Page 59 of Rescuing Tobias

But the fun of being outside and chatting as they headed for the station was over now. Isabella was ready to get inside and then to Prey. She’d feel a whole lot safer when she could no longer see a single vehicle.

“When it comes to your safety, and that of our little one, then I don’t have much either,” Tobias admitted.

Hearing him refer to their baby as “ours” made her smile, and she did her best to focus on the positives rather than allow the negative emotions that always felt one small misstep awayfrom breaking free. She knew healing was a journey, a process, and that you couldn’t skip steps along the way, but she just wanted to be normal again.

A car rolled to a stop just in front of them. It wasn't a white van so she shouldn’t be worried, nor was it a jeep like the one that she’d been abducted in back in Cambodia. But nonetheless, it gave her an uneasy feeling.

Tobias, too, if the way he suddenly stiffened, then abruptly turned around and headed back the way they’d come was any indication.

As soon as they did so, the engine on the SUV revved, and the vehicle slammed into reverse and came to a stop right beside them. Immediately, two big men jumped out of the back, while another remained in the driver’s seat, the engine running.

Tobias reached for his weapon, but the men were on them too quickly this time for him to do anything.

One of them kicked Tobias, who grunted and stumbled backward, while the other reached for her. Isabella opened her mouth and screamed long and loud. With any luck, any or all of the people around would pull out their cell phones and record what was happening as well as call the cops. That way, if she and Tobias got abducted, at least the police would have the make, model, and plates of the vehicle that took them, and images of the abductors, which would make finding them easier.

Not that she was going to let herself get taken without a fight.

As one man continued to go after Tobias, the other managed to grab her wrist, yanking her forward.

Overbalancing, she fell into him, and he took advantage by hoisting her up off the ground.

Continuing to scream, she thrashed about, kicking as she grabbed at his face, managing to press a thumb into his eye and making him swear. Not willing to stop until he put her down, if she could just get to Tobias’ fallen weapon, she’d kill these men,she pressed harder into his eye even as he howled and tried to contain her squirming form.

It wasn't until a fist slammed into the side of her head that she stopped as the world began to swim and go a little dark at the edges.

After calling her every name in the book, his fist slammed into her temple again, and this time, there was no fighting against the inevitable.

The world faded away, and she knew she and her baby weren't going to survive what was coming.

CHAPTER 18

April 26th

8:43 A.M.

This wasn't happening.

Couldn’t be.

Yet it was.

The two men who had jumped out of the SUV had come at them too quickly. They were on them before Tobias had a chance to get a hand on his weapon.

He should have insisted that they take an Uber into work, but it was too late for that now. Prioritizing Isabella’s mental health over her physical well-being might wind up costing both of them their lives.

Blocking a strike that would have knocked him out if it had connected with his head at the right angle, he saw over his attacker’s shoulder that Isabella had been picked up off the ground and was being carried toward the waiting vehicle.

No.

If he let them get her in that SUV, it was all over. She’d be snatched away from him and taken someplace they’d never findher. The trafficking ring would either keep trying to use her as a nurse, or they would tie her to a bed and begin removing her organs, just like they’d done to Ava.

And their baby …

He was sure that infant organs were even harder to come by than adult ones. If the ring didn't already know she was pregnant, they would find out as soon as they ran tests on her. Then they might keep her alive long enough for her to give birth so they could dissect his child and steal its little life. Even if they didn't intend to use her for her organs, sooner or later, she would begin showing, and they’d know that she was pregnant.

Letting them take Isabella and their unborn child was a death sentence for all three of them. While he suspected these men would kill him before they left with his firecracker, if they didn't, there was no way he would survive the guilt of letting his girl be snatched from right under his nose.

Maybe they’d take him along too.

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