Page 110 of Chasing Sarah

My heart falls to the floor when I see Eddie standing next to Damien.

“What is this?” I ask, refusing to step any closer. The distance between us is, at best, 50 feet, but it’s still not enough.

Damien shifts slightly and it’s then I notice the massive bruise that mars his face. His eye is swollen, and he has dried blood caked along his bottom lip.

“Hola, Princesa,” Eddie purrs. My blood turns ice cold and my spine straightens.

“What did you do to Damien?” I ask, refusing to show howterrified I am to be here.

Eddie laughs, patting a hand against Damien’s back, who whimpers in pain. “He had to learn a valuable lesson about sharing information. Isn’t that right cabrón?”

He pushes Damien aside, sending him stumbling to the ground. He lets out a cry that has me wanting to rush toward him and make sure he’s okay.

But I don’t. I can’t.

I’m frozen in place; my mind can’t decide what choice to make. Do I try and help him, or do I flee and hope they don’t kill Damien?

Eddie saunters closer. I step back, making the decision to run.

“Ah-ah.” He tugs a pistol from his waistband and points it at Damien. I halt all movement.

“No, don’t!” Damien begs, holding his hands out in front of him.

My eyes pivot from Damien to Eddie. “Please, don’t hurt him.”

Despite Damien being the reason I’m here and the reason I ended up in Eddie’s crosshairs, I can’t watch him die. He doesn’t deserve it.

“Si no quieres que lo mate. You’re going to come with me.”

“What do you even want with me?”

Stupid fucking question. You know what he wants.

A sadistic sneer curls Eddie’s lip. “I’m going to claim that body and your tight pussy.”

“Sarah, run!” Damien shouts, plowing into Eddie’s side.

Everything happens so fast yet in slow motion. Eddie’s gun clatters to the ground as the pair grapple. Damien punches Eddie in the face and in the ribs. Eddie sends his knee into Damien’s side.

I turn on my heel and take off with a sprint. I make it to the end of the street when the echo of a gunshot fills the night. My heart lurches into my throat.

Dread fills my chest. And I know.

Damien is dead.

A wall of mind-melting humidity slams into me the moment I step out of the plane and down the steps.

El Salvador has a history of being a very dangerous country to travel in. It’s said to be riddled with the promise of violence and death. But I know beneath all the darkness is a beautiful country that has a culture rich with life.

The land around the airstrip is a mass of jungle. The plants are so green, it’s hard to think they’re even real. I can hear the calls of a variety of animals within the trees. It’s breathtaking.

It’s then I decide to refuse to let the reason we’re here stain the way I see this place.

“Sarah.”

I turn to Rhys, and he gestures toward the convoy of armed SUVs that wait for us.

I glance once more at the forest then walk to where Rhys stands and climb inside the vehicle.

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