Runaway (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 4)

Molly clung to the back of Jasper’s shirt. Her gaze fell to his wound. The sight of it made her feel sick, but no more than the fear for his safety did right now because Marilyn had her gun trained on him. If she pulled the trigger, Jasper would be dead instantly.

Please God, please don’t let her kill him. Molly prayed.

Oscar hurriedly reloaded one of the guns with the shot Jasper had told him to find. He slid across the floor using his sister’s skirts as cover and pushed it silently into Jasper’s hand. Jasper pointed one long finger at the other gun still on the floor. Oscar began to load that as well. While the young boy quietly worked, Marilyn, oblivious to what he was doing, stalked arrogantly into the hallway and looked around her with all the regal scorn of royalty.

“Get down here, Molly,” she ordered coldly. Her gun turned to Molly without a quiver.

When Molly looked at her, she knew the woman was as cold as any murderer could be. Still, Molly had no intention of doing anything the odious creature told her to do.

“Go to Hell,” Molly snarled. “Shoot me but I warn you now this charade will have achieved nothing but ensure that several of your comrades are cut down.”

“Don’t think I won’t shoot you,” Marilyn drawled.

“I don’t doubt you would, but then you would have nothing to bargain with, would you? I mean, these men here will shoot you where you stand,” she murmured bravely.

Jasper silently lifted his gun and pointed it directly at Marilyn’s head. As soon as Oscar slid the now loaded gun silently into Harry’s hand, Harry did the same and a stand-off began.

“We only want the girl and the boy. Hand them over,” Marilyn ordered, carefully ignoring the fact that she was hopelessly outnumbered and faced death.

“The ‘girl’ as you all me is an adult, and perfectly capable of making decisions for myself, thank you very much. I am not going anywhere with you. So, like I have already said, go to Hell.” She flinched but stood her ground when Marilyn shot the step directly beneath Molly’s boot with lethal accuracy. Molly quivered with fear. To her shock and horror, Marilyn then re-cocked the gun and pointed it directly at Oscar, but when Oscar jumped back behind the safety of the wall beside him, turned the gun on Jasper instead.

“Hand them over and we will leave you alone,” Marilyn warned.

“Why are you so interested in them?” Jasper asked silkily. “I mean, you don’t strike me as the kind of sociable people who simply want to return them to their not-so-loving family as a moral duty. You are thieves, liars, and most probably whores.”

“It’s because Oscar has seen too much of their operation. They want to silence him,” Molly replied, well aware that the men already knew this.

“Just like they silenced Denzel,” Jasper added.

Molly jerked and looked at him. “Denzel is dead?”

“Her lot slaughtered him,” Jasper confirmed.

He hated to be so brutal with the news but had no choice in the matter. Molly had to know that Marilyn had no mercy in her soul. She would kill.

“Neither Oscar nor Molly are for sale. They stay with us, thank you very much. Now, I suggest you put your weapon down before I shoot it out of your hand,” Harry replied. “You are going to spend a very long time behind bars for child abduction and the kidnap of several young women as it is. But, then, you are a part of a larger gang of kidnappers, aren’t you? I am not surprised that you should think you can boldly walk in here and help yourselves to whoever you want. I am surprised that you should think to try it here, though. I thought Horvat usually did that kind of work.”

“He can’t anymore, remember? We killed him,” Jasper replied calmly but matter-of-factly.

Marilyn studied them for a moment before her gaze turned to a thug in the hallway. The thickets, heaviest set of them all merely looked back at her for a moment before he sighed.

“Just hand them over, then we can be on our way. Look, we don’t mean any harm,” the man cajoled.

“Jesus, just what apple cart do you think we fell off?” Jasper snarled.

“Well, we will just have to fight them then,” the man snorted and turned to Marilyn once more.

“I don’t think so,” Sir Hugo muttered, stepping through the doorway and pressing the barrel of his gun directly into the back of Marilyn’s head. He reached over her shoulder and relieved her of her weapon.

“You won’t stop us,” Marilyn drawled mockingly, even though Sir Hugo was yanking her arms behind her back to stop her moving.

“Shut up,” the thug snarled, but Marilyn wasn’t to be silenced. She smirked and threw her colleague a dirty glare.

“You can’t prove anything. The victims can’t be found now, and you know it,” she announced.

“Have you killed them?” Sir Hugo asked, his tone completely disinterested.

“We are better organised than you think we are,” Marilyn replied.