Page 95 of The Last Promise You Made

A man with the same build and similar ski mask as the one who’d escaped in the woods the other day surged into the hallway. He attempted a sweeping kick meant to send me sprawling. I jumped over it, raised my gun, and pulled the trigger. The man’s body jolted backward, a hole in the chest of his black jacket proving I’d hit home, but it didn’t slow him down. He leaped toward me as I pulled the trigger again, and this time, when his body jerked back, I was close enough to see the bullet embed in a bulletproof vest.

I lowered my aim and was just about to take a shot at a kneecap when my body was jerked off the ground from behind with a viselike grip on my waist. I crashed back into a massive chest, feet dangling. Fear lit me up. For me. For Addy. How had I not heard him? Why had the alarms not gone off?

I shifted my hand, trying to aim my gun behind me but mammoth fingers twisted my wrist. I cried out as pain shot through me. Unable to hold on, my weapon hit the ground with a loud clang. The humiliation of losing it was quickly replaced with desperation. I had to protect Addy!

The man holding me wrapped an arm around my neck and applied enough pressure that my breath left my body. I rammed my elbows into his rib cage and heard a satisfying crack, but the hold he had on me didn’t loosen, and not even a whimper escaped him. Instead, the grip he had on my neck grew tighter until only gurgling noises escaped my throat.

My panic grew as I fought to remember my training and all the ways I was supposed to dislodge a bigger opponent.

The man I’d shot stormed toward me, waving the pistol he’d retrieved.

“Bitch, that fucking hurt!” he yelled, rubbing one hand over the holes in his vest.

“Do not kill her,” the man holding me warned. “The boss wants her alive. Find the child.”

His voice was deep. Gritty. It matched the massive body that was holding me as if I weighed nothing. As if I was a mere inconvenience. The fact they wanted me alive should have been a relief, but I knew what cartels did to people. I’d seen the images. Death would almost be better. Except, that meant them getting Addy.

I wouldn’t go without a fight. I jammed my foot backward with all my strength, connecting with some part of the man’s leg, but he still didn’t budge while his chokehold was draining me of every last particle of air. My vision went spotty. My lungs screamed. My attacker’s arm was a cement block against my throat. The first man stormed past me into the kitchen as white lights danced in front of my vision. I kicked again, this time landing on the first man’s hip as he went by. He barked out an angry curse but didn’t stop while the grip on my neck tightened even more.

I fought the instinct to claw at his arm. I needed to hit him somewhere that would make him loosen his hold. His groin. His knee. I dropped my mouth, sinking my teeth into the bare arm with its rows of tattoos. I drew blood. Salty. Appalling. As the man cursed in Spanish, I used my elbows and heels in unison to strike at him.

It was futile. The solid mass continued pushing into my windpipe. Dark blended in with the white spots. My body was shrieking from the impact and the lack of oxygen. Wet lips hit my ear, and my entire being shuddered as his dark voice muttered, “Stop fighting, chiquita. It will only be worse for you.”

I would not let these men take Addy. I would not.

Blackness filled my eyes as my captor hauled me into the kitchen and down the steps into the living room.

“I can’t find her! The little bitch is nowhere.” The man with the pistol spat as he stormed back into the room. A hint of relief washed over me. Addy was an award-winning hider.

Outside, I heard the clear ring of a car door crashing closed and Ryder’s voice screaming my name. New fear swelled through me. For him. For Addy. For all of us.

Where the hell was the team watching us?

“We need to go,” the man choking me said. My vision had disappeared with what felt like my last breath. “We’ll take this one with us and come back for the other.”

As he dragged my body toward the entryway, I knew I had one last shot at freeing myself, so I let myself go limp, as if I’d passed out. It loosened his grip, and as soon as it did, I used all my strength to jam my heel into the top of his foot before twisting around to thrust my fist into his groin. I was rewarded with a pained grunt.

The front door crashed into the wall.

Sirens blared in the distance.

“Let her go!” Ryder’s voice trembled with fury.

Instead of hauling me with him, the giant surprised me by picking me up and tossing me in the air as if I were nothing but a rag doll. I prepared for the harsh pain of hitting the cold tile, but instead, warm arms caught me.

“Where’s my daughter?” Ryder’s scream was a tormented roar.

I couldn’t talk to reassure him she was hiding. I couldn’t even see him over the black in my eyes as my lungs gasped.

A gunshot echoed through the house, and I barely had time to fear it was aimed at us before the sound of glass shattering crashed through the room.

I turned my head in the direction of the living room and the sound. My vision was blurry, as if looking through water, hazy and unclear, but I saw the giant who’d been holding me leap through a broken window. He landed with a roll on the rain-soaked leaves and took off running.

“There’s another one!” My voice was hoarse and raspy as I shouted at Ryder. “Go! Make sure he doesn’t have Addy!”

Ryder’s blurred face was a mask of anger and fear as he set me down and whirled down the hall, screaming Addy’s name.

Outside, vehicles came screeching into the driveway with their sirens still blaring.

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