Page 84 of One Knight Stand

I raised a hand to shield my eyes and could see the bald guy behind the light holding a gun aimed directly at my head.

“Well, what do we have here?” he said. “An accomplice? A young girl? Where didyoucome from?”

I pressed my lips together, and he reached up and yanked me effortlessly to my feet. He grabbed my mom, too, but she fought him, wiggling and refusing to get up easily. “Leave me alone,” she shouted. Still, she was no match for his size, and he had us both on our feet in seconds.

“Anyone else come with you, girl?” he asked me, looking around at the woods, which were silent.

I didn’t answer, so he pushed us ahead of him, keeping the gun trained on us. “This puts a wrinkle in things. But whatever you had planned, I’m afraid it ends now. Let’s head back to the house nice and slow. The first one who does anything out of line gets shot. And, just so you know, I don’t miss. Ever.”

I dared a sideways glance at my mom. She was shaking with anger, and maybe fear, most likely for me. We took a few shuffled steps forward when suddenly our captor and his flashlight flew forward, plunging us into the darkness. I heard a thump and then another one as I grabbed my mom, pulling her out of the way and sending us both crashing to the ground.

“I’m sure that hurt,” a voice said from the darkness. “Threat neutralized.”

Jax!

“We’ve got the mom safe,” he said. “Keep an eye out for any others.”

“Good job, guys. I’m on it,” I heard Mike in my ear. “So far, Sampson hasn’t come out yet, and I haven’t seen anyone else in the house.”

I looked over and saw Jax kneeling on the back of the bald man, who was lying prone on the ground. “You knocked him out? What did you use?”

“The biggest, heaviest branch I could find. Who knew baseball would be good experience for a spy? Look, he probably won’t be out long, so I have to tie him up and gag him quickly.” He handed me the flashlight. “Hold this so I can see what I’m doing.”

“He had a gun,” I said. “Did you find it?”

“I’ve got it,” he said, pulling a set of zip ties from his pocket. He pulled the bald man’s arms behind his back and slipped them on, pulling it tight.

I checked on my mom over my shoulder. “Mom, are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

“I’m fine. Angel, what are you doing? How did you find me, and who is this?”

“Oh, Mom, meet Jax. Jax, this is my mom.”

“Please to meet you, ma’am,” he said without looking up, pulling the ties tight around the guy’s legs. “Is there anyone else in the house?”

She shook her head. “No. There was only me and him.” She pointed at Baldy. “Then tonight another man with a funny voice showed up.”

“Glen Sampson. He’s using a voice modulator.” I unwound the scarf from my neck and handed it to Jax. “Here, use this for a gag.”

“Thanks,” he said before wrapping my scarf around the guy’s head and mouth and knotting it into a ball before stuffing it into his mouth. I wondered which class at UTOP would have hog-tying and gagging in the syllabus. Jax already seemed to have the skill, and I wondered where and how he’d learned to do that. I guessed that would have to be a conversation for another time.

Jax straightened, helping both me and my mom to our feet. He slipped off his jacket and wrapped it around my mom. “Get her to the car while I haul this guy over there so that he can’t be rescued and come after us. He’s already coming around.” We all looked at him as he began to twitch and moan.

“She can barely walk, Jax,” I said. “Her legs are still tied together. Do you have a knife or something I can cut the zip ties with?”

Jax pulled out a pocketknife and bent down in front of my mom. “Hold still,” he said, sawing the zip tie in half. “That should be good for now. We’ll get the rest of it later.”

“Thank you,” my mom said as Jax slipped his pocketknife back into his pocket, grabbed the bald man’s arms, and started dragging him away.

“Who exactly is Jax?” my mom asked me as we limped through the forest toward the cars.

“I’ll explain later,” I whispered. “We have to stay quiet now.”

Since Mom’s legs were weak, I insisted she put an arm around my shoulders so I could support her as we walked. It seemed to take forever just to go a few steps. I was already tiring, my shoulders screaming from her weight, even though she probably weighed less than me. I felt like we were making an incredible amount of noise as we moved, but no one had accosted us yet, and I hadn’t heard Mike report that Sampson had left the house yet looking for his buddy.

Actually, I hadn’t heard Mike or Kira or anyone report for a couple of minutes now. “Report. Is anyone there?” I asked.

No response.

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