The roar of her pulse was deafening in her ears as she bucked against the man. She attempted to kick back, aiming for his shins, but her feet only caught air.
When he tried to force her into the van, Olivia swung her right foot up, pressing it against the metal panel next to the open door. Using that as leverage, she pushed against it with her foot as hard as she could, throwing the guy’s back into the other car’s driver side mirror.
Her assailant cursed but didn’t let go. When he attempted to push her into the van again, Olivia repeated the same action as before, but this time her shoe slipped.
Having lost her precious footing, she arched her body and threw her head back as hard as she could, praying she’d break the asshole’s nose. She hit his chin instead, but from his reaction, it still hurt him.
“You bitch!”
Releasing her mouth, he grabbed hold of her ponytail, the back of her head burning as he pulled her hair hard. He yanked her head even further backward, toward his chest. She screamed as loud as she could, praying someone would hear her cry for help.
In an effort to relieve the burning in her scalp, Olivia reached back toward her attacker’s wrists. Desperate to get free, her fingers frantically clawed at his leather-clad hands. She realized a moment too late, what a mistake that move had been.
Without warning, her attacker slammed her forehead into the unforgiving side of the van. Excruciating pain exploded inside her head and hundreds of tiny, white stars flashed before her eyes.
Olivia’s knees buckled as she fought to stay conscious. She felt herself being lifted. The man had just started to put her into the van. when a loud roaring sound echoed off the walls.
“Let her go!”
A blurry, male figure holding what she assumed was a gun ran toward them. The man holding her froze for a split second, then cursed.
Just like that, Olivia felt herself falling.
Tossed like a rag doll, Olivia landed hard against the cold floor. Sharp pain shot through her left hip, ribs, and elbow, but she wanted to keep fighting. Was desperate to.
Rolling over, her hands slapped loudly against the concrete as she worked to get up onto her hands and knees. The pain and nausea slowed her movements to a snail’s pace, and she was still struggling to stand when two deafening gunshots blasted through the air, back-to-back.
To her left, the man who’d tried to abduct her grunted loudly, his body jerking backward against the van. He was dead before he hit the ground.
“Olivia!”
Trevor’s voice boomed as he kicked the dead man’s gun across the floor, then squatted down next to her.
With a gentle hand on her shoulder, he sounded a bit strained as he said, “Stay put, honey. Don’t try to stand.”
More than happy to oblige, Olivia plopped back down onto her butt, her entire body shaking from adrenaline and shock. She could hear Trevor on the phone calling for help but didn’t pay attention to his words. He was okay, and she was okay. In that moment, nothing else mattered.
Chapter 6
“Shit. Fuck. Fuck! They got him, man! They got Carlos!” Marcus spoke too loudly.
Parked in the Emergency Room loading and unloading area, he and Marcus watched the scene from their rented SUV.
“Yes. They did,” he answered his remaining partner quietly.
“So, it’s over right? We’re calling it off?”
He turned to face Marcus. “Why would I do that?”
The guy looked back at him as though he had gone insane. “Why would you—Carlos is dead, man! The whole plan hinged on him grabbing the woman for us. We’re screwed.”
“Actually...” he spoke calmly. “This works to our advantage.”
“How in the fuck do you figure?”
“Drive,” he ordered Marcus. “Take us to Carlos’s apartment.”
Forehead covered in sweat, Marcus argued. “Why the hell do you want to go there?”
“I’ll explain on the way, but we need to hurry.”
In an uncharacteristic moment of agreement, Marcus put the SUV into drive.
With one more glance at the flashing lights, he started to smile. Yes, Carlos’s death would work out just fine.
****
“Where is she?”
Sitting sideways on the hospital bed, her legs dangling over the edge, Olivia heard Jake’s voice seconds before the curtain giving her privacy flew to the side.
He stepped into the room, his presence instantly sucking all of the air out of the tiny space.
The expression on his face changed quickly from relief, to guilt, and then finally, rage. His gaze moved up to the icepack she was holding against her forehead.
“Liv.” He rushed to her side, gently cupping the uninjured side of her face with his hand. “Baby, are you okay? How do you feel?”
“Like someone slammed my head into a van.”
She tried to smile, but her joke fell flat when her voice cracked at the end.
Slowly reaching up, Jake pulled her hand and the ice pack away. When his eyes found the swollen bruise there, a muscle bulged in his jaw. He looked like he wanted to kill.
“Sweetheart, I’m about a second away from completely losing it, here. Don’t bullshit me. What did the doctors say?”
Olivia’s chest tightened, and her eyes filled. Jake’s fear radiated through his touch, and she hated that he was so worried for her. She opened her mouth to answer, but Trevor walked in just then, beating her to the punch.
“That she has a mild concussion but is otherwise okay.
Her eyes slid over to Trevor. God, when she thought about how close he came to dying today—Olivia’s bottom lip began to quiver.
“I’m fine, honey,” Trevor said, sensing her guilt over what had happened. “I told you before, it’s just a bruise, so you can quit looking at me as though I should be lying on a slab in the morgue.”
Jake shook his head. “Jesus, Trev.”
“No, he’s right.” Olivia, gave him a shaky smile and
