The Fighter

by Leslie Georgeson

  “We’re going to call it a night and head back to the maze. No suspicious activity anywhere out here.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  Tony and Nate moved away, heading back for the entrance to the maze. I watched them leave, considering their words. They were right. It was time to go home.

  I was ready now.

  Ready to finally believe in myself.

  And more than ready to see my girls.

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  Anna

  I tucked Hazel into bed after reading her a story. Then I slipped quietly from the room.

  It had now been nine days since Jacob had left with the other dregs. I sent him texts every day with a picture of Hazel and me. I told him we were thinking of him, that we believed in him, and we were anxiously awaiting his return. He never responded to any of my texts, which hurt. But maybe he needed to distance himself from us in order to heal. That was what I told myself.

  The other dregs sent me periodic updates on Jacob’s progress. They told me when he had violent outbursts, or nightmares, and that they were doing everything they could for him. They said he was making progress and that he was gradually dealing with his demons. It gave me hope that he would come home soon.

  Luke and Ryan had brought Nellie over and parked her out front of the house the other day. They had found a few minor problems beneath the hood, they said, but they fixed them. Now she was raring to go. Ugly as ever. But reliable once again.

  “I don’t know why you drive that ugly heap,” Ryan had said with a disgusted look. “Jacob said he offered to buy you a new car, but you turned him down. What’s wrong with you, woman?”

  “Jacob’s done enough for me as it is,” I stressed out. “Nellie suits me just fine. Thank you for fixing her for me.”

  “Nellie?” Luke barked out a laugh. “You named your car Nellie?”

  Ryan rolled his eyes, his gaze full of laughter. “You are a funny girl, Anna. I’ve never heard of anyone naming their car Nellie.” He chuckled. “You are definitely one of a kind.”

  Nate had dropped off Kenny’s prosthetic legs, and Hazel and I had gone to the veterans’ center to return them. Caroline had been very gracious and thanked me profusely for bringing them back. I visited with the veterans while I was there. It felt good to get out of the house and do something that helped keep my mind off Jacob.

  Nine days was a long time to be away from the man I loved. I wished I could help him in some way, that he would let me help him. But I suspected his guilt was keeping him away. I just wished he would believe in himself. Believe in us.

  It was only nine o’clock as I left Hazel’s room, so I settled on the couch and turned on the television. I hadn’t slept much since Jacob left. I was too worried about him. Even though I was exhausted, there was no way I could sleep right now.

  I flipped through the channels, trying to find something interesting to watch. But nothing looked good.

  I must have dozed off because I jolted awake some time later, the hair on my arms jerking to attention.

  I wasn’t alone. My instincts told me someone was in the house. It was dark, the light from the television illuminating the living room, casting the room in flickering shadows as images flashed across the screen.

  My first thought was to check on Hazel. If someone was in the house, I had to get her to safety. I had to protect her.

  I cautiously rose to my feet, glancing around the dark room, searching for danger. I tiptoed down the hallway, pausing outside of Hazel’s room.

  Her door was wide open, and she wasn’t in the bed.

  “Hazel?” I whispered, my heart slamming into my ribs. Where was she?

  A sound came from behind me. I spun around just as a large dark shape lunged at me.

  I gasped, stumbling away, as the man attacked. He knocked me backward, then immediately crawled over top of me. I fought and squirmed, remembering all the self-defense moves Jacob had taught me, aiming for all the vulnerable areas.

  But the man was fast, and he deflected all my blows. He finally caught my wrists and held my hands above my head. Panting heavily, I glared up at him, trying to make out his features in the dark hallway. He was large, muscular, strong. I was no match for him.

  “Where’s Jacob?” he demanded in a deep voice that I didn’t recognize.

  I stared hard through the dark, but nothing about him seemed familiar. I was pretty sure I’d never met him before. How did he know Jacob?

  “He’s gone,” I said. “He left.”

  “When’s he coming back?”

  I swallowed hard. “He’s not coming back,” I lied. “Ever.”

  The stranger yanked me to my feet with an angry snarl. Then he began dragging me toward the back door. “You’re coming with me. I was told if I couldn’t find him, then to find his weakness, and to use that weakness to draw him out. Since I can’t find the damn kid, you’ll have to do.”

  Whoever this man was, I couldn’t let him take me. I couldn’t let him use me as bait to get to Jacob. Because I had no doubt Jacob would give himself up to see me safe, and there was no telling who this man worked for or what he might do to Jacob. I refused to let Jacob go through another nightmare like he had that night at the Spartans’ warehouse.

  I fought hard to be free, but I was no match for the man. He was too strong. He was definitely skilled. I wouldn’t escape him.

  Panic began to set in as we reached the back door. Where the hell was Hazel? Was she hiding? The man had said he couldn’t find her, so she must be hiding somewhere, right?

  With a hand clamped over my mouth to keep me quiet, the man dragged me outside. Down the back porch steps. Across the backyard. He was heading for the forest.

  I continued to fight and squirm, then dropped down, using all my weight to catch him off guard. A startled grunt burst out of him as I managed to wiggle free. Scrambling forward, I raced into the trees. He let out an angry curse and gave chase.

  I opened my mouth and screamed as loud as I could, the sound echoing across the forest around me.

  Then he tackled me from behind, knocking me onto the forest floor. The fall knocked the breath from my lungs. I lay there, gasping, wheezing, while he straddled me and fumbled with something. There was a tearing sound, then he slapped duct tape over my mouth. More tearing, then he roughly wrapped tape around my wrists, over and over, binding them together.

  He rose and hauled me to my feet.

  “Try to escape again, bitch, and I’ll kill you.”

  Then he dragged me forward, deep into the forest.

  Away from Jacob’s house.

  I stumbled along behind him, bound and gagged. Helpless.

  Stay safe, Hazel. Please stay safe.

  How long would it take the dregs to realize I was gone?

  I knew they did nightly patrols, but if the man had snuck in from the backyard, they might not have seen him. He seemed to be skilled, a soldier like them. It was possible he could have slipped past their guard, waited until they were patrolling around front before sneaking inside the house.

  I couldn’t rely on the dregs to save me.

  All I could do was try to stay alive.

  Then do my best to escape at the first opportunity.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  Jacob

  Right after I ended the call with Noah, a sense of foreboding slammed into me. Something wasn’t right. I felt it deep in my bones. I opened the surveillance app on my phone, scrolling through the video footage of the house.

  Then paused, my heart in my throat.

  A man dressed all in black slipped up onto the back porch. He fiddled with the lock, then went inside. The alarm never went off, and the security alert on my phone never indicated an intruder. He must have somehow disabled it remotely. Bastard.

  Fortunately, cameras didn’t lie. Was the man unaware of the cameras, or had he intentionally not shut them off? Not that it mattered now. He was in the house.

  I switched to the hallway camera, my heart poundi
ng, as he moved silently down the hallway, checking into each room. I recognized him as the same man who’d been lurking around the house that night when Anna had watched out the window. I would have killed him right then if Anna hadn’t been watching, but I couldn’t let her see that, so I’d let him go with a warning that if he returned I would kill hm. Apparently, he hadn’t heeded my warning because he was back. Who the fuck was he?

  I sought my connection with Hazel, and once I felt it, I sent her a message with my mind.

  Get out of the house, sweetheart. Quickly. Hide. I will find you when I get there.

  The man paused outside of Hazel’s room, then slowly pushed the door open. There was a sudden flash, a barely perceptible blur as she darted past him. He turned, his eyes wide, seeking the source of the movement, but Hazel had vanished.

  Good girl. Now find a place to hide and stay there. I will be there soon.

  The man shook his head, as if confused, then headed toward the living room. I needed to call Noah back and tell him and Logan to get back to the house, but I would have to get out of the app to make the call, and I couldn’t bring myself to look away from the live video footage.

  I switched to the camera in the living room. Anna was sleeping on the couch. She jerked awake, as if she’d sensed the intruder. She rose and cautiously headed toward the hallway.

  No, no, no! Run, Anna! Get out of there!

  Dammit! I leapt up from the boulder and raced for the garage. I had to get to her. I had to stop the intruder from hurting her.

  “Jacob?” Nate called after me. “What’s going on?”

  “He’s in the house! Fuck!” I tried to reel in my panic, but I couldn’t think straight.

  Tony muttered something about getting Ryan and Luke while Nate brought the Escalade around, but I was too focused on getting to Anna to pay much attention to them.

  I switched out of the surveillance app and tapped Noah’s icon. “Get back to the house!” I shouted into the phone. “A man just snuck in the back door! Hurry!”

  “Fuck!” Noah hissed. “We just checked the backyard before we left.”

  I reached my car and started the engine while fumbling with the phone, reopening the video app. I flipped through the camera feed. Then paused on the one in the hallway.

  The intruder had Anna pinned to the floor, holding her arms above her head. She squirmed and fought, but she was no match for the brute. He hauled her roughly to her feet and dragged her toward the back door. They went outside.

  I switched to the backyard camera in time to see him dragging her across the yard and into the trees, then out of the camera’s view.

  Slamming the car into gear, I screeched out of the garage.

  I shouldn’t have left them. I should have brought them to the maze with me. I’d let my guilt keep them away when I should have kept them close. Kept them safe.

  Fuck!

  My phone buzzed as I was tearing recklessly down the dirt road toward Eatonton.

  “We’re back at your place,” Noah said. “No one’s here.”

  “Look for Hazel. He took Anna out the backdoor and into the woods, but Hazel might be hiding somewhere.”

  “Will do.”

  I ended the call and drove faster, narrowly missing the trunk of a large pine tree as the car careened around a corner.

  Focus, you moron, or you’ll end up dead before you get there.

  I forced myself to relax and sought my connection to Hazel.

  Noah and Logan are at the house now, sweetie. You can come out. They will get you to safety.

  The car skidded across the road, then slowly evened out as I straightened the wheel and barreled toward town. I wouldn’t get there fast enough. I was too far away.

  Then it occurred to me if the man had taken Anna into the forest that I might be able to head them off if I reached them before they got into a vehicle. There was no telling where the man might have parked. But I would guess he had parked deep into the woods, far away from town. It’s what I would have done.

  I slammed my foot down hard on the accelerator, racing faster. And faster. I had to get to Anna before the bastard hurt her. I had to get to her before it was too late.

  My phone buzzed again. I snatched it up and tried to stay on the road while I answered.

  “We found Hazel,” Noah said. “She’s fine.”

  Relief swept through me. “Good. Please keep her safe. I’m going to find Anna.”

  Noah sighed with obvious regret. “Sorry, man. We should have seen the bastard. I don’t know how we missed him.”

  “It’s not your fault,” I assured him. I couldn’t blame them. I could only blame myself. “He’s a sneaky bastard. I think he’s from The Company. He looks like a trained soldier. I caught him lurking around the house a few weeks ago.”

  “Shit,” Noah muttered. “You need to take Hazel and get the fuck out of here.”

  “Yeah, I know.” I ended the call. I had already been making plans for that. But I wasn’t leaving without Anna.

  Refocusing on the dark road ahead, I drove faster.

  I had to get to Anna before The Company took her away, or I might never see her again.

  Almost fifteen minutes later, I caught sight of movement in the trees up ahead.

  Two figures slinking behind a large tree trunk.

  I slammed on the brakes, bringing the Beemer to an abrupt halt. Dust swirled around as I jumped out of the vehicle and headed to where I’d seen movement.

  Keeping silently to the shadows, I crept closer.

  If Anna was out here, I would free her.

  And kill the bastard who had her.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

  Anna

  The man dragged me deeper into the forest, farther from Jacob’s home. We traveled for ten minutes. Then fifteen. How far away had the man parked? He had to have a vehicle out here somewhere.

  Did the dregs know I was gone yet? Was Hazel safe? Would Jacob ever find me?

  Pushing the worry from my mind, I concentrated on the forest around me. I couldn’t see much more than dark shadows, tree branches, the occasional thick undercover that tripped me up several times, sending me sprawling forward. My abductor yanked me back to my feet, again and again, forcing me mercilessly onward.

  Suddenly the man paused. Headlights of a vehicle flashed over us, then away. A sliding, skidding sound rent the air as the driver of the car slammed on the brakes and the vehicle slid off the side of the road, crashing into the underbrush. My captor pulled me behind a large tree trunk, yanking me back against him. The cold steel of a gun barrel pressed against the side of my head.

  “Don’t move,” he ordered. “Or I’ll blow your fucking brains out.”

  The breath snagged in my throat. I froze, my heart thundering wildly.

  We waited.

  One minute.

  Two.

  A twig snapped off to the left.

  The man stepped out from behind the tree, dragging me with him, the gun barrel pressed tightly against my head.

  “I know you’re out there, Jacob!” he called out into the darkness. “If you surrender and come with me, I’ll set her free. No one has to get hurt.”

  Who was this guy? How did he know Jacob? And how did he know it was Jacob out there? What if it was someone else?

  Without a sound, a dark figure materialized in front of us. I gasped, my eyes widening. Jacob stood several feet away, his body tense, coiled, ready to strike. It was dark this deep into the forest, but I was barely able to make out the cold, deadly look on his face, the lethal glint in his eyes.

  My abductor’s arm tightened around my waist. The barrel of the gun dug harshly into the side of my head. I whimpered in pain, the sound muffled beneath the tape over my mouth, my gaze glued to Jacob’s face. My abductor could easily shoot me before Jacob was able to free me. Though Jacob was the Phantom of Death, even he couldn’t move faster than a bullet.

  Jacob let out a low growl. “I told you I would kill you if you came bac
k. You should have stayed away. Don’t you know I’m the Phantom of Death?”

  My captor let out a snicker. “I’m the one with the gun, idiot. I’m the one in control here. And for the record, you didn’t scare me away. I would have been back sooner, but you somehow got all mixed up with a gang. I was ordered to back off for a while and see if you came back. My superiors wanted to be sure you really were a dreg. So I waited, and watched, biding my time.”

  Jacob snorted. “You really were stupid to come back. And coming alone? Even dumber.”

  I stared at Jacob’s face, unable to look away. He showed no emotion whatsoever. His eyes were ice cold, his expression completely unreadable. This wasn’t the Jacob I knew. This Jacob was a stranger. Almost…inhuman.

  He’s just doing what he has to do. Don’t be afraid.

  My captor pressed the gun tighter against my head. “If you don’t want me to blow the bitch’s head off, then you’ll do exactly what I say.”

  My breath caught. I froze, knowing he meant every word. I didn’t want to die.

  Jacob slowly raised his hands, his palms facing us. “Okay. I surrender. Let her go.” He sounded less confident than he had a moment ago. My heart pounded. Was he truly giving himself up? He couldn’t! He was the Phantom of Death!

  Yeah, but there’s a gun against your head. You know Jacob will do everything in his power to keep you safe. Even surrender.

  “Turn around!” My captor ordered Jacob. “Keep your hands in the air! Do it now! Or I’ll kill her.”

  Jacob did as instructed, turning and lifting his hands high.

  No Jacob, don’t do it!

  I couldn’t let Jacob surrender. I couldn’t let the stranger hurt him.

  “Now get down on your knees. Keep your hands up!”

  Again, Jacob did as ordered, kneeling and keeping his hands in the air. His back was to us, leaving him vulnerable. I sensed the phantom in him, itching for release. But he wouldn’t be able to attack unless I got myself away from the gun that was pressed against my head.

  I needed to get away somehow. If the man didn’t have me, then he had no hold over Jacob. If I could escape, then Jacob could turn into the phantom and take the man out.