Page 3 of Fighting for Scarlett

What were the chances that the intruder wasn’t armed? None. Zero. Zilch. If he didn't have a gun, he’d have a knife or something equally as capable of killing her.

At the exact same second, she found her courage and fired her weapon at the man who had broken into her home in the middle of the night, he must have fired too.

Pain burned through her arm, causing her to drop both her weapon and her phone as her good hand instinctively went to press against the searing agony.

Voices shouted.

Footsteps pounded through her house.

But …

Prey couldn’t be here yet.

Could they?

“She shot him!” a voice shouted.

Definitely not Prey.

Scarlett didn't recognize the voice.

“A kill shot,” a second man said.

There were at least three men who had broken into her home. What did they want? Why were they doing this to her?

“Scarlett Madden, put your weapon down and come out,” a third voice ordered.

They knew who she was.

How did they know who she was?

This wasn’t random.

They’d come for her.

Specifically.

But why?

Tears of pain, fear, and frustration rolled down her cheeks, and she scrambled to pick up the weapon she had dropped.

No way was she coming out. If she had to, she would shoot every single one of them. Just because she hadn't followed in her family’s footsteps didn't make her weak, or pathetic, or any of the other insults that had been slung at her over the years.

“Boss wants her alive,” a fourth man said, and a couple of muttered curses followed.

Then the next thing she knew, five men were storming into her closet, grabbing at her, dragging her out of her hiding place, and pulling the weapon she’d only just reclaimed a grip on out of her hand. It was tossed uselessly onto the floor beside her cell phone.

Training flew out of her mind. Scarlett just fought like her life depended on it.

Because it did.

Throwing punches and kicks, she was sure she connected a couple of times at least. Not that it did any good. There were five of them to one of her.

Something sharp pricked the side of her neck.

Her vision grew fuzzy, limbs heavy, and then, poof, everything just … disappeared.

January 8th

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