This is a carjack—”
Sawyer spun.
The arm that he already had raised slammed elbow first into the man’s masked face, connecting with his nose. Grabbing the hand holding the gun, Sawyer twisted the robber’s wrist so hard, a sickening pop sounded a split second before he screamed and dropped to his knees.
Still holding on to the man’s broken wrist, Sawyer grabbed the robber’s gun and jammed the barrel to his forehead. “Move and you die.” His eyes on the man on his knees, Sawyer nodded at me. “Get in the SUV, Genevieve.”
Oh my God, oh my God .
Shaking, freaking out, I reached for the handle just inside the door to hoist myself up and into the passenger seat, but a click sounded the second I stepped onto the running board.
“She moves another inch, she’s dead,” a new male voice ground out.
Fear coating my every breath, expecting another robber, I turned.
Except it wasn’t just one more.
It was three.
All standing behind Sawyer, all with guns. Two in ski masks aimed at Sawyer, and one with a hood pulled low over his face aimed at me.
My heart threatening to stop, I stepped off the running board. “Sawyer?” Oh dear God , we were dead.
Sawyer didn’t hesitate. “Get in the car, Genevieve,” he commanded, as if three men weren’t pointing guns at us.
“You not hear me, pendejo?” The man pointing the gun at me kept his gaze solidly on Sawyer. “You want your bitch to die?”
I shook. Hard.
Ignoring the man, Sawyer kept his gun wedged against the forehead of the man still on his knees. “It’s armored, Genevieve. Get in and lock the door.” He tossed the key fob into the front passenger seat.
“Are you fucking deaf, motherfucker?” the man yelled.
Panic like nothing I’d ever felt before rushed through me, but I didn’t move. I kept my eyes on Sawyer. “I’m not leaving you.” I couldn’t get in the SUV. I just couldn’t. I wasn’t faster than a bullet, and he wasn’t invincible.
“ Genevieve ,” Sawyer’s angry bark of my name barely had time to cut through the heat-stiff night air before everything went to hell.
The man on the ground grabbed the hem of my dress with one hand and yanked.
My bare knees slammed into the pavement, and Sawyer moved.
Faster than I could blink, he’d reached in his coat, came away with his own gun, and aimed dead center at the man in the hood’s chest. Sawyer’s movements were almost a blur as the momentum of my fall pitched me forward. My hands flew out, and the rough parking lot tore through the flesh of my palms and knees. A split second later, the man who’d yanked my dress wrapped an arm around my neck and wrenched me back up. Taller than me, his grip too strong, my back to his heaving chest, I had to go on tiptoe so I wasn’t strangled.
“Sawyer!” I cried out before the robber’s forearm crushed my throat too hard to speak.
Sawyer’s nostrils flared. “Let. Her. Go .”
The man strangling me didn’t even flinch as I clawed uselessly at his arm.
The hooded man spit words at Sawyer. “You’re outnumbered.”
“Try me,” Sawyer taunted. With both arms out, he had one gun aimed at the man holding me, and one aimed at the hooded man speaking.
Tears sprang, my vision started to tunnel, and I fought for air. Panicked, I kicked out as my arms reached over my head to his face.
“LET HER GO,” Sawyer bellowed.
My hand grasped a handful of sticky, wet material, and I didn’t think twice. I yanked.
Then everything happened at once.
My hand came away with the mask.
A gunshot rang out, piercing the night air with a deafening blast.
One of the masked men ran to the SUV’s driver door.
The arm left my neck.
My body pitched forward.
Sawyer yelled my name.
Choking for air, I turned to protect my face from smashing into the pavement.
The back of my head slammed into the ground.
Pain exploded.
The de-masked man lunged, his bloody face swimming into view as his hand latched around my throat. “I’m gonna kill you!”
Sawyer kicked the side of his head.
The bloody-faced man’s neck snapped sideways, and his hand left my throat as his body fell.
Sawyer dropped to his knees.
The hooded man yanked the back door of the Escalade open, dragging the bloody-faced man inside with him.
Wet coated the back of my neck, the SUV started up, and the last masked man jumped in the front passenger seat.
My head spun.
Shots rang out.
Everything went black.