by Ryan Michele
The problem with my rationale was they were too far behind me, and when I opened the door to the back alley, all hell broke loose. Taking in the situation, GOON one from my kidnapping had Bri in a chokehold. She was kicking and struggling to get loose. The asshole had a hard grip on her, and his hand around her throat tightened, cutting off her blood circulation.
“What the hell is going on here?” I said, moving toward the man with Bri.
“Looks like we meet again, you little bitch. I’m going to gut you like a fish,” he snarled as a woman's scream came from my right. Looking out the corner of my eye, the other GOON had Khloe, but she wasn’t moving. He had her up in a fireman’s hold, and she looked like a limp doll.
“Khloe?” I called out to see if I could get a response. Nothing.
A large black van pulled up, and the door opened. The guy holding Khloe threw her in like a rag doll and climbed in behind her.
“Bitch, get in,” Daniel ordered as I stood there. Only a couple more seconds to stall them, and then Vane and Diesel would be coming out of these doors. Just a little bit of time.
“Let Bri go,” I demanded, taking another step forward.
“Hell no, this little whore is coming with us. Payback for ratting us out to the cops.”
“I didn’t do shit,” Bri choked out, her face turning red.
Shit, he was choking her to death. Not Bri. She was my ride or die. No way in hell she was dying.
Where in the hell are Vane and Diesel!! I screamed in my mind.
The GOON moved to the van, pulling Bri with him. Bri was my best friend. I’d do anything for her, and this was something I had to do…
I charged forward and knocked Bri to the ground as she heaved for breath, hands going around her throat as she choked and gagged. Lifting my knee, I made contact with Daniel's package and he cried out in pain. I had to get Khloe out, and I hadn’t thought out this plan well.
There was no time because Daniel shoved me forcefully into the other guy’s arms and jumped into the van behind me.
The van sped off, and I looked in the rearview mirror. Bri lay on the ground as Vane and Diesel burst out the door. A little too late…
A tear rolled down my cheek as fear gripped me. This time would be worse. This time … I didn’t think I’d see anyone I loved ever again. It didn’t mean I wouldn’t fight trying.
17
Ellie
We drove, and Khloe started to rouse. We were sitting in the back of the van with zip ties on our hands. The damn plastic burned every time I moved an inch, but my legs were not bound.
“What’s going on?” Khloe croaked out, eyes scanning the vehicle.
It was a nice ride. One that probably saw things I never wanted to imagine. Therefore, I hated it on the spot and vowed never to get a damn van in my life. If I got out of this.
I’d fight like hell trying.
“You stole shit. Where the hell is it, Khole?” I barked at her as tears filled her eyes. We weren’t best friends, but not the worst either. That being said, I was seriously pissed off and wanted to beat the hell out of her for putting us all in this mess.
“They think I…”
I shook my head, not wanting to hear an excuse for what she’d done. It sounded like she was going to give me one. No freaking thank you. My easygoing nature had slipped about a thousand percent at this point.
“Shut the fuck up!” The GOON slapped Khloe across the face, busting her lip open and making her bleed. Fucker. Yeah, I was a two-headed dragon right now. I was pissed at both of them, but the men were going to hurt us, and I knew it. I could deal with Khloe once we got out of this mess.
And I was getting out.
If they got us to wherever they were taking us, we were dead. That I knew for a fact.
These assholes weren’t going to play with me, rape me, or beat me. They already had as much of me as they were ever going to get.
With my legs free of confines, there was a way. There had to be, and I was going to find it.
The only person I could count on at this moment was myself, and I was damn well going to make it happen.
We only had one shot to get this right. While I was pissed at Khloe, I wouldn’t leave her behind. But she was going to have to help and put in the effort. With three big men who had guns, we didn’t have good odds of getting away.
One pull of the trigger and we were worm food. The only thing that was keeping us alive was Khloe’s knowledge of the flash. Me, they were just pissed about. Payback and all.
Add in we were driving pretty fast, jumping from the van would be painful. But in all honesty, it was our only out. The only way to not end up being taken to the final spot.
Glaring at Khloe, I nodded to the side door. This van had one on each side and a back door. The driver and passenger seats were no-goes. We’d have to be fast, and there would need to be people around. These assholes would be less likely to shoot us around a bunch of people. At least I hoped so.
I stared Khloe down. When she made eye contact with me, I shifted my eyes to the side door that she should go out of. I was going for the back.
Jumping over the back seat would be a challenge, but hopefully, with both of us moving it would distract these three assholes enough for us to get out.
My heart thumped so hard I thought for sure it would pop out of my chest. My hands were so damn clammy, but I didn’t want to make any sudden moves until it was time. Therefore, I didn’t wipe them off.
Looking out the back window, there was no sign of Vane, Diesel, or Killian, and despair hit hard. This was all us, and I was doing my damnedest to survive this.
I had on jeans and a t-shirt which wouldn’t help with the blow from hitting the pavement at however fast we were going.
Dread settled in my gut. The road we were on only had three different places where we could get the hell out of here, but we needed someplace busy with lots of witnesses.
The first, a gas station, we flew by.
Dammit.
With the second coming up, I started to get ready, and Khloe kept looking over at me discreetly. The two guys in front were talking and peering out the windshield. The guy in the back kept tabs on us every second.
Timing was everything.
The McDonald’s grew closer, and I nodded to Khloe, telling her it was time. She blinked once letting me know she understood.
Just when I was about to give Khloe the final nod, the driver pressed on the brakes hard, and Khloe and I flew out of the seats and onto the floor.
Inside I was yelling and screaming at the asshole who braked. It was like he knew what we were going to do. But we hadn’t made any moves to clue them in on our plan.
“Fuckin’ bitch!” the driver yelled at the woman who pulled out in front of the van. It took a bit to get our bearings and get back on the seats.
The grocery store was our last hope. It was dark and late. And I could only hope there were people at the store. Someone getting their groceries at nine at night. At least I thought it was around nine.
If the asshole broke hard again, I needed to be prepared and hoped Khloe could pull her shit together and fast.
I felt the tension ball up in my gut, swirling, and truly I wanted to throw up. It was getting out of here or going to our doom. Doom wasn’t an option. Been there, done that—never doing it again.
The asshole by us turned his head and looked us up and down, grinning. When he turned away, it was our shot. The store was only a few blocks away. There were so many variables that could go wrong with this, and I tried so very hard to get them out of my head and just focus.
Once we were almost there, I gave Khloe an eye movement to go.
The next few minutes happened so fast they were a blur of motion. While it felt like that, it also felt like we were in slow motion, and every moment was a moment too long to be inside this damn van.
It was such a contradictive feeling, but it was there nonetheless.
Khloe moved to the left, and I flung
myself over the seat and into the back.
The asshole in the back started to move, but I didn’t lose my focus on the task. One second could mean me being here or not.
I fell to the trunk, grunting when my side hit something hard, but I didn’t let it stop me. The van jarred to a stop, but I grabbed the door handle, threw it open, and fell out of the van. Hard. Painful.
My arm hit the pavement, and the momentum of me going and the van coming to a halt caused my body to fly.
As I rolled several times, a sharp pain hit me, and I knew I’d broken my arm. With my hands bound, it made the fall worse.
Fighting through the pain, I hopped up on my feet just as I started to hear gunshots. Me and my love of television, I weaved from side to side, hoping none of those bullets would hit me. It’d been said that a moving target was harder to hit than a still one, so I swerved as Khloe ran to the parking lot.
Boots hit the pavement, and I searched around for people. There were several cars in the parking lot, but not a single person.
No one.
I knew the store was open because sometimes I’d stop by there on my way home from the bar.
Except there was no one outside.
The boot steps got closer, and I knew we were running out of time. If these guys didn’t hate us before, they would despise us now and do everything within their power to make us pay.
Failure was not an option.
My entire body shook as I continued running to the front door of the store. There were several cars in the lot, and I hoped that we either got to the door or people would come out of the store.
Gunshots flew as Khloe, and I caught up to one another.
“Go!” I screamed loudly, hearing the men gaining on us. They were close, far too close for us to make an escape.
The sound gained on us, and the door was still feet away.
A scream ripped through my throat as new gunfire came from somewhere else. Looking over, Vane, Diesel, and Killian were returning fire on the assholes who took us.
The relief didn’t come. Instead, I pushed harder to run into the store. A wiz went right by my ear. Shit! A gunshot way too close.
A couple with a little girl started walking out of the building.
“Go back in!” I screamed, going right to them. They looked around, grabbed their baby, and booked it inside. I was right behind them, and a second later, Khloe was there too.
“Call 911!” I yelled at the cashier. “Move!!!” Yeah, it was contradictive, but I didn’t want them to be in the line of fire. I also didn’t want anyone to get hurt.
The manager grabbed the phone and started dialing as the cashiers started ushering the customers to the back of the store.
Only once we got there did I stop and take a breath. I was pretty sure I hadn’t breathed in a really long time. Who the hell needed air?
Looking over at Khloe, she was bleeding from her mouth, arm, and leg, but she was alive. That was more than we could have hoped for.
The gunfire could still be heard outside, but it was faint over the kid’s screams. I didn’t blame her. I wanted to scream too.
Killian was out there. With gunfire.
My heart never felt fear like this. A fear t so bone-deep and cold that it ripped through every part of my body. Fear that I’d lose Killian. That he would be shot or killed. My breathing was increasing, rapidly catching up with my heart.
I’d never had a panic attack, but this felt as though I was having one. This was beyond anything I’d ever felt before, even being trapped by these guys in a room. There was fear for myself, but to think Killian was in that position … something broke inside of me. I couldn’t lose him.
It made me feel shattered in a way I’d never experienced.
It was in that moment, standing next to the milk and cheese in the dairy aisle, I realized I loved Killian. Loved him and couldn’t see my life without him.
Tears streamed down my face as my heart broke.
I needed to see him. Needed to know he was okay. That he wasn’t getting rattled with bullets. My stomach twisted painfully as more shots rang out.
Then the sound of sirens hit, and I hoped like hell they would help Killian and the guys out. And that Eli wasn’t there.
While I knew it was his job, I didn’t want him here with all the gunfire. The thought of losing Killian or my brother crippled me. Physically, I was going to throw up.
Suddenly, the shots stopped.
Only the hum of the refrigerator next to us filled the vast space. Even the kid stopped wailing like she knew things were still outside.
Khloe looked at me. “You think it’s over?”
I glared at her. Pissed as all hell. “Hell if I know! You’re the reason for all of this. If anything happens to someone I care about, I’ll kill you my damn self!”
It probably wasn’t smart to threaten her in front of a group of people, but I didn’t give a shit. She was going to feel my wrath.
“I didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt.”
“Just shut up. I don’t want to hear your shit right now.”
Khloe stepped to me, and I growled. Yes, flat out growled low in my throat. Never really thought I would want to murder someone before, but Khloe was on that damn list.
Surprisingly the tears cleared up as the anger boiled over.
“Ellie!”
Killian.
I took off to the front of the store, seeing Killian looking around frantically. I barreled down the aisles, rushing him. With my hands still tied, I couldn’t wrap my arms around him or jump into him like I wanted. His arms wrapped around me, and I sagged my weight into him.
He held me tightly, kissing the top of my head.
“Is it over?” I asked against his chest.
“Yeah, babe. Let me cut your binds.”
Only then did he pull away from me. Tears were running down my face as he pulled out a pocketknife and cut the ties off my wrists. There were ugly red welts that I was sure would turn into bruises.
“How are you?” he asked and started looking me over.
It was only then that I really noticed all the aches and pains in my body.
“Guess jumping from a moving van wasn’t the best thing.”
My arm and shoulder were scraped, blood running down them. My hip and leg felt the same. I would be very sore tomorrow.
“Babe, you’re here with me. That’s all I care about. The rest of it, we’ll fix.” He pulled me back into his arms.
I tried to wrap my arms around him and did so, even though it was painful.
“What about Bri?” I asked.
“She’s with Ollie. We’ll talk about that shit later,” he growled low. I knew he was pissed, but I wouldn’t have changed my decision to help Bri.
“I get why you’re mad, but you gotta know she’s my best friend. I’d do anything for her. Anything. Including pushing her out of the way and trying to protect her. That will never change, Killian. I love her, and I will do whatever I need to make her safe.”
He sucked in a deep breath, and while I knew he wanted to say something, he didn’t. When I lifted my head, his gaze was focused over my shoulder.
Khloe.
“Can you cut these off?” Khloe asked him, and I held him tighter. She could keep the damn things on for all I cared.
She had so much explaining to do, and judging from Killian’s face, he was going to make her. I had to admit, I wanted answers myself.
18
Ellie
Vane walked into the store with one of the angriest faces I’d seen in a while. He marched right up to Khloe and grabbed her arm. Not in a mean way, but in a way that she knew she wasn’t getting away from this situation. A way that screamed he meant business.
“Please cut these off,” Khloe asked, and Vane shook his head.
“Fuck no. You’ve been a pain in my ass, and you’ve got some questions to answer.”
“I didn’t do…” Khloe started, and I seriously wanted to slap her. She di
d everything. She was the reason this whole thing started.
I started to move to her, but Killian held me back and whispered in my ear, “Not here. Let’s get her where we don’t have ears.”
I was going to lose my mind on this woman, but Killian was right. We needed to get where we could find out answers without an audience of store customers and workers. The less people who knew, the better.
Killian nodded to Vane in some secret man language only they understood, before he leaned in and kissed me softly on the lips.
“I’m taking you to the ER, and then we’ll go question your friend.”
“She’s not my friend.” I actually took a bit of offense to giving her that title.
In my book, Khloe was written off the moment she didn’t come forward when Bri and I were at the party that got raided. She didn’t answer calls or texts when we tried to find out if she was okay and what was going on. She had no regard for anyone but herself. She was selfish and not the kind of person I wanted in my life.
Vane left with Khloe, and Killian wrapped an arm over my shoulder as we left the store. I couldn’t help but look around for the three men who took us. There were police cars everywhere, and an EMT was currently checking Khloe out.
The pain in my arm throbbed as the adrenaline started to fall from my body. I could feel myself leaning more and more into Killian as the fatigue took hold of me.
“Ellie!” Elliot barked, jogging to us just as we reached Killian’s SUV. I stopped and turned to him. “Are you okay?” he asked, eyes roaming over my body.
“I’m alive and not with those fuckers, so I reckon I couldn’t be better,” I tried to joke. The air was tense between us. I could feel my brother’s fear for me, and I didn’t like seeing him upset. Eli didn’t think I was funny. Come to think of it, neither did I. This was anything but funny, and trying to make it that way was just stupid. I huffed out a deep breath, answering, “My hip and shoulder took the brunt of the fall out of the van. Overall, I’m better than I could have ended up, so let’s just hold onto that.”
