Page 40 of Rescuing Erin

“Fuck!” I roared when I saw a black rifle pointed directly at Erin.

There was no time to think, no time to try and disarm the shooter or take him out. I did the only thing I could do I grabbed Erin halting her progress and threw us to the ground, covering her body the best I could. With no body armor any of the rounds fired in our direction would easily penetrate, going through me before hitting her.

“I’m—” My words were cut off by a searing pain. Erin wiggled under me freeing her hand holding the Glock and shot.

My vision blurred and the last thing I heard before my world went dark were Erin’s screams.

Mission failed.

* * *

My stomach roiled, and my head pounded. Erin’s angry voice and pleas for help echoed in the room as I slowly came to. How the fuck was I not dead? I’d felt the bullet hit my back and a second one to the side of my neck. I took stock of my wounds and realized they had to have used non-lethal rounds to subdue me. The way my stomach was revolting and my mind was still fuzzy there had to have been a tranquilizer used as well. Where the hell was I? But more importantly, where was Erin?

“Oh, good, you’re awake. Just in time to join the party.” I vaguely recognized the man’s voice but in my current state I couldn’t place it. “Erin here was about to ask daddy dearest for help.”

I opened my eyes to find Erin sitting in a chair, her arms tied to the sides. But that wasn’t what had my attention. The blood trickling down the side of her face had me seeing red.

“I will kill you for this,” I spit out. “Each and every one of you will die.”

“You always were a cocky son of a bitch. I think Zane teaches you all to be arrogant, self-righteous pricks. If you haven’t noticed, you’re not in the position to be making any kind of threats.” The man laughed as did several of the other men in the room. None had removed their balaclavas, keeping their identities concealed.

“If you know Zane, then you know this is not going to end well for you or your band of pussies. He will rain hellfire down on you. There will be no place you’ll be able to hide. Your only option is to let us go.”

The man lifted his chin to the men standing next to me and with no way to protect myself from the onslaught of blows, my head snapped to the side as one man punched me in the face and a second used my ribs as a punching bag. Goddamn, that hurt. I gritted my teeth against the pain that spread over my body.

“Fuck you!” one of the men shouted in my ear.

“Enough!” The men stepped away, and the man who seemed to be in charge spoke again. “I’ve heard that speech before. I believe your boss has already used that threat. But you know, the funny thing is, I’m still breathing. I believe her daddy even threatened rendition. Yet, here I am.” He stretched his arms out wide and turned to Erin. “Remember what you’re going to say?”

“I’m not saying anything,” Erin said in defiance. I would’ve been proud of her for being so brave if the slap the man had delivered hadn’t rang out loudly, followed by her scream.

“This will go so much easier for you if you just cooperate. All you have to do is tell your dad to sign one simple document. That’s all, Erin, and you go home.”

“And Colin?” she asked.

“He’s as good as dead. I have unsettled business with him. But you can save yourself and walk out of here in a few hours. As soon as your dad signs the papers, you leave.”

I was getting ready to tell her to save herself and ask her dad to sign the papers. It wouldn’t take Zane long to put the pieces together and undo what it was this man wanted. However, she spoke too soon.

“No deal. You’ll have to kill me, too.”

“Erin!” I shouted.

“Shut him up,” the man said.

I closed my lips tightly as one man tried to insert a piece of fabric into my mouth. The second man’s punch to my solar plexus had me involuntarily gasping for air. I was fucked. My hands were chained above my head, and there were four men in the room. If Erin wasn’t in there with me, I’d have a better chance, but as soon as I made a move they’d use Erin against me. She had no way of protecting herself tied to a chair, sitting in front of a table with an open laptop pointed at her.

“Suit yourself. Don’t ask. Your dad will sign those documents one way or another. The easy way or the hard way.”

“Fuck you!” she yelled. “He won’t sign them. You know he won’t. He doesn’t give into men like you. Not even for me. So kill me now. Get it over with.”

Fuck. I knew what she was doing. Her biggest fear had become her reality. We’d been taken. She’d told me more than once she’d rather be killed than held against her will. She was so frightened of being tortured she was goading them into killing her right there, right then. I had no way to tell her to stop.

The only saving grace was the man holding us was not stupid. He was far from it. He wouldn’t kill her. It had taken me a few minutes to place the man, but I knew exactly who he was and why he wanted me dead.

“Oh, no, princess, you have some work to do first.”

The former CIA director, Charles Warren, stepped aside, allowing one of his men to take over. Smart. If the president or anyone else heard the man’s voice, they’d immediately know who he was. I was surprised it had taken me as long as it had to figure it out. But when Warren mentioned Zane and the threats he’d made, it was easy to put two and two together.