Page 9 of Golden Knight

A deep chuckle comes from one of the men, but I don’t think it's the same one who yelled at my parents. “What would we do with a restaurant? We’re going to take your daughter as payment.”

A gasp comes from me and my parents at the same time. My fight-or-flight skills kick in. I don’t wait around to hear what anyone else says. I run back up the stairs to my room, not caring if they hear me. I have to get the fuck out of here. Maybe I could sneak over to Jake’s until I can run far away from here. I pull out my phone and start to text Jake to tell him what's going on, well at least as much as I can. Because honestly, I don’t know what's going on, I just know I need to get out of here.

Before I can hit send, the door slams open and the two men from downstairs stand at the entrance with a wicked gleam in their eyes. I freeze. Come on, Amber, move. I dash to the window that leads to the backyard. With one leg out a big meaty arm wraps around my waist, pulling me back into the room. He throws me over his shoulder, forcing me to drop my phone as I scream. I kick, punch, and scratch at anything I can. I’m not going down without a fight.

“Shit, she’s a fighter,” one of the men says to the other with a hint of amusement.

“Good. I like it when they fight,” the other man says.

My whole body tenses at that comment. What the hell is going to happen to me? A tear trails down my cheek, and I wipe it away as quickly as possible because I won’t let anyone here see me cry.

“Put me the fuck down,” I scream as I continue to punch any spot I can reach. I kick my feet along with punching him and I must get him good because I hear him let out a grunt before he yells, “Fuck, she just kicked me in my balls.”

I don’t have time to bask in the small victory before we’re headed out the front door. My view of the living room suddenly opens up and I look back over my shoulder. I get a glimpse of my mother and father and I feel the blood drain from my face.

My father is tied to a chair with his face busted up looking down at his feet, my mother is standing next to him with her eyes cast down. “Mom…Dad…Don’t do this. Tell them to let me go.”

Mom is the one who speaks first, but I can hear the strain in her voice. “We don’t have a choice, honey.”

That's when it happens. I break. And this time I can’t stop it. The tears run down my face as I sob, I can’t believe this. My parents are just letting me go. I keep kicking and screaming until I’m thrown in the back of the van. “Stop throwing a fit, little girl. This is happening no matter how much you fight it.”

I start to lunge at him, and he hits me in the face…hard. I fall backward into the van just as everything goes black.

Chapter six

Jake

I sit up, my heart racing. I’m covered in sweat, looking around the room, and feeling a little confused. Fucking nightmare.

“It’s over. She’s safe. You just saw her last night,” I whisper to myself.

I thought I left the nightmares behind in the past where they belonged but seeing Amber brought them surging back. Right back to the same horrific dream from that night. I’m back at sixteen, coming home from football camp, and when I get off the bus, I see Amber standing at the end of the street. I run toward her but I never seem to be able to get to her. I just keep running and running.

After spending enough time in therapy to help me get over these dreams along with a few other missions I’ve been on, I thought they were over, but you don’t have to be a genius or an expert in psychiatry to know that they stem from a fear of never finding her.

I throw myself back on my bed. Ugh…I repeat the words in my head again. Amber is alive. She is safe. I glance over to my nightstand to check the time. Dammit. I’m running late.

As I’m pouring my coffee, my phone rings. I roll my eyes as I answer. “You know you don’t have to babysit me?”

I hear a small chuckle on the other end, “I know. I know. But Blanche said I needed to check on you after running into Amber and whatnot,” Zeev says.

“Oh, so this call isn’t out of the kindness of your heart, it's because your wife said so.”

“Exactly.”

“Well, you can tell Blanche that I’m fine. Trying to get my head around everything, but I’m fine. I’m just going to head into the office to get some stuff done.”

"Are you going to see her again?”

Glancing at the clock, I respond to him, “Yeah, I plan on seeing my woman again.”

“Your woman?” He chuckles.

“Yeah, my woman. And now that I’ve found her, I’m not letting her go.”

“Okay, brother. Let me know if you need anything.”

“I will.”

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