Page 90 of Iron Willed Warrior

Just hold on, B.

If Westwick or Ryker hurt her, I couldn’t be held accountable for what I would do to them.

But Manning and O’Hanlon were going to be first.

Eventually, the vehicle pulled off the road, bumping on uneven ground, then stopped. I heard another car behind us. It parked and switched off its engine.

Doors opened. Voices again. Manning and O’Hanlon were talking to the other driver.

Then the trunk popped open, light and fresh air rushing in. I blinked and squinted. O’Hanlon leaned over me with his hand on the lid of the trunk.

“On your knees, asswipe,” he said. “Up.”

“Little difficult with my wrists tied. And my prosthesis is all screwed up,” I complained. This was only partly true, but anything to distract them was fine by me.

“Up,” O’Hanlon barked again, pointing a gun at me.

I sat up, fighting back a wave of dizziness. Quite possible I had a concussion, but there was no time for that. I quickly assessed the scene outside. The sun was setting. We were out in the desert. Possibly hours from the resort.

Manning stood behind O’Hanlon. The clerk who’d checked us into the hotel was here too. Lance. He wore his resort uniform, even the name tag. Thehell.

“Where’s Brianna?” I directed this question at Manning. He didn’t respond, instead glancing over at O’Hanlon. Which made it clear who was in charge.

O’Hanlon kept his gun on me. “Get him out of there.”

Manning came forward and grabbed one of my arms to help wrangle me out of the trunk. So that was why they’d left my lower half unrestrained. Didn’t want to make the effort of carrying me.

I pretended to stumble, like I could barely walk. Okay, it wasn’t entirely pretend. But I played it up. Pushed my weight hard against Manning, who struggled to keep me upright.

I glanced to get a better look at the other vehicle. Yep, that was the car Brynn and I had driven to Arizona. The one with the secret compartment. If I could get to it…

“Lance, move the bags to his car,” O’Hanlon said. “Make sure you wipe down anything you touched in there. No evidence.”

“I’m not an idiot,” Lance grumbled. “What about the…”

O’Hanlon took something from his pocket and held it out.

Was that a vial ofblood?

Pressing his lips together, Lance swiped the vial from the other man’s fingers. “Do I spread this around first? Or after I put the bags in?”

“I don’t care. Just get it done. Hurry.”

“It would be faster if one of you helps me, you know.”

“That’s what Ryker is paying you for. Quit bitching.”

O’Hanlon and Manning both held weapons on me as Lance transferred my suitcase and daypack to my car, pausing to spread the vial of blood around on the floor mats. Then he grabbed a cloth and wiped off the steering wheel and surfaces.

I’d figured out their plan by now. Probably would’ve come sooner, if not for that bump on my head still slowing down my thoughts. But the fury igniting in my veins? That wasn’t slow at all. Adrenaline sharpened the world. Colors and shapes almost pulsed in my vision. My heart was beating that hard.

They’d taken Brynn’s blood.

I had a pretty good idea what was going on here. And yet an ugly part of me wanted to hear them say it. Just to feed my anger.

“What did you do with Brianna?” I asked. “Where is she?”

O’Hanlon smirked. “Probably getting acquainted with Mr. Westwick. He’ll have his fun with her, and then he’ll pass her off to someone else.”

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