Page 96 of Rescuing Mary

“Come here,” Deuce said to Mary.

She blinked. “Me?”

“What’d I say, bitch? Come. Here.”

Mary scrambled to her feet and tried to ignore the twinges of pain in her arm where he’d so cruelly gripped her earlier. She walked over to where Deuce was standing and the second she got close enough, he reached out and wrapped a hand around her throat.

Mary immediately reached up to grab his wrist, but he put his pistol to her forehead. She froze as her life flashed before her.

Deuce turned to look at Truck. “You make one move I don’t like, and your girlfriend’s brains will be splattered all over the inside of this vault. Hear me?”

“Yes,” Truck said between clenched teeth.

“You better not be lying to me,” he said. “The only chance you have of getting out of this alive is if you help us. Got it?”

“Got it,” Truck said. “I’m not lying. I know what I’m doing when it comes to explosives.”

Deuce nodded but didn’t take the gun away from Mary’s forehead. His hand was still wrapped around her neck as well, making it difficult, but not impossible, to suck in air.

Mary’s eyes sought out Truck’s and they met for a split second, before he looked away and bent to look into the boxes the other gang members had brought in.

What she’d seen in his gaze made her close her eyes and hardened her resolve. She didn’t see regret. Or even worry. She saw unadulterated rage. She saw one pissed-off, deadly Delta Force soldier. She had no idea if he’d be able to get them out of this. She didn’t doubt his skills when it came to the explosives, but it was still at least ten against one.

But she’d take those odds any day of the week…as long as the one was Truck.

For the first time in her life, Mary put her full trust in a man. She didn’t worry about what she should do to get out of the situation. She wasn’t concocting a Plan B in her mind. Truck would either get them out of this, or they’d die together. It was that simple…and that complicated.

Truck racked his brain to come up with a way to alert his team that he needed them, but nothing came to mind. Deuce had taken both his and Mary’s cell phones, and since he’d disabled the phone inside the vault, that option was out.

He was on his own. He normally wouldn’t care, he could handle himself just fine, but Mary was there. If he screwed up, she was the one who would pay the price, and that was unacceptable.

The asshole Deuce had finally moved the gun away from her forehead, but that didn’t make him feel any better. Now he had one of his gangbanger friends guarding her…and the guy was extremely handsy. Every time the fucknugget touched Mary, Truck wanted to fucking kill him.

But he couldn’t. Not yet. He had to bide his time.

Deuce had zeroed in on the one thing that could control him. Mary.

The TNT the gang had brought in could do some serious damage but they obviously had no clue how powerful the stuff was. The assholes packing it against the safety-deposit boxes had been using way too much. He hadn’t lied; if the gang members had set it off, everything would’ve been blown to bits. He wouldn’t stand by and risk Mary’s life like that. He’d had to speak up. He didn’t regret it, he just hoped he could rig the explosives to do the least amount of damage possible while still doing what Deuce wanted it to do…namely, open as many of the miniature safes as possible.

It took twenty minutes or so to remove most of the explosive materials the other men had placed against the side wall of the vault. He put it all back in the boxes and put the boxes by the door of the vault so the gang members could remove it from the general area. It took another ten to rig up the electric blasting caps and attach the wires. It was a crude job, but Truck thought it should work.

Truck stood up holding the detonator, which was connected to the wires coming out of the explosives. “There. It’s done.”

Deuce clasped his hands together in glee. “Awesome. Shoebaloo? Want to have some fun before we get our loot?”

Truck stiffened. He better not mean what it sounded like he meant.

The other gang member smiled and nodded. “Abso-fucking-lutely.”

“Snake, out. Get Cheese, Grass, and Nightshop in here.”

“Want me to take this guy out too?” Snake asked, gesturing to Truck.

“No. He stays. I want him to watch. Keep your eye on him, Shoebaloo.”

Every muscle in Truck’s body tensed as the extremely overweight gangbanger raised his pistol and aimed it at him. They weren’t going to hurt Mary in front of him. No fucking way.

He thought about setting off the explosives right then and there, but he couldn’t risk Mary getting hurt. Then he thought about bum-rushing Deuce, but there was the pesky matter of the gun the other man was holding. Shit…he’d probably be okay if he got shot once, but there were more gang members on their way in. They’d fill him with holes, and then he’d never be able to help Mary.