Page 87 of Keeping Laryn
“You are. And this defiance will be punished. You’ll learn to obey your husband one way or another. Now…Get. Up.”
Husband? No fucking way!
Casper saw red. It was only Pyro’s hand on his arm that kept him from rushing straight across the hangar floor to where Laryn sat on the floor. They’d been inching along the shadows on the outskirts of the room, trying to stay undetected for as long as possible. There was no telling the chaos that would explode once they were discovered.
But as Casper worked his way toward Laryn, needing to get to her as fast as possible, something strange was happening around them. Theywerebeing noticed…by the workers closest to them
And no one was raising any kind of alarm.
Most of the men Casper had clocked as being guards of some sort were watching the scene between Laryn and the man who claimed to be her husband. They weren’t paying any attention to the perimeter of the room, to anyone who might be hiding in the shadows.
With every second that passed, more employees spotted Casper and his team, but still no one said a word, solidifying his guess that no one was there voluntarily. They were forced labor, and not too keen on bringing any kind of attention to themselves.
Or maybe even hoping for their own opportunity to escape…
Making a split-second decision as he and his team approached one of the large hangar doors on the north side of the building, Casper grasped the handle of the door and yanked back,hard, praying it wasn’t locked. Just like the damn window they’d used to gain entry.
It wasn’t.
The door groaned and let out a horrible screeching noise, but it rolled back wide enough to allow several people to pass through side by side.
Then Casper aimed his pistol and shot a few rounds into the ground, just outside the door. The noise was startling in its loudness, especially with the hangar being so unnaturally silent.
He yelled, “Go!” as he pointed toward the now open door.
Several of the workers standing near him and his team looked confused, but he saw the exact moment understanding dawned.
All it took was one man making a break for the door to set off the others around him. Casper and his team were almost trampled as they rushed to get out of the way of the men racing for freedom.
He’d needed a distraction, and he’d gotten one.
The men he’d tagged as guards were now yelling, probably telling everyone to stop, to get back to work, but no one listened. They’d caught a whiff of freedom and were doing what they could to take it.
His attention now focused on finding his woman, Casper rushed forward, no longer concerned with staying in the shadows. No one paid attention to him and the others as they raced toward where they’d last seen Laryn.
But she wasn’t there anymore.
Looking around frantically, Casper’s heart fell into his throat when he didn’t see her. Then he heard her scream. Turning, he saw a door.
Of course. The stairs. The man had dragged her into the stairwell, was probably taking her up to one of the rooms.
Pyro had obviously had the same thought, as he beat Casper to the door, pulling it open and holding it for the others as they ran through.
Laryn’s voice was louder now, echoing around the stairwell.
“No. Stop! Let go of me, you asshole!”
It sounded as if they were at the top of the stairs above them. Then a loud smacking sound reached his ears, right before Laryn cried out in pain.
A sheen of red fell over Casper’s eyes. The man would die for putting his hands on Laryn. He’d promised to keep casualties to a minimum, but he was looking forward to taking out this bastard.
A door clanged shut above them just as Casper started taking the stairs two at a time, desperate to reach her before the man got her inside one of the rooms on the floor above.
Not knowing if the man was armed, Casper quietly opened the door at the top in time to see Laryn literally being dragged down the hall by her hair.
She was kicking her feet and holding onto the man’s wrist, trying to take the pressure off her scalp. She was also swearing like a sailor, using every curse word she’d learned over the years from working alongside her fellow blue-collar mechanics.
Casper rushed along the hall on silent feet, quickly closing the distance between himself and Laryn, endlessly relieved to have her in his sights, but hating the fear and pain he could hear under the angry words spewing from her mouth.
