Page 68 of Rescued Faith

“Yeah?” He seemed to be searching her face for something.

She nodded.

He pulled her to his chest and held her. “Thank God. You had me worried there, Mitchell.”

Her ear pressed right at his heart could hear the organ pumping strong and steady. She rested there until her icy bones thawed and she could feel her fingers again. The images of the past hovered, but they didn’t consume her. Here with Bryce, shecould find firm footing again in reality, in the present. As long as she didn’t think about the fact that she was trapped in a cold, enclosed space.

At least this time it wasn’t a basement, and she wasn’t alone. Bryce was here.

He sheltered her from that haunting past. Her pulse slowed. Her very breath deepened, and the dizziness faded away.

But then reality kicked in. “Libby! The kids! They?—”

“Whoa. Hold on.” Bryce cradled her face in his hands. “Slowly. What happened? Do you know where we are?”

“We’re at Libby’s. They took her and the kids.”

“Who? Alonzo?”

“No, but it was Gomez and some others who work for him. He wants me to get Emma released. Said anything that happens to her, he’ll do to my sister. My niece and nephew.” Her voice squeaked. The dark corners of the room started collapsing in again. Cold washed over her, flooded her veins.

“Hey, hey, hey. I’m losing you. Penny?”

She locked onto Bryce’s warm gaze. The cadence of his voice drew her. “Come on, baby. You’re okay. Take long…slow…deep breaths.”

Right. Bryce was here. He would help.

They needed to get out of here.

“We have to find them,” she whispered.

His thumb wiped the salty tracks down her cheeks.

“We will. Let’s get your circulation going again.”

She allowed Bryce to pull her up to her feet. The room swayed slightly, then righted. Bryce ran his warm hands up and down her arms, melting the ice there.

“I think I’m okay now. Just don’t leave me.”

“Never.”

He pulled her in and hugged her, a slight pressure to her head as he kissed her there. “I’m right here.”

TWENTY-TWO

Bryce held Penny, needing her closeness and warmth to calm his own nerves as much as to offer her this safe place. He’d never seen her this shaken before.

And yeah, he could admit he felt it too. Someone had gotten the drop on him. He was supposed to be here to protect Penny and her family. Show her she could depend on him. Instead, he’d been knocked out cold within the first few minutes. Now that he had her in his arms, he wasn’t going to let her go.

Lord, be our strength. Be with Libby and the kids.

But there was still so much about this woman he didn’t know. Like why he’d woken up to find her rocking and hyperventilating in the middle of the pantry.

“Doing okay?” he asked her.

“I’m ready to get out of here.”

“Let’s see what we can do about that.”

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