Page 78 of Knot Innocent

I push up onto shaky legs, and Dolion pulls the chain, forcing me forward. At least I’ll be closer to my weapon. A few feet away, I stall, unable to convince my body to get any closer.

Dolion jerks my tether, and I lose it, going completely berserk and making a split-second decision to rush him.

He stumbles back, allowing me to reach for my shiv. Because I’m drawing it from a different angle than I’d practiced, I’m not as smooth, and the stupid thing snags on the metal support.

Dolion realizes what I’m doing and strikes with the belt, sending me scrambling under the bed. He then shoves the mattress aside, finds the modified spring, and launches it. The metal whistles through the air until crashing into the wall a second later. I’m dragged out from under the bed by the chain, screaming and with my skirt riding up, and Dolion drops to straddle my stomach.

“Nice try.”

He rips the thin shirt from my body, tossing the tattered fabric away. “I think I’m enjoying the challenge more mature prey presents.”

Dolion stands me up again, and my skirt is wrenched off and joins what’s left of my shirt. He shoves me to my knees and pulls his dick out of his open pants. “Suck it.”

I shake my head and brace myself, knowing what my disobedience will bring. The first strike lands on my shoulder and the next on my back. I shriek and struggle to escape, but Dolion’s foot on the chain keeps me from taking shelter beneath the bed’s metal support grid.

Dolion stops at the unexpected sound of the barn door opening, and I’m pulled to my feet in the next breath. He wraps the chain around my neck twice and spins me toward the blinding light pouring in through the open door. “Bastien!” I yell before the chain is pulled tight.

Bastien

Savile holds Birdie in front of him like a shield as I advance. She’s naked and covered in angry red welts. “Let her go,” I roar.

“I don’t think so. Holding her is probably the only reason I’m still alive.”

The asshole pulls out a knife, sliding the blade between the chain loops at Birdie’s neck. “Tell you what. You let us leave here, and I promise to drop Birdie off somewhere alive. I also guarantee if I don’t walk out of here, she won’t either.”

Knot sounds off through my earpiece. “LEOs are on their way. I’ve asked Cooper to hold them back and block all the roads. If we can’t get a clean shot, you’ll have to let him take her. We stand a better chance at getting to Birdie if they’re out in the open.”

I know the man’s right, but the abject terror in Birdie’s eyes won’t let me make her wait a second longer than I have to. “I don’t like that plan.”

Dolion thinks I was speaking to him and responds. “Then I hope you brought two body bags.”

“For the love of god, Laurent!” Knot pleads. “Stand down.”

“Shit! Alright! Just don’t hurt her,” I say to Birdie’s boss and the man holding a knife to her throat.

Logic says Savile will demand I kick my gun over to him. That’s one thing I can’t allow him to get. So he doesn’t get the chance to ask, I toss the pistol to my right, in the opposite direction he wants to go.

Birdie lurches in fear, and Savile tightens the chain, making her gasp. “Stop! Birdie, be still!”

Fearing Savile is getting twitchy, I also remove the knife from my belt and toss it aside with the gun. “That’s more like it, Gorilla,” Savile taunts. Then, pressing his lips to Birdie’s ear, he adds, “Thanks to him, you just might live through this.”

Tears stream down Birdie’s face, and she shakes her head like she doesn’t believe him. I don’t either, but the cops and Knot think this is the best plan. “I’m unarmed now. What the hell is taking you so long?”

Savile responds as if I were talking to him, but the question was meant for Knot. Instead of our boss speaking up, Chelsea is the one who answers. “We’ve been all the way around this damned building. The only other entrance is chained shut. Unless we come in the way you did, we’re only getting in with a chainsaw.”

The chain around Birdie’s neck is still attached to her ankle and the bed. Savile places his knife on the bed, shuffles Birdie forward, and pulls a set of keys from his pocket. He releases the padlock securing the chain to the iron bar, and the heavy restraint slides off the bed to hang at Birdie’s side.

Knowing Knot will have already updated Cooper, I ask, “What am I supposed to do now?”

Birdie’s eyes widen, realizing I’ve not been talking to Savile. “Well, Birdie and I are walking out of this barn. You will be staying here. Get on your knees. If you so much as sneeze, she’s dead.”

Through the radio, Knot sounds broken when he relays Cooper’s order, “Let them go.”

I drop to my knees as ordered, and Birdie begs, “Bastien, please. Help me.”

Her terrified plea shreds me, whether she’s playing along for the rescue team’s sake or not. It kills me to do it, but I shake my head no. Birdie wilts before me, breaking my fucking heart. I can’t let her think I’m letting her go.

“I can’t do it,” I whisper.

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