I watch through wet eyes as men in black come out of the shadows and approach the house, guns in hands. The garage door is up and they breach through there. It doesn’t look like they locked the door to the inside of the house and the men enter that door.
It’s eerily silent. I listen for gunshots, but hear nothing outside the normal sounds of the night. A dog barks in the distance. The sound of a car door opening and closing echoes through the still night. Why is it so quiet?
It’s minutes. Five at most when Barry’s cell rings.
“We can go in, but it’s not good, Hutch. You need to prepare yourself for what we’re going to find down there.”
I barely hear him before I’m tearing out of the backseat and running like my life depends on it inside the house. One of the men point to a door in the kitchen leading down to the basement and I go that way. I hear the shouting before I even reach the top of the stairs.
Ayers.
I’d recognize his voice anywhere. I see him as soon as my feet hit the concrete floor. He and another guy I don’t recognize have been restrained with zip ties to both their hands and feet. He’s screaming obscenities at the men holding weapons on them.And then he sees me. His rage intensifies. His already crazed eyes go icy.
“You the hockey player?”
I nod.
He smiles. “I win.”
He wins? I look around and when I see her, my knees hit the floor. She’s a bloody mess with her limbs twisted at odd angles. Her face has been so badly beaten she’s not recognizable. No.
I crawl over to her and put my ear against her mouth and nose. She’s not breathing. I look for a pulse but can’t find one.
Collin shouts something unintelligible when he kneels down beside me. Everything around me goes gray and fuzzy and the only thing I see is her. My sweet, scrapy girl. She’s not breathing.
“She’s not breathing.” My voice comes out broken, barely above a whisper. “She’s not breathing, C.”
“Then we’ll breathe for her until the ambulance gets here.” Dylan goes down on his knees on the other side of her. “Do either of you know CPR?”
Collin nods.
“I’ll do chest compressions. Hutch you breathe for her. Can you do that?” Dylan asks.
“What?” I shake my head, trying to understand what he’s asking.
“Don’t you fucking pass out on me,” Dylan barks as I sway. “I need you to fucking breathe for your girl. She won’t live if we can’t keep her breathing and her heart beating.”
I nod slowly. I can do that. I can breathe for her.
With shaking hands, I tilt her head back, making sure her airway is clear and push two breaths into her. Her chest rises and falls with each one. Then Dylan is pushing down on her chest, counting out loud. Then I breathe for her again.
We repeat this, Collin and Dylan switching between reps so they don’t get tired. The whole time, I’m whispering to her that I’m here and to not give up, to breathe for me.
In the background Ayers is laughing hysterically.
“Get him the fuck out of here,” Barry tells someone. “We need to work and he’s not helping.”
“Dead, dead, dead,” asswipe chirps. “She’s mine. I told her that the last time and if she’d just been a good girl and kept her mouth shut, she’d be fine. Now she’s made me do this so she’d keep her fucking mouth shut.”
“Get him the fuck out of here,” Barry roars.
He’s hauled out of the basement, but I pay no attention to him. All my focus is on Daisy and making sure she keeps breathing. I’ll sit here all night and breathe for her. I can deal with asswipe later.
“Please, sweetheart, please just breathe for me. Please.”
The paramedics arrive and two of Baas’ men drag me away from her so they can work. I fight tooth and nail to get back to her. I need to make sure she’s breathing.
“Breathe, baby, please breathe.”
