Page 85 of Wicked Rush

“Get the fuck off me,” Braelynn yelled at him. She struggled, her hands around his wrists.

“Shut the hell up, you little bitch. I should have never let you into my company.” Giordano kicked open the door and called out to a tall man in a black suit who followed. “Stay and look for it. Five minutes and she’s done.”

Lars recognized the second male. He’d seen him exiting Braelynn’s condo. Shane.

“Let her go.” Lars drew his weapon and pointed the barrel at Giordano.

“Don’t press him,” Shane called to him, his voice firm but not threatening. “He’ll shoot her.”

The statement struck Lars as odd but he ignored it, and took off after Braelynn. By the time he’d passed through the atrium's back door, Giordano stood precariously close to the edge of the cliff.

“Get back, asshole or the cunt goes bye-bye.” Giordano gripped her chin, still holding the gun in his hand.

“Easy now.” Lars raised his hands into the air, holding them in a defensive posture. Well-trained and confident that he could hit Giordano, he chose a calm approach. The cliffs were notoriously unstable and one couldn’t predict the shifting earth. If he got any closer to the edge and slipped, they wouldn’t survive the two-hundred-foot drop into the churning Pacific.

“Fuck you, asshole. You’re the reason she’s going to die today. You really think this little whore is worth it? Her mother…”

“Shut up! Don’t you talk about her!” Braelynn screamed.

Giordano kneed her in her back and she cried out, falling to her knees. Holding her up by her hair, he dangled her like a puppet. Braelynn heaved a breath, and Lars fought the urge to go to her.

“If she dies, you’re going to die. This,” Lars waved his pistol, reminding Giordano of his weapon, “I’m going to take you the fuck out. The research you want? Your friend isn’t going to find what he needs. That chip you used to steal the research, there’s an improved version. Erases everything. You won’t get it back.” Lars glanced back to the house as a chair smashed through a pane of glass. Ignoring it, he refocused his attention on Braelynn, who looked as if she was gathering her strength. She stared at him with an intensity he’d never seen. He couldn’t be sure how or when but his girl was going to make a move.

“If you haven’t noticed, the helicopter’s running.” Giordano glanced to his watch.

“You won’t make it.”

“I’m going to fucking make it. You know, Braelynn here, she’s as stupid as her mother.”

“You killed them,” she accused. Her toes dug into the ground, seeking a firm purchase. “Where’s my father?”

“Ah, he’s been of use. Your mother, though, she never got the meaning of family. I always wanted to have a daughter.” He tugged her hard, wrapping his arm around her waist. The T-shirt she was wearing rode up, revealing her bare skin.

“With that little dick of yours, you probably couldn’t get it up,” she spat. “Jeannette fucked every guy in the office, you know that, don’t you?”

“I should fuck you right here in front of him. You were mine to have. Mine.”

“Get the fuck away from her!” Lars screamed as Giordano pressed the barrel of his gun to her mound.

“Get off me.” Braelynn elbowed her uncle, breaking free of his grip. She stumbled over a rock, losing her balance, and toppled over the edge of the cliff.

Bullets whizzed by Lars’ head as he barreled into Giordano. They wrestled into a bush of golden flowers, and Lars swiftly landed a left hook to his jaw. He caught the sound of Braelynn’s deafening cry as he threw another punch at Giordano, knocking him unconscious. Lars shoved to his feet, carefully searching the bluff. Braelynn’s scream carried to him in the wind, and Lars craned his neck over the precipice, searching for her. Terror set in as his worst nightmare was realized. Nearly thirty feet down from the edge, Braelynn clutched onto a small jut in the rock.

“Help me!” she cried.

“I’m coming,” Lars told her. An avid rock climber, he was well aware that this was not the kind of cliff that was safe for recreation.

His eyes darted to Seth, who fought Shane inside the solarium. Shots rained down, and he caught sight of his assailant aiming the rifle from the inside of the helicopter. Lars took aim with his pistol and clipped the shooter’s leg, momentarily gaining a reprieve.

With Giordano still down on the ground, he needed to work fast. Carefully descending, Lars gripped the precipice, his feet dangling hundreds of feet above the ocean. With no equipment, he searched blindly with his fingers, navigating the bluff. His hands like vises, he lowered himself, deliberately selecting his next hold. With each move, he tested the unsteady rock, aware it could break away at any second.

He glanced to Braelynn. She’d managed to support herself along an edge. Lars prayed that Seth had seen him climb down, and would bring rope. Getting her up the embankment with no gear would be nearly impossible. The best he could do was to keep her safe against the face.

“Easy, sweetheart. I’ve got you.” Lars sidled up next to her.

“Lars,” she wept, her cheek pressed flat to the rocks. Her bloodied fingers gripped the gray boulder.

“You’ve gotta just hold on here. Let me see what we’re working with.” Lars inspected the crag, securing a firm bucket hold on a ledge.