Page 80 of Red Hunt

The two other guys grumbled, but then got back into the van and left.

“Alone, after all,” Tall Guy said after he led me inside the house, his grin causing bile to rise up into my throat.

“I usually don’t touch our product. But with you, I’ll make an exception. Hell. You are the exception.” He grabbed me by my side and pulled me toward him, his foul breath brushing my skin, causing goose bumps. “Little Lindi, you still look like a teenager. How about we watch that video together? For old time’s sake. Maybe do a little reenactment. You were so beautifully scared. Are you scared now, Lindi?”

I was, but I would not show him. Never again. If this guy thought I would just let him do the things to me they had done when I was a child, he was mistaken.

I was a strong and capable woman. I deserved to be loved and cherished and protected, not treated like some inferior object of someone’s sick obsession.

I clenched my jaw, braced my body, then kicked him in the nuts and rapidly hit him in the throat, as well.

The sound he made stopped me in my tracks but only for a second. Then I flew toward the door. The key was in the lock, but the door was unlocked. Then I was on the run. I hitched up my dress, and even though my leg wasn’t 100%, I didn’t even feel any pain.

I would not stop. I wasn’t going to get caught. I didn’t know if he was behind me, following me. But there was a good chance he would be catching me again. And even then, I would not give up. I would never give up the fight. He would have to kill me before I would ever let anyone do anything like he had suggested. What he had wanted to do to me. What he did to me, when I was too weak, too scared to defend myself.

Not anymore.

53

MAX

We stopped at the motel but only for a few minutes. The GPS location had changed.

We barreled along the highway, the sinking feeling in my stomach growing with every minute we were on the move. What would they do to her? And what would whatever they did do to her mind? Could she survive being a victim again?Please, let her be okay. Please, powers that be, don’t let anything happen to her.I needed her to be well. I needed her to be okay enough to hear my apology. I needed to tell her I loved her. How I needed her in my life. How I didn’t want to be separated from now on, not even for a minute.

Please.

“Shit, turn right, right, right,” Carter shouted into the comms, just as their truck missed the exit and barreled straight ahead. Luckily for us, we were in the rear vehicle and George was quick on his feet. Not lucky—I wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, and when he threw the wheel around with squealing tires, I got thrown to the side and I cracked my head against the window. Ouch.

The tires encountered gravel, lost grip, and lingered, searching for traction, fighting the centrifugal forces that threatened to push us off the road. Finally, we caught a grip and after a moment, in which I thought we would go into a tail-spin in the other direction, George managed to stabilize our ride.

“Puhh,” was all he said while Lucas was laughing maniacally.

Crazy man.

I rubbed my head. There was blood on my fingertips, but the pain was manageable, so I ignored it for now.

Instead, I focused on the road ahead.Please, let this be the right location. Please, let Milli be okay.My stomach cramped. But I immediately smashed my thoughts of all the things that already could’ve happened to her.

No matter what we would be together. And together we would beat those new demons. Together.

54

MILLI

A trail of dust blocked out the stars, and the vibrations and the low humming sound suddenly made sense. There was a van barreling down the road, heading my way. Dwarf and the other guy coming back already? I jumped off the road and proceeded to walk in the irrigation ditch next to the road. I stumbled over something. A stone maybe? I looked down, but it was dark and muddy, so I couldn’t see details. I stopped, hunched down. My toe was throbbing. But down here in the darkness, I would be safe. At least safer, but also a lot slower. I would trade that for the chance that whoever was driving up to the house would hopefully miss me.

Once there, they would come after me.

Shit.

I needed to pick up speed. Get to a main road. Somewhere with people so they couldn’t take me again. I looked over the field to my right. I couldn’t see past the first couple of feet, didn’t know if the soil was hard or soft.

And with those shoes and the dress? I shook my head. The road or the ditch next to it was the fastest way back to civilization—once the van passed—close, so close.

I ducked down deeper into some underbrush. My heart throbbed in my chest, and blood rushed through my veins and ears, drowning out all the noises of nature except for the van’s engine.

The headlights slid over me, and I stopped breathing completely. Then it barreled by me.

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