Page 77 of Lethal Weakness

“You can’t…” As he says the words, his eyes slip past me. And when he tugs me towards my monster-in-law, I have a chance to glance in the direction he looked.

Another metal door.

My arm comes free with one good yank because Edmund isn’t expecting my fight, and it latches onto the first heavy object I see. An oxygen tank resting at the foot of a bed.

One solid swing clunks Edmund in the head, and he stumbles back multiple steps before falling to the ground. I don’t hesitate.

I make a break for the other door, pulling Avery as fast as she’ll follow. The latch at the top drops easily, but the door itself is heavy, and the handle doesn’t have very much to grip, like it’s not meant to be opened from this side.

I shove my way through anyway, sparing a final glance at Merrill, who is staring angrily back at me. “Don’t let them leave. The little girl is mine!” She yells rapidly into her phone as the door slams shut between us.

The heavy door seals with a series of tumbling clicks.

“Avery, we have to run, baby.” We start down the long spooky hallway, and luckily there is only one direction to go. Up.

The slight incline of the dirty stone floor leads to a set of stairs and a double hatch door. I have to let go of Avery’s hand to shove until my shoulders burn to get the doors up and open.

We step out onto the lawn between some of the rose bushes, under the big full moon, and I have to get my bearings to decide which way to go. If I can get to my car, we can get out of here.

I don’t make a single step before a flashlight blinds my face, and for one naive second, I hope it’s my masked stranger here to guide me to safety.

The light lowers, and a security guard that I’m not familiar with appears in front of me.

“We’re leaving,” I sputter.

A slow smile crawls over his face as he shakes his head. “No, I don’t think you are.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Linden

The sinister smile in front of me tells me everything that I need to know. These guards aren’t run-of-the-mill security here to guard the rich people.

No… They’re here to guard secrets, and I witnessed something that I was not supposed to.

I try to step around him anyway, and he grabs my arm harder than Edmund did earlier, making me yelp in pain. The bones in my forearm scream as I try to fight him, but he’s too strong.

“You either come with me nicely, or I’ll throw you and the little girl over my shoulder.”

“Fine,” I grit out. He yanks hard, forcing me into step behind him while I barely manage to hold onto Avery’s hand.

She stumbles, and I try to reach out to catch her on instinct as the damn cat she’s been hiding in her dress goes bounding across the yard.

“My kitty!” She screams sharply.

It takes the guard’s focus off of me for one brief second, and I don’t know what gives me the confidence… Maybe seeing Jack pull a gun so effectively that night Turner showed up at my house, or pure maternal rage… But I grab the guard’s sidearm and yank as hard as I can.

But unlike the movies, it doesn’t budge. It’s locked in place.

His meaty paw shoves my grasp from the butt of the gun by twisting my wrist painfully in the air before kneeing me in the gut. I fall to the ground hard, wheezing for breath.

“Mommy!” Avery screams, dropping to my side.

“Nice fucking try, bitch. You’re lucky they don’t want me to kill you, yet.”

His words chill me to the bone as I stroke Avery’s hand.

“I’m okay,” I reassure my daughter even though the contents of my stomach might eject at any moment.