Lost and Found (Masters & Mercenaries: The Forgotten #2)(115)

“Maybe it’s someone out for a drive,” she said, looking around the interior as Robert passed Ariel his gun and she competently handled it.

“At three in the morning? In the middle of the country?” His revelation would have to wait. “With their lights off? I doubt it. Apparently Green was waiting for us, and now he doesn’t even have to deal with the police.”

“Yeah, I was thinking that, too,” Robert said tightly. “Whoever set us up knew what they were doing. Green was probably watching us from a distance and he knew exactly which car to follow. Ari, if I can’t lose him, I’m going to find the nearest police station and I want you to take Rebecca and run in. Give yourselves up. Big Tag will move heaven and earth to get you both out. You call the Dallas office as soon as you can. Owen, find us the nearest station.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

He’d expected Ariel to say that, but the words came out of Becca’s mouth. She was leaning toward him expectantly.

He would have replied to her, would have told her that she damn well better do as Robert said, but that was the moment a shot split the air and the SUV careened to the side. He heard Robert curse, trying to stay in control as they lost one of the tires while speeding down a country road.

Something hit the back of the SUV, just a bumping of metal on metal, but it was enough to send them off the road and rolling. The world upended, and he heard a scream as metal crunched and crushed.

He reached out, trying to get Becca’s hand in his, but his head snapped back and he saw stars. He could have sworn the world was twisting and turning. He saw Becca lurch forward and then back before her body went limp.

After what seemed like the longest time, the car stopped. They hadn’t landed right. They were upside down. The car swayed briefly, as though it would make one more turn. But they stayed where they were, the world going startlingly still.

For a moment all he could hear was the harsh sound of his own breath sawing in and out of his body. Then, the sound of shoes crushing against the ground.

“Hello, Owen,” a familiar voice said. “Robert, if you don’t want me to kill your lovely lady, you’ll drop that. You’ll see I’ve brought a few friends. We can do this the friendly way or the hard way. I personally prefer friendship. Owen is going to make some new friends and I’m going to become very good friends with Dr. Walsh. She seems to be sleeping.”

Owen was upside down, his weight hanging from the seatbelt. He’d dropped his bloody gun. He couldn’t feel its weight in his hand. All he could do was dangle there. Though it hurt like hell, he forced his head around, to look for Becca. A low moan shuddered through his system because her eyes weren’t open.

“Rebecca.” He managed to get her name out of his mouth, a prayer, a plea, a recognition that if she wasn’t alive he didn’t want to be either. Somehow this woman had invaded his soul and taken up all the empty spaces. Everything he’d lost was somehow replaced because he loved this one woman.

“Don’t hurt her.” Robert’s voice sounded tortured.

“It’s okay. Why would I hurt her? Ariel’s never done anything but been lovely to me, and you know I don’t like to kill the beautiful things of this world.” Levi’s voice floated through the vehicle like a wraith about to strike them all.

It was so dark. He tried to let his eyes adjust, but his head was ringing. The gun. He needed to get it in his hands before they came for Becca. He couldn’t let them take her.

“You, on the other hand, have been a pain in my ass for a long time, so I don’t have a single problem shooting you,” Levi said.

And then there was the tiny ping of a gun being fired through a suppressor.

Robert? Fuck all, Green had shot Robert and he was next, and then Becca would be alone. It was so hard to think. His brain wouldn’t work. Pure panic shot through him as the door to the passenger side opened and big hands reached toward Becca’s still form.

Was Robert dead? He’d fucking shot Robert and Owen had no idea how he recovered from that. But he had to because Becca was alive and he owed her. He’d promised her. He had a brief glimpse of Ariel hanging from her seatbelt, her whole body limp. Blood. There was blood on the seat. Robert’s blood?

God, how would he tell Ariel he’d been hanging uselessly while Robert had died? Robert had been through so much, survived McDonald’s experiments, and he’d died on Owen’s watch.

Running on pure adrenaline, he managed to reach the buckle and winced when he dropped to the floor…ceiling. It was an awkward position, but he had to make it work. He had to get out of here, get Becca back. They were pulling her body out of the car.

Gun. He couldn’t see it. It was too dark. He reached for it, trying to get that cold metal back in his hands. If he could get the gun, he might have a chance.

“Not so fast, big guy. I’m afraid you’re going to have to come with me, well, with my friend,” Levi said as something sharp shot into Owen’s calf. “You’re payment. You know no one does things just for the good of humanity anymore. They’re all about the payment. You’re going to have fun in Beijing, my friend.”

He was still trying to reach for the gun when the world went hazy.

God, he didn’t want to forget her. He couldn’t forget her.

He held on to the thought of Becca Walsh as his vision went dark, and he prayed he wasn’t being sent back to hell again.