Page 114 of Untamed Sinner

Three seconds.

Five.

He tries to throw me over his head. I squeeze harder, holding on despite his struggle.

Seven.

His movements slow.

I tighten my grip until he goes limp. I keep the pressure up until I can’t feel him breathing.

Then I let him hit the concrete and collapse, panting, next to him. “Asshole.”

My face throbs. My lip is split. One eye is already swelling. I touch it gingerly and wince. Hendricks is going to lose his fucking mind.

I crawl closer to the asshole and dig my comm out of his pocket.

Dead.

“Fuck.” So much for that.

I shove it into my pocket and check the rest of him. Gun. Knife—if only I’d seen that before I started strangling him. Phone. Pack of cigarettes with only one left. Lighter. Keeping the knife out, I drop the cigarette pack, shove the rest into my pockets, and go to the door.

Locked. Of course it is.

I press my ear against it but I don’t hear anything. It’s probably soundproofed. I could shoot the lock, but announcing that I’m loose before I know how many men are out there seems unnecessarily enthusiastic.

So I bang on the door instead.

Silence.

I hit it harder until I hear footsteps.

Well, that was easy. I grip the knife ready and move to the side so I’ll be hidden when the door opens.

The lock turns.

The door opens and a man sticks his head through.

“Derek?”

Breathing easily, I wait for him to see his asshole friend and rush in. As he crouches down to check the pulse, I sneak behind him and draw the blade across his throat.

He starts to turn, gurgling, but he drops to his knees, his shocked gaze on me.

“Derek’s taking a nap,” I tell him. “You should join him.”

He starts to topple.

I catch him and lower him as quietly as I can before I step into the hall.

The mill is bigger than I realized. Old timber beams cross a cavernous ceiling. Rusted machinery sits in the dark like the bones of something enormous. Dust hangs in the thin shafts of moonlight coming through the high windows.

Somewhere below me, men are talking.

I crouch beside the railing to listen.

“…should be almost to the airstrip by now.”