Page 50 of Rogue Survivor
“I’m right here.” Rubbing small circles on his thigh, I strain to close some of the distance between us, but the handcuffs dig into my wrists and I stifle my whimper. “I can’t get any closer, but you can. At least a little. Come on, stud. Show me what you’re made of.”
From the pain etched in the lines around his lips, it takes everything he has to open his eyes and focus on me. “Can’t…words…ev’thing…fuzzy.”
Fuzzy? His head.
“Woke up in the hospital unable to walk, talk, or think…”
I’ve never wanted to hurt someone as badly as I want to hurt Luke in this moment.
The man I love—I know it now, I’m absolutely, completely, hopelessly in love with Connor—isn’t the man in front of me. What if he’s gone forever? I’ll still love him for as long as I live. Even if that’s only another few hours. But in his current state, will he understand if I tell him how I feel?
It’s agonizing to watch him struggle to move. But after a minute, he wraps his fingers around one of the bars and pulls himself up an inch at a time until he’s leaning against the wall.
“How…long…?” Wincing when he opens his eyes again, he turns his head away, then feels along his hairline until his fingers reach the deep gash at his temple.
“I don’t know.” I glance back at Mitzi. “When did they bring us in here?”
“Dunno. Maybe ten minutes before you woke up?”
Connor yanks at the cuffs, suddenly agitated enough I’m worried he’s going to hurt himself. “Who’s…?”
“It’s Mitzi. Calm down. Please. We have to stay quiet.” Behind me, Mitzi starts to cry. I wish I could scream. Wail. Let myself shatter into a million pieces, but I can’t. My daughter’s best friend and the man I love need me, and if I fall apart now, what will happen to Veronica?
“Connor? Can you move? Come any closer? I…” Shit. It doesn’t matter that I want his arms around me. The distance between us is too great. No matter how much he stretches, I can’t hold him. Can’t cup his cheek or feel his heartbeat. “Wait,” I say when he lifts his head and the muscles in his jaw tense. “Save your strength. Rest.”
“Uh huh,” he mumbles, and his head lolls onto his shoulder. This time, when my eyes burn, I don’t try to stop the tears from tumbling down my cheeks. We’re going to die here, and I pray Veronica’s still safe.
The voicesfrom outside the vault come and go, sometimes angry, sometimes not. With no other way to mark the passage of time, I watch the tiny patch of sunlight move across the floor until it fades away. It must be at least six, and we left my office a little after one. Connor stirs occasionally, shifts his position, but he hasn’t opened his eyes again. At least the bleeding has stopped. I think.
A door slams, and he jerks awake, looking around wildly until his gaze locks with mine.
“About fucking time,” a gritty male voice snaps.
Mitzi lets out a sob. “No, no, no,” she whispers.
“What is it?” I hiss, and from the fear in her red-rimmed eyes, I know. Reggie.
“Let me go, shithead!”
My world crumbles to dust at the sound of my daughter’s voice. Heavy footsteps thud closer, and another man growls, “I should drop you right now, you little bitch.”
“Don’t talk to her that way!” I scream, pulling on the chain until the bars rattle and blood seeps from under the cuffs. I can’t stand up. Not fully. The vertical bars are bisected by three horizontal ones, but I get to my knees just as Archer—the detective Veronica said was the one who grabbed Mitzi—strides in with my baby girl thrown over his shoulder.
She pounds on his back with her good hand and tries to kick him, buthe has her legs pinned tight against his chest. As soon as he’s fully inside the vault, he dumps her onto the floor, and her thin, pained whimper sends me over the edge.
“You fucking animal. I’ll kill you!” My wrists are slick with blood, and the pain sends sparks of electricity running up my arms. Hunched over, I scream and rage and use all my strength to try to get free. I don’t care how much it hurts. Nothing matters more than clawing Archer’s eyes out before I bang his head into the bars over and over.
A fist slams into my cheek so hard, I see stars. Connor roars—or is that my heartbeat in my ears?—and I fall to my knees. Someone grabs me by the hair and yanks my head back.
Reggie sneers down at me. This close, the look in his eyes is so vile, it makes my blood run cold. “I’d kill you right now, bitch, but I still need you and your daughter. The blond one? She’s served her purpose. Tell me what I need to know, and I’ll make all your deaths quick and painless. One bullet to the back of the head. Fight me, and I’ll make it last for days.”
Mitzi and Veronica are both crying now, and Archer has Connor pinned to the ground, his boot planted firmly in the center of Connor’s chest.
We’re all dead. The fight drains from my body in an instant. When Reggie loosens his grip on my hair, I collapse. “Much better.” Cutting his gaze to Archer, he jerks his thumb at Veronica, who dragged herself over to Mitzi. The two girls hug one another, both sobbing, until Archer wraps a meaty hand around Veronica’s arm.
“No!” she shrieks, but he’s too strong. In under a minute, he’s zip tied her good wrist to one of the bars and has her ankles bound with a second, thicker tie.
“Please, don’t do this,” I beg, forcing the words out over my terror. “She’s just a kid…”
