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Inside the store, products were thrown haphazardly onto the floor. People cowered; parents cried. My footsteps echoed against the tile floor, running through the store, scanning for her. I had to find her. She couldn’t be gone.
“Fuck,” I yelled as I got to the back of the store. A crushed phone caught my eye,Audry’s.I picked it up in my hands, flicking the screen back on. I scrolled through it, finding text messages between my name with a heart. My grip around the phone tightened, some of the cracked glass embedding itself in my skin.
“What is it?” Logan said, coming up behind me.
“The motherfuckers added another number in her phone under my name,” I said, showing him the contact with the stupid heart emoji. “They lured her out…usingme.”
I threw the phone to the wall, shattering it the rest of the way. Audry was in danger now because she trusted me.
“We will find her,” Logan said, squeezing my shoulder. “Come on.” As he led me through the store in search of her, the memory of her screams echoed like a ghost haunting me.
I wasn’t ready to lose her.
Chapter 51
Audry
Kai saying my name—the sweet sound—echoed in my ears. My lower lip quivered as I debated on what to say, if anything. With the gun at my back, I didn’t know what to do. I glanced around me, trying to get my bearings—but what was there to get?
I was fucked.
And not in a good way, damn it!
Kai is on his way,I reasoned. But, who is to say he would get her in time? This was up to me…I had to survive.
The man stomped on my phone, cracking the screen down to the LCD—not just the protector how I had.
“That was very rude,” I mumbled, my hands up in the air. The man had already fired a warning shot into the air as an old woman rounded the corner. Instead of her breakfast essentials, she found a firearm pointed at me. I watched as her grocery basket fell to the floor, milk spilling.
At least it wasn’t her blood, I thought. The morbid intrusive thought doing nothing to help me. In fact, that stupid little voice only made the images of my possible demise more realistic.
“Shut up, bitch,” he spat.
I glanced behind me, the edge of his ski mask in view. I peered up. Two cameras lined the store. “My wallet is in my purse, if you want?—”
He pushed the gun harder into my back, right next to my spine. My body tensed, trying to lurch away. But he held tight to my arm, bruising it in the process. “I’m not after your money.”
I swallowed down the petty question on the edge of my lips. Now wasn’t a time to get mouthy, not with a firearm aimed and ready to kill. Even if he was the worst possible shot in the world, the chances of him missing were nonexistent.
“Walk.” He shoved me forward. We walked through the aisles, his hand wrapped tightly around my bicep, gun pressed into my back. A mother cooed at her child, her body wrapped around them and shielding them from harm.
“No one needs to get hurt,” I said. “This is between you and me.”
The man chuckled. “There’s more than you and I affected by your actions, Audry Santora.” He peered down at me, his gray eyes reminding me of the rain clouds that float in before a coastal storm. They mixed with specs of white, blue, and tinted ice.
He glared at me with pure hatred. He planned to kill me. I licked my lips, trying to keep my expression calm and collected.Show no fear, I said.Look for weaknesses…
A man behind the cash register moved, pulling his attention. The gun went slack, and his hold on me diminished. This was my moment.
Hit them where they are weak, Carson’s instruction floated forward.Your size is your biggest hindrance and best asset.
I took a deep breath, calming my heart rate.
Without wasting another second, I slammed my heel into the top of his foot, throwing my elbow back into his side. Finally, Ithrew my fist back into his nose. He groaned in pain, his arms flailing around to catch me.
I ducked, my small size evading him. This was what Carson meant.
Run, I screamed to myself, the voice mixing with Kai’s.
