“I can’t sleep with him, Heather,” she said. “Not even if it will save my life or yours.”
“I understand,” Heather whispered.
Ellie didn’t think she did but then again, Heather’s story was very different from her own. Heather hadn’t lived with repetitive abuse. She hadn’t been struck like an animal, beaten down like a rabid whore. That’s how Denny Marshall, her former husband, had treated her.
She couldn’t stomach the idea of becoming another madman’s obsession. She’d rather die first. And she’d rather die than have Allister or any of her boyfriends suffer through the knowledge that she’d landed in the clutches of abuse once more.
“Why don’t you let me watch for a bit? Just take a nap, Ellie.”
“I can’t sleep,” she said, studying movement on the street. “It’s busy outside again.”
“Cars or foot traffic?”
A few dark forms shot around one car and then another, hunkering down low. Ellie gasped. No. It couldn’t have been. “Wait. Come here.” She tried to keep her voice low and devoid of enthusiasm.
“What is it?” Heather asked, rushing the window.
Another couple of bodies crouched near the bushes. Ellie strained to see who might have been out there. It wasn’t a SWAT team but she wasn’t entirely sure the team approaching was there to save them. The gangs had gathered there earlier, and while they seemingly supported Seth, Ellie didn’t believe they liked him. They probably didn’t even want him there.
Apparently, he was tolerated because he could pay for tolerance.
“Ellie, look!” Heather pointed at the street light closest to the house.
Markie sprinted across the road on his tiptoes, dropped and rolled under a car, and then continued to the yard. Ellie released all her burdens and grief in one abrupt sigh.
“They came for us,” she whispered, gripping Heather’s hand.
“Did you ever have any doubts?” Heather grinned. “My brother would never forgive himself if he lost you.”
“Curt and Gabe would never be able to live without you either.” Ellie glanced around the room, considering how she might be able to buy the guys some time. “Hurry, help me move the furniture in front of the door. Make some racket so Seth doesn’t pay attention to what’s going on outside.”
They pushed the first twin bed against the doorframe. Then, they placed their backs against a heavy pine dresser and threw their weight against the furniture to move it behind the bed.
About that time, Seth knocked. “Ellie? Heather. Open this door.” He jiggled the doorknob.
“If you want in, break in. You’ve made sure your thugs guard the outside of this house. We’re going to guard ourselves from those who are already inside this prison with us.”
“Prison?” He laughed at that. “You have no idea what a prison is, Ellie.”
“Being held anywhere against a person’s will is imprisonment.”
“I’ve told you how to earn your freedom.” He jiggled the doorknob once more. “Open the door.”
“No.”
“I said, ‘open the door’ and did not ask!” he bellowed.
“You want in, get in,” Heather said, definitely defiant.
Ellie rushed the window again. Her heart soared. Draegan, Mac, and Harley were at the limousine. Sable and Serena were stepping away from the car.
“Heather,” she whispered, motioning for her.
About that time an axe fell against the upper panels. With brutal force, Seth struck the door. Wood splintered. The racket resonated in the room. He chopped and chopped.
“I do not have a desire to tear down these walls!” he bellowed.
“Then don’t.” Allister’s voice was loud and clear. The undeniable click of a cocked gun resounded. “Step away, Parkinson. Or die right here. I don’t give a damn which you choose but you’ve got two seconds to do it and I just used one of them.”