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Never one to let someone else finish a fight she didn’t start, Harris crossed her arms in front of her face and blocked the man’s kick. It sent her sliding back a few inches, and that was enough room to get to her feet. She squared off with the guy, a wicked grin on her face.
“This didn’t work out so well for you last time,” Harris said.
“There were two of you last time,” the man growled. “Wasn’t a fair fight.”
“And getting the drop on me was?”
He shrugged. “Your fault for not paying better attention.”
Harris didn’t bother responding. She had to lay this guy out quick and get to Cassie. With the other man still in the crowd, there was no telling what would happen. And with all the screaming and yelling, she couldn’t hear Cassie in her ear.
So, it was time to go on the offensive. Harris kicked out with her right leg, careful not to let him catch it like he had last time. The blow missed him by inches, but she was already swinging with her right arm. Her fist connected with his cheekbone, but it was like punching a slab of meat. He didn’t even stumble.
In retaliation, the man threw a series of quick jabs, which Harris absorbed with tightened stomach muscles. It hurt, but it didn’t knock out her breath, and she stood tall. Sucking in stale air, she stepped closer, feigning a jab to his gut with her right arm and coming in with a left hook that connected with his temple.
It was hard and fast enough to knock the sense out of him for a second or two, and that was all the time she needed. Harris kicked out with her leg again, and when she connected with his kneecap a second time, she felt a satisfying crunch, indicating she’d dislocated it from the socket. The man howled in pain and dropped to his good knee.
It was the perfect height to allow her to bring her own knee up into his face. And with that, she heard the satisfying crunch of his nose for the second time that day. But she didn’t stop there. With his head tilted back, she spun and landed a kick to the side of his head.
And he dropped to the floor like a bag of bricks.
“Holy shit.”
Harris looked up to find a tall, muscular man looking between her and the janitor. It was obvious he’d been trying to find an opening to step in between the two of them, but the fight had been over so quickly, he hadn’t had a chance.
“I’m a cop,” Harris said. She didn’t bother pulling out her badge. “Keep an eye on him. Don’t let him get up. Shout if he moves.”
The other man nodded dumbly and looked back down at the unconscious janitor.
Harris sprinted through the crowd, calling Cassie’s name. Something was wrong with the comms. She thought the crowd had been too loud, but now she realized there was dead silence on the other end.
When Harris skidded to a stop in front of Cassie’s table, her heart sank into her stomach. A wave of nausea hit her so hard, she stumbled and fell to her knees. It took several breaths to clear her head enough to comprehend what she was looking at.
An open phone on the table. An earpiece on the floor, smashed to bits. A chair tipped over, like its former occupant had been dragged out of it. Harris had to swallow back bile as she realized what had happened. The janitor was merely the distraction.
Cassie was gone.
36
Cassie could hardly see where she was going. The crowd surged around her, bodies jostling her this way and that. She kept her face down to protect it from flying elbows. The only constant was the tight grip around her bicep and the sharp point pressing into her side.
She had gotten a single glimpse of Harris as the janitor attacked before the entire cafeteria erupted into chaos. Everyone started screaming a
nd running in different direction. A teenager had run clean into her, spilling her from the chair and knocking the comms device out of her ear. She heard the crunch of it underfoot as the kid ran in the other direction with a hasty apology.
Strong arms lifted her from the ground and dragged her away from the table. At first, she let him take her away, scared she’d be trampled underfoot. But as the distance increased between her and Harris, Cassie pulled away, telling the man she needed to get back to her friend.
That’s when he’d shoved the tip of an icepick into her side and told her to keep moving.
Unsure of what else to do, she obeyed. Harris would be fine handling the janitor, especially if someone from the crowd stepped in to help. Cassie had to worry about herself now. The icepick dug into her side every time someone bumped into the man, and she winced in pain. It felt like it was drawing blood already, and things would get much worse if he decided to teach her a lesson.
Cassie took a chance and looked up from his polished shoes to peer into his face. He was a good-looking man with dark hair and bright, roving eyes. When he looked down to meet her gaze, he smiled, and for a second, she was dazzled.
But then the icepick dug a little deeper, and she let out a gasp.
“I’ll scream,” she said, her voice barely audible over the crowd.
“You’ll do no such thing, Mrs. Sherman.” The man was poised and polite. “Or I’ll let you stay alive long enough to feel your baby die inside of you.”
