His voice calmed me. My muscles unclenched. I could reach for my phone to text Clint. Before I sent the emergency message, the elevator doors opened behind me and masked men flooded out.
The head asshole slapped the phone from my hand and yanked me to my feet. With my free hand, I flipped open my switchblade and drove it into his leg. While he grunted in pain, I elbowed him in the crotch and dove forward.
The sisters and I scrambled to find cover while the men chased after us. Cher fired at one man, hitting him in the hip. He toppled to the ground, hollering in pain.
Another guy rushed at Cher. He swatted away her weapon and shoved his own pistol against her temple.
“Calm the fuck down, or I'll drop this bitch,” the guy hissed at Stevie.
I prided myself on reading situations quickly. These men weren’t here for the sisters. They wanted to take me alive. If not, I’d already be dead.
I lifted my hands to signal for Stevie to calm down. “What do you want?” I asked the man holding the gun to Cher’s head.
“You’re coming with us. The only question is how many people will die to make that happen.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t have come in so roughly, if you were hoping to handle things smoothly,” I said and glanced at the other men. “Are you planning to take me to the elevator? Is that where I should slowly move toward to keep everyone from shooting each other?”
His black ski mask hid everything except the man’s cold blue eyes. Gesturing with his jaw toward the elevator, he muttered, “Just shuffle your ass in that direction and keep your hands where I can see them.”
Nodding, my gaze flashed to Cher. She was signaling Stevie to make a move. I gave her a frown and shook my head.
“Stay alive,” I told her as I slowly walked toward the men at the elevator. “Let Clint deal with the next step. Just breathe.”
“Listen to your boss,” said the guy with the gun muzzle shoved against Cher’s temple. “No need for more bloodshed.”
Once I reached the men at the elevator, one of them yanked my hands behind my back and bound them with zip ties.
“Now what?” I asked the guy at my side.
“No witnesses,” he replied.
Cher broke free from the guy holding her and pointed a small gun she had kept hidden. He slapped at her weapon as she fired. The bullet tore into his knee.
Another gunshot rang out. This one was from his gun. I heard Cher cry out.
Though I thought of running, the men surrounded me. I was the key to their mission.
As the guy struggled with Cher, Stevie turned her weapon toward the men around me. Once I ducked down, she opened fire.
The man next to me dropped dead. Feeling brazen, I collapsed onto my ass and kicked at the men around me. My heels made contact, distracting the assholes as Stevie ran for cover behind a car.
“Fuck this shootout shit,” snarled one of the men. “We’ve got the bitch. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
Another man yanked my heels off. He threw one and used the other to smack me in the face.
“I can break a lot of shit on you without killing you,” he warned before the elevator doors opened.
“We’re leaving!” announced the guy and yanked me by my hair into the elevator.
Two men dove inside just before the doors closed, but others were left behind. I tried to plan an escape as the lift moved down to the main level. Around me, the men argued over the ones they left behind.
I tried to give myself a pep talk.The gunshots would draw attention. Someone might have already called Clint or my dad. I just needed to find a way to remain in this location for as long as possible to allow my people to save me.
The doors opened, revealing three idling black SUVs. Another argument occurred as the men fought over whether to leave the rest of their team.
When the man holding me tried to shove my body into the SUV, I lifted my feet and planted them on the side of the vehicle. A short struggle took place before he dropped me.
With no way to brace myself, I landed hard on my tailbone. Still, I scrambled away, even attempting to crawl under the SUV. I needed to delay our departure, so my family could ride to my rescue.
