Page 17 of Catch My Fall

I’m being ripped in half.

I pull my knees up to my chin, hugging them to me, wishing it would all go away.

Something warm and wet floods between my legs, and when I reach down, my fingers come back stained in red.

Blood.

The room around me spins, black dots spotting my vision as my ears ring, my head filling with white noise like a million bees buzzing in my head.

He draws back his foot to kick me again and I brace for it, reaching for my stomach with shaky hands to protect myself, but the sound of two gunshots on the floor above us has his foot hovering in mid-air. “What the fuck?”

Using the momentary distraction, Ollie kicks at the back of Austin’s knee, sending him to the ground, his gun skittering across the floor.

The two wrestle with each other, Ollie screaming in pain as Austin digs his finger into his gunshot wound.

Ollie manages a kick to Austin’s head that disorientates him for a moment.

The pain in my belly is excruciating, it’s like someone is tearing out my organs one by one.

The blood rushes through my ears so loud that I don’t hear the footsteps coming down the stairs.

A few seconds later, something warm is draped over me and I lose myself in the familiar, woodsy scent as my eyes drift closed.

I cry out in pain as it rockets through my midsection as I’m lifted into someone’s arms.

Warm breath fans my cheek. The words, “I’ve got you, princess,” are the last thing I hear before everything goes black.

7

The body of one of Austin’s guards lies lifeless at my feet, a pool of blood pouring out of the bullet hole in the middle of his forehead and the one to his chest and I step over him without a moment’s thought. My focus is on finding Sierra.

I grip my gun tight in my hand as I make my way through kitchen. As Ollie promised, the backdoor was left unlocked, allowing me easy access to the house, I just have to find Sierra before Austin’s other guys find me.

I’m outnumbered, but I’m not out of my depth. I trained for situations like this, I did it for years in the Marines and came out the other side. I will survive this, I have to. For her.

Following Ollie’s directions, I head down the steep narrow steps that lead to the basement.

As I get closer to the bottom, I can hear fighting; male grunts and the unmistakable sound of skin hitting skin.

I stick close to the wall, my gun held high in front of me as I reach the bottom and turn the corner to find Ollie and Austin rolling around on the floor, but something off to the side catches my attention, the sight of it alone has me wanting to fall to my knees.

Sierra.

I don’t know what exactly I expected to find once I got to her, but it is nothing compared to what is right in front of me now.

She’s curled up on her side, her battered and bruised back facing me, her naked body trembling on the dirty mattress she’s lying on, but it’s not the cuts and bruises that concern me the most. It’s the blood.

There’s so much blood pooling between her legs, soaking into the fabric of the mattress.

“Fuck, princess,” I breathe out, closing the distance between us as I shrug off my jacket.

I drape it over her frail body and she twitches slightly. She lets out a cry as her hands move to her lower belly.

I lean in close to her ear as I manoeuvre her into my arms. “I’ve got you, princess.”

Her eyes flutter closed before she passes out. I rise to my feet, looking back at Ollie and Austin as they continue to fight.

I could kill him now. I could take a shot and all of this would be over. It would be so easy.

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