Chapter Twenty-Five
Sarah stared in horror as Granger attacked Lawson.
He never even had a chance to defend himself.
That first hit was enough to take his breath and Granger took swift advantage.
Now, she stood there frozen, watching as Lawson lay helpless on the ground with Granger hovering over him, choking him to death.
She was terrified, but she had to do something. She couldn’t stand there and watch Lawson die and not do anything to try to help. But what? Maybe Xavier would come?
She shifted her gaze to where Xavier had been fighting with the sons.
Apparently, Lyle had gotten his second wind.
He and Xavier were still throwing punches and from the look in Xavier’s eyes, she could tell Lyle didn’t stand a chance.
She also noticed that Cade was standing off to the side with his weapon pointed at Nelson, who was still groaning on the ground holding his leg.
Aaron seemed to be checking Victor’s men scattered around the grounds and restraining those still moving.
That left Sarah herself. It was up to her to help Lawson in any way she could.
At first, she leaped on Granger’s back, hoping that would surprise him enough to release his hold.
The man let out a growl and threw her off to the side.
It gave Lawson the opportunity to get his legs free from under Granger and he was using them to kick him wherever he could land blows, hoping to release his grip.
Sarah jumped up and ran to the vehicle beside her, looking around to see if there was something inside it she could use.
Quickly scanning the interior, the only things she could see were a half bottle of water and a thin towel on the floor.
No. She ripped open the glovebox and shuffled through the contents.
Tears filled her eyes. There was absolutely nothing.
She angrily swiped at her eyes, clearing her vision, listening to the grunts and groans and gasps filtering in the car from outside.
She chanced another look outside the vehicle and noticed Granger no longer had Lawson pinned to the ground.
They were rolling around trading punches, but Granger still seemed to have more of the upper hand, landing more hits than Lawson was able to return.
Sarah could see the marks around his neck and knew that had something to do with it.
If Lawson was in full fighting form, she knew he’d take the man down with ease.
Her eyes shifted again between the microfiber towel and the water bottle. She couldn’t believe these were her only options. Trying not to think about what she was going to do, she grabbed both items and scrambled out of the car.
Granger was back on top of Lawson, holding him down and punching him in the face, the chest, anywhere he could land a blow.
Sarah cringed when she heard a crunch and Lawson’s painful groan.
She clenched the bottle of water in her hand and raced over to them.
After uncapping the lid, she threw the water in Granger’s face, startling him enough to shift his eyes to her, giving Lawson the opening he needed.
Lawson slammed a fist into the man’s side, throwing him off balance long enough for Lawson to draw a full breath, and then he followed it up with another punch to Granger’s nose, a spray of blood leaking down his face.
Granger let out a grunt, his head flopping to the right, and she felt a pulse of triumph.
Lawson locked his hands together, and then smashed them into Granger’s face.
The man spat blood, his eyes darkening with a pure malice.
He shoved away Lawson’s arms and pressed his own to Lawson’s throat again, this time bearing down with all of his weight.
He was going to kill him for sure this time.
That snapped Sarah out of her daze. She rushed forward again and climbed onto Granger’s back, wrapping her arms around his neck and tugging.
She kept jerking and jerking with no effect.
Granger’s rage had completely taken over—he didn’t even acknowledge her presence.
Sarah quickly wrapped the towel around his neck, grabbing each end and pulling back with all the force she had. She pushed off his back for leverage and kept tugging on the cloth with all her might. A grunt and gasp were music to her ears. It was working!
She let out her own grunts of frustration and exertion as she tried to pull the man away from Lawson. At last, he lifted his hand and clawed at the cloth around his throat.
Granger stood up, far too easily, and tossed Sarah back toward the car. She slammed into the side, letting out a cry of pain as he rounded on her. She had never seen such unfiltered hatred in someone’s eyes before, and she did her best to scramble back and away from him.
Granger dragged a hand across his bloodied nose, smearing scarlet across his face. He looked like a demon, covered in blood, eyes nearly black with fury.
“You’re not worth the cash I could make from you,” he told her, spitting a mouthful of blood at the ground next to her.
He moved toward her, a maniacal grin spreading across his face, as though he was going to enjoy exactly what he planned to do next. She scrambled backward, whimpering with fear, trying to kick at him, but her legs felt like jelly. She didn’t have any more fight in her.
But a second later, she realized she wasn’t going to have to fight. Lawson lunged at him, sending Granger slamming into the side of the car with a sickening crash. He let out a cry of pain, and Sarah tried to crawl away as fast as she could so he couldn’t grab her again.
Lawson was on top of him, his eyes wild and his face already starting to bruise. Cuts were scattered across his lip and his brow, dripping blood down his face, but he didn’t seem to notice.
Lawson landed punch after punch, slamming his fists without mercy into Granger’s head, the forceful hits snapping his neck left and right as he tried to lift his arms to get a blow in. But it was over.
“Stop!” Granger cried out, his mouth bubbling with blood.
Lawson was like a machine, delivering jab after jab.
He was practiced and skilled enough to render Granger useless.
The man tried to lift his arms to cover his head, but Lawson pinned them to the ground beneath his knees, giving him no room to escape.
Her plan worked. She had given him just enough time to react, to recover, and now, he was winning.
She watched, unable to speak as she took in the sheer intensity of his brutal assault.
And she knew, deep down, that this was for her—this was because Granger had threatened her, threatened them.
It was for everyone else, too—the trafficking victims, the lodge, their friends, the future they all wanted. But mostly her.
Police sirens shrieked in the distance, making Sarah jump, as Xavier rounded the corner of the car to grab Lawson’s shoulder.
“Hey. Lawson!” he called to him. “It’s over, Lawson. Stop. You can stop.”
Panting hard, Lawson drew his fist back one last time, and then turned to look up at Xavier.
His eyes, which before had seemed so distant, snapped back to reality.
Although it was clear he wanted to end Granger right then and there, he had to go to jail.
It was the only way his victims were going to be able to get justice for everything he had done.
Lawson rose to his feet, and Xavier flipped over Granger and snapped a pair of cuffs on to his wrists. Lawson’s eyes finally found Sarah, and he grinned, a smile so wide it looked as though it could have split his face in two.
“We’ve got this,” Xavier assured him. “Go, your girl needs you.”
She really does, Sarah thought as she scrambled off the ground.
Lawson made his way toward her and wrapped his arms around her in an embrace that made the world fall away for a moment. She knew they had been through hell, but right now, all she cared about was feeling safe in his arms, where she belonged.
“Is it over now?” she breathed. She wouldn’t be able to believe it until she heard those words come from his lips.
He nodded against her neck. “It’s over,” he promised her, and he pulled back, looking her up and down. “Are you alright? Did he hurt you?”
“I’m fine,” she replied, though she could feel some of the pain from her torn-up hands and bruised back as the adrenaline started to fade from her system.
Her body was going to make her pay for this tomorrow, she was sure of it, but right now, she was grateful that she was here with Lawson, that they were both safe.
And most of all, that Victor Granger seemed to have finally been brought to his knees. Hopefully, he would never see the outside of a prison again so he could never hurt another innocent woman.
“You look just as pretty as your sons right now,” Xavier taunted Granger as he stood over him.
The man’s head turned to the side so he could see both his sons bloodied and bruised, sitting cuffed on the ground with Cade and Aaron standing guard over them and Granger’s few men who had survived the attack.
He knew it was over and he was going to pay for everything he had done.
“Hope nobody you’re in prison with finds out what you’re in for,” Xavier continued, a grin spreading across his face. “They don’t take too kindly to sex traffickers.”
Sarah sank into Lawson’s arms again, closing her eyes and focusing on the feel of his chest rising and falling against her ear. She was sure what came next was going to be chaos, but she didn’t care. She was where she belonged right now.
And nothing in the world could take that away from her.