Love's Cruel Redemption (The Ghost Bird #12)(102)

There was a loud wail as Mr. Hendricks cried out. There was a struggle on their side, too.

Mr. Morris dragged me, and I fought him where I could. Jessica kept lunging at his legs, and reached for my arm, tugging me. “Let go of her!”

Mr. Morris shoved us both hard. Jessica fell to the floor. Morris held on to my arm, lifting. I was folded over, in the wrong position to flip him.

The lights around us suddenly went out. Completely. The dark was overwhelming.

Morris loosened his hold on me and it allowed me to straighten out a bit, enough to get a hold of his ears behind me.

I grasped him, lunged forward.

He flew over me.

Once he crashed down, I stepped on his chest to fly over him. Down the hall. If I could get out, get away, they’d follow me instead of continuing whatever they were doing. If I could make it to the woods...it’d buy time.

I only hoped he’d leave Jessica alone and come for me.

Morris groaned, getting up behind me.

There wasn’t much light coming in front the windows, but I knew the house enough, and followed Max’s barking toward the front door, the closest exit.

It opened before I could get there.

Max rushed in, snarling. He bypassed me completely and lunged himself at Morris behind me.

A hand grabbed me by the wrist, tugging me in the dark toward the opening. In my panic to get out, I let it guide me out to the porch and down the steps.

Out in the cold night air, the male figure that guided me was unfamiliar. Tall. Short hair. That’s all I knew.

Because I didn’t know him, I stopped, yanking myself away.

He didn’t reach back for me. “Go,” he said. “Go home. I’ll help your friends.” He left me in the yard, going back in the door and disappearing into the shadows.

My heart raced, now alone in the yard. Who was that?

There were two cars parked outside. One was Mr. Morris’s. The other I didn’t recognize.

I didn’t want to leave them, but once they realized I wasn’t there, and this new person was coming for them, if they managed to escape at all, they could find me out here.

I bolted down the road. I ran until my lungs burned, and I still ran.

I headed toward the lights of the diner. I made it to the lot just as two cars took the curb onto Sunnyvale at a high speed. One was a silver BMW.

The other was a police car, with sirens blaring overhead, chasing it.





Lose Control




Nathan

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After Erica lunged at Mr. Hendricks’s waist, reaching for the pistol he’d pointed at their heads moments ago, Nathan swept a leg out, knocking him over.

And then the lights went out.

Hendricks flipped over, a boot connecting with Nathan’s knee.

Nathan flipped backward to get away from another kick and then landed hard on Hendricks’ chest, putting every ounce of weight on his body. He was strong, but at the pressure Nathan kept on him, he’d snap in two if he tried to get up.

Erica was scrambling around. Nathan wasn’t sure if she was looking for the gun or something else.

There was scuffling at the door. It opened and Max came inside. There were voices, one of them Sang’s.

Sang!

He did a push up off of Hendricks’s back so he could stand up, but the moment he did, Hendricks rolled over and connected again with a boot, this time at his thigh close to his groin.

Nathan flew backward, unable to ignore the pain this time, but adrenaline keeping him upright. He twisted, trying to scrape his way across the floor. The man was as strong as an ox.

Sang needed to get out. It was too dark in the area to see who left and who was still inside.

Erica broke away, heading to the foyer. “Good Max, hold him.”

Before Nathan could see what was happening, Hendricks was upright, taking another swing at Nathan. It was badly aimed, barely popping him in the shoulder.

Another body, dark, lunged at Hendricks. It gave Nathan a chance to get himself upright, hovering over the two bodies struggling on the carpet next to the broken coffee table.

The man pushed Hendricks’s face into the carpet. “Get his legs!”

Who was he?

Nathan threw himself at Hendricks’s legs, crushing them with his weight. Hendricks struggled, cursing, his body contorting as he tried to escape but the two of them managed to keep him down.

“Take the restraints in my back pocket,” the man said.

Nathan’s eyes were adjusted more, and it helped that the front door was open, casting yellowed street light glow around them. He felt for a pocket on the man on top of Hendricks, finding ties like Sang had been bound with earlier. He used one to get Hendricks’s ankles together.

Erica suddenly careened out of the foyer just as there was a sharp yelp from the dog. Morris landed on top of her, grabbing a wrist and striking out at her.

Nathan dropped Hendricks’s legs and dove at him, tackling him in the waist to bring him down.

The dog was behind them both. Morris went down, Nathan on top of him.

He banged his head on the floor, or Morris’s skull. Time slowed as all he could concentrate on was keeping Morris down, away from Erica. Shouts around him grew louder. The dog was at Morris’s ankle, biting.

The light within the space changed to brightness as a car had parked in the yard, the beams shining in the wide-open door. It was joined by flashing blue and red.