Page 50 of Sinner's Secret

Chapter Nine

Nika watched Baz’s playful expression dissolve, leaving behind a ruthless, brutal determination that was infinitely more terrorizing. “You can’t have her. She’s mine. Now be a good boy and take the handcuff off her. If you do what you’re told, I’ll let you run away.”

“You...you’re really going to let me go?”

Baz crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the doorjamb. “I promise not to harm a hair on your head.” He paused. “From this point onward. If you let her go.”

It took the man a few tries with the key before he got it unlocked. Once the cuff was off her wrist, Nika scooted away toward the end of the bed and Baz.

But the guy in the suit grabbed her by the arm, dragged her back, and held her in place in front of him like she was a shield. He still had the knife but seemed to have forgotten it for the moment.

“That’s not good behavior,” Baz warned, dropping his relaxed pose.

“Don’t go near him,” Mr. Suit whispered, loud enough for him to be heard in the next room. “He’s a monster.”

Nika backed into the creep, rammed her elbow into his gut, then twisted out of his hold. “You are a horrible person,” she replied as she slipped over to Baz.

Baz took her hand and pulled her gently behind him, never taking his eyes off the other man. “Are you hurt?”

The heat of his body made her realize she was colder than she thought. “Nothing s...serious, I don’t think. I believe I was tased and hit my head. I was unconscious for I don’t know how long. What happened?” She pulled the t-shirt on over her head and bloody tank, but it was so thin it didn’t help make her feel appreciably warmer.

“You were kidnapped out of your house. Do you remember that?” He glanced at her then, but only for a second. “You’re shaking. Here.” He glanced at Mr. Suit. “Don’t move.” Then he pulled his hoodie off and popped it over her head.

She found the arm holes herself and managed to pull it down off her face in time to see the creep rush at Baz, the knife aimed at Baz’s neck.

Baz managed to avoid the other man’s attack, how she wasn’t sure, he moved too fast. She heard the solid sound of a punch connecting with the trunk of the body, then Mr. Suit was face-down on the floor with one arm twisted behind his back.

“Nika, you okay?” Baz asked her.

“Yeah.”

Baz glanced down, bent closer, then muttered, “Oh shit.” He got up, but the man who’d attacked him was still and unmoving.

“Is he dead?” she asked.

“I think he still had the knife in his hand when I took him to the floor.” Baz winced. “So, yeah, I think he’s dead.”

“Shit,” she said softly. Nika replayed the events of the last few minutes in her head. “He would have killed you,” she told him with certainty. “I will testify to self-defence.”

Surprise widened Baz’s eyes, as if her support was the last thing he expected. After a moment, he relaxed his posture subtly, the set of his shoulders lowered, and he nodded. “Let’s get out of here before someone else shows up.” He stepped past her and looked down the hallway.

“Are there other kidnap victims here?” she asked. “Who helped you take down the rest of the bad guys?”

“There were other women,” he said taking her by the hand and walking down the hall. “They were locked in the back of a delivery truck outside. I let them out before I came inside the building. Most of them scattered, though I don’t know how far they’re going to get. None of them had any shoes on.”

Relief made her sore neck and headache go away for a second before they came pounding back. “Thank you.” She rubbed her temple, but it didn’t help.

Baz stopped before they got to the end of the hallway to look at her. His body was back to being stiff, his expression closed down in a way she hadn’t seen before.

“What?”

It took him two seconds to say anything. “Do you...trust me?” he asked.

“Yes.” The response was out of her mouth before she could think about it, and it surprised both of them.

When, exactly, had she decided he was trustworthy? When he appeared in the doorway? When he saved Smith’s life or when he interfered, stopping two men from kidnapping a woman he thought he didn’t know?

“Close your eyes and let me carry you out of here?” he asked, but it wasn’t really a question, it was more of a plea. There was something he really didn’t want her to see.

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