Page 136 of Death Wish

They waited for five minutes. Every second felt like an eternity to Jesse. To be so close and yet still unable to reach Simone was torturous.

Finally, White cursed. “Get up and go to the bedroom right now. Move it, Simone.”

She cut off a cry of pain and seconds later, Jesse heard her feet shuffling down the hall followed by heavier footsteps.

“Strip. I’m not waiting anymore.”

Jesse tensed. They had to move. He looked at Brody who gave a slight nod. Taking the lead, Jesse walked silently down the short hall and stopped just shy of the door frame to the bedroom. Logan stepped up beside him, glanced into the room, and started a countdown.

On five, he slipped into the room. “On your knees, White.” Jesse and Brody entered the room, weapons up and ready.

In a flash, White grabbed Simone by the hair, yanked her head back, and rested the blade of his knife against Simone’s carotid artery. He smiled. “Get out. She’s mine now. If I can’t have her, no one will.” He pressed the knife into Simone’s skin just enough to draw blood. “Think I won’t kill her? You’re wrong.”

Logan shook his head, an expression of pity on his face. “Haven’t you heard you should never bring a knife to a gunfight?”

“I’ll kill her!”

Simone’s gaze locked with Jesse’s. She mouthed, “I love you.”

He smiled. “Simone, do you trust me?” he asked softly.

“Shut up,” White snapped. “You don’t talk to her. Hear me? She’s mine. She only talks to me and only when I say she can talk.”

“Yes,” she said, still focused on Jesse.

Logan gave a slight nod.

Jesse prayed she remembered the few sessions of self-defense training. “Drop,” Jesse ordered.

Simone immediately lifted her feet. Although White struggled to keep his hold on her, he couldn’t hold her weight with one arm. She slid out of his grasp to the floor.

Seconds later, Brody and Logan had a screaming and cursing White face down on the floor with his hands behind his back.

“I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you all.”

“Yeah?” Logan said. “Come see me after you get out of prison. We’ll go a round or two.”

“I hate you.”

“My feelings are hurt,” Brody said. “I guess I shouldn’t expect any Christmas cards from you.”

Jesse knelt beside Simone, fury sizzling in his veins at the sight of her swollen face and bloody shirt. He shoved aside the emotions and got to work. Jesse gently ran his hands over one arm and then the other.

“Hey,” Simone said, voice hoarse.

Jesse glanced up at her beloved face.

Her lips curved slightly and grimaced when her split lip bled. “I knew you would come.”

“Always. I love you, Simone.”

Brody and Logan hauled White to his feet. Before they could hustle him out the door and put zip ties on his wrists, White broke free and sprinted toward Jesse and Simone.

In an instant, Jesse leaped to his feet, placing his body between Simone and White. He grabbed White in a bear hug and took him to the ground. After one solid punch to the jaw, White went limp. “Get him out of here,” he snapped and stood, watching as his team leader and friend gripped the fallen man by the biceps and hauled him outside the cabin.

In a minute, White began shouting threats and curses at them.

Ignoring his own pain, Jesse once again knelt beside Simone and resumed his assessment of the woman he loved. No fractures in her arms. Excellent. He shifted his attention to her legs and didn’t feel a broken bone. With pants covering her legs, Jesse couldn’t see bruises he felt sure covered her skin.

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