“No knife. Please, I hate knives. Paul used a knife on me. Please, Unc, please get rid of it.”
“Of course. I forgot. I should have remembered that. It’s why I slit his throat for you. With this knife,” he said, showing it to her.
He stood up and placed it into his back pocket. She knelt on the bed, deciding where to run to, when suddenly there was a creak, a noise outside.
He grabbed her arm. “Someone is out there.”
“No. I didn’t hear anything. No one is there. Stay here with me. Let’s talk. I want to know about all the plans and how you did it all. Stay here.”
He grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up. She was kicking and holding on to his arm trying to get him to release her. Unc was crazy strong as she kicked and tried to free herself from his hold.
“You bitch. You’re a liar, just like the others.”
She shook her head, felt herself losing her last breath and about to pass out or die, when the doors burst open. The place filled with smoke and he dropped her. She fell to the floor, landing on her hand. She felt and heard the crack, but she was too occupied with trying to breathe. She was having difficulty, as she lay on her side, hearing the commotion, the cry of pain and then gunshots.
“Ellie! Goddamn it, Ellie!” Justice yelled out as he fell to his knees and pushed away her hair from her face.
“Baby, talk to me.”
She held her wrist to her chest and still tried to breathe short breaths.
“She can’t breathe. The fucker was choking her,” Sam stated.
“I need a medic in here pronto. Look at this fucking mess,” Gunny stated as he spoke into a radio on his bulletproof vest. There were men in black camo and bulletproof vests everywhere. Men in FBI jackets, police. The entire room was lit up. Justice picked her up and she cried, making it even harder to breathe.
“Shit, her wrist looks bad,” Sam stated.
“Let me carry you out of this mess. You don’t need to see any more, Ellie. It’s over now,” Justice told her.
“Unc?” she said and coughed.
“Dead,” Justice told her as someone took off their FBI jacket and placed it over her body.
“Meet Gunner, Ellie. He’s an old friend from the military.”
He smiled, but he was a big man, and quite intimidating. “The ambulance is outside. We’ll take care of everything. You take care of your woman,” Gunner told them.
Justice gently picked her up into his arms and carried her out of the house.
* * * *
“Where the fuck is she? Do you think they were too late? Fuck, this waiting is killing me,” Seno said.
“There. Holy shit, she’s alive!” Mace yelled out, and he, Seno, and Hunter hurried to Justice and Ellie just as the paramedics directed him toward the gurney.
“Baby, thank God. Oh, thank God you’re okay. I’m so sorry that I let him get you. I’m so sorry,” Seno stated as he leaned down and kissed her cheek.
“She’s hurt. Her wrist looks broken,” Justice stated.
“And her neck? What are those marks on her?” Mace asked, looking concerned.
“What is she wearing?” Hunter asked, as they all took in the sight of the teddy. Seno felt like killing Unc again.
“I love you guys,” she whispered and then cringed.
“We need to get her to the hospital.”
“Let’s go,” Mace stated as they began to get the gurney up into the back of the ambulance.