“Oh” is all I say. That makes sense. “You didn’t even say bye or anything.” It’s a stupid response. I know Bear isn't the greatest with communication. It’s kind of part of his appeal with his grunts and growls.
“Honey. I love you. We’re getting married.”
I start to sob. “I'm not sure we can, Bear. I love you, too,” I manage to get out. “But…”
“No buts. Home. We’ll talk when I get there.”
“Okay,” I agree.
Deep down, I know Bear can handle this. The man is unstoppable when he wants something. I have to trust that he has a plan to get me out of this and keep us safe at the same time.
“See you at home. I’ll—” I let out a scream, unable to hear what else he says as my world is spinning when a giant black SUV hits the car.
My phone goes flying from my hand as the sound of glass breaking and metal being crushed fills my ears instead. Then everything goes quiet.
Black spots dance in my eyes as I watch a man in all black approach the car. He pulls out a phone, stopping outside my door. “I’ve got her,” I hear him say before my world goes black.
Chapter Twenty-One
Bear
My blood runs cold at the scream. “Honey!” I yell into the phone. “Honey!” There’s silence and then the sound of a crash.
I slam the phone on the dash. “Get out.”
The two boys stare at me with dumb expressions on their faces. “Get the fuck out of my car right fucking now.”
I lean across the console and shove open the passenger door. Their feet barely clear the door before I take off again. The address Mad Dog gave me takes me to an isolated property to the west. I drive a quarter mile past the gravel drive and jog back. There’s fresh dust and the sound of a motor deeper into the land. I use the trees as cover and navigate far enough in that I can see the outline of a small dilapidated blue house with peeling blue paint and a sagging front porch. A shiny, expensive black SUV is parked out front. The driver door is open, and the vehicle is still idling.
A woman’s scream is immediately muffled.
“Let her scream. Ain’t no one around to hear her,” laughs a man.
I’m going to kill him first.
“Nah. If I wanted to hear whining, I’d just go home. Grab her legs, would ya?”
“Wait. I thought we needed to take her out back by the furnace?”
“Sure, but that’s after. Big guy doesn’t care when the job gets done, only that we get it done. Let’s have a little fun.”
Nah, he goes first.
Crouched down, I sidle up to the SUV. The two men are carrying a wriggling Honey up the stairs sideways. Good girl is giving them a fight. I’m proud of her, and I’ll be sure to tell her after I’ve taken care of the mess here. I wait until the first guy, the let her scream guy, backs into the doorway. The let’s have a little fun guy trails behind with a hand wrapped around each one of Honey’s ankles.
I burst around the SUV and up the stairs and tackle the guy in the rear to the ground, punching him in the face twice, then slamming it against the floorboards so hard the rotted wood gives way. I stand and stomp his head into the hole and then launch myself to toward the other man, who has tossed Honey to the ground to grab his gun from the back of his jeans. He fires as I launch myself forward.
Something sharp pierces my shoulder. I ignore it and power forward, pushing his arm up in the air. Another shot goes off, this time discharged above my head. Plaster rains down as I take the big guy to the floor.
“Stay down,” I yell at Honey. I don’t want her getting struck by a stray bullet.
The man takes advantage of my moment of distraction and slams his head against my shoulder. Pain screams down my spine. He rolls me over onto my back. This time it’s not a gun but a blade pointed at my face. I swing my arm up as a shield. The blade cuts into my forearm, and hot blood drips down to my elbow.
“Bear!” Honey shouts. “You’re bleeding.”
“You’re next, honey,” the hitman growls. He bears down, and I give in, leaning slightly to the side. The move takes the hitman by surprise. The blade slides into my shoulder, but he loses his grip. I flip him over and wrench the knife out, swing it around, and drive it into his eye.
His mouth forms a perfect circle in surprise, and he blinks once with his good eye. I hammer the hilt with my fist, and the light flickers out.
“Bear?” There’s an uncertainty in her tone.