Page 69 of Flawed Revenge

Making it to the corner where she’d seen River go, Kate spotted the old woman turning another corner. Kate waited a moment and then hurried after her.

They turned another corner.

And then another.

River finally stopped outside a door, opened it, and rolled inside.

The door closed behind her, and Kate rushed down the hall, making as little noise as possible, then paused, pressing her ear against the door, listening for any signs that someone else was in there with the old woman.

Maybe she could take out River, but there was no way she could take down an armed guard.

But it didn't sound like anyone else was in there.

Dragging in a deep breath, she forced her nerves to settle, reached out a shaking hand, and prayed that no matter what happened to her, Leo would find Ariella, protect her, save her life, and raise her to become the amazing woman she knew the girl was destined to be.

Then she acted.

Clutching the lampstand in her hand, she swung the door open and didn't stop to hesitate, to worry about what could go wrong, to assess threats and dangers, to think about the implications of taking a life.

Instead, she just ran.

Right toward the desk where River Gardner was sitting.

The old woman’s eyes widened in surprise, her mouth opened as though to scream for help, but it was too late.

Kate swung the lampstand at the old lady’s head.

It connected with a sickening crunch.

And River’s body went limp.

Chapter

Twenty

March 19th

10:54 A.M.

Rose’s plan for Kate and Ariella to hide turned out to be a great one.

River’s guards were so busy searching for an unarmed woman and a sick little girl that they weren't paying attention to anything else.

Confident that they had him and his team contained in a cell in the basement, locked away and no longer a threat, it never occurred to them that Rose was capable of making it past all of them, into the basement, to set them free.

Lion grinned as he crept up behind a man as he came out of a room he’d just been searching, and grabbed his head, snapping his neck before the other man had a chance at fighting back. It wasn't as satisfying as beating him to a bloody pulp, splattering blood all over the pristine wallpaper and beautiful hardwood floors, but at least the man was dead. Another threat eliminated.

Another step closer to finding his girls.

Since they had no idea how many guards there were, although they knew he had killed several back in the forest, and the guys had also killed a couple before they were all tranquilized and taken there, they were sticking together. It made moving unseen that much harder, but Whitney, Indigo, and Maya didn't know how to use a gun, and while Cassandra did have some training, she wasn't experienced or comfortable shooting.

So it was slow going, because not only did they have to eliminate each threat as they spotted it, but they were searching the rooms as they went to try to find his girls.

“Ah ha! Found you little one,” a male voice spoke from a room just a couple down from where he’d just killed a man.

“No! Don’t touch me,” a little voice shrieked.

Ariella.