Page 58 of Sinister Games

CHAPTER18

LIZZIE

When the car came to a sudden stop, I scrambled out of the footwell. Lying back on the seat, I raised my knees up. Holding my breath, my whole body tensed as I waited for the door to open. Straining, I could hear muffled voices just on the other side then they both came into view. It was still the same two men, one in a suit, the other in jeans and sweater. If I hadn’t known better, I would have mistaken him for a student. The latch released. The door swung open.

Waiting till I saw his head duck down to look inside the car, I lashed out, kicking him right in the face.

“Fucking bitch kicked me!” howled the guy in the suit.

I didn’t wait to hear his partner’s response. Hoping one side unlocking meant the other would as well, I flipped onto my stomach and lunged for the other door. Just as my fingertips grazed the cold, smooth metal handle, there was a tug on my leg. Flipping onto my back, I kicked at the hand that had wrapped around my ankle. Trying to use the edge of my heel of my free leg, I drove it again and again, targeting the back of his hand.

“Stop kicking! Goddamn it! Fuck your face, get over here and help me!”

Once more I flipped onto my stomach and then onto my knees as I lunged for the other door. My face hit the leather and I was dragged on my already sore cheek out of the car by both legs.

My struggles were nothing now that they had me out of the car and into an open space. They easily restrained both my arms and lifted me high so my feet weren’t even touching the ground. One had a hand firmly over my mouth. It wouldn’t have mattered. I didn’t see a soul on the street. We were in some extremely posh neighborhood with lots of extravagant, historic period houses and buildings, which had that eerie quiet you often felt in rich neighborhoods, not the sort of place the rabble shuffled about catching trains, smoking, and grabbing fish and chips.

Desperately, I tried to focus on the details of my surroundings, knowing it would be important when I tried to escape. We approached a tall narrow building that almost looked like an old Victorian train station. They boldly took me straight through the front doors. Shocked, I saw one of those cobalt blue shields they put on important historical houses around London, right there to the left of the door.

Former Home of JM Barrie, author of Peter Pan

I was being kidnapped to Neverland.

The grand entrance hall gleamed a harsh bright white with large white marble columns and a matching diamond pattern floor, a stark contrast to the misty gray atmosphere outside. After I was hauled up a sweeping staircase, the men stopped before a pair of massive double doors. Before they could even knock, both doors dramatically swung open.

And there stood Richard.

* * *

My shockat seeing him was nothing compared to the rage that pulsed from his body. The cords on his neck stuck out as he moved deliberately toward the men holding me. Their only warning was a tic in the corner of Richard’s right eye and a tightening of his jaw, before he hauled off and punched the man in a suit. He fell with a sickening thud.

The other man immediately loosened his grip on me. “It wasn’t our fault. She started to fight.”

Grabbing the man by his sweater, Richard easily raised his bulky weight high off the floor as he snarled, “You were supposed to guard her. I never gave permission for you to ever lay hands on her.”

He tossed the man away like garbage. The man scrambled to his knees.

“Take him with you. You’re both finished in this city.”

Stunned, I watched as the guy grabbed his friend under the shoulders and dragged his dead weight down the hallway we had just come through.

The touch of Richard’s warm hand on my cheek brought me back to the present.

Looking over my shoulder at the retreating men, his words were soft and low, but no less deadly. “If they did this as well, I’ll kill them both.”

My hand flew to my cheek, the tips brushing his knuckles. “No. It was the crazy woman,” I answered almost absently. My mind still trying to catch up to the swiftly changing events.

“Come inside.”

With a guiding hand on my lower back, he walked me through the double doors and shut them with a decisive bang. I then heard the unmistakable click of a lock.

Clasping my hands in front of me, I tried to subdue the tremors that had started to course through my body.

Richard reached out and enfolded me within the warm safety of his arms. Burying my head against his chest, I inhaled his familiar masculine scent and strained to hear the reassuring beat of his heart, as his hand stroked my back in large soothing circles. I could have stayed secure within his arms for an eternity if the shock hadn’t started to wear off and with it my mind began to fit the pieces into place.

As I tried to pull away, his arms tightened to keep me close but then relented.

“So those men were with you?”

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