28. Chapter 28
Chapter 28
“You’re a little older than we normally like, but you’ll do well for us.” A man wearing a dark mask and military-style fatigues grabbed Berlin’s chin, turned her face back and forth as he inspected her, shined a flashlight in her face. As if she was a couch to be purchased.
Which to this asshole, she was.
Rage billowed up inside her as she squinted against the brightness, but she shoved it down. If she fought back against this monster, he’d take her out easily.
He’d come upon her in the woods when she’d been trying to reverse out of the SUV’s hiding spot. But it had been stuck in thick mud so she’d gotten out and found herself staring down the barrel of a weapon. She hadn’t even seen him moving up on her in the darkness. Even though she’d kept the headlights and interior lights off, he’d have seen the dashboard ones and heard the damn engine.
“Now tell me your name and what you’re doing here.” He peered into the tinted window, looking for what, she wasn’t sure. “I know you’re not alone.”
“My name’s Kitty. I’m staying across the lake and—”
Pain exploded in her cheek as he backhanded her so that she fell against the side of the SUV. At least it wasn’t a direct punch, but it still stung.
“Lie again and you lose some teeth.”
She winced slightly. “Fine,” she gritted out as her cheekbone throbbed. “I’m Beatrice.” A lie, but no one would make up a name like that and she had the fake ID to prove it. “An old friend of mine called me, asked for help with something. He said he needed to transport something and to bring an SUV. That’s all I know.” She kept eye contact like Skye had told her, weaving in enough truth with her lies that she’d sound believable.
“What’s your friend’s name?”
“Enzo.”
Surprise flickered in his eyes, maybe because she’d been honest. “Hmm.” Then his weapon hand wavered and she was pretty sure he thought about just shooting her right then and there. But he said, “Give me your keys now.”
She shrugged and tossed them to him as rain continued to flood around them. For a moment she was tempted to run, but knew she wouldn’t get far in what had turned into a boggy mess.
He ducked into the SUV, turned on the headlights, then looked at the vehicle registration, and her ID from her wallet, both of which had information listed for one Beatrice Smith. He also pulled out her phone, bashed it against the side of the door until it cracked before he tossed it into the mud. “You weren’t lying,” he murmured.
“I learn quickly.”
He snorted softly. “For your sake I hope so.” Then he motioned for her to step back. “Turn around, head that way. We’re going to find your friend Enzo and see how much you’re worth to him.”
Well, crap on a cracker. Berlin just hoped Chance got to them first or she managed to figure a way out of this. Her boots weren’t like Chance’s and they got stuck every step she took, making the trek laborious. Her thighs trembled after a while as she struggled to pull her feet out of the muddy woods. The farther they made it from the SUV, the less the headlights illuminated their way as they plunged into real darkness.
“Jesus, can’t you go any faster?” the man snarled, pushing her.
She cried out in surprise as she fell face first in the mud. Something pierced her left shoulder, but she bit back another cry as he yanked her to her feet. “I should just kill you now,” he snapped, his face swathed in shadows as he loomed over her.
Fear punched through her as he started to raise his weapon, but when she heard the word “Quack!” shouted from in front of her, she dove back into the mud without a second thought.
“What the fu—” The man’s head exploded as he flew backward.
She shoved up, looking in the direction Chance’s shout had come from, to find him running through the mud with ease toward her, a weapon in hand. She was in his arms before she was aware of moving. “Quack?” she managed to get out through a short sob of tears. She tried to swallow it back, because she knew they weren’t out of the woods yet—pun intended. And she needed to keep it together until they got all those women and his brother to safety.
Chance kissed her once, hard, before he pulled back. “It just came out.” His voice was raspy, his eyes dilated in the dimness as he looked down at her. “I can’t believe—”
“Well it worked,” she said as she buried another sob, refusing to let it out now. When they gamed together, they used the word “quack” instead of “duck” when warning the other that danger was incoming. And she’d heard it and just reacted on instinct. “Where’s your brother and the women?”
“Hopefully across the lake. There’s still two more guys out here,” he said urgently, turning away from her. “Jump on my back. We’ll make better time. When I couldn’t get through to you…” She heard the tremor in his voice.
“I took out my earpiece so he wouldn’t know I had a partner. I tossed it in the mud.”
“I wish I could kill him all over again,” he growled, but then seemed to get it together. “I took out two guys in the house,” he continued, switching to the more important topic as he reached the tree line near the house once again. Flames licked along the back porch of the house, but the rain was slowly putting it out. “One on the way to the SUV, and then that final guy. That’s six including the ones in the explosion,” he murmured as he set her on her feet, crouched down and pulled out small binoculars, started scanning the area.
The rain was starting to pull back so that they could see all the way to the lake and down the shoreline. It was still too thick to see if anyone was on the water, but Berlin had heard Chance tell his brother to cross the lake.
“What’s the plan?” she asked as he handed her the binoculars. There was one man at the end of a long dock holding up a set of binoculars as he faced the water. “I see one guy.”
“There’s another one we’ve gotta find so we’re not sitting prey. And I don’t want to leave you again.” Water dripped down his hair and cheeks as he looked down at her. “Will you shoot a pistol?”
She noticed he said will you , not can you . “Yeah. I don’t love it but it’s us or them and we’ve got to save those women.”
He handed her a small revolver tucked away in the back of his pants. “This is my second backup and it’s only got six bullets. I want to get close to the shoreline, then head in from the water and take him out,” he said as he pulled her back behind a tree for cover. “You can come with me until we reach the tree line closest to the shore, but…”
“I get it. And I’ve got this.” She held the weapon out, glad it was a type she’d practiced with before. “I can hunker down and use the darkness and these big-ass trees to hide. I don’t like it, but I understand the necessity.”
He shoved out a quick breath. “Okay, let’s go. And whatever happens, you stay hidden. If something happens to me, I need you to run and hide, then get help.”
She half nodded, but didn’t mean it. She wasn’t leaving him behind, no matter what.