Page 46 of Wilde In His Arms

The boy raised himself up on his good arm and shook his head.He sat up and grabbed Nick’s sleeve.“Don’t go.”His gaze shot to Julia, lying dead on the floor.

“She can’t hurt you.Javier is gone.”He kept his gun at the ready, just in case Mrs.Lopez got any ideas, or Javier decided to come back and finish him off.“I need to get the other kids.Do you want to come with me?”

He nodded.

Nick bobbed his head toward the door.“Okay.Let’s go save them.You and me.”Nick stood up to his full height, the room spinning a bit as he gained his feet.He could feel the blood running down his leg and soaking his sock.

He looked down at the boy.“Stay right behind me.”

The boy nodded.

“Is there anyone else down there with them?”

Toby shook his head.

“Just the kids?”

The boy nodded again.

“How many are down there?”

He held up two fingers, then whimpered because he let go of his broken arm.

“Ambulance is coming.We’ll get your arm fixed up and get you back to your family.”

The haunted look in the boy’s eyes intensified as they filled with fresh tears.

Nick went down the steps into the backyard, then turned back to the kid.He bent and looked the kid in the eye.“Whatever you did to survive was worth it.You survived.You were smart and brave and strong.You did what wasnecessaryto stay alive.Look at you, you’re still standing.You’re still here.That is the most important thing.That’s what will matter to your family.I’m so proud of you.I’m in awe of you.”Two years this kid had been through what no one should have to endure and survived.

The boy’s eyes went wide with surprise.

“Hello,” a courageous girl called up from the cellar.“Help us.”

“FBI,” Nick called.“I’m going to get you out.Stand as far away from the door as you can.I’m going to shoot the lock open.On the count of three.”He paused, giving the girl a chance to get herself and the other one back.“You clear?”

“Yes!”

“One.”He aimed at the lock at an angle, so it would bust the lock and hopefully not send a bullet into the basement where the kids hid.“Two.”He steadied his hand.“Three.”He shot the lock, getting it on the first try.Thank fuck, because he felt woozy and off-balance from the blood loss.He needed to wrap something around his thigh and stifle the bleeding.But first…

He pulled off the damaged lock, tossed it, then opened the heavy door to the dark cellar.“Come on out.”

The first girl he saw was dressed in a white nightgown that hit her mid-calf.Her feet were bare.Her bright blonde hair was a tangled mess around her shoulders.She looked about thirteen.Behind her a shorter, younger girl, maybe ten, peeked out from behind her.She had dark hair and big green eyes.

Nick held his gun at his thigh, out of sight of the girls.“My name is Nick.I’m with the FBI.You can come up.It’s safe.”

The oldest girl looked at the boy standing beside him, then at Nick.“They took another girl.Emma.”

“My partner rescued her.”He held his hand out to her.“Come on up.Are either of you hurt?Hungry?Thirsty?Need a bathroom?”

The second girl bounced from one bare foot to the other.“I gotta go.”

“They only left us a bucket down there,” the first girl said, her nose scrunched in disgust as she shivered.

Nick swore under his breath.“Come on.”He used his good leg to pull himself up the steps.When he stepped into the kitchen, he spotted Julia dead on the floor.

Mrs.Lopez hadn’t left her spot at the table and glared at the kids.“I told them not to bring them here anymore.”

Yeah, he’d dive into that statement real soon.But right now, he needed to take care of the kids, so he ushered them out of the kitchen to the living room, trying to use his body to block the gruesome sight of Julia’s lifeless body.

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