Page 74 of Tactical Lies

The light reached the cabin and moments later entered it, enclosing Becca inside with six men who would take great pleasure in inflicting pain.

Big picture.

Becca needs you to be strong right now.

You promised her you would never let her down again and that’s a promise you have to hold onto.

Already forming a plan, Connor climbed down from the tree. Those men weren't going to know what hit them. One by one he was going to lead them to their deaths, give them the only fitting consequence for their actions, then he was going to get the answers he needed to keep his girl safe.

Hold on for me, Becca, be strong.

August 23rd

1:20 A.M.

She wasn't going down without a fight.

That was the one thing Becca was sure of right now.

When Dylan had raped her all those years ago, she’d fought. It hadn't done any good, he was bigger and stronger than her, his large hand around her neck, squeezing the life out of her had given him even more of an advantage.

But shehadfought.

That fact had helped her in the weeks and months following her assault. It had given her strength when she’d felt broken, it was something she reminded herself of often, any time those bad thoughts came creeping in.

She wasn't weak.

She wasn't a coward.

She wasn't pathetic.

Just because she’d failed didn't mean she hadn't given it everything she had, and that mattered.

It did.

Just like it would matter now.

Six men were dragging her back toward the cabin. While it was dark other than the light from the flashlight she’d brought with her and she couldn’t see just how big they were, there was more of them than there were of her. That alone meant she likely wasn't going to survive whatever they had planned for her.

But she would fight.

And if she died, she would take her final breath knowing she hadn't given up, hadn't surrendered, that she was as strong as she could be.

With the men dragging her along faster than she could walk across the wet, slippery ground she kept stumbling. Almost hitting the ground only for a set of rough hands to grab her, yank her up, and shove her forward.

Just hours ago, these peaceful woods had been a safe haven. A place to find comfort, to relax and recharge, to find the pieces of herself that had been missing since she was twenty and her life had changed forever.

Now they were like a wet, windy hellscape.

Was this going to be where her and Connor’s story ended?

By the time they crossed the short distance from the generator where she’d found Connor’s blood to the cabin, Becca was shaking badly. The freezing rain and howling winds whipped through her, but it was nothing compared to the gaping wound in her heart from not knowing if Connor was still alive.

Stepping inside gave relief from the storm, but she would much rather still be out there hunting for Connor than be protected from the worst of the weather.

There was no time for her to recover or even catch her breath before a hand between her shoulders shoved her down onto her knees.

Not content with her on her knees before them, someone kicked her, and she sprawled out on the floor. Pain flared through her body, and her palms slipped on the puddle she was creating as she tried to push herself back up.

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