Chapter 15 #2
What was done was done. Ariella had run, and there was no way in hell she wasn't going after her daughter.
So now they were both in the forest. It was dark, the trees blocked out most of the light from the moon and stars that otherwise would have lit the way for them.
Gunfire seemed to be everywhere, and as she ran, Kate caught glimpses of men dressed all in black with large guns in their hands.
It was only by some miracle that she and Ariella hadn't already been shot, but she had no idea how long that was going to last. Not only was getting shot a likely scenario, but there were a hundred things they could trip over or run into. The last thing Ariella needed after just surviving a plane crash was to injure herself again. While she still had her daughter’s medical bag, alone in the middle of a firefight, was not the place to be trying to tend to cuts that wouldn't stop bleeding.
As her chest felt like a thousand knives were stabbing into it with each step she took, Kate knew running through the forest was the last thing her body needed right now, too.
Wanting to call out to Ariella, beg her to stop, but afraid that would draw attention to them and get them shot, instead, she ran, following her daughter’s trail and cursing her broken ribs that were slowing her down. Without them, she would have caught the little girl already.
Calling out for Leo also crossed her mind, but that raised the same problem. Making any more sound than they already were by running meant possibly getting shot.
So she just ran.
Followed her daughter.
Prayed that Ariella would get tired soon and stop.
Slowly, the gunfire grew quieter and then seemed to fade altogether. Had they moved far enough away that it was safe to speak?
Fear clawed at her insides, worse than the pain from her broken ribs.
That pain only affected her, but the fear was mostly focused on her daughter.
It was her job to protect Ariella, and she’d failed epically.
Now the two of them were alone out there, and she only had a single gun that she had no idea how to use as protection.
Could she really shoot someone if it came down to it?
Deciding calling out to her daughter was the lesser of the risks now that things were silent, Kate paused briefly, leaned up against the nearest tree, and tried to breathe, ignoring the fact that it felt like she was inhaling broken glass.
“Stop, Ariella,” she whisper yelled. “Sweetie-pie, please, I need you to stop running and come to me. Ari-Bear,” she said on a sob, using Leo’s nickname for their daughter and praying it would help the little girl to remember that her daddy was nearby.
Her daddy, who could protect them in ways she could never hope to.
Once he realized they were gone, Leo would use his super skills, and those of his team to find them.
All they had to do was stay put and wait for him.
“Mommy,” came the soft reply, heavy with tears.
Pushing away from the tree, Kate staggered forward a few more yards, where she spotted her little girl on the ground, arms wrapped around her knees, crying.
Her heart fractured at the sight, and she rushed toward her, aching chest forgotten, as she dropped to her knees and pulled Ariella into her lap, hugging her tight and rocking her.
“I’m sorry, Mommy. I just got scared and I ran, and I couldn’t stop because they were all shooting, and I was scared that the bad men were going to shoot Daddy, and—”
“Shh, sweetie, it’s okay, it’s okay,” Kate soothed.
It didn’t matter how far from okay things were, it was always her job to find a way to make it better.
Not that she ever managed to do that. She hadn't been able to save her daughter from her illness, and now she couldn’t save her from men with guns.
All they could do was wait and hope that Leo would once again be their savior.
“Will Daddy find us?” Ariella asked, lashes wet with tears as she lifted her head and looked up at her.
“Daddy can see better than anyone, remember? And Dragon has a nose just like a dog, Blade can hear anything, and Thunder runs so fast he’s like a blur. They’ll find us,” she assured her daughter, infusing as much confidence into her tone as she could muster.
“One can only hope so,” a female voice spoke, and Kate jerked her head around to find an older woman in a wheelchair moving toward them.
All her fears about whether she had it in her to shoot to protect her child flew out the window. She was a mama bear, and cub was in danger, protecting Ariella was the only option.
Angling her body to shield her daughter as best as she could, Kate swung the weapon that felt so heavy in her hand toward the wheelchair woman and fired.
Badly.
Not a single one of her shots found the target, and the older woman laughed at her. Actually laughed.
“That’s a little bit dramatic, isn’t it?” the woman asked when the gun began to click instead of firing because it was out of bullets. “Shooting at a woman who’s in a wheelchair? What kind of threat do you think I am?”
The answer to that question was possibly the biggest threat of all.
Gray hair streaked with lingering strands of red, green eyes, and a light smattering of freckles Kate could make out only because the woman had a light on her wheelchair that illuminated her. She knew who this woman had to be.
“You're River Gardner,” she whispered. There was no one else she could be. The woman looked just like you’d expect Rose to look in another forty or so years.
This was the woman Leo and the others were hoping might have samples of the older versions of the drug the guys had been injected with.
Samples that might save Ariella’s life by boosting her immune system, without giving her the same side effects that had caused Leo to break her heart and walk away rather than risk killing her.
“And you're Kate Gage, former fiancée of one Leo Michaels, now known as Lion.” The woman’s gaze dipped to her hand, still clutching the now useless weapon.
“Or no longer former, I see. That’s good.
Very good. Means he’ll make sure he comes for you and the child.
I am safe in assuming that the child is one you share with Mr. Michaels? ”
“Stay away from my daughter,” Kate snarled, throwing the gun onto the ground and dragging Ariella up with her as she shoved to her feet. Maybe this woman had samples of the drugs they needed, but this wasn't something she planned on finding out while she was alone out there with her nine-year-old.
“Unfortunately, I can't do that, Ms. Gage.
I'm sure you understand. My son has made a real mess of things, and I dislike that there is as much animosity between us as there is, but I need to get those men back, and I can't think of a better way of doing that than by taking you and your daughter home with me.”
If River Gardner thought that she was going anywhere with her, the lady was delusional.
Not wanting to waste time arguing with the crazy old woman, Kate took off running, dragging Ariella along with her. Outrunning the woman shouldn’t be a problem, after all, she was in a wheelchair and they were out in the forest where there were roots, sticks, and other debris littered about.
“This is silly, Ms. Gage,” Mrs. Gardner called out. “I wasn't expecting this to be as easy as it’s turned out to be, but either way, I wasn't leaving here without dealing with this problem. You’ve saved me from having to blow up that farmhouse with everybody inside it.”
“No.” She gasped, tears blurring her eyes as she thought of the guys, the women who had embraced her into their family, all being wiped off the face of the earth.
Men dressed in black began to appear, stepping out from the trees, surrounding her, pointing weapons at her and her daughter.
This couldn’t be happening.
She couldn’t be getting kidnapped along with her little girl.
“Please,” she whimpered, not at all above begging if it saved Ariella’s life.
“The easy way or the hard way, Ms. Gage. It’s entirely up to you how this goes,” River Gardner told her. “But the outcome is the same either way.”