Page 75 of Take Me Back
Click.
Vander yanks the gun away from my head and throws me to the ground before firing at him.
As I roll in the sand, I see Dane’s body jerk back with the impact, and I scream.
“Should’ve checked your gun first. A year out of the field, and you’re a fucking amateur again.”
My ears are ringing from the shot, but Vander snatches me by the hair before I can bolt toward my husband.
“Get him up. On his fucking knees.”
Anton wrenches Dane up into a kneeling position. Blood smears his upper arm, but I can’t tell where the wound is.
Once again, Vander presses the barrel into my temple.
Tears track down my face as Dane’s dark gaze meets mine. There’s no pain. No fear. Just ... regret.
And then it becomes something else—rage. His eyes burn with it.
Anton pulls a wicked-looking blade from a sheath at his side. One that looks more suited to fileting fish than anything else, and holds it to Dane’s throat.
“Spent the last hour sharpening it myself. You move, and it’ll slice right through.” Anton’s eye is swelling shut, and he spits. A red glob lands in the sand. “I won’t feel bad about it either.”
What is wrong with these people?
Dane’s gun lies on the beach in front of him, just out of reach.
“I get more if he’s alive. Vargas wants to do the honors. But if he moves, fucking kill him.”
Dane jerks forward, and blood spills down his throat as the blade cuts into his skin. His nostrils flare, the rage burning hotter.
“Why take her? Why not just me?”
“Because I increase my profit margins with her, and there are no pesky loose ends,” Vander says with a note of twisted humor.
“You know enough about me to know that there’s always someone coming next. They won’t stop until you’re dead.”
“I’ll be long gone. I’m not afraid of your little band of commandos.” His tone turns darker. “And your wife will never be seen or heard from again. I already have buyers lined up to bid for her. You’ll die knowing you couldn’t save her. The most important mission of your life, and you fucked up. Pitiful excuse for a mercenary.”
A battle cry comes from behind Vander, stealing his attention away from Dane.
A man charges him, but Vander is too quick. The gun leaves my head and two shots are fired into the man’s chest, dropping him to the sand.
Chapter 34
Dane
My unwilling helper takes two bullets, and there’s not shit I can do to help him. I wrap a hand around Anton’s wrist and snap it backward, breaking bones until the knife falls to the ground.
The sound of another boat coming toward the island sends a shaft of unease down my spine, but all I care about is getting to Kat.
I grab Anton’s knife and charge toward Vander. Only a few feet of sand separate us when he turns toward me, the barrel raised, his finger on the trigger. I brace for the impact, but it doesn’t come from him.
The sound of automatic-weapon fire rips through the darkness as hot lead hits my thigh and I stumble to my knees. Sand flies up all around me from the impact of bullets.
Vander spins around and yells, “Don’t fucking kill him yet, you idiots!”
Three men splash into the water and race up on the beach, all holding AKs.
