Page 54 of Rogue Survivor
“What was that?” Reggie asks. “Check on the brats.”
I shove the bag behind me and drop my head. Luke’s voice is too close, but all he does is snap at the girls to stay quiet and walk away. A minute later, I strain to hear his words. “Lover boy is passed out, and the kids are too scared to do more than cry. No one’s gonna hear them—even if they scream.”
“Whatever. In half an hour, we’ll have video the kid recorded. Break a couple of the blond one’s fingers and the others will tell us if they shared it with anyone.”
Their voices fade away, and I blow out a long, slow breath. Maybe Icando this. Get out of these cuffs, free the girls, and somehow find a way to save Isabel too.
Mitzi curls into a ball in the corner, her entire body shaking as she sobs. “I don’t want to die. My mom…I want my mom…”
“Mitz? Look at me,” Veronica says, her voice taking on a harsh edge even though she’s still whispering. “Connor’s a badass. And my mom’s smart. They’ll figure something out. I know it. We’re gonna be okay.”
I wish I had the kid’s confidence instead of just a kitchen utensil.
That’s not all you have, dumbass. Twenty years of training. Something to fight for. The woman you love, her daughter, and her best friend. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and get out of the damn cuffs.
The pounding in my head intensifies as I struggle to wedge the fork tines between the links on the handcuff chain. The things are so small, it’s damn near impossible. But after a few minutes, the chain snaps, and my hands are free.
My arms ache from so long in one position, but time is running out. If I don’t get the girls free soon, Archer and Milton will be back with Isabel and Veronica’s tablet. If Zephyr wasn’t at her computer, if she doesn’t check the doorbell camera footage, we’re fucked. Hell, we’re probably fucked anyway, but Pritchard and his guys—along with AJ and Jasper—found me in the middle of nowhere, in a search area the size of New York City. I have to believe there’s a chance. Even if there isn’t, I ain’t going down without a fight.
The moment I get to my knees, the vault starts to spin.Focus. Deep breaths.
The only thing going for me? I’ve been through this before. Pushing through the effects of a concussion? Not smart. Not easy. For all I know, I have a brain bleed that’ll take me out in minutes. But as long as I can string two thoughts together, I’ll fight.
I stagger over to Veronica, one shaky step at a time, until I can kneel next to her. I don’t expect her to throw her broken arm around me, and it almost knocks me onto my ass, but she holds on tight enough to steady me. “The Rangers are dead. I screamed as loud as I could, but…it was so fast. Like…two minutes and they had me in the back of a van. Archer…hit me, and everything went fuzzy.”
“Shhh, lil’…bit.” If we had time, I’d try to reassure her, but it’s already been at least fifteen or twenty minutes since they left with Isabel, and I have no fucking clue how far we are from her house. Drawing back, I wedge the fork tines around the zip tie at her ankles and snap it in two. Then break the one securing her wrist.
I gesture for her to take the fork and free Mitzi. Holding onto the bars, I stifle my grunt as I pull myself to standing. My equilibrium goes to shit, and I tighten my grip until the world stops spinning so badly. The snap of the handcuff chain helps me focus, and I try a step. I must have wrenched my knee when I fell at some point, but the pain? It can be ignored. As long as I don’t topple over, don’t get a halo so bad I can’t see a damn thing, I can do this.
One glance around the vault door bolsters my confidence. No one’s in the bank lobby. Only the emergency lights are on out there, and a long bank of teller windows stretch across the space. The glass in them? Most likely bulletproof.
Directly beyond the vault door, a narrow hallway runs for a good twenty feet to the right, and maybe forty on the left before continuing at a ninety-degree angle. That’s the way they took Isabel. I could hear the echoes as she cussed a blue streak at Milton.
Three doors probably hide offices. Only one—the middle door—is open, and light spills into the hall, broken up by shadows moving every few seconds.
“They’re ten minutes out,” Reggie says, but whatever Luke says in reply is too muffled for me to hear.
Fuck. We’re running out of time. I retreat, dropping down next to Veronica and Mitzi. My ASL is rusty, but I manage to ask V if she could remember anything from when they brought her here.
“The door is down the hall to the left. There’s a parking lot, but I think it’s behind the bank, because I couldn’t see anyone around. Just the street lights. We passed an office…maybe a couple, but only one had a light on. It was messy, and the guy in the suit was at a desk with his feet up.”
“You are…wow,”I sign, and the look she gives me? Shit. For a second, she beams like she just climbed Mt. Everest.“Walk?”
“They took my leg brace in the van,” V says. “But I can try.”
Mitzi sits up a little straighter. “She can lean on me.”
These girls are so fucking brave, they make me believe we have a chance. But now comes the hard part. I hope to all that’s holy I can get the words I need out of my broken brain, because signing? It’ll take too damn long.
“I keep watch. You go to front doors. Out. Then right. Don’t stop. Find a crowd. Only call the Rangers. No police. Don’t let…anyone…call the police.”
“What about Mom?” Veronica asks.
“Won’t leave without her. Promise.” I might not leave at all, but the girls don’t need to know that.
Holding out her hand, Veronica offers me her little finger. Fuck me. I broke our last pinky swear. I couldn’t protect Isabel at her office.Ilet her be taken. Let myself get shot. If I’d moved quicker…if I’d shown her the piece of plastic before sending it to Zephyr…if I’d paid more attention when she used it the first time…
Seeing the woman I love in pain, bleeding, desperate to protect her daughter? It nearly killed me. I can’t fail again. As long as the girls are safe, I don’t care what happens to me.
