Page 4 of Rescued Faith

Penny tried throwing her head back, driving it into what she hoped was his nose or another soft body part. Nope. His chin was as hard as her head.

He shook her and squeezed tighter. “You’re feisty, I’ll give you that. But this will not end well for you.”

Not if she had anything to say about it. “People are looking for me. They’ll be here any?—”

The other minion came barreling down the metal stairs. “It’s set. We have two min—who’s that?”

Two minutes? Penny’s mind raced.

“Doesn’t matter. We gotta go.” The hulk man dragged her farther.

“Shoot her and let’s get.” The skinny twerp said it like it was no big deal. Real upstanding friends Emma had.

“Shooting leaves a bullet in her. A bullet they can trace. We should find out who she is, but we don’t have time. Help me get her to that closet back there.”

Closet? No way!

The man in front of her went for her legs. Penny kicked and flailed. Her black combat boot connected with his jaw. He staggered away for a moment but then shook his head and came back. He wrapped two vise-like arms around her thighs while the brute behind her picked her up, squeezing her arms against her chest.

“Let me go! I can help you.” She tried to use her weight to throw them off-balance.

It was useless. They dragged her to the back of the room as Penny’s mental countdown kept going.

The guy holding her legs let go and opened a door. She was thrown in, and her head bounced off the cement. The door shut before she could even open her eyes. No!

Her head swam, waves of agony pounded. Thoughts jumbled together except for one clear truth. She was trapped.

“It’s not a basement. I’m fine.” Her voice wasn’t very convincing, even to her own ears. Too breathy. Too small. But if it tricked her brain into forgetting that she was alone, she would keep talking to herself. “Not a basement.”

She crawled to the door in the pitch black, too dizzy to stand. The knob didn’t budge. Her fingers felt the lock. Maybe she could pick it. But her pulse quickened. Her hands trembled. She couldn’t see a thing in the thick darkness, and her gas-station coffee and sunflower seeds were about to make another appearance.

Penny pounded on the door. “Let me out of here. I’m serious. I can help!”

One of the men laughed. Footsteps on the concrete floor grew quieter as they moved away. And then…silence.

They’d left her here to die. In the dark. Alone.

Penny tried the knob again, but it was useless. Her scream of frustration ripped through the darkness.

Her phone!

With shaky hands she pulled it out of her pocket. No reception. But she could use the flashlight. Maybe?—

A huge boom shook the building. Dust rained down. A paint can from the shelf above the door fell.

This was why she didn’t do favors.

She never should’ve come back to Last Chance County.

TWO

Finally, some action. The Rescue 5 truck sped down the road, sirens blaring. Firefighter Bryce Crawford welcomed the sound, itching to get out and do something after a long shift of sitting around. Sitting around and talking.

A guy could only handle so much of that. Especially when he had very little of interest to contribute to the conversation. Life had settled into a very dull routine lately. And he didn’t know how to shake loose from it.

“Yo, Lieutenant, you gonna tell us about your hot date last night or what?” Ridge called from the driver’s seat. They sped past the downtown stores.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Bryce tinkered with the device in his hands. Hopefully the hint of something that wasn’t there would keep Ridge from asking for more details. They had a job to do and a fire to put out. One disaster was enough to worry about. The call couldn’t be any worse than his dinner with Sarai Green last night.

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