Page 50 of Betting on Lizzie

That was all it took to draw the man’s attention. He dropped the gun a fraction of an inch, and Ben was on him. Lizzie jumped out of the way and went to Maya.

“This might hurt, baby. Hang tight.” She gently tugged the tape off Maya’s mouth.

“Dad!” she cried. Lizzie pulled her into her arms to shield her from the fighting. Ben was bigger and definitely madder, but the bad guy had a lot to lose. He was scrappy and putting up a pretty good fight. Jenna remained by the door, holding her face in her hands.

Ben punched Marty, and blood flew from his nose. While he was disoriented, Ben swept his legs out from under him and hit him again on his way to the floor. Out cold, Marty didn’t move.

“What have you done?” Jenna screeched, running to Marty and falling on her knees beside him. Seeing her man KOed apparently woke the demon in her, and she jumped up, fighting mad, clawing and scratching at Ben.

“What the…” Ben said, backing away from Jenna’s attack. He absorbed her punches without defending himself. “Stop hitting me.”

Jenna reared back and hit him in the stomach. Ben barely flinched, but Lizzie was done watching.

“That’s about enough of that,” she muttered.

Lizzie grabbed Jenna’s hair and yanked. “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?”

Jenna turned to defend herself and threw a weak punch, which Lizzie dodged smoothly. Lizzie had already thought it out and, executing a one-two punch, took Jenna down easily.

“Holy crap,” Ben and Maya said in unison. Lizzie held in a laugh, feeling it was probably inappropriate for the situation. Jenna was still conscious but lay on the filthy floor, holding her jaw and moaning. She seemed disinclined to continue the battle, apparently deciding Marty wasn’t worth the fight.

“Servin’ it up Parker-style,” Lizzie said, pretending to dust off her hands.

“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” Ben mumbled.

Marty groaned and started to move. Ben walked to him, picked up the gun, and set it on the TV stand. “I wouldn’t get up if I were you,” he said. “I’m still pretty pissed and wouldn’t mind another poke at your face.”

Maya jumped over her mother, ran to Ben, and fell into his arms. “I’m so sorry, Dad. I thought they had you.”

“It’s okay, baby. It’s okay.”

Lizzie noticed red and blue lights bouncing off the back wall through the window. She climbed over the bed, through the pile of twenty-dollar bills, and opened the door to a parking lot full of police cars. Exiting to the breezeway, she waved her arms and yelled until she got someone’s attention. “Up here!”

Within seconds, the tiny room was crawling with cops. Marty and Jenna had been handcuffed and sat on the bed, defeated. They were read their rights and hauled out.

Lizzie, Ben, and Maya were taken outside and separated to give their statements. When Lizzie finished, and they released her, Noah and Daisy approached her.

“Thank goodness you got my messages,” she said. “I was worried you’d be asleep.”

“What the heck happened?” Noah asked.

Lizzie told them a quick version of going to Ben’s, discovering Maya had been kidnapped, and sneaking her phone into her boot but not knowing who to contact.

“I couldn’t make a call, so nine-one-one wasn’t an option,” she said. “We stopped for cash at the ATM where you guys were robbed. It made me think of Noah, and I figured he’d know what to do.”

“You did great,” Daisy said. “Noah said Maya’s mom was involved. And that you beat her up?”

Lizzie shrugged. “She was punching Ben, and he didn’t want to defend himself.”

“So,” Daisy said. “You and Ben…”

“Don’t,” Lizzie said, holding up a hand. “Here they come. Shut up.”

Ben and Maya joined their circle. “You okay?” Ben asked.

“Yeah,” Lizzie said. “Maya?”

“I’m okay,” Maya said. “I just feel horrible I caused so much trouble.”

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