Page 52 of Flawed Revenge

Now they were out there somewhere. Alone and unprotected. And there was every chance that River Gardner was nearby and wouldn't hesitate to get her hands on them.

March 18th

3:28 A.M.

This was a terrible idea.

But what else was she supposed to do?

Kate wished she’d been keeping a tighter hold on Ariella, preventing her from running out of the house once the shooting had started, but she honestly hadn't expected her daughter to run. Ariella had held it together so amazingly well so far, and she hadn't been prepared for her to freak out at the sound of gunfire.

Which made her feel like a terrible mother.

Which made her a terrible mother.

Of course, her nine-year-old would freak out at the sound of gunfire.

Even though she’d been warned that the bad men were coming, Ariella was just a child. Knowing you were about to be shot at and then being actually shot at were vastly different things. She was freaked out about it, and she was almost two decades older than her daughter.

What was done was done. Ariella had run, and there was no way in hell she wasn't going after her daughter. So now they were both in the forest. It was dark, the trees blocked out most of the light from the moon and stars that otherwise would have lit the way for them. Gunfire seemed to be everywhere, and as she ran, Kate caught glimpses of men dressed all in black with large guns in their hands.

It was only by some miracle that she and Ariella hadn't already been shot, but she had no idea how long that was going to last. Not only was getting shot a likely scenario, but there were a hundred things they could trip over or run into. The last thing Ariella needed after just surviving a plane crash was to injure herself again. While she still had her daughter’s medical bag, alone in the middle of a firefight, was not the place to be trying to tend to cuts that wouldn't stop bleeding.

As her chest felt like a thousand knives were stabbing into it with each step she took, Kate knew running through the forest was the last thing her body needed right now, too.

Wanting to call out to Ariella, beg her to stop, but afraid that would draw attention to them and get them shot, instead, she ran, following her daughter’s trail and cursing her broken ribs that were slowing her down. Without them, she would have caught the little girl already.

Calling out for Leo also crossed her mind, but that raised the same problem. Making any more sound than they already were by running meant possibly getting shot.

So she just ran.

Followed her daughter.

Prayed that Ariella would get tired soon and stop.

Slowly, the gunfire grew quieter and then seemed to fade altogether. Had they moved far enough away that it was safe to speak?

Fear clawed at her insides, worse than the pain from her broken ribs. That pain only affected her, but the fear was mostly focused on her daughter. It was her job to protect Ariella, and she’d failed epically. Now the two of them were alone out there, and she only had a single gun that she had no idea how to use as protection.

Could she really shoot someone if it came down to it?

Deciding calling out to her daughter was the lesser of the risks now that things were silent, Kate paused briefly, leaned up against the nearest tree, and tried to breathe, ignoring the fact that it felt like she was inhaling broken glass.

“Stop, Ariella,” she whisper yelled. “Sweetie-pie, please, I need you to stop running and come to me. Ari-Bear,” she said on a sob, using Leo’s nickname for their daughter and praying it would help the little girl to remember that her daddy was nearby. Her daddy, who could protect them in ways she could never hope to. Once he realized they were gone, Leo would use his super skills, and those of his team to find them. All they had to do was stay put and wait for him.

“Mommy,” came the soft reply, heavy with tears.

Pushing away from the tree, Kate staggered forward a few more yards, where she spotted her little girl on the ground, arms wrapped around her knees, crying. Her heart fractured at the sight, and she rushed toward her, aching chest forgotten, as she dropped to her knees and pulled Ariella into her lap, hugging her tight and rocking her.

“I’m sorry, Mommy. I just got scared and I ran, and I couldn’t stop because they were all shooting, and I was scared that the bad men were going to shoot Daddy, and⁠—”

“Shh, sweetie, it’s okay, it’s okay,” Kate soothed. It didn’t matter how far from okay things were, it was always her job to find a way to make it better. Not that she ever managed to do that. She hadn't been able to save her daughter from her illness, and now she couldn’t save her from men with guns. All they could do was wait and hope that Leo would once again be their savior.

“Will Daddy find us?” Ariella asked, lashes wet with tears as she lifted her head and looked up at her.

“Daddy can see better than anyone, remember? And Dragon has a nose just like a dog, Blade can hear anything, and Thunder runs so fast he’s like a blur. They’ll find us,” she assured her daughter, infusing as much confidence into her tone as she could muster.

“One can only hope so,” a female voice spoke, and Kate jerked her head around to find an older woman in a wheelchair moving toward them.