Page 91 of Triple the Secrets
“I looked out the window and counted ten,” Karissa replied grimly.
“Why the fuck would they send so many men for three women?” Wren wondered in confusion, even as she reached down to make sure her knife was still in place. Win copied her gesture, her stomach jittery. She would slit her own throat before she would let them take her again. She and Wren had already talked about it, and she saw the same determination in Wren’s eyes.
“Because they figured the guys would show up and they wanted to make sure they got you out of here,” Karissa assumed. “We don’t have a lot of time. They’re already making their way inside and we need to make sure they don’t grab you.”
“They won’t take us out the back,” Wren murmured. “They’ll want to show us to whoever is in charge. Probably Slicer or Club. Did they know you were here?”
Karissa shook her head. “They weren’t out there when I got here.”
“Good,” Win said, ideas forming quickly. “Here’s what we need to do. We need to let them grab us, let them think they have the upper hand. You can be our ace in the hole. Can you hide so they can’t see you?”
“I’ll be fine,” Karissa promised her. She looked resigned to the fact that they weren’t going to listen to her. “Alright, here’s the plan.”
When Karissa eventually snuck out of the bathroom, Win and Wren were ready. Both of them looked at each other, nodded, forced themselves to be as calm as they could be. Wren shot off a text message to Rogue and every brother that Rogue had put in their phones. Someone would see it and get to them. They just had to keep them busy until they did.
“Rogue will save us,” Wren whispered.
Win hoped so. “Ready?” she asked her sister.
“I love you, Win,” Wren murmured. “If you can’t get away, you do it. Don’t worry about me. I’ll do the same.”
Win knew what she meant and as much as she wanted to scream at her, she nodded and swallowed it down. “I love you too. Let’s do this.”
Like they planned, she walked out first, an easy smile on her face as she glanced back at and said in a normal voice, “I’m bored. Wish we could head to the mall or something later. It’d be better than this place.”
“Yeah,” Wren replied, coming out after her.
Win knew the moment they were reaching for her, and it took everything in her not to react. When the big brute of a man grabbed her, she screamed and started to fight. “Let me go!” she cried. She vaguely heard Wren doing the same, then a real cry when the man slapped her.
“Shut the fuck up,” the man gripping her arms snarled. When she didn’t, he slapped her too, stunning her. Damn that hurt. She fought the memories that assaulted her. The ones that made her want to curl up in a ball and surrender. To make it stop. To make it go away.
“Let me go, asshole,” Wren snarled as they were dragged towards the front desk. She saw Slicer and three other men there. Slicer had a gun aimed at Scarlett’s head, and Razor lay unconscious by the front door, head bleeding. She wanted to cry at the sight, but then she wanted to cheer when she realized Scarlett was also holding a gun, and it was pointed right at Slicer. Her face was pale, but her hand was steady.
She ignored whatever Slicer was saying. Out of the corner of her eye she saw movement, and she knew Karissa was getting into position. She stiffened, and the man holding her sneered down at her. He was enjoying this, and she figured he didn’t care that she was still a kid. He was as bad as the rest of them.
She hoped she was the one who got to kill him.
She glanced over at Wren and saw the grim look on her face. They were ready to move.
“Girls, now!” Karissa hollered out, and then it was complete madness.
A shot rang out, startling the man holding her more than the yell. Calling on every ounce of training she had, Win slammed her elbow back, connecting with his stomach and making him groan and start to double over. He was large, but thanks to the classes, she was able to get him over and onto the ground with a little effort. Shots rang out, and she tried to stay low, even as she fought to get the asshole to let her go.
She heard a cry, and she saw one of the men fall to the ground, blood pooling from a bullet hole in his neck. The man holding her snarled, lifting a fist and punching her in the side of the head. She saw stars and her grip loosened on him, enough that he shoved her to the floor and he rolled on top of her, hand going around her neck.
Panic filled her as he squeezed, but she forced herself to fight. She pushed, bucked, and tried to pull his hand away, but nothing made him move. Then she remembered her knife. She just needed to figure out a way to get it out.
Her vision was going black, spots covering her eyes. She was going to die. Frantically, she reached down into her pocket, gripped the knife with weak hands, and brought it up. She didn’t have a plan on where to aim it, but instinct took over. She felt it slide into his neck, and immediately felt him loosen his grip on hers. She didn’t let go, not even when he started coughing blood all over her, an unholy gurgling sound coming from his throat. She pushed the knife in harder, and then bucked him off her. When she pulled the knife out, blood sprayed, but she didn’t care.
Bullets were flying, and she ducked down behind a small table, desperately looking around for Wren and Scarlett. She saw Wren was still trying to fight off one of the men. Win didn’t hesitate. She was off and running at him, ignoring the bullets whizzing all around. She didn’t know who was shooting, but she didn’t care. Wren needed her.
She let out a scream and flung herself at the man standing over Wren, knocking him off, sending both of them rolling towards one of the stacks. “Fucking whores,” the man screamed.
Win turned her head and saw that Wren was still on the floor, gasping for air, and Win didn’t even hesitate. Quickly, before the man could get the upper hand, she lifted the knife and plunged it into his neck. She yanked it out, ignoring his scream and rushed for Wren.
“Wren,” she cried, panicked. “Are you hurt?”
“Scarlett,” Wren gasped. “Win, get to Scarlett.”
