He tugged back at her hand. “Wait. Why?”
“There are people here. Not good ones.”
“Aren’t they cops?”
“I don’t think so, and I made you promise and I’m going to keep it. Come on.”
She led him into the bathroom and shut the door behind them, in case their company got impatient and broke the door in. Careful to be as quiet as possible, she slid open the window and peeked out. Just as she thought, anyone in the back couldn’t see, and the front would have a hard time. All they needed to do was to get out and cut between the shrubs. From there they’d cross yards until they made it to the end of the street.
“Okay, you first so I can lift you. I want you to crouch down behind the air conditioner until I get out. If something happens to me, you run. Run all the way to the end of the road to 68 Sycamore. Beatrice lives there. She’ll take you in and get you help.”
“I don’t want to leave you.”
“I don’t want to leave you, either. This is only if we have no other choice.”
As if to drive the point home, a loud crash from the entryway split the air. “Go!”
She boosted him up harder than she’d intended. Her heart beat in her ears, muffling the sound of the men bursting through her door. Her ragged, terrified breathing echoed in the tiled room.
A splinter dug into her palm as she boosted herself over the sill. The bathroom door handle rattled, shooting her heart right into her throat. She wiggled with everything she had and fell out onto the wood chips piled up behind the A/C unit.
The sharp edges dug into her bare knees, but she didn’t have time to worry about it because thethwakof her bathroom door slamming against the wall told her they were just seconds behind her.
She grabbed Skyler’s hand, locked on those terrified eyes of his so much like they were behind the dumpster, and dragged him through the shrubs. She prayed that the branches would stop swaying before the men got to the window to see which way they went.
As they ran through six backyards, unlocking gates, tripping over toys, and narrowly avoiding falling into pools, she dug out her cell and hit ‘1’ on the speed dial.
As she was gasping for breath at Beatrice’s door, waiting for her to answer, Dina answered the phone. “Hello?”
“I need your help,” she choked out just as Beatrice opened the door and let them inside.
two
Maddox “The Reaper”Fulton’s gaze snapped to the iPhone sitting on the kitchen island. The telltale blaring of ‘The Warrior Song’ shot a rush of adrenaline through his veins. In that moment his senses sharpened, his body and mind ready for a fight.
Because when that phone rang, it meant someone was in danger and he’d been called on to protect.
He clicked the button and leaned against the counter. “Reaper.”
“Hey, long time no chat,” Athena Madero said. Athena was a core partner of The Omega Team and lived in Tampa with Grey Holden, the other core partner—her other half. Grey had landed himself the perfect woman. Dark hair, curves, ballsy attitude, and a sense of adventure. God, he loved an exotic badass with a sassy mouth. If only he could find one whose ovaries didn’t come out of dormancy in the first six months of the relationship, driving her to demand a diamond ring, a mortgage, and babies.
Shudder
He’d given up on fatherhood when his many deployments left him with more and more jagged scars and a lifetime of nightmares. The last thing he’d do is let his ugly spill over onto a kid.
Enough of his own parents’ shit had spilled over onto him; he swore if he were ever a parent, he’d do better. That ship sailed during his fifteen years as a Recon Marine.
“Long time no chat because I don’t do chatting. This isn’t knitting club,” he said.
“Yeah, a man of only three or four words, but thousands of grunts.”
“Are we done with the small talk now?”
She laughed. “Damn, you’re no fun. But, yeah, we need to get to business. We’ve got a job for you. Grey is with the woman and child now. We don’t know how long it’ll be.”
“Names?”
“Brynn Stewart and Skylar.”
