Chapter 42
Ansley’s gaze swung to the kitchen. There were butcher knives and heavy pots she could use. Her gun was in the bedroom, but Pete moved closer, cutting off her path to the gun.
She made a dash for the knife block, but her feet got tangled up in the pillows she’d knocked off the couch and her shoes she’d not put up.
Her knee came down hard, and then her hands slapped the floor. The sound of Pete's laughter filled the air. The bastard was laughing at her.
Ansley tried to stand, but Pete's foot swung back and connected with her side, the force knocking her sideways. Her arm buckled, and her left shoulder crashed into the floor.
What was wrong with her? She needed to fight, but she felt sluggish, like she hadn’t woken up well from the nap.
Pete was on her, his hands holding her down. She bucked her hips up, and he laughed even more. He placed his forearm on her neck as he struggled to get something out of his pocket.
She was almost away from him when the bastard struck her with something, ringing her bell. She didn’t pass out immediately, but she couldn’t concentrate enough to fight him off as he cuffed her hands together.
“I’m going to make you pay for what you did to my brother. You killed him, and you’re going to admit it on camera before I make turnabout fair play.”
What the hell did he mean by that? She tried to fight back, but it was useless. Ansley knew she was down for the count.
Link hated the dog and pony show that happened when the brass wanted to show off. It didn’t happen often, but sometimes, when certain politically connected individuals were rescued, they wanted a performance.
They all shook hands and behaved while meeting the political appointees, doing their best to say as little as possible while smiling like idiots. There were no photo ops. They drew the line at photos. They would remain anonymous. No exceptions.
They got their pizza before hopping on a flight back home. Everyone was quiet as exhaustion extended its grasp, taking them into sleep.
When he woke, they were still a couple of hours out from their base. He was thrilled they weren’t heading to a different base before landing at home. All he wanted was to get home and hug Ansley.
If he asked her to marry him, would she say yes? They’d not been together long. He didn’t want to rush her, but he knew what he wanted.
There was money in his savings account, and he had a couple of CDs coming due, plus he had a good-sized investment account he was saving for retirement. He didn't want to touch the investments, but they were there.
“You look serious,” Chase said.
“I’m thinking about buying a ring for Ansley.”
“Oh, I didn’t know you were ready for that.”
“I am. At least, I think I’m ready. I hope she’s ready.” He rubbed at the back of his neck, wincing as pain from the heat made itself known. “I love her, and I want her in my life. I just don’t know if it’s time.”
“Talk to her. Find out where she stands on the issue.”
Link nodded. “I can’t wait to see her.”
“Well, you’re lucky to find such a great woman. I’m happy for you.”
He nodded and noticed the plane started to drop in altitude. "I guess we're close."
“Yeah, get ready for landing.”
Link settled in for the landing. He would shower, then drag Ansley to bed and show her how much he missed her.
He grabbed his pack when the plane stopped rolling and headed out to the tarmac. Excitement filled him, knowing he was less than an hour away from holding Ansley.
When he caught up with his personal phone, he saw he had multiple texts and calls. He was going to look at the texts from Ansley when he saw one from his neighbor, Ken. It demanded he call now with about twenty exclamation marks.
Link held his breath as he dialed Ken, wondering if this was one of the man's hallucination-fueled crash-outs or if there was a problem.
“Ken, it’s Link.”
“He has her. I noticed too late. I tried to stop him, but he had something metal. Knocked out two teeth.”
The world around Link seemed to shrink down to a pinpoint, and he gasped for air, feeling like he’d been shoved into the ocean with weights tied around his ankles. He was going down, and he had no way to claw his way out. Ansley needed him, and he had no idea where she was.