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Run.
Elliot Preston saw Kenna and didn’t slow. Instead, he went after the girl.
ChapterThirty-Two
Abullet whizzed past Kenna’s head.
She ducked reflexively, but no way would she slow down. She raced out of the water onto the shore and pounded sand as fast as she could to the path where Maizie had disappeared, followed by Elliot. She had no weapon. All she had was the strength in her legs she’d been building before she was kidnapped in Washington.
And the trust in God that He hadn’t brought her this far only to let her fail now.
She ran so hard that one boot came off. The other followed behind not more than a couple of steps later, leaving her no other option but to run in her socks. Kicking up sand. Her vision so focused on that path—rather than the gun battle going on around her—that pain sliced into her head.
She blinked. Gasped a breath.
Caught herself before she could stumble.
There was someone running behind her, not too far back. Jax. She hoped it was him, anyway, and there was no time to check.
She tore down the path, the nascent morning giving her enough light to see. At the end there was a white structure.
Between her and the building Elliot had caught Maizie.
The girl made no sound. She didn’t fight. She didn’t scream.
Kenna ran to them. She spotted the gun Elliot had pressed to the underside of Maizie’s neck. “Don’t! Don’t shoot her!”
She had nothing to threaten him with. No weapons to take him out if he decided to kill the teen.
“Let…her…go.” Kenna could only gasp out the words, desperate to get Maizie safe.
She took another step closer. Elliot seemed to relish it, intently watching her approach.
“Please.” If that was what he wanted, she would give it to him. She would trade herself back into her nightmare to save Maizie.
God would go with her into the darkness.
She wouldn’t be alone.
Whoever was behind her shifted slightly. Elliot didn’t notice, intently watching Kenna. She should keep his focus on her.
Kenna took another half step. “Let her go. Please. I’ll go with you. Whatever you want.”
Maizie flinched. The first and only reaction she’d seen from the girl.
A gunshot exploded close behind her. Kenna flinched, caught off guard by the loud crack. Elliot stiffened, then went down, taking Maizie with him.
Kenna ran to them. She dragged Elliot’s gun from where he dropped it and tossed it away.
Then she gathered Maizie up. Her legs gave out, and she whimpered, holding the girl close to her as they stumbled onto the ground together. She tucked Maizie’s head in her neck. “I’ve got you.” Tears rolled down Kenna’s cheeks. “It’s over.”
The girl didn’t reach for her. Didn’t hold on.
“Maze.” Kenna squeezed her shoulder. Maybe she wasn’t ready to engage. Maybe she never would be, and this experience was the thing that finally broke what little hold she had on her psyche.
Kenna couldn’t help the tears that escaped over that thought.
Jax felt Elliot’s neck for a pulse. “He’s gone.”
