Page 74 of Captured

“I’m saying that’s who hired me, although he attempted to keep his identity secret.” The plane was getting closer and my hackles were already raised. I jerked up to a crouched position, staring up at the sky.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m not entirely certain.” I stood, furious with myself for only bringing a single weapon with me, a handgun instead of an assault rifle. That wasn’t like me at all. No, I hadn’t wanted to terrify her more than I already had but I never went anywhere without at least one high-powered weapon. What good was it to be a crack shot at over a hundred yards when I hadn’t brought a long-range rifle with me? The fucking Glock would have to do. Even then, it was dicey whether my shots would do a damn thing to an object flying hundreds of yards in the sky.

She moved onto her knees beside me.

The moment I was able to see an actual small aircraft, I jerked Emily to her feet. “Come on. I need to get you to safety.”

“What is going on?”

“Remember those enemies I mentioned determined to bring me down no matter what it took? I think they found me all over again. Fuck. Fuck.” I led her up the beach, glancing over my shoulder. “You need to do as I say, Emily. I’m not taking any shit from you. Run toward the trees. Now!”

At least she did what I asked. We both raced toward the thick coverage of the forest, but I shifted to the Jeep just as the plane swooped in, flying lower in the sky.

Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!

The heavy firepower send sand flying into the air, her terrified scream igniting a heavy rage.

“Fuck,” I hissed, lunging toward the left, narrowly missing being bullet ridden. Who the hell were these assholes?

The line of fire went directly from the water, following us in a heated trail.

Emily screamed a second time, still running toward the trees but stopping short seconds later. I had a split second to think, lunging toward her, knocking her onto the sand in the shadow of the trees, covering her body with mine.

Holy fuck. I was going to kill the motherfuckers. How the hell had they broken through the defenses?

“No. No. No,” she whimpered under me, writhing and clawing.

“Are you okay, baby?”

“I think so. What is going on?” Her voice was shaking as much as her body.

“Some bad people.” The fucking pilot wasn’t giving up. I allowed her to shift, thankful she wasn’t hurt or worse. The fucker had damn good range, and it was likely there was a second person on board responsible for doing the shooting.

She was still shaking as she turned over, glancing over my shoulder then cupping my face in such a tender action I was momentarily floored. “How can you live like this?”

The answer was one she should understand. I didn’t choose to. I’d been born into it.

I took her hand into mine, holding it against my mouth. “Whatever happens, you just stay right here. As I said before, don’t fuck with this or my orders.”

“What are you doing?”

“Taking them out.” I pushed her further into the trees, taking a deep breath and racing toward the Jeep.

As the plane got closer, I was forced to drop and roll, bullets coming far too close for comfort.

Once it had passed, I instantly heard the slow of engines as the pilot began turning the plane around. I had a few seconds and nothing more. I raced toward the Jeep, yanking the weapon from under the back seat. As soon as the aircraft roared back in our direction, I took long, purposeful strides into the sand, calculating the speed and the trajectory of the flying steel death trap as I lifted my arms. I had the gun in both hands, taking my time aiming.

The fucker really believed he could gun me down. When I had a decent chance of hitting the target, I fired off shot after shot.

Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!

The plane shifted further into the horizon and I was shocked that it appeared I’d missed them altogether. What the fuck? When I heard a clunking sound, I stared at the soon to be wrecked piece of steel, feeling a hint of satisfaction. There was nothing quite like the sound of engines sputtering and cutting off.

I took a deep breath, slowly lowering my weapon. And I should have expected my bad little sparrow to suddenly appear at my side.

She glanced at me, her breathing still ragged. As the plane tumbled from the sky, I yanked her close to me. “What are you doing?”

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