1. Chapter One #2
Major Brockman? From Indiana?
What I would give to repay that man for everything he put my hummingbird through. This man in front of me, however, was a complete stranger, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t lying. I wasn’t about to cave now. “And I’ve had tea with the queen. Now we’ve both told ridiculous stories.”
The man shook his head. “God… and Brockman said you were smart.”
I shook my head and pushed off the car, pleased to see I was slightly taller than the redhead in front of me. “And what else did this dear Brockman say about me…” I trailed off and gestured toward the man, waiting for him to be a decent human and give me his name.
He rolled his eyes. “Redman.”
A snicker almost came out as I glanced up at his red hair.
His name is appropriate, at least. “How about dead man?” Without hesitating, I swung hard and fast, hitting him square in the throat.
My goal was to fuck up his trachea enough that breathing was a chore, that he’d be too hung up on trying to breathe and less focused on defending himself.
I swung again, this time going for his gut, but his fist landed on my jaw at the same time.
Fuck. How did I miss that?
The pain distracted me just long enough that I couldn’t stop the next hit.
“How long have you been hiding her?” Redman growled at me as he swung for my head.
Ducking his wild haymaker, I landed an uppercut to his jaw, making him clamp his teeth together with a sickening crunch.
He staggered back, shaking his head, then spit and a tooth hit the ground.
“You’re gonna have to do better than that, Collins.
” Grinning widely at me, blood dribbled out of his mouth, and I saw the gap left in his upper jaw.
Redman lunged for me, his outstretched hands reaching for my throat.
I ducked again and circled around his back, jabbing hard at his kidneys.
His arm whipped out and his elbow caught me in the temple, making me see stars as the pain exploded behind my eyes.
This guy was built like a bull, and I was the one in his sights.
It wasn’t long before we were trying to knock each other down.
Redman swept out his foot, catching me on the ankle.
I lost my balance and pitched forward, but caught myself at the last second.
Turning back to face him, he charged at me right before he slammed his shoulder into my chest and knocked me to the ground.
We landed on the gravel hard enough to knock the breath out of my lungs, and I winced as the rocks pierced through my shirt and into my back.
I knew If I didn’t get this asshole off of me, I would be done for, and my Adair would be vulnerable once again.
There was no way I was going to let that happen. Ever.
I managed to get my foot on his thigh and kicked him off me, giving me the few seconds I needed to stand, reset, and pull out the blade hidden in my boot.
“Cute knife.” He pulled one out, too, making a fist around the handle. “Mine’s bigger.”
“It may be bigger, Redman, but it's more about how you use it. Didn’t your girlfriends ever tell you that?” I was trying to get under his skin, hoping to throw him off his game just enough to get the upper hand, and maybe get out of this encounter alive.
Snarling, Redman lunged at me, trying to knock the knife from my hand.
While he was unsuccessful in disarming me, he knocked into me hard enough that I stumbled back a couple steps.
The back of my legs hit something hard, and panic shot through me.
When I glanced over my shoulder, I gulped at my view of the drop off.
It was at least a two-hundred-foot plummet.
“Nowhere to hide now, Collins. Where’s Victoria? What hole is she hiding in this time?” Redman grabbed the front of my coat with one hand, pushing me closer to the drop off behind me, and pressing his knife against my throat with the other.
I glared into the pale eyes of the asshole in front of me. “Why? Doesn’t your boss already know?”
Frustration flared up as he tightened his hold on my coat, flipped the knife around, grabbed it midair, then stabbed it into my side. Sharp pain exploded through my body, making me gasp. But it wasn't the pain that worried me, it was the fact that breathing suddenly became a lot harder.
Did he get my lung?
“What’s wrong, Collins? Getting hard to breathe? Good luck saving her now.”
Fuck. This can’t be it. I have to come back from this.
I shook my head, reminding myself to keep my eye on the prize and take out this asshole.
I had to make sure Redman couldn’t get anywhere near Adair.
“If I’m going down, you’re coming with me.
” In a swift motion, I sliced Redman’s throat, and blood sprayed everywhere as horrible, wet gasps filled the space between us.
The infuriating man released me as he grabbed his throat, blood flowing through his fingers and onto my chest. His eyes went wide as he choked on it.
I had to take advantage of the opening he gave me.
Wrapping my arms around his shoulders, I pulled him close, leaned back on the stone wall, and grunted through the pain as I twisted and tried to throw Redman over the ledge.
Gravity worked with me, as well as his flailing. He was sliding off me when he grabbed my ankle. I don’t know if he was trying to take me with him, save his own life, or both, but I barely had enough time to cling to the top of the wall to stop me from going with.
I cannot fall. Not now.
I have to get home to my Adair.
Between the blood on my hands and the extra weight of Redman holding onto my ankle, it was hard as hell to maintain my grip. I squeezed with all my might, but within seconds I was fully over the wall, literally hanging on by my fingertips.
The wet, drowning sounds below me stopped, and finally, the weight hanging from my leg disappeared. Hope bloomed in my chest for two seconds before I lost my grip on the stone ledge and began to fall.
“No!”
I frantically scrambled to grab onto anything, and I nearly wept for joy when my hands landed on a large root sticking out of the side of the rock face.
I’d barely forced in a couple breaths when it broke and sent me falling again.
By the grace of whatever god watching over me, my foot and then my right hand found a rock ledge.
Air whooshed out of me as my body hit the cliff.
My vision swam, the edges turning black as night, and I was having a hell of a time focusing. Between the pain in my side, straining to breathe, and the energy I burned through trying to keep from plummeting to my death, it was all I could do to focus.
Adair.
This is for Adair.
Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes as I thought about her having to be alone again. She had already been through too much in her short life and deserved so much better.
Images of our time together flickered in my mind. Dancing in the first snowfall of the year. Decorating our living room for Christmas. The heinous mess I made when I tried to make her favorite dessert from scratch.
Seeing my ring on her finger.
Filled with determination to hold her again, I put everything I had left in me to climb back up to the lookout. I hadn’t fallen that far, maybe twenty-five feet. I could do this. One grip and foothold at a time.
I’d made it up about three feet when the rock under my foot gave way, leaving me wildly grabbing for anything to keep me from falling.
My fingers found purchase in a small hole, but almost immediately slipped off, sending me falling once more.
I closed my eyes and let the tears come.
I tried so hard for so long to keep my Adair safe, happy, and loved.
There was nothing I wanted more. Letting out a deep breath as the wind rushed past me, all my thoughts were on the woman I loved, specifically the last words she said to me.
“I love you, Derek. Come back to me.”
“I love you, too, Adair. I tried my best.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, I hit something hard, pain burst through my entire body, and everything went black.