Page 6 of Javier

Already on the move, I clenched my jaw, scanning the terrain. From where I stood moments before, I didn’t have a clean line of fire to do the job properly. Silent as a ripple on a pond, I descended across the hill, stealing toward the hole in the fence. As I went, I searched for the right perch that would offer me the best angle to take the fast, precise shots I needed in order to save some lives and end some others.

I had a debt to repay, and this woman’s life was the only acceptable currency.

I’d found Missy Astor.

She was mine.

Chapter Two

Missy

When I was a kid, the mere sight of my raging, smoldering father made me tremble, cower, and cry. Sometimes, I even fainted. This was exactly what I wanted to do when the armed bastards showed up. It was as if I’d been programmed to fear powerful men, to shrink and dissolve while waiting for rescue.

But not today.Nuh-uh. No way. I might be naive, but I wasn’t an idiot. Violence radiated from these thugs, and my sisters weren’t around to help me like they did when my father raged. Today, I was on my own. Somehow, I had to face my fears and make my stand. My friends’ survival depended on me.

The beast dragged me across the yard as if I were a trash bag. The terror squeezing my throat was real, but I dug my heels in the dirt and wiggled out of my backpack. It hit the ground as I lunged away from the brute.

The swine reached out and grabbed me by the back of my jumper. I gagged as the coarse fabric dug into my throat. Reaching over my head, I clutched the man’s beefy wrists, kicking and screaming as he hauled me across the courtyard.

“No!” Horror had my heart battering my ribs. “Stop!”

He barked a cruel laugh. “No chance of that, princess.”

As if I weighed nothing, was nothing, he tossed me onto the ledge that supported the building. I winced as my butt hit the concrete. He came to stand before me. I was now dangerously sprawled at the level of his thighs. His leer iced my blood and sent dread shuddering through me.

Was this how my life ended? Would my sisters ever find out that I lived and died here, so far away from them? Would I leave this world without saying my last goodbyes to the women I adored?

“It ain’t every day a guy can ride a virgin on her way to paradise.” The poor excuse for a human flashed his yellow teeth. “I’m gonna do you a big fucking favor before you leave this place for good.”

“Don’t touch me!” I flinched away from him.

“You don’t have a clue what you’re in for, do you?” His malicious smirk chilled my spine. Keeping his leer on me, he hooked his rifle over his shoulder and unzipped his pants.

Heart stuck in my throat, I turned around and scrambled on all fours in a desperate attempt to escape. The bastard caught my ankle. His hand’s crushing vice made me cry out in pain. Snickering, he yanked me back toward him. My fingernails scraped against the cement but found no purchase. I twisted my body and kicked him in the belly.

“You’re a feisty one.” He reached out and snatched the veil from my head. “I like feisty.”

The veil flew off. His rough grip sank into my skull and undid my bun. My hair tumbled down and spilled over my shoulders.

“A redhead, just as expected,” the monster announced to his minions with glee that spiked the terror twisting my insides. He tightened his clutch on my leg and groped up my skirt. “Let’s see if you’re a ginger everywhere.”

I kicked, dodging his filthy touch. I was distantly aware of the nuns pleading for my release and their lives. They were getting pushed and slapped around for the deed. The more I fought, the more the beast’s sneer widened on his face.

I loathed the tears stinging my eyes and blurring my vision, the terror that threatened to shut me down altogether. I wanted to roar like a lioness, and yet only small whimpers and yelps made it out of my throat. I hated that I was weaker and smaller than the stinking brute. The helplessness burning in my eyes robbed me of hope. Announcing the approach of oblivion’sseductive escape, the familiar darkness began to gather at the edges of my vision, and the cold sank deep into my bone marrow.

Missy Astor, never give up.The voice of my big sister Thena echoed inside my head.If you faint, you die.You’renotgoing down without a fight.

I swung my free leg. The swine’s cackles turned into a grunt when my foot connected with his groin.Take that, you filthy pig. I hadn’t been a college track and field All Star for nothing.

He smashed a hand on my chest, a violent shove. The breath shot out of my lungs. I smacked the back of my head against the hard floor and saw stars. My skull throbbed from the blow, but I swung my other leg and caught him under the chin.

Snap.

His head flew back and his fingers loosened. I snatched my foot from his hold and dragged myself backward, away from him.

“You little slut,” he snarled. “I’ll teach you a lesson you’re gonna take to your grave.”

Crack, crack, crack.

---