“I love you. I need you to trust me.”
“I do trust you.”
“Preston should be working to close off the highways, but what I need you to do right now is to run like your life depends on it. I’m going to give you a head start.”
“Cliff, no. What are you doing?”
He moved toward the dock jutting out over the lake. Cliff knew that this was her only chance to escape and he’d do just about anything to give her that opportunity.
From the corner of his eye, he watched her dart behind the cattails, tall enough to mask her movements, and head toward the small path on the other side.
Satisfied that she was in the clear, Cliff moved toward the direction of his cabin, ready to occupy these men while Alexis made her break.
Wearing all black, the men stood out as they breached the tree line.
“Good afternoon, gentlemen,” Cliff greeted with his gun pointed at the first man that made his appearance. “I hate that you made this trip all the way out here for no reason.”
The group of men began to chuckle, and Cliff acted on instinct, pulling the trigger and aiming for the knee of the first man.
“Son of a bitch,” the man wailed in pain. “You just wait until I get my hands on that girl. I’m going to tear her part.”
“I’m sorry, that isn’t going to happen.”
“You do realize that this is nine against one, right?” One of the other men called out, but Cliff simply pulled his phone free from his pocket and pressed a button.
A whooshing sound broke through the air, soft enough that only those with the keenest of hearing could make it out. The man fell to his knees, the shocked expression still painted on his face.
In unison, the men began looking around them, up at the trees, down at the ground, but none of them could make out the riggings Cliff had set up. It was set up as a precaution when Alexis came to Carson wounded and barely alive. When he learned that she was his new mission, he knew that he needed something more around his cabin. He never thought he’d need it, but now as Cliff watched a third man fall, he was thankful he had the forethought.
“Now, how many more of these buttons do I have to press before you get the hint. I want you to leave and tell Lev that he’s going after the wrong man.” Gun still drawn, Cliff peeked a glance down at his phone, looking at which mechanism would spear the man smiling in Cliff’s direction. He didn’t like the way that the man kept inching closer.
“You could tell him yourself,” the smiling man shouted, his smile widening.
“That’s okay. I’ll-”
Cliff’s words die in the air as something hard and blunt collided with the back of his head. Vision blurred and he plummeted down to his knees. The overwhelming pain descended over his body.
Through the haze, he could hear Alexis cry for him. God, he ached to go to her, to tell her that he was sorry for fucking up again, that he loved her more than anything in this world.
But as the blackness closed in, he knew that he’d lost that chance. Through the shrinking lens of consciousness, he pressed one last button on his phone, he just prayed Alexis wasn’t caught in the crossfire.
***
Alexis was running for her life, the pain of leaving Cliff to fend for himself wasn’t something that she had time to dwell on. A cramp formed on the side of her abdomen and Alexis stopped behind a large tree to catch her breath and rub the area.
God, this was a mess. She should have left Carson the moment Logan finished her surgery. Now, not only was the town in danger, but the man she loved was also risking his life for an outcome that may not exist. Her father wasn’t going to rest until she was found and either dead or sold.
Bile rose in her throat as she thought about what Wade had said, that she was going to be sold to a man that wanted a new plaything. It was vile and disgusting, she’d rather take her own life than go through that kind of torture.
And Wade was her half brother? Talk about an unexpected turn of events. She had always wanted a sibling, someone she could help her family care for, but her father had vehemently shot her mother down at every request.
She didn’t know Wade well, he was always quiet at the shop unless he was stepping out, but apparently,
the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. He was set on the same sort of vengeance as her father.
The crack of a branch close by perked Alexis’ ears. She had been so lost in thought that she had wasted too much time resting. One of the men could have snuck away to find her, or worse, killed Cliff.
Pushing away from the tree, Alexis made her way back to the narrow path, moving as quickly as she could, but the sense that someone was watching her tugged at something deep within her.