Page 162 of Fought and Freed

Without her other hand holding the chain, she wasn’t always hitting the same spot, but she got through one and moved on to the next one.

“How the Hell did you get out of those ropes?” Mike’s voice boomed through the warehouse.

She looked over her shoulder. Dammit, she wasn’t fast enough.

Mike pointed a gun at her.

She stepped down off the chair, set the saw down, took a few steps away from Cody, then flicked open her knife. “You didn’t check my cast. You’re slipping, Mike.”

“A mistake I won’t make again.” He gestured with the gun. “Put down the knife. We know you won’t hurt me. You don’t have it in you.”

A plan came to Maddy, and she hoped her assumption was right.

“Come and take it off of me, Mike.” She spread her legs a bit and got ready.

“Maddy,” Cody warned in a low growl.

Mike chuckled and lowered the gun as he walked toward her.

When Mike got close enough, she raised her cast and brought it down on Mike’s wrist with enough force that he dropped the gun. With her left foot, she kicked the gun out of his reach and stabbed him in the side with her knife.

He clutched the wound. “You bitch!”

Maddy didn’t move fast enough to avoid his backhand, sending her flying.

“Maddy!” Cody yanked on his remaining chain.

She hadn’t kicked the gun far enough away, and Mike found it too quickly, pointing it right at her.

“Go ahead and shoot me.” She spread her arms out. “You’re going to kill me, anyway!”

“I want you to suffer,” Mike sneered.

She threw her knife at him, and it hit him in his chest on the right side. She had been aiming for his heart but missed it because he was still standing.

Enraged, Mike yanked the knife out and aimed his gun at her again. “Fuck my plan.”

She dove to the left just as two shots went off, and a body tackled her to the ground. The weight rolled off her, and she saw Ryder lying on the floor next to her, the white shirt he wore changing to red.

“No, no, no, no! Ryder!” She pressed her hand over the hole in his shirt, trying to stop the blood pumping out.

She quickly scanned the room. Lucca, Harry, Uncle Marco, Skylar, and Jace were converging on their spot, while Mike lay sprawled on the floor, his open eyes fixed unblinking on the ceiling.

“Someone, call 911! Ryder’s shot!” She cried out. “And get Cody down! He’s having a hard time breathing.”

She turned back to Ryder, applying more pressure on the wound.

“I love you, Silk.” His eyes closed.

She leaned over him. “You can’t die. I need you, Player. Don’t leave me.”

She struggled out of her shirt, leaving her only in a tank top, and placed it over the bullet wound before applying more pressure to staunch the blood.

Skylar and Jace finished getting Cody down while Lucca and Uncle Marco made sure Mike was dead.

“Maddy?” Cody gasped.

“I’m right here,” Maddy called out. “You and Ryder will be fine.”

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