I thanked the heavens for the photographic memory I’d nurtured since childhood. Not only had it been the reason I’d won a string of science awards as a kid growing up, but it had burned an image of Decker’s map into my brain. I accessed the images now, mentally orienting myself. The track would lead to tar and then back to another dirt road that would wind through several miles of farmland. I’d get there in under an hour if I didn’t get lost.
I wasn’t going to get lost.
Minutes later, distant headlights behind me told me that I wouldn’t have to go in alone. Decker and his men must have tooled up and climbed into the remaining vehicles. The buzzing of my phone at my side drew my eye, and I saw the screen light up with Andy’s number. I ignored it.
They were going to be pissed.
I didn’t give a fuck.
I was paying them enough to come up with a new plan. For my own part, I’d go in hot. The front gate had two guards on it. They’d be no match for me if I simply ran them down. There were ten people on the property in total. One was Sasha. I had to assume the rest would be hostile.
I had a cure for hostility. It came in the form of several pounds of weapons and ammunition in the bag behind me. As I turned onto the dirt road that would lead to the compound, I ran through a series of possible scenarios. All of them would probably end disastrously. I had to hang onto the fact that Razortip did not want me dead. And without Sasha, he had no hold over me. That could keep us alive.
A mile out from the property, I pulled over to the side of the road and reached for the bag behind me. It weighed a ton and was unwieldy, but I had rage on my side and hauled it over between the front seats. I dumped it onto the passenger chair beside me and unzipped it, digging through the contents. It was every military prepper’s dream. Stun grenades, spare clips of ammo, a couple of handguns, and an assault rifle. More metal beneath it all told me there were more surprises within this bag of tricks that I didn’t have time to explore more. But I wouldn’t be able to carry it with me, anyway. Too heavy. I had to go in light.
I shifted in my seat and tucked a pistol into the back of my waistband. I checked the mag in the rifle and set it over my thighs. I was still wearing the vest we’d been given before we took off, and I patted the pockets, finding pouches and zippers that allowed me to pack myself with stun grenades and spare ammunition.
With the initial rush of adrenalin dissipating after I’d left our base, fear should be settling in at this point. It wasn’t. It had turned to cold fury. Every second that ticked by made me more clear on what I had to do.
I had the element of surprise on my side. I’d draw out the guards at the gate and get them out of the way. There was a pair at each separate entrance, one on the left wing of the property and another at the back. The rest would be concentrated around the main residence – I had no doubt about that. By the time I’d burst through the front, Decker and the team should be coming in. I was going to be relying on them to give me backup. I prayed that they realized that.
“What the fuck are you doing, man?” I asked myself. It was the first time I’d felt any hesitation. My rational mind had gone out the window the moment I’d heard Razortip’s words. Was I doing the wrong thing? Surely I could have waited until the next morning? But everything in me rejected that notion.
She needs you now! Sasha needs you now!
I knew it with a certainty that was impossible to explain. Perhaps it was some sort of primal urge to protect my woman and child. Perhaps it was more. I didn’t care. All I knew was that I had to get to her.
I curled my fingers around the steering wheel and clenched my jaw as I aimed a hard stare straight ahead of me. In the darkness ahead lay death…or redemption. I couldn’t think about which one I was going to encounter.
I plunged my foot onto the accelerator and felt the car leap forward onto the road.
I’m coming, Sasha. Hold on. I’m coming.
Chapter 10
Sasha Ramirez
Raoul’s rough fingers were delving beneath the waistband of my panties when shouts rang out from outside the door. I felt him freeze against me.
“Quiet!” he said into my ear, and then his hand was over my mouth. He’d dropped the blade minutes before, but I’d remained as still as a corpse even without it. A flood of memories had washed through my mind; old survival instincts kicking in that kept me silent, kept me still. Be a good girl…
His hand continued its uninvited exploration as voices called out in the hallway beyond.
“Be very, very still,” he said hoarsely. Somehow the fear of being caught seemed to arouse him perversely because I could feel him growing ever harder where his hips pressed up against my thigh. His breath was hot and fetid against my face, and I screwed my eyes shut. If I concentrated really hard, I could be someplace else. Anywhere but here. I had to take myself away, even if it was just my mind that was escaping.
His hand was between my thighs, poking and prodding between my dry folds. I flinched but remained motionless. I knew this feeling; knew what would come next…and it turned me to stone. Raoul raised his hand and spat on his fingers, then rubbed the stickiness into me, thick, calloused digits thrusting deep. I wanted to vomit, could feel it rising up my throat.
“Come on, baby,” he whispered urgently into the shell of my ear. “You can get wet for me. You know you want my cock inside you. Don’t fight it.” As he spoke, he reached for the fly of his pants, and I felt him release himself, rubbing his hardness against my leg. The unwashed stink of his filthy flesh reached my nostrils, and I gagged at the thought of him pushing that thing into me. He was breathless with excitement, undeterred by the fact that my body wasn’t responding to him or that I was cringing away. If anything, it inflamed him. Men like him got off on terror. I wouldn’t give that to him…couldn’t.
The commotion outside grew louder. Cracks that may have been gunfire. Curses being yelled out; instructions, perhaps. I couldn’t make it out, couldn’t concentrate. My brain was foggy with the fear of what was happening to me, paralyzing survival instincts still blocking out the sensations and clouding rational thought. Raoul pantedand humped my leg like an animal. He licked my throat as he continued to finger me, then adjusted his position. I felt him shoving my knees apart and angling his body between my thighs.
Oh God. He’s going to do it…
I dragged myself more firmly away from this moment. I thought of bright sunshine and rolling fields. Of Prince and his beautiful eyes. Of the moment he’d asked me to marry him.
It’s not me. I’m not here.
I could be anywhere. In Alec’s arms. It warmed my heart to think of him.
