Chapter 49
Three sets of arms are around Riley, pulling him back, slamming him into his truck.
He tries to fight past the men holding him, doing anything he can to get to the general, willing to take out his friends in the process.
Riley can’t think, can’t do anything but fight.
He can’t let them fire that rocket, not while she’s in there.
“Unless you want to fucking die, unload that god damn launcher!” Alex screams to the group of men surrounding the General.
“Riley! Calm the fuck down!” Mikey screams over the chaos. He grabs Riley by the straps on his vest, slamming him into his truck. “She’s in there, Ry… Liz is in there, alone with him. We need to get her out, then you can kill Scott,” Mikey says, pushing him back as he fights his way forward.
The sound of her name brings him back. He looks around at his team, holding him down to keep him from doing something stupid. He nods his head, just once, accepting what they say, and they release him.
Riley stalks the length of his truck, fighting the demons growing angry inside him, trying to figure out how to get her out.
He’s running out of time and they all know it.
Plans are flying out of everyone, but nothing will guarantee her safety.
The only option Riley has is to turn himself over.
As long as Liz gets away safe, nothing else matters.
His friends argue back and forth with him, trying to get him to change his mind, knowing what will happen if Dmitri gets his hands on Riley.
None of that matters to him. Riley has been captured and tortured before, he can do it again.
He has faith that his men will find him, Liz will make sure of that.
Despite their best efforts, Riley storms into the street, everyone around him going silent. He gets to the middle of the road and stops, screaming to the man holding Liz hostage.
“Dmitri! I’m here, let her go!” His voice booms through the silent night air.
He paces back and forth like a predator ready to pounce, waiting for Dmitri to emerge from the bar.
He stalks back and forth, then back again, trying to hide how helpless he feels knowing he can’t do anything to keep Liz safe.
His heart starts to race as the door slowly cracks open, one of the men with Dmitri walking out and over to the road. He stands there for a moment, watching Riley, taking in the small team of men across the street. When he can’t take it anymore, he finally snaps, “Where the fuck is Liz?”
“She’s alive, for now,” the man replies. “Dmitri will speak with you after your men stand down. If they don’t, she will die,” he says.
Riley just gives him a small nod, willing to risk anything, even his own men, to get Liz back. The man’s smile widens and he turns and walks away, back into the bar, door slamming behind him. Riley turns and walks to where the general is watching him, still unsure of what is going on.
“Stand down,” Riley says as he approaches the team. They all look at him wide eyed, not sure whose orders they should be following.
“And why would I want to do that, Reaper?” The general sneers at him.
Riley steps up to him, eyes darkening. He can feel his mind shift from Riley to Reaper, and with a deathly chill in his tone, he says, “Because General, if anything happens to her, there isn’t a force strong enough in this world to stop me from what I will do to you.
There is no corner of this fucking planet where you can run, nowhere you can hide that will keep me from finding you and ripping your fucking heart out with my bare fucking hands. ”
The General pales, taking a step back. He starts to mutter something but thinks better of it.
“Stand the fuck down,” Riley says one last time.
“You better know what you’re doing. If he tries anything, I will end both of you without a second thought,” he sneers, turning to the men surrounding them, he says, “You heard him, stand down.”
Riley quickly pulls Mikey aside, needing to talk to him before he turns himself over.
“I’m going to get her out. The second she’s away from him, you get her in my truck and as far away from here as you can. Get that tracker out of her and keep going,” Riley says, turning and making his way back to the street, not giving Mikey the choice of saying no.
“They’re standing down. Let her go, Dmitri,” Riley yells to the dark building.
Mere seconds later, Dmitri emerges, Liz with him, a knife pressed tight to her throat.
His eyes scan every inch of her, his heart shattering at every new injury adorning her body.
She walks, bloodied and bruised like the day he found her, only now, she has two men trailing behind with guns aimed at her head.
Dmitri stops as soon as his feet touch the dirt, not willing to get any closer to the man there to take his life.
“Let her go!” Riley shouts. “You wanted me, you got me. Now let her fucking go.”
“That wasn’t the agreement, Reaper,” Dmitri says mockingly. “I said you have an hour before I turn her over, I never said it would be to you. You have been ruining my plans for years, destroying everything I love. Now, you get to watch as I kill something you love,” Dmitri yells over to Riley.
He stops his pacing and forces his breathing to steady. He knows what he is going to have to do, he just hopes she finally trusts him to do whatever it takes. Everything stills as the horde of soldiers stop what they are doing and watch Riley.
“I don’t love her,” he says, unable to meet her eyes, knowing everything he’s about to do is going to break her heart.
She may trust him inexplicably, but the things he's about to say would tear apart even the strongest hearts. “It was my fault she got taken, so I made sure to get her back. That’s all,” Riley says coldly
“If that is true, then why keep her for so long?” Dmitri asks.
“To get to you. You kept her alive for a reason. I figured we could use her to get you to come out of hiding,” Riley says, shrugging his shoulders. “Obviously it worked because you dragged your ass across an ocean, risking being taken in to get her back,” he adds.
“You claim you don’t love her, but here you are, bargaining for her freedom,” Dmitri says.
“I already had plans in place to get rid of her once we got to you, her finding out… complicated things.” He keeps his voice steady, channeling Reaper to keep any emotion he has from showing.
“Everything I have done for her is out of pity. The only reason I’m here right now is because I made a promise.
I promised she would be free, and I intend to keep that promise. ”
He drags his eyes to Liz, hoping and praying he doesn’t see heartbreak in her big green eyes. He quickly looks away, the tears streaming down her face too much for him to bear. He hates himself for confirming every horrible thing she has thought about him since they met.
“And what of your time together. Were all those romantic nights all a lie too?” Dmitri asks, baiting Riley. He thinks he already knows the answer, he just wants Riley to say it, to deliver that final blow.
“If I was going to be stuck with her, I at least wanted some pussy out of it, you get it,” Riley says, the faintest smirk on his face.
That was all Liz could take, tears forming a steady stream down her face as she listens to the man she trusts most in the world say such horrible things.
She wants to believe it’s not true, that he’s just doing what it takes, but Riley was too confident in his answers for any of it to be a lie. He couldn’t even look her in the eyes.
Dmitri stays where he is, one arm around Liz’s chest, the other still holding the knife to her throat, thinking over everything Riley has told him. He takes his time, knowing everyone is holding their breath, waiting to see if he will accept the trade.
“Do you love him?” he asks Liz, just loud enough for Riley to hear.
Liz looks to Riley, the hurt building in her chest. His eyes flick to her, slowly and very carefully, she nods her head yes, tears flowing again.
“Remove your weapons,” Dmitri yells.
His men step off the porch, staying behind Liz, waiting for Riley to unstrap all his weapons.
Liz watches in horror as he complies, knowing what he’s going to endure if he turns himself over.
She can’t stop the screams that come out of her.
Liz struggles to get free, the knife digging into her neck, blood slowly trickling out.
Riley watches in horror, unable to help, knowing if he makes one wrong move Dmitri will finish dragging that knife across her neck.
“Stop! Just let him take me!” she screams at Riley, her voice cracking.
“Blow the fucking building. Do something!” she screams, turning her head toward the general, only to see his sinister smile.
Her heart drops, looking back to Riley, his weapons scattered all around him, utterly defenceless, everything suddenly makes sense.
“Someone fucking stop him!” she screams again, watching in horror as the general loads a small missile into his launcher.
Everything seems to slow as she watches him lift the rocket launcher, aiming it at Riley.
Liz doesn’t think, driven by pure adrenaline, she reaches for the forgotten knife on her hip.
Swinging her arm around, she drives the knife into Dmitri.
Her blade finds its mark right where his neck meets his shoulder.
His warm red blood coats her arm. His knife drags across her neck, spilling her blood alongside his own as he reaches for the weapon protruding from his body.
Liz runs, trying to get to Riley before it’s too late.
She only makes it a few steps when she hears the sickening sound of the rocket being fired.
She is overcome with agonizing pain as she is thrown through the air.
Liz lands with a thud, black taking over her vision.
She can’t see, can’t think, so she lays there, waiting for death to finally take her.
She just hopes Riley was able to get away.
The impact was enough to send Riley tumbling backward, away from where Liz lies, lifeless. He gets to his feet, picking up one of his guns, firing at anyone who gets in his way as he runs to her.
Mikey beats him to it, already trying to dress her wounds the best he can in the middle of the now raging fight. They scream at each other over the gunfire, trying to figure out what happened.
Riley pulls Liz’s limp body into his arms, carrying her through the devastation forming around them.
“Stay with me, baby,” Riley says, fighting back tears. He sees Liz try to open her eyes, only for a second before fluttering shut. Mikey opens the door, helping Riley to lay her across the seat.
“You can’t fucking die on me now, princess. I never got to tell you how you saved me, too.” He leans down, placing a kiss on her head. He turns to Mikey, knowing the choice he’s about to make is going to kill him.
“You need to get her to the hospital,” he yells over to his friend, taking a moment to fire his gun at the men swarming their barricade.
“What? No! She needs you!” Mikey yells back.
“You’re the only one I trust with her, Mikey. I need to figure out what the fuck is happening and make sure that fucker never takes another breath,” he says, trying to hide how much this is breaking his heart.
He knows she needs him, and he needs to be with her just as much.
Riley looks at the death and destruction unfolding in front of him.
He would never let Mikey give his life for him, and so, he’s choosing to give up the life he could have had.
He lets go of Liz, resting her head gently on the seat before he leans down and talks to her for the last time.
“I don’t know if you can hear me, but I am so sorry, princess. If I’m alive by the end of this, you’re going to kill me when you wake up, but this is something I need to do.” He places a small kiss on her bleeding temple. “I love you,” he whispers in her ear, praying she can hear him.
Riley stands, tossing his keys to Mikey, trusting him to get the most important thing in his life to safety. He picks his gun back up from where he set it, and storms back toward the bar, determined to end Dmitri for good.