Shattered (The Protectors 11)

Because one face did stand out in the crowd.

Fear gripped my insides as I watched the man talk to another man that was with him. When they both looked in my direction, I fought the urge to scream. Terror for Willa took over and I quickly handed her to Aleks. “Here, take her,” I said.

“Wha… what? Why? What’s wrong?” Aleks asked, picking up on my frantic tone.

“Aleks, take her.” I kept my eyes on him even as I tried to keep the other two men in my periphery. God, what if it wasn’t just the two of them? They were standing about three hundred feet away, near the entrance to the marketplace.

Aleks took Willa from me. “I’ll lead them away,” I said. “You go to the nearest store and tell them to call the cops. Don’t leave until the cops come, do you hear me?”

“Caleb—”

“It’s Rush, Aleks. Tell Jace it’s Rush. He’ll know what that means.”

I quickly climbed to my feet. Aleks did the same, but when I made a move to leave, he grabbed me. “Caleb, wait—”

I pushed Aleks’s hand away where he was holding onto the waistband of my pants to keep me from leaving. “They can’t get her, Aleks,” I bit out. “Get her to safety.”

With that, I hurried away from Aleks and Willa and climbed up the small rise. I pretended not to have noticed Rush and the other guy. But I kept them in my line of sight as I neared the road leading into the marketplace. But instead of turning toward the marketplace, I went the opposite direction. I managed a discreet glance over my shoulder and saw that Aleks was moving toward a small gift shop near where we’d been sitting. When he disappeared inside, I chanced a glance over my shoulder.

Rush and the other guy were following me.

And they’d gained a lot of ground.

I was about to duck into a store myself, when I slammed into someone in front of me.

“Whoa there,” the guy said. “You seem like you’re in a hurry or something.”

I tried to push past him, but he refused to release me. Before I could say anything, a gun was pressed against my belly. The man’s body was so close to mine that I knew there was no way anyone was going to see it.

A few seconds later, I heard a familiar voice at my back – the one that had haunted the worst of my nightmares.

“Make a sound and Steve here will go into that little shop and kill everyone in it, including your friend and your kid.”

I held perfectly still. When Rush’s fingers bit into my arm and began propelling me forward, I didn’t fight him. I had no idea which guy Steve was, but since the other two guys stayed with us, I had to hope it meant that no one was going to pursue Aleks into the store.

As we walked, I tried to figure out what to do next. I had my phone, but no way of reaching it to call Jace. Of course, it wasn’t even an option not five seconds later when Rush pulled it from the back pocket of my jeans and dropped it to the ground. A crunching sound followed.

Fear engulfed me as Rush steered me toward a waiting sedan. I knew I should scream or try to run, but the fear that Rush had someone watching Aleks had me keeping silent.

I was shoved into the sedan. The two guys with Rush flanked me in the back seat as Rush got into the front passenger seat.

We drove for a good twenty minutes before the car pulled to a stop outside what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. Rush dragged me into the small building. One of his men followed, the other two stayed outside. There was a bunch of assembly line equipment, but I couldn’t tell what it was for. Rush shoved me against a conveyor belt. He took the gun the other guy handed him and put it to my forehead. I managed to stifle my cry of fear, but I couldn’t help but close my eyes.

“Where is it?”

When I didn’t answer, he jammed the gun against my head. “Where is it?”

“Where’s… what?” I croaked as I forced my eyes open.

It was just in time to see the blow coming.

Pain radiated out from where the side of Rush’s fist had slammed into my temple. I managed to stay upright, but I couldn’t keep from crying out in pain. I could feel blood start a slow slide down my face.

“Don’t make me repeat myself,” Rush warned.

“I swear, I don’t know what you’re looking for.”

“I want the fucking location!”

Pain seared through my brain as he hit me again. I couldn’t keep myself upright. But it didn’t matter because the other man hauled me to my feet and slammed me back against the conveyor belt behind me.