Page 71 of Emi's Hero

A moan sounded from the object.

George squatted beside it and shined the little light on a woman with dark hair, dark skin and a gash across her brow. Her eyes blinked up at him, and she whispered, “Ayuda por favor.”

George frowned, wishing he’d studied Spanish instead of Arabic. “Are you Maria?”

“Si. Yo soy Maria.” She reached up and grabbed his arm. “La niña, él tiene a la niña.”

“Sara? He took Sara?” George asked.

“Si. Sara.” She pointed down the tunnel. “Sara.Ve rápido.” Maria sat up and pushed him in that direction. “Ayuda Sara,por favor.”

George didn’t like leaving the injured woman, but she seemed to be recovering while Warren was getting away with Sara.

“I’ll be back,” he said and took off down the tunnel, running as fast as he could, praying he would catch up with Warren before he hurt Sara or disappeared with the child.

Emi’s feetslowed the further she moved away from where she’d promised George she’d stay. Not only was she breaking her promise, but she was also leaving Kalea alone. What if one of the mercenaries got past Hawk’s team and took Kalea hostage?

Like Kalea had said, the Brotherhood Protectors were trained and experienced in extraction operations. They would find and free Sara. Emi would only get in the way and possibly jeopardize the mission.

Just as she turned to retrace her steps, Kalea’s voice sounded in her ear.

“Oh, sweet Geezus,” Kalea exclaimed. “You’re him. The one who’s been getting away with murder. Vincent Warren. Or should I call you by your other name, Fallon Vance?”

Emi froze. Warren was with Kalea? How?

“So, holding a woman hostage and abusing her for eight years wasn’t vile enough for you, you’re now resorting to terrorizing small children?”

“Oh my God. No.” Emi started running back down the road. Warren had Sara and was threatening the child and Kalea.

“No.” the word came from deep in her gut. Emi couldn’t let him hurt either one of them. He’d hurt so many and gotten away with it for too long.

“No more,” she said beneath her breath, her thoughts narrowing to a laser focus. She had to stop him, once and for all. Barreling down the hill and charging him like an indiscriminate bull wasn’t the way to do it. He could hurt Sara or Kalea.

She had to sneak up on him and catch him by surprise.

Emi slipped into the shadows of the trees overhanging the road, moving swiftly but silently back the way she’d come. As she closed the distance between her and where she’d left Kalea, she looked for something she could use as a weapon.

She found a piece of a fallen limb the thickness of her arm and slightly longer. When she lifted it from the ground, she tested the weight in her hand.

“You know your time playing God is up, don’t you?” Kalea was saying. “Too many people know about what you’ve been doing here in your sick little playhouse in the mountain.”

Emi couldn’t make out Warren’s response, but his words were heated. She knew from experience that when he got angry, he lost control. Those were the times when he’d beaten her so badly she’d thought she was going to die.

Kalea didn’t seem to care that she was poking the bear. “You can’t hide it anymore from your wife. While she and her father have been donating money to help the poor and stop human trafficking, you’ve been perpetuating the very crimes they’ve worked so hard to stop.”

“Shut up, bitch.”

Emi was now either close enough to make out Warren’s words, or he had raised his voice. Probably the latter. It wouldn’t be long before his control snapped, and anyone in his way would suffer the consequences.

As Emi approached the bend in the road around which she’d find Kalea, Warren and Sara, she eased forward, clinging to the shadows.

She had to get close without alerting Warren to her presence.

With the tree limb clutched in her hands, she inched around the bend in the road, her heart seizing in her chest when she spotted Sara.

Warren held her little arm with one hand and pointed a pistol at her head with the other.

“Let the child go, Vincent,” Kalea said, her tone softening. “Turn yourself in. Maybe the judge will go easy on you.”

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