Chapter 21 The Pawns #3
“Oh, Babygirl,” Matt drawled, his eyes following her body up and down, “did you get all dressed up like that just for me? It looks good on you.”
“Shut up,” she snapped. “I’m not going to tell you again.”
Matt’s only response was to reach down and grab my hair, yanking me up from the floor to pull me back against him as he shoved the barrel of his Glock under my jaw.
Fuck.
“Those are some pretty bold words coming from you, Babygirl. When did you get so brave?”
I rolled my eyes. He was toying with her, stalling for something to happen, but as of right now, I wasn’t in a very good position to counter anything.
“Since the moment I woke up in that fucking dog cage. Now let her go!”
“I’ll tell you what, baby, we both know your aim isn’t that good, and you’re more likely to kill Jaden than me from where you’re currently standing. So how about you put your gun down first, I’ll let Jaden go, and then you and I can walk out of here together like you promised me. Deal?”
I practically roared my disagreement. “I think the fuck not!” I shouted wildly. “Kayla, don’t you dare!”
“Shut the fuck up!” Matt growled at me, gripping my hair even tighter before turning back to address Kayla. “Come on, Babygirl, we both know you don’t have it in you to pull that trigger. Let’s stop risking your friend’s life and put the gun down so we can finally end this conflict.”
I gritted my teeth as Matt dug the barrel of his Glock even deeper under my jaw, his grip on my hair nearly ripping it from my scalp.
I tried not to let the pain show on my face for Kayla’s sake, but the panic glistening in her eyes as she faced off with her tormentor hinted that she was very close to breaking.
And I was not about to let her walk out of here with this monster who was totally going to just shoot me anyway.
Carefully reaching down to Matt’s utility belt, I nimbly snatched the pin with my fingertips and held it up for Matt to see.
“Hey, look what I found.”
Matt gasped as he shoved me away to get at the now active grenade currently ticking away on his belt. The second he released me, I dove in Kayla’s direction, knowing full well he wouldn’t throw it at her if he got it loose in time.
Reaching Kayla, we both ducked behind some thick furniture just as Matt managed to toss the grenade through the opening of the kitchen wall just outside the house.
It detonated the second it hit the ground, exploding right in front of an oncoming Hummer, causing it to abruptly swerve right into the house and straight through the kitchen and dining room.
The giant vehicle bulldozed through everything in its path, including Matt as he tried to flee. It plowed into his side and sent him flying. My eyes widened as it continued in our direction.
“Shit, move!” I shouted, pulling Kayla with me.
“Fuck!”
But with the rest of the house in complete disarray, there was very little room to maneuver out of the way in time.
While we were clear of the Hummer itself, we weren’t able to secure enough distance from all the shit it crashed through.
We both quickly found ourselves painfully pinned down by shattered cabinets, broken furniture, and the remnants of a glass display case full of sports memorabilia.
The Hummer finally stopped as it crashed into the massive fireplace, shaking the entire structure of the house. I grunted under the heavy weight of the broken structures that had me trapped on my side as the adrenaline tore through me, causing my entire body to shake.
“Kayla?” I called out. “Kayla, can you move?” I knew she was somewhere next to me, but I couldn’t move my arm very far to reach her. When she didn’t respond, I started to actively panic. “Kayla? Talk to me!”
Horrified by her silence, I worked quickly to try to tuck my knees into my chest and carefully squirm my body over onto my back.
With my feet pressed into the heavy wood above me, I inched them up the surface as far as the space would allow my legs to go.
When I finally had the right angle for leverage, I pushed with all the strength I had in my legs until there was enough give for me to scooch out from underneath.
Groaning, I rolled back over onto my hands and knees, gritting my teeth through the pain now radiating down my spine. My head was pounding, my jaw was aching, and my hip was screaming.
Let’s never do that again. Like, ever.
Lifting my head, I could see Kayla was just a few feet in front of me, eyes closed shut. With the remnants of the display case pinning her lower body down, blood trickled from her temple down the side of her scratched and bruised face, and I suddenly felt my stomach plummet.
“Kayla!” I called, quickly crawling over to her and pressing two fingers against her jugular.
When I felt her pulse, my exhale of relief was short-lived as I hurried to assess her other injuries.
Lifting the display case off her legs, I moved it over just enough so that I could easily pull her out from under it, but judging by the thick piece of glass I could now see sticking out of her thigh, that would be easier said than done.
Gently shaking her shoulders, I tried to wake her. “Kayla? Kayla, come on, can you hear me? I need you to wake up.”
When she didn’t respond, I pulled her upper body into my arms and lifted her up as best I could to carefully drag her across the floor and into a large storage closet nearby.
Pressing the secret switch beside the door frame, the latch on the wall disengaged, revealing the door to one of the many panic rooms hidden throughout the house.
Pulling Kayla inside, I closed the door behind us, then set her down on the mattress that had been placed in the far corner, and for the first time, I finally heard her grunt.
“Kayla?” I called again, brushing her bloody hair from her face. “Kayla, can you hear me?”
She groaned again, turning her head in my direction as her eyes slit open.
“What…happened?”
“A Hummer almost ran us over, but we’re okay,” I answered. “I have us in one of the panic rooms, so we’re safe for now.” She grumbled something under her breath that I couldn’t make out. “What did you say?”
Coughing first, she cleared her throat and tried again. “Matt?”
Turning my head, I looked on over at the numerous black screens secured into the wall but the EMP that had been launched earlier burned them all out. I wouldn’t be able to confirm if Matt was still alive unless I went back out there.
“I’m not sure. I saw him get rocked by the Hummer, but I don’t know if he survived or not.” For all I knew, he could be buried under the rubble too.
“Fuck,” she moaned under her breath.
“Kayla,” I began gently, “what are you doing here?” And why was she alone?
She huffed a small laugh as a tiny grin curved her lips. “I came to rescue you.” I nearly snorted, the sound making her giggle enough to bring me some relief that she would be okay. But then her hand reached down to the glass in her leg. “Fuck, that’s hurts.”
“No, no, no,” I said, stopping her hand from touching it. “You’ve got glass in your leg. Don’t touch it and don’t pull it out, or you’ll make the bleeding worse.” I was not in a position to test how deep that glass went.
“My ankle,” she stated, gasping when she wiggled her right foot. “Shit.”
Deftly pulling at the laces, I carefully removed her boot and sock to find an angry swollen and bruised ankle underneath.
“Shit, Kayla, it looks pretty bad,” I stated. “Let me see if I can find you a cold pack for the swelling.”
Rummaging through the cabinets, I finally found the first-aid kit, a still frozen ice pack from the mini freezer, and a small bottle of water. To my relief, Kayla had managed to pull herself up into a sitting position, leaning back against the wall as she looked over her ankle.
“Do you think it’s broken?” she asked me between heavy breaths as I set everything down next to her. Grabbing a pillow, I helped her gently ease her ankle on it for elevation, a sharp hiss leaving her mouth as I placed the ice pack over the swelling.
“Hard to tell right now. It could just be a bad sprain.” She groaned as she closed her eyes again, making me worry even more.
“You probably have a pretty good concussion right now, so I need you to try to stay awake for me, Kayla. Can you do that?” Her eyes stayed closed for a second longer, but she hummed her acknowledgment before hissing again at the sting from the cleaning cloth I used against her temple.
“Kayla, how did you get here? Did you come alone?”
More groaning, more breathing, her fight to regain control a visible struggle I wished I could help her through. “Boat,” she finally uttered, the word easy enough to understand.
“You came on one of the boats?”
She winced as she nodded, her eyes opening just a crack to look at me. “Romero. Find Romero,” she answered with a groan.
“Okay, who is he?” I asked as I twisted the bottle of water open and pressed it to her lips. Hopefully, he was at least somewhere close by, whoever he was.
“Team leader,” she stated right before she took a small sip of the water.
Confusion and hope struck a nerve. “Matt told me the team was dead.”
She shook her head, the corner of her lips curling into a small smile. “Nope. He failed. They’re on their way.”
A deep sigh of relief left my lungs like a gust of wind. There was still hope after all.
Thank fuck.
“What about Jason?”
Kayla was silent for a moment before I gave her another sip of the water. “I don’t know,” she finally replied, the doubt in her tone a discouraging note to my optimism. “But I’m sure he’s fine. He’s tough.”
Matt’s warning suddenly echoed in the back of my mind, the fear that he might actually be right about everything weighing heavy in the pit of my stomach. But I couldn’t afford the time to linger on it right now. I still had shit I needed to do. Jason would be okay. He had to be.
“Yeah,” I agreed with a nod. “Okay, so, what does this Romero look like?”
Another smirk curved Kayla’s lips. “Black hair. Tall. And hot as fuck,” she murmured between slow heavy breaths.
I snorted quietly to myself. At least her sense of humor was still intact. That was a good sign.
“Right. Hot as fuck. I’m sure I’ll find him,” I added as I finished cleaning off the blood from her face. The wound at her temple didn’t look as bad now that the bleeding had stopped, but it was going to leave a nasty scar behind.
Kayla suddenly took my hand and squeezed it. “Go. I’ll be okay,” she said, her voice sounding slightly stronger. “Go. Find him. I’m fine.”
I winced, hating the idea of leaving her alone, but we couldn’t both be sitting ducks here, just waiting to be found. Sighing loudly, I nodded in agreement when she finally looked back at me.
“Okay, fine, I’ll go find him. But you stay right here, do not go anywhere, and do not fall asleep, understand?”
She responded with the tiniest chuckle. “Yes, mom, now go.”
Groaning, I stood, checked the last Sig in my other side pocket, noting I still had a full mag loaded, and then peeked around the door before securing Kayla inside the panic room.
Cautiously making my way back through the kitchen to see if I could also find Matt’s body, sharp disappointment struck me when I realized it was nowhere to be found. The fucker was probably still alive somewhere, but much as I wanted to find him, I knew finding Romero was more important right now.
Turning to head for the gaping cavity of the kitchen wall, I stopped in my tracks as a sound I hadn’t heard in weeks suddenly caught my ear despite all the noise still going on around me. And it made my heart race into overdrive as another bark resounded through the air.
“Camaro?”