As Ian prepared to move again a shattered feminine cry drifted up the stairs. Kira's cry, rife with pain, fear. Ian knew that Sorrell had her.
* * *
Thirty-one
HER WRIST WAS BROKEN, KIRA knew that the moment the gun dropped from her hand and Joseph Fitzhugh jerked her back into his barrel chest.
"You fucking bitch," he snarled in her ear. "I should have killed you along with your parents. This is what I get for having mercy on you."
"You were going to kidnap me." She knew that the moment his identity was revealed. "That's why Jase hid me all those years. Why he surrounded me with bodyguards."
She fought to breathe through the pain.
"Jason was an idiot. A very lucky idiot," he snarled at her ear. "He was supposed to be with them. Everyone but poor little Kira, who would have made me so much money."
His hand tightened on her wrist, bringing a ragged cry from her throat as the pain threatened to steal her consciousness. Bastard. Son of a bitch. Did he think a broken wrist was going to disable her?
"Poor little Kira is going to kick your ass," she hissed, then screamed again as he applied pressure to her wrist once more.
"Where is my daughter?" His voice was low, evil, the smooth French accent almost natural, definitely worthy of an Academy Award.
"We were separated." She breathed through the pain, fighting to keep her head clear. God, she was going to fucking kill him.
"You're lying to me."
She shook her head desperately, praying Tehya stayed hidden.
"It was too dark. I couldn't find her. I was looking . . ."
He twisted her wrist and she lost it. Her stomach roiled, pitching with the pain as darkness threatened her vision.
Gagging, she leaned over, fighting to hold on to consciousness.
"Don't you puke on me, you stupid whore." He jerked her back from him, using his hold on her wrist.
Agony blazed through her mind, exploded in her head as she went to her knees. And it kept exploding.
He jerked her again, nearly ripping her wrist off as he fell. Kira's free hand clawed at his, breaking his hold, only distantly aware of the explosions that didn't seem to stop as she pitched to the floor, rolled, and cradled her wrist to her chest while the pain continued to resound in her head.
She heard someone screaming her name. Screaming hoarsely. Ian. That was Ian's voice. Ian's hands lifting her as she fought to hold on to consciousness through the agony resounding through her arm.
Oh hell, she was a pussy, she thought, just as Tehya had accused.
IAN HELD KIRA AS SHE passed out. Mercifully. He cradled her in his arms as Daniel rushed to her, his hands moving to the broken wrist, hurriedly splinting it as Ian stared at Sorrell, otherwise known as Joseph Fitzhugh.
Lights had swept into the kitchen the minute Kira's screams had sounded. And Tehya had rushed in, firing every round the Glock held straight into her father's chest.
She stood over him, staring down at his body, her face bloodless, her green eyes wilder than before as Antoli stood behind her, watching her like a man tormented, the gash in his head bleeding profusely.
Deke, Trevor, Mendez, and Cristo were all in good shape, all armed and standing around Ian and the two women protectively as the gunfire outside finally leveled off.
"Where's Diego?" He finally realized the other man hadn't been seen since the lights went off.
Deke looked around the room then back at Ian in confusion.
"Reno, Diego's missing, do you have a fix?" Ian snapped. He had attached a transmitter to Diego as well as the two women without their knowledge well before Sorrell had shown up.
"Tracker shows he's with the women." Macey's voice came through the line.