The Penalty Box (Vancouver Wolves Hockey #3)(94)

“She left me and she took off.”

“She’d never do that.”

“The cops broke my phone. No, don’t call them. I’ll deal with them on my own.”

I was telling him Charlie was missing, where I was, that I didn’t have a cell, and that I was trying to deal with this situation on my own.

“We’re on our way.”

“Yeah, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

The entire time I was talking, I was assessing the kitchen and the dangers. There was a knife block on the counter, boiling water and hot pans. All potential threats, all potential weapons.

I handed Andrew his phone. When he reached for it, I grabbed his wrist and twisted it. “Where is she?”

The guy was strong and to my surprise, I could tell he was trained in martial arts by the way he moved. He twisted out of my grip and moved just out of my grasp.

“She’s not yours.” His eyes were moving around the room, also assessing.

He reached for the pots hanging above the island. Interesting choice. I charged him and drove him back into the kitchen table. We crashed through chairs, and he landed half-on, half-off the table before rolling off and springing to his feet.

Fuck. This guy was good.

“Where did you learn to fight?”

He grabbed a towel off the counter and twisted it, flipping it with some ninja moves, making it into a high-tech weapon that whizzed past my face. I picked up a chair and threw it at him.

Chair vs. Towel. Let’s see who wins that round.

The chair grazed his shoulder. We circled in the kitchen. He went for the boiling water next, but I grabbed a knife. I threw it, hitting him off-center in his upper arm. It didn’t do much damage, but he dropped the pot. The splashing hot water made him flinch and jump out of the way. When he pulled the knife out of his arm and lunged towards me, I took the defensive for the first time.

My military training kicked in. I picked up a cutting board, chopped vegetables went flying, and used it as a shield as he started coming at me with fast hand-to-hand combat. Technically, he was a better fighter than me, but I was a lot bigger than him and in much better shape.

He was breathing hard. I wasn’t even breaking a sweat. My goal was to tire him out and then take him out when he got sloppy.

I swung the cutting board at him, hitting the bottom on his wrist, and the knife went flying. I swung the other way, and he ducked, narrowly missing getting beaned in the head. He grabbed the toaster and wrapped the cord around my wrist, yanking me off-balance, but I put all my weight into it, reversed the motion and ended up pulling him over my head. He recovered before he even hit the floor and swung the toaster towards my face.

It narrowly missed hitting my face.

By the time I had untangled myself from the toaster, he was back on his feet, heading towards the dining room. Which meant unknown territory. Two steps and I was flying, landing on his back.

He rolled over and got in a series of decent punches, most of which I wasn’t able to avoid, before I got my arm under his neck and had him pinned.

I hit. Once, twice, three times. My fourth hit completely knocked him out, but I kept on hitting him. I knew I was getting close to killing him and I forced myself to stop. I looked around, spotting an extension cord behind the couch. Yanking it free, I took two minutes to hog-tie him before standing up and screaming.

“Charlie!”

I heard a rustling at the front door and then Sniper barked once. Sharp. I ran to the door and let him in.

“Sniper, where is Charlie?”

Sniper, nose to the ground, led me down the hallway before disappearing downstairs.

He sat down in front of a shelf.

“Where’s Charlie?” I asked him again. I looked in the laundry room, recreational room and Andrew’s pathetic workout room, but she wasn’t anywhere.

Sniper barked again and looked up at the shelf.

Breathing hard, I looked closer. The shelf was on a track. I slid it along the track, and then I saw the door.

I opened the door, and she came out, screaming like a banshee, arms flailing, teeth bared.

“It’s Mica.” I grabbed her flailing, windmill arms, trying to keep out of striking distance. It took her a moment to realize who I was. Then, with a cry, she fell into my arms.

“It’s over.” I held her head to my chest. “It’s over.”





Chapter 31





CHARLIE





“He hurt Sniper, and there’s a woman here. Where is he? Where is Andrew?” My voice came out in a near shriek. “He’s dangerous. He had a gun.”

“He’s tied up. He can’t hurt anyone.”

“Oh my God, Mica,” I sobbed, clinging to him. “Are you real? Are you really here?”

“I’m here.” He held my face in his hands. “Are you hurt?”

His words barely registered. “We need to call the police. He’s kept someone here. A prisoner.” I spotted Sniper, who was lying on his side. “Sniper!”

Sniper lifted his head and whined.

Mica looked in the room and caught sight of the woman. He stood there for a long moment. “Holy fuck.”

I was full-on babbling. “She’s the missing nursing student. Andrew set you up with Sabrina. How are you here? How did you get out of jail?”