“Tempting, but I don’t feel like getting shot,” the man creepily whispered.

“How would he know?” the other guy whined.

“She’d tell him, dumb ass,” the man snapped.

“Who’s to say she won’t make something up anyway? We may as well get some pleasure if he’s going to think we did it.”

The other guy hesitated and she could tell he was starting to cave to his friend’s wishes. She swallowed back the tears pressing against her throat. She had a feeling her life was about to take a horrible turn for the worse. She pictured her family, Chad, and a hot summer day. She could survive this – she was strong, she tried to convince herself, but when the man’s hand landed on her thigh, she knew she couldn’t. How could anyone?

“Pete, Dave, get down here,” another voice yelled from what sounded like the bottom of a staircase. She must be on a top floor. That was at least somewhat helpful if she managed to get the ropes untied.

“What makes him the boss?” one of the men growled and the hand tightened on her thigh and moved upward for a second. She thought they were going to ignore the order. She was getting ready to kick her legs out. She knew they’d win, but she would fight for all she was worth.

“Now!” the voice yelled even louder. The hand finally left her leg and she heard the welcome sound of the two men retreating from her room. The door shut and she lay silently as she listened to them move down the stairs. She realized they hadn’t re-locked her door. It was a sliver of hope in her seemingly hopeless world. If she could somehow get the ropes off, then maybe she could get out of the house.

She worked on the ropes, her mind drifting. She hoped Chad had been rescued. She’d never forget the sight of his blood staining his shirt crimson. She prayed she’d get to see him with her own eyes again. She didn’t care about anything else; she just wanted the chance to lie in the safety of his arms one more time. She wouldn’t even put her ever-present guard up.

She pictured his hands moving through her hair, his gentle lips caressing her own. It was the only thing that got her though the endless hours as she worked and worked at the ropes binding her. She knew blood was dripping down her arms but she didn’t care. At least the pain let her know she was still alive – it gave her hope.

Finally, she started to feel a little give in the rope on her right hand. She’d done something to it and the pressure on that wrist started to lighten. She laughed aloud at the pure joy she felt at her small victory. She started moving her fingers around the loose piece of rope and after more struggling, she felt the rope release and she pulled her hand free. She turned her body, to better see the other rope and began working away at the knot.

She made much faster time being able to see what she was doing. She released her second wrist and then sat up in the bed. It was just the beginning of her flight to freedom, but it was a huge victory. She looked at her swollen wrists in the pale light seeping in through the bottom of the door, and cringed. They were cut up pretty bad but she couldn’t feel pain at that moment with the amount of adrenaline pumping steadily through her body.

She got to her feet and quickly fell back down to the bed when her head started spinning. She’d gotten up too fast. She winced as the bed made a loud squeak, straining her ears to see if the men had noticed. She sat motionless for about five minutes before she allowed herself to breathe normally again.

It didn’t seem as if they’d heard her. Okay, I’m out of here, she thought to herself with determination as she moved away from the bed. She stopped just before she opened the door because she heard shouting and the sound of a gun firing.

***

“There’s significant activity in the house and the windows are boarded up. I can’t pinpoint her exact location but I know she’s in there,” Chad said to the group of men who were hiding in the brush in front of the seemingly abandoned house. There were no other homes around for miles and they couldn’t spot any security measure in place. The men were either arrogant or just stupid. Chad was counting on the latter.

“I contacted my friend who’s a cop I know I can trust. Now that we’re in place, we may need his team for back-up. They should be here in about fifteen minutes so we need to move fast. You three take the back, Lucas and I will go in the front,” Trenton said.

“I’ll wait for one minute. While you have them at a standoff, I’ll find Bree,” Chad said, agreeing with Trenton’s plan.

“It’s now or never, boys,” Trenton called, then the men went into stealth mode and quickly ran toward the house. Chad counted to twenty while he watched them approach the steps. Trenton stood back, brought his leg up and smashed in the rickety front door.

Immediately, gunfire erupted as shots rang out.

Screw waiting a full minute, Chad thought as he rushed in. He had to get to Bree, and fast. There was no way he wanted her anywhere near the line of fire.

“Get the damn girl,” he heard someone shout, then saw a man dart for the stairs. Over his dead body! Chad charged the guy and caught him by surprise. He slammed the butt of his gun into the man’s temple, making him crumble to the floor. Then he charged up the stairs three at a time.

“Bree,” he called. Being discreet was no longer an option, as the house was an eruption of chaos. He had to evacuate her from the premises as quickly as possible and then notify the guys to stand down. She was their only goal. Let the cops deal with the mess of the kidnappers.

“Chad,” he heard Bree’s voice filled with hope. A door creaked open, and there she was. She was pale, shaking and he didn’t even want to think about what was going on with her wrists, but she was alive.

Chad swung her into his arms, slammed his lips against hers for a fleeting moment, then pushed her behind him and started descending the stairs, far more cautiously than how he’d come up. She didn’t say a word, just followed him, her body brushing against his with each step.

They reached the bottom of the stairs and Chad smelled smoke. The house was so old it wouldn’t take much for it to become an inferno if a fire had already started. He needed to get her out. He looked around the corner and didn’t see anyone so he pulled her tightly against his side and rushed through the room, and straight out the front door, flames starting to creep up the walls behind him.

He looked quickly from side to side and didn’t see anyone so he pulled her to the safety of the bushes. Once they were hidden from view he spoke into the microphone on his shirt.

“She’s safe and out of the house – pull out,” Chad spoke. There were several acknowledgments, more firing, then he saw the guys racing from the burning house, covering each other’s backs.

Chad kept Bree behind him as he lifted his gun and fired into the house, covering the men as they ran from the flames. No one was going to die on his watch. Once the men were safely away he finally focused on Bree.

He ran his hands along her body, checking for injuries. When he reached her wrists, she let out a small gasp. He looked at her damaged skin in the light of day and had to fight the rage wanting to boil over. He wanted nothing more than to go back in that house and destroy the men who’d been foolish enough to harm her.

Instead, he gently lifted her hand to his mouth and softly brushed his lips against her swollen and bloody flesh. He wanted to take her pain away – he should’ve been able to prevent it.

“I’m okay, Chad. Thank you,” Bree told him in a tear choked voice. He pulled her back into his arms and held her tightly, while waiting for her family to join them. He heard the sound of sirens in the distance. Their back-up had arrived.

“I’m sorry, Bree. I promised I wouldn’t let anything happen. They never should’ve been able to get close to you, let alone take you away.”

“I was the one acting foolish. You’re the one who rescued me. I was so terrified when I saw you fall to the ground. I’m sorry I got you shot,” she whispered. She was barely able to talk, she felt so guilty over him being put in such danger.

“Did they…. they didn’t… we should get you to the hospital,” he choked. He couldn’t bring himself to ask her how bad her torture had been. She seemed to realize what he was trying to say.

“My wrists are the worst of my injuries. They knocked me out in the van and when I woke up I was tied to the bed. It took me a long time to get out of the ropes. I struggled a lot – cutting up my skin in the process. They didn’t touch me other than that,” she reassured him.

He didn’t need to know how close the men had come to doing exactly what he feared. She couldn’t even think about it without panic setting in.

“We need to have you checked, anyway,” he said, but she heard the relief in his voice.

“I wouldn’t know what to do if a man in my life wasn’t trying to take control,” she said with a small attempt at humor. He gave her a half grin before standing up. He saw the ambulance coming around the corner and he wanted to get her inside it.

“Chad, watch out,” he heard Trenton yell. Everything slowed down as he turned toward Trenton, who was throwing his arms in the air. First he pointed to his gun, indicating he was out of bullets, then pointed to his left. Chad turned and realized one of the gunmen had gotten away from them. He had a gun pointed directly at Bree and him.

Chad reached forward to push Bree back to the ground, but she saw the gunman at the same time as he did. She dodged his hand, putting her in danger.

Chad whipped his gun back out and put a bullet through the man’s head, but it was too late. He watched in horror as Bree moaned just before her eyes rolled back in her head and blood ran down the side of her face.

She started falling to the ground, but Chad grabbed her before she hit the solid surface. Trenton ran toward them, tears running down his cheeks as he saw the lifeless look on his sister’s face. She’d been shot in the head.

Chapter Seven

Chad cringed at the sight of Bree hooked up to so many machines. Wires ran from her arms to the consistently beating monitors next to her hospital bed. She looked so fragile lying in the stark room.

He’d never felt more fear than in those moments when she’d crumbled in his arms, blood escaping from the side of her head. The bullet had thankfully only grazed her temple. Still, so much blood loss – too much. One more inch and she’d be dead instead of in a coma. She’d been in it for two months, now, and the doctors didn’t know when she was going to wake up. He’d practically lived by her side, guilt consuming him.

Bree’s pursuer hadn’t been caught. The men, who’d been holding her captive, said they’d never met the man they were working for in person. Everything was done through the phone. Whoever it was, scared them badly enough, they’d rather sit in jail than give anything up on him, which made Chad think there were some upper level men involved.

Bree’s family was wealthy beyond what most people could imagine. With great wealth came even greater power. There were people out there who coveted what the Anderson’s had. They weren’t afraid of using terror, force, or even murder to get what they wanted. Chad didn’t know who was behind the pursuit of Bree, but he would find out – and they would pay.