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I’m gone for this girl.
And as unrealistic as it is, I don’t care. I decide I’m all in and I’m following my gut, which rarely steers me wrong.
I take slow, measured steps toward the tent, and bend down, listening but there’s no sound from inside. I ease around the front, the zipper is open and I don’t want to scare the shit out of her or the other girl she was with, so I crouch down, my eyes adjusting to the low light, but my heart sinks when I see the tent is empty.
Fuck. Something’s wrong.
Not knowing where she is, is one thing, but my inner bullshit meter is off the charts when it comes to her father. I should have never left her here.
That’s on me, and if something’s happened to her, I’ll never forgive myself.
Just as my heart is about to crack my ribs, I hear a little yelp from over my left shoulder. It’s a female’s voice, a young woman, and I reach down and grip the handle of my pistol, partly on instinct and partly because if anyone has laid a hand on her, they’re getting some lead in their head.
There’s low voices and I follow them toward a larger, tall canvas tent with a low light inside.
I step to the back where it’s darker and my shadow won’t cast against the fabric, and peer through an open slit where a roll-down window covering doesn’t quite square up.
And my blood turns to ice.
My fingers curl around the cold steel handle of my gun, while my thumb flips open the snap holding it in the holster.
The man that presented himself as Kezia’s father is sitting in a wooden chair, holding a long, knotty cane.
It’s what’s at the end of that cane that very well may end his life this morning.
It’s Kezia.
She’s curled into a ball, cowering inside a wooden crate fashioned into some sort of cage, barely big enough for her tiny, tucked body. Thadius is banging on the top with the gnarled end of his cane.
“What is your job?” he asks, as homicidal thoughts flood my brain.
To kill you, motherfucker.
“To distract. To do as I’m told. To serve the family.” Kezia’s soft voice shakes. I try to suppress a growl as rage bubbles inside of me.
He slams the cane down on the top of the box five times and I see Kezia wince and curl tighter with each blow.
“You say the words but you do not follow through with your actions!” he bellows, standing now, stepping to the wooden crate and looking down. “You kissed him. I overheard you telling Genevieve.” He locks his jaw then continues. “You are not to be touched by them. You are to be untouched. Your value to the family is partly your beauty but also your purity. If it is discovered you let an outsider touch you, I will lose many thousands of dollars, Kezia, and that is not going to happen.”
“I’m sorry,” she whimpers and I’m not listening to anything more.
The beast inside of me is ready to tear his skin off as I make my way around to the front of the tent and rip my way through the flaps of fabric that serve as the door, my pistol pulled.
Her father spins, his cane in the air, and I give him a look that lets him know he’s half a twitch away from a bullet in his brain.
“Merrick.” I hear Kezia’s voice but I’m focused on the fucker in front of me.
I reach out and jerk the cane from his hand, throwing it into the corner but keeping my gun pinned on him. Then I step forward, and in a single movement I rip the top of the cage holding my girl off its hinges and throw it at him.
“You okay, baby?” I ask, keeping my eyes on the man who is staring at me without fear.
“I’m okay,” Kezia answers as I offer my free hand and help her out of the box. “Don’t hurt him.”
I swallow the hatred gathered in my throat as I push her behind me, then close the space between me and her father, reaching up and grabbing his throat with one hand and shoving the barrel of my gun into his gut.
“You’re fucking lucky she’s here. Only reason you’re alive is I don’t want her to watch you die.”
“You are a man of the law. I am unarmed. It would be murder.” He chokes out the words as my fingers crush his windpipe.
“Look in my eyes, do you think I give a shit what they would call it? Besides, I caught you in the commission of a felony, forcible imprisonment and torture, domestic abuse…You fought me as I tried to free Kezia. I know the fucking law.” I shrug. His eyes narrow but he shrinks back, mouth open as I cut off the little air reaching his lungs.
