Living on the Edge

by Shannon K. Butcher

  She nodded, unable to answer him, because she truly wasn’t sure if she was or not anymore. Lorenzo had denied her medical care. The closest thing she’d had was an old woman who didn’t speak English who had spent all of five minutes with Sophie. Whatever the woman had told Lorenzo had appeased him, but she had no idea what it had been.

  Riley pulled off his helmet, ran a hand over his buzz cut, and took a step back. “Holy shit. You should have said something.”

  “When? When you blasted my door in or when we were running for our lives?”

  He was breathing hard, pacing the small space, refusing to look at her. “I yanked you around and forced you to run. I did this, didn’t I?”

  “No. It started earlier today. Before you came.”

  His shoulders sagged in relief, and for a second she thought he might actually pass out. He looked a little wobbly on his feet.

  He was silent for a long time, and she could see some kind of internal struggle going on behind his features. His mouth moved like he was holding in vile words and he kept shaking his head in denial. His hands clenched in time with his jaw, and finally, he bent over at the waist, gripping the sides of his head.

  When he stood up again, his expression was calm. He walked up to her, cupped her cheek, and said, “I’m going to get you through this.”

  In that moment, Sophie’s composure crumbled. She couldn’t be strong anymore. She couldn’t deny the grief pounding inside of her. She’d felt so alone for so long, she’d almost forgotten how good it felt to have someone to lean on.

  Tears streamed down her cheeks, but she didn’t care. A man like Riley wasn’t scared off by flying bullets. He sure as heck wasn’t going to be scared off by a few tears.

  He put his arm around her. “Come on. We need to keep moving. Just a little farther.”

  Holy fucking shit. Riley was in over his head so far he’d never find a way to get out.

  Sophie was having a miscarriage. Losing a baby. Right here, right now. And he had to be with her to witness it. Hell, he’d already promised her he’d help her get through it.

  How in the world was he going to do that when he wasn’t sure he was going to get through it himself?

  He still hadn’t had time to absorb the fact that he’d thought he was a father only to find out he wasn’t. He still hadn’t had time to accept the fact that he wasn’t sure whether to be pissed or relieved at what Lucille had done. There were too many fucked-up emotions swirling around inside his head right now to deal with this.

  But there was no other choice. This was happening, and he had to find a way to pull himself together and man up. Sophie needed him.

  She stumbled. Her gasp of pain hit his ears like a hammer. Her body curled in on itself like she couldn’t control it. Witnessing her pain made a wave of nausea slam into his gut.

  He was so damn helpless. There wasn’t a thing he could think to do to help her.

  “Stop,” she begged him. “I have to stop.”

  With who knew how many men hot on their tail? Not going to happen. “We can’t. I’m sorry.”

  She let out a quiet moan, clutching her stomach. He could feel her body vibrating with tension as she tried to fight the pain. She gripped his arm hard enough to leave bruises, and bit her bottom lip.

  Shit. There was no way she could keep going like this. It looked like it was taking all her effort to keep from screaming.

  Gage slid into sight, making Riley jump. He recovered, hoping his buddy didn’t see the way he flinched. “We’ve got a problem,” said Riley.

  “Yeah. About six of them. Coming this way fast.”

  “She’s having a miscarriage. She can’t run.”

  Gage surveyed Sophie, nodded once, and said, “Keep her quiet. I’ll go hunting.” Then he was gone.

  Riley missed him instantly. It would have been nice to have another man here to deal with this. Hell, it would have been even better to be the one out there hunting the bad guys, rather than listening to Sophie’s brave attempts to keep her noises of pain to a minimum.

  Her knees gave out and Riley eased her to the ground. He stripped his gear from his body, then unbuttoned the shirt he wore over his black undershirt. He wrapped it around her pale shoulders, hoping to hide the telltale glow of that white fabric.

  Everything went back on, in case they needed to run. He really hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

  The flashlight could give them away, but he needed to be able to see her. Even more important, he guessed that going through this ordeal in the pitch-black was only going to make it scarier for her. So he laid the light on the ground and covered it with a few leaves to mute the glow.

  Unfortunately, it was still bright enough to see how much blood was on her nightgown.

  Holy fuck.

  He’d seen injuries before. He’d seen plenty of blood in his lifetime, including his own, but none of that had prepared him for this. This was different somehow. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the loss of an innocent life, or the heartbreak he knew it would cause.

  Sophie saw the blood, too. She pressed her hands between her legs as if she could somehow make it stop. A silent sob shook her frame and broke Riley’s heart open.

  He leaned in close, holding her, because there wasn’t another damn thing he could do.

  Torment trembled through her, and he could feel her tears hitting his shoulder. If he wasn’t mistaken, he felt a couple of his own as well.

  A single gunshot boomed in the distance, not far away. Gage.

  The answering gunfire was a sharper, higher pitch of smaller-caliber rounds, but there were a hell of a lot of them.

  Riley held his breath, praying for the next deep boom of Gage’s weapon. If anything happened to him because Riley hadn’t found a way out of that villa faster, he knew he’d never forgive himself.

  Gage wasn’t an easy man to get to know. He rarely spoke and when he did it was few words, but he was a good man. He’d laid his life on the line more than once for someone else and never said a word to anyone about his heroics.

  A second rifle shot blasted out, allowing Riley to pull in another breath. Gage was holding his own, just like he always did.

  Sophie rocked back and forth on the ground.

  “Is there anything I can do?” he asked.

  She didn’t answer, and Riley hoped it was because she was focusing on staying silent, rather than because she was hurting too bad to hear him.

  Slowly, the tension in her body eased and she let out a weary breath. She was sweating and panting, but it seemed the worst of the pain was over.

  “Can you move?” asked Riley.

  She gave him a weak nod. He helped her to her feet. She grabbed his arm to steady herself and her fingers were covered in blood.

  He looked down at her gown. A spot nearly a foot across was stained dark red.

  A sick sense of panic wriggled into him. He had no idea how much blood was normal for something like this, but that seemed like a hell of a lot. And even if she wasn’t bleeding out, she sure as hell was going to leave an easy trail for someone to follow.

  He cut a strip from the bottom of her nightgown, folded it up, and handed it to her. “We can’t leave a trail of blood for them to follow.”

  She closed her eyes in weariness, then lifted the bottom of her gown. Riley turned away to give her privacy to do what she needed to do.

  “My shoes are bloody,” she whispered.

  “That’s okay. I’m going to carry you for a while to see if it will slow the bleeding.” He had no idea if it would help, but it sure would make him feel better to do something to keep her from exerting herself.

  He arranged his gear so it wasn’t in the way, helped her slip her arms into his shirt, and picked her up. She helped him by hanging on to his neck and burying her head against his shoulder. He could barely see a thing, but he stumbled through the best he could with only the faint glow of the flashlight dangling from his belt.

  Gage fired again—or at least Ril
ey assumed it was Gage based on the sound. That made three shots and likely three kills.

  The bunker was a good hour’s hike—more like two at this pace. Riley only hoped Gage managed to hold off the bad guys for that long.

  Lucas held on to Gina while Victor came to a skidding stop near the second vehicle. Her head lolled to one side and she let out a groan.

  Sloane took Gina’s face in her hands. “Gina? Can you open your eyes?”

  Her eyes fluttered open, then squeezed shut. Lucas found a flashlight and shone it into her eyes to gauge her pupil reaction. She hissed at the light, but everything seemed normal to him. Granted, he just knew the basics, but that was as good as they were going to get for a while yet.

  “What happened?” asked Gina.

  Sloane smiled and tears of relief shone in her eyes. “You hit your head. But we’re safe now.”

  Gina struggled to sit up, but when she moved her arm, she groaned in pain.

  “Sit still,” said Sloane. “You were shot. It’s not bad, but you don’t want to start bleeding again.”

  Gina settled back on the seat and opened her eyes hesitantly. “I knew you’d come for me.”

  “Of course I did.”

  “Where’s Sophie?”

  Sloane’s eyes slid away from Gina’s face. “She’s with friends.”

  “Are you lying to me? Did she die? Don’t you dare lie to me.” Gina was swiftly getting worked up, ignoring her injuries.

  Lucas pressed her back against the seat. “She’s fine. We had to split up, and just lost contact with the others, that’s all. You’ve got to stay still.”

  Victor opened his door. “I’m going to head toward the others on foot and see if I can make radio contact with them.”

  “Do you need company?” asked Bella.

  “No, thank you. Stay here and guard the vehicles. I won’t be long. I would appreciate it if you’d man your headset, though, just in case.”

  Bella nodded, grabbed some spare ammunition from the back, and got out. She took up position between the vehicles and the road, donned a pair of NVGs, and settled in like she planned on staying there as long as it took.

  Sloane slowly lifted the gauze from Gina’s arm. “The bleeding seems to have stopped.”

  Lucas shone the flashlight on the wound. He hadn’t really had a chance to see how bad the damage was earlier. “It doesn’t look too bad. Did the bullet go through?”

  Sloane shook her head.

  Gina’s eyes widened. “You mean I have a bullet inside of me?”

  “Think of it as a souvenir,” said Sloane.

  “You mean a reminder to be careful about who I hook up with.”

  Sloane swept Gina’s hair back from her head. “We’ll talk about that later. I promise. For now try to get some rest.” She looked at Lucas. “We need a plan. Should we move her now or wait for the rest of the group?”

  “She’s stable, but that could change. It might be best if we leave, though there’s security in numbers.”

  “I want to wait for Sophie, and . . . Oh, God. Julia.” Gina lurched up, reaching for the door with her good arm.

  Lucas grabbed her arm and used every trick he knew to hold her still without hurting her. “Stop it. Tell us what’s going on.”

  Gina quieted, but her eyes had flooded with frightened tears. “He’s going to kill her. I have to go back.”

  “Who’s Julia?” asked Lucas.

  “She’s just a baby. I can’t let him kill her.” She tried to reach for the door again.

  “Whoa,” said Lucas. “You have to stay still.”

  “I can’t. He’ll kill her.”

  Sloane took Gina’s face in her hands, forcing her to focus. “Slow down. Tell us what you’re talking about.”

  Gina looked up at Sloane with tears in her eyes. “I tried to escape once. Soma and his men caught me. He took me to this room where these other women were sleeping—servants, I think. There was a little girl there.” She broke off on a sob. “He made me hold her. I felt her warmth, smelled her hair, felt her chubby arms clinging to me. He killed a man while I watched, then told me he’d kill her if I tried to escape again.”

  Lucas’s core temperature dropped twenty degrees in that moment as Gina’s words sank in.

  Soma was going to kill a child because he and Sloane had freed Gina.

  “Stay with her,” said Lucas. “Your father has an armed escort coming for you. I’ll go back and kill the bastard before he has a chance to hurt the little girl.”

  If it wasn’t already too late.

  “I’m going with you,” said Sloane.

  “Like hell. You’re sick and someone needs to stay with Gina.”

  “If you go back alone, you’ll be killed. They’ll be on high alert after what we did. There’s no way you’re getting in. You need backup.”

  His jaw clenched as he thought of the scared little girl in the hands of that prick. “All I need is a rifle and a clean shot.”

  Chapter 23

  Sloane gave Gina a don’t-give-me-any-shit glare. “Stay here. Don’t touch anything or you’ll blow yourself up. Got me?”

  Gina sniffed. “You’re going to stop him, aren’t you?”

  “Yes,” she said, unable to lie to her friend. “If he goes back there, he’ll be dead before he gets within sight of Soma. That’s not going to do Julia any good.”

  “You’re not just saying that because you have some thing for him, are you?”

  Sloane had a hell of a lot more than just a thing for Lucas. The idea that he’d put himself in danger made her break out in a sick sweat. She couldn’t lose him. She knew they couldn’t be together, but that didn’t mean she didn’t need to know he was out there in the world, somewhere, happy and healthy and whole. He was a good man. He deserved a good life, and she was going to see to it that he got the chance.

  She bent down so Gina could see right into her eyes even in the dark. “If I thought he could save that little girl, I’d let him go. He can’t. Not like this. We’ll find another way.”

  “Promise me,” said Gina, growling out her demand. “Promise me Julia won’t die because of me.”

  Sloane couldn’t, so she got out of the car, hoping Gina stayed there for just a couple of minutes. That was all she needed to talk some sense into Lucas.

  He was refilling his spare magazines from the supply in the other vehicle. His head was down and his movements were jerky and erratic. Sloane went to his side and covered his hands with hers. “You know you can’t do this.”

  “I have to. You heard what she said.”

  “That doesn’t make it true.”

  He looked at her and all she saw was the cold, hard man that lurked inside his kinder exterior. “Do you really think she’s the kind of person to lie about something like this?”

  “Of course not. I’m sure Soma told her he’d kill the girl, but that doesn’t mean he will. Men like Soma use threats to get their way. I know you’ve seen it before.”

  “But what if this time it’s more than a threat?”

  “Then we really need to kill the fucker. Going in now, when there’s who knows how many men on alert, is only going to get you killed.”

  Bella had come over to them during their heated conversation. “Are you talking about going back to get Soma?”

  “No,” said Sloane at the same time Lucas said, “Yes.”

  “He’s got a panic room. I saw him scurry in there through my scope before I could get a clean shot off. He’ll bolt at the first sign of trouble, assuming he doesn’t stay in there for a few days until he’s sure it’s safe to come out again.”

  “Fuck,” spat Lucas.

  “We could blow the whole villa up to get to him,” said Bella, “but if there are innocents there, we’d be killing them, too.”

  Lucas rubbed the back of his neck. “We’ll have to draw him out and hope to God he doesn’t kill anyone else in the meantime.”

  “Do you think he’ll come after your friend?” Bella ask
ed Sloane.

  “I don’t know. We still have no idea why he was holding her to begin with. For all we know the guy he was selling her to will be the one to come for her.”

  “She’ll have to go into protective custody.”

  “She’s not going to like that at all.”

  “Tough shit,” said Lucas.

  “I’ll do whatever it takes,” said Gina. She’d gotten out of the car against orders and was now standing behind them, holding her bloody arm.

  “The first thing we need to do is get you medical attention,” said Sloane. “Soma is probably still counting on his men bringing you back alive. He’s not going to do anything until he’s sure that’s not happening.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “Because any man who was cruel enough to kill a child to punish you would want you to see it happen.”

  Gina shivered. “He already killed a man who inadvertently helped me escape. He made me watch that. Maybe you’re right.”

  Sloane sure as hell hoped so. She was no psychological expert, but she’d seen cruelty firsthand enough times to recognize it.

  “I’ll stick around,” offered Bella. “I’ll scout out the villa and see if I can take the fucker out.”

  Sloane shook her head. “I don’t want you staying here alone.”

  “I’m sure the guys will stay with me. You all can go back with the others and I’ll meet you in Dallas in a day or two.”

  “It’s not safe,” said Lucas.

  Bella grinned like she was thinking of pinching his cheek for being so cute. “Of course it’s not safe. Safe is boring, honey, and I do so hate to be bored.”

  “I can stay with you,” offered Sloane.

  “Like hell,” said Lucas. “Your father would skin me alive if I let you stay here. Besides, if Gina is going to be bait, she’s going to need you by her side to make sure nothing bad happens.”

  Gina’s eyes widened with fear—the kind of fear that hadn’t been there before her abduction. “Me? Bait?”

  “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want. It’s just one option we have if Bella doesn’t kill him.”