Page 86 of Deceptive Lies

Relief had her crying out when she finally cut through the tape enough that her arm came free. It felt heavy, blood flow returning slowly, but there was no time to wait and nurse it. She had to keep moving.

Reaching across her body, Willow made quicker work of sawing through the tape on her left arm. Once it was free she sat up. Her head spun, the room along with it, but she blinked away the fuzziness and went to work on her ankles.

Slippery with her blood, the box cutter continued to slide between her fingers, adding more tiny wounds to her already battered body.

Determination was the only thing keeping her moving, and it paid off when the last bit of tape came free.

Shoving off the bed, Willow wavered for a moment and then ran to the window, searching the area outside for any signs of Cooper and his brothers.

She found none.

Maybe they were around the other side of the building.

Wherever the house was that she’d been brought to, there were other houses around so the guys would have been able to follow more easily without fear of being spotted. They had to be out there, just plotting the best way to get inside, get her out alive, and the professor and his men caught or killed.

There was a smaller building not far from the room she’d been left in, if she could get to it, she could hide in there until she spotted one of the guys.

Thankful she was on the ground floor. Willow eased the window open and climbed out.

Unfortunately, that was where her luck ended.

Just as she started creeping toward the small building, she spotted Professor Mahmoud and his men praying to their god on their knees in the sunshine.

Of course, it was too much to hope that they wouldn't spot her.

They did, and as she broke into a run, she heard feet pounding the ground behind her.

“Going somewhere?” the professor growled as an arm wrapped around her neck, yanking her backward and pinning her in place as something cold touched her temple. Willow didn't have to look at it to know it was the barrel of a gun.

So close yet so very far.

Chapter

Twenty-One

July 15th

11:38 A.M.

Seconds had never felt so long in his life.

They literally felt like eternities.

Every single one of them.

Sixty in just one minute.

Minute after minute.

It was over an hour since the tracker Willow was wearing began to move faster indicating she was no longer walking but now in a vehicle, and Cooper was more than ready to lose his mind.

The only thing keeping him clinging to sanity was the knowledge that Willow needed him.

Needed him to be not just in the game but at the top of his game. Anything less and she might not walk out of this alive.

If she even was still alive.

No.

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