CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
TAYLOR
Taylor pulled into her garage and turned the ignition to kill the engine. She looked back at all the bags in the back seat, hopeful that she could get them in the house with one trip. Taylor grabbed her purse from the passenger’s seat and climbed out of her vintage Mustang. She slung her purse strap over her shoulder, closed the front door, and opened the back door. Thankfully, Taylor was able to secure all of the bags. Both hands were full, but at least she wouldn’t have to take another trip. The girls were on their way. And, since she’d had to make a few runs after their spa day, Taylor was running really late.
She pulled her head out of the back seat and used her hip to close the door.
“Hello, Taylor,” came from a soft, unfamiliar voice from behind.
Taylor may not have recognized the accented voice, but she had no doubts about the cold metal pressed to her temple.
“It’s nice to finally meet you. Now, sit those bags down so we can have a nice visit.”
Taylor was plotting a defense strategy. But, her hands were full, her weapon was in her purse, and there was a gun to her head.
“I know what’s going on in the head of yours, Taylor. But if you do anything stupid, everyone that walks into this garage will be able to see what’s in your head. Now, I need answers that I believe you have. You’re coming with me.”
It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the woman behind her was the same woman who’d abducted Rosemary and viciously murdered Collier and Kara. Taylor was convinced that if she went anywhere with her, she was a dead woman.
“Why don’t you ask your questions now? I can answer them. Then, you can be on your way,” Taylor proposed.
The woman grabbed a hand full of Taylor’s hair and yanked her head back.
“Bitch, you don’t set the terms here.Ido,” she hissed. “Put that shit down and let’s go.”
Overcome by fear, Taylor’s hands trembled as she bent to lower the bags to the floor. But, afraid or not, the sight of headlights entering her driveway triggered her fight or flight response. She threw her head back and headbutted her assailant. The woman was shocked for what Taylor was sure would only be seconds. So, Taylor took advantage. She flipped around, grabbed the woman’s wrist, and slammed her arm down on her thigh with a force that disarmed her attacker.
Once the woman was disarmed, Taylor threw a punch. But, like lightning, the woman blocked the punch and threw a hard elbow to the side of Taylor’s face, knocking Taylor back against her car. She was stunned, but she didn’t have time to be dazed. The woman was going for her weapon. Taylor pushed herself off the car and grabbed the woman from behind. She was attempting a chokehold, but the woman caught her arm and performed a wrist lock that brought Taylor to her knees.
‘Goddamn, she’s fast!’ is what Taylor was thinking, just before her aggressor lifted her knee, and dropped it down on Taylor’s arm. The sound of Taylor’s scream didn’t drown out the sound of her breaking bone.
Taylor collapsed from the pain. Her face slapped the cold, dirty garage floor. Warm tears spilled from her eyes as she slowly inched toward the woman’s discarded gun.
Behind her, the woman laughed diabolically and kicked Taylor’s broken arm. Taylor rolled over and grabbed her arm. The pain was debilitating. She’d fought as hard as she could, but it was evident that the woman possessed a skill that Taylor didn’t.
The mystery woman kicked the gun away and raised her leg, ready to inflict more pain on Taylor. Scrounging every ounce of strength that she could muster, Taylor prepared to block. Fortunately, for her, she didn’t have to. Taylor gasped with relief when a foot connected to the side of the woman’s head. When she fell against the wall, Taylor could see that it was Bella who had kicked her.
The woman recovered quickly and threw a punch. But Bella proved to be just as fast. She blocked the punch and delivered an elbow to the woman’s face. Bella pulled her gun from her waistband, but it was kicked out of her hand. Both women, clearly trained in martial arts, exchanged lightning-fast blows. Since Bella seemed to be holding her own, Taylor began to look around the floor for the woman’s gun. She’s found it under her car. Taylor inched closer and stretched her good arm under the car, but she couldn’t reach the gun. She rolled over and searched frantically for her purse. There she would find her own weapon. Unfortunately, she didn’t see it. What was even more unfortunate, was the roundhouse kick that Bella took to her face that sent her flying. She hit the floor with a loud thud. And, before she could recover, the woman was standing over her, aiming Bella’s own weapon at her. But like a miracle, Victoria swooped in like a savior.
She grabbed the gun from behind and released the magazine, rendering it inoperable. The woman whirled around and swung in Victoria’s direction, but Victoria ducked and punched her in the stomach. The woman gasped, clutching her midsection. She was stunned, but she wasn’t done. She advanced toward Victoria, and to Taylor’s amazement, Victoria smiled as if she was actually enjoying herself. Victoria actually had a weapon on her hip. She could’ve just shot the bitch. But she was obviously enjoying the hand-to-hand combat. Victoria wanted to break the woman down.
The woman released loud, frustrated grunts as she, unsuccessfully, attempted to deliver strike after strike, and kick after kick. Her every attempt was blocked and returned with a blow from Victoria. For the first time, Taylor sighed with relief. Whereas she was getting her ass beat, and Bella was holding her own, Victoria was beating the shit out of the hit woman. And she was loving every bit of it.
Taylor saw movement from the corner of her eye. She looked over at Bella. She had crawled to her knees and was able to recover her weapon and the discarded magazine. She slammed the clip into the weapon and racked the slide. Bella raised the weapon and waited for the opportunity to shoot the woman without hitting Victoria. Finding an opening wasn’t gonna be easy. Victoria was all over her. The skilled hit woman was worn out. Surely, she thought that extracting Taylor would have been easier, but between Bella and Victoria, she’d bitten off more than she could chew.
Victoria leaped from the ground and delivered a brutal sidekick to the woman’s throat. When she grabbed her throat and gasped for air, Taylor was sure that Victoria had crushed the woman’s windpipe. The woman fell to the ground and struggled to breathe. Since she finally had an opening, Bella raised the weapon toward the killer.
After the ass whipping that Victoria had inflicted, Taylor would have bet anything that the woman was done. But she would have lost that bet. The woman scrambled to her feet and blew past Victoria like the wind. When Victoria took off after her, Bella hurried over to Taylor.
“Tay, are you okay?”
“Ummm….Nooo! That bitch broke my arm!”
Bella was helping Taylor to her feet when Victoria returned. They both looked up, but Victoria shook her head.
“She got away,” Victoria admitted. “That bitch is fast.”
“Yeah,” Taylor scoffed.
Victoria walked over to Taylor and Bella. She frowned when Taylor winced, clutching her arm.
“What the fuck are y’all into?” Victoria asked, crossing her arms.
Taylor managed a chuckle. A question like that coming from Victoria Storm was hilariously ironic.
