Part 6 (2/2)
Not foolish enough to call his bluff, Blue set the safety on her Glock and tossed it onto the leaf-covered ground. She had her backup piece. ”Satisfied?”
”Turn around,” he ordered. ”And put your hands up.”
Her hands held high, she turned around slowly to face the man and his weapon. Before she got completely around, he grabbed her by the blouse and jerked her hard against him.
”You think you're one tough lady, don'tcha?” he demanded, his face in hers.
She looked straight into his eyes and said, ”Yeah, I do.”
He glared at her for a second, then looked to his left and shouted, ”Over here, Jaymo!”
This guy she could handle, two might be a problem. She had to act now.
He grinned down at her, it wasn't pleasant, not even in the dark. ”I think,” he said eagerly, ”we're gonna have ourselves some fun.”
”You know what I think?” she said suggestively.
He jerked her closer. ”What's that?”
”Not.” She knocked the barrel of his weapon upward with her left arm at the same time plowing her right knee into his unsuspecting groin.
He hit the ground, dragging her with him.
The weapon discharged into the night.
Chapter Six.
Blue's ears were still ringing from the rifle blast as she struggled against the man's weight. If he got on top of her...
Too late.
Her heart hammered faster, driving adrenaline through her bloodstream. She shoved at his chest with all her might, grunting with the effort, using the adrenaline to her advantage. She had to get him off. She kicked and flailed her legs, for all the good it did with him straddling her hips.
”Get off me, you son of a-”
”Well, now, Blondie,” the sleazy b.a.s.t.a.r.d growled, leaning close, the smell of liquor thick on his breath, ”he said you'd be a fighter.”
Blue froze for one fraction of a second. The blood roared in her ears, blocking out all else. She pushed away the first thought his crude statement evoked. Lowell had said that Drake... She refused to believe that he would go to these lengths to be rid of her.
”Just makes things more interesting,” the pig on top of her said lasciviously.
”You don't want to do this, pal,” she warned, then tried to get in a punch, but he manacled her wrists and pinned her arms above her head before she could pull free. He crushed her hands together. The breath hissed between her teeth as pain seared all the way to her bones.
”Jaymo!” he called over his right shoulder. ”Get over here, buddy, or you're gonna miss all the fun!”
Swearing under her breath, Blue twisted beneath him. Bucked. Anything to try and throw him off. He only pressed down harder, keeping her trapped almost effortlessly.
If only she could reach her ankle holster...
Relax, she told herself, forcing her body to still. If she relaxed so would he, then...
”Now.” He stared down at her, his features scarcely visible in the night. His face was long and narrow, a thin, blade-like nose jutted out from its center. His hair was short and dark. The smell of sweat permeated his clothing.
”Let's see what we've got here.” Holding both her hands pinned in a punis.h.i.+ng grip against the ground with his left, he ripped open her blouse with his right. She stiffened, fear rocketing through her.
”Well, well. What's this?” He jerked hard on the chain around her neck, the metal biting into her flesh before snapping. He held the light stick up for closer inspection and rotated it slowly.
”Surely a firecracker like you isn't afraid of the dark?” He leaned toward her, using the dim glow from the light stick to inspect her face more thoroughly. He grinned, enjoying her discomfort or maybe looking forward to what he had planned for her.
She turned away. ”Go to h.e.l.l,” she muttered. He'd better enjoy the moment because she wasn't going to make any of this easy.
”Come on, baby,” he urged, grinding himself against her. Nausea roiled in her stomach. ”We can do this the easy way or-”
She got her right hand free, plowed the heel of it hard into his nose. Screaming, he grabbed his face with both hands. Shoving with all her might, she propelled him backward. He tried to fight her off with one hand, using the other to hold his bleeding nose.
”Jaymo, you dumb b.a.s.t.a.r.d,” her captor cried out. ”Get over here!”
One swift kick to the head and her former captor, grunted then toppled to the ground.
Gasping for breath, Blue stared at his crumpled form for one long moment.
”Sykes! Where the h.e.l.l are you, man?”
The other guy...Jaymo...maybe ten yards away.
She scrambled away from the slumped form and into the concealing undergrowth. She struggled to hold her breath...to keep from making a sound. Her panic rushed toward hysteria at the idea that it was dark and she didn't have her light. Her heart pounded so violently she was certain sudden death was imminent or, at the very least, someone would hear it.
Calm, she told herself. Stay calm.
The moon was still full. It wasn't completely dark. Tiny spears of light penetrated the thick overhead canopy here and there.
Not completely dark, she repeated silently as she retrieved her .38 from the ankle holster.
She was okay.
The friend, Jaymo, was stumbling around like a bull in a china shop. He was closer now. Hidden by the trees or the fog or both.
A new surge of the fight-or-flight chemical flooded her veins.
Drake.
Pete's sake, she'd forgotten all about him. Where the h.e.l.l was Drake?
”It's safe now.” His voice. Drake's.
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