Page 103 of Hold the Line

I didn’t have a chance to catch my breath. Richie pried my door open, waving his gun in my face.

“In there, both of you,” he ordered, jerking his head in the direction of the shack.

I slid out, pulling Hailey with me. Her body trembled against mine, her grip on my hand ironclad.

Richie stayed close, the barrel pressing into my spine.

He shoved me past the door and yanked it closed behind him. “Hailey, go stand in the corner. Phoebe, sit your ass in that chair. We’re gonna get you nice and comfortable, then we’ll make a call to my brother.”

Hailey hesitated, and Richie flashed his gun to her. “Remember, kid, I only need one of you. If you’re gonna cause me trouble, you’ll become the disposable one.”

Her breath came out hard like he’d punched her. “Don’t hurt Phoebe.”

“Don’t give me any reason to.”

“Go,” I whispered, pulling my hand from hers. “It’ll be okay, sweetheart.”

Hold the line.

She trudged to the corner, never once taking her eyes off her brother. He chuckled, scratching his head with his gun.

“Always were a good girl, Hailes. Keep it up, and everyone will get outta here in one piece.”

His attention snapped back to me, and he shoved me toward a chair, one of three around a grimy table. A few shelves lined the walls, stacked with unmarked boxes, but there wasn’t much else.

"Sit."

I dropped onto the chair, my pulse hammering.

Richie moved behind me. “Give me your hands, girl,” he ordered, the muzzle of the gun digging into the base of my skull. “Hold on to the back of the chair.”

I didn’t want to. God, did I not want to. But this might’ve been my moment. If Richie was going to tie me up, he’d need both hands to do it—that meant he’d have to put the gun down.

When he did, Hailey could get away.

Slowly, I wrapped my fingers around the ladder back of the chair. Richie yanked my wrists together, something rough sliding over my hands. He pulled hard, the binding slicing into my skin.

My heart galloped.

I sucked in a sharp breath andyelled.

“Run, Hailey! Go, go, go!”

She bolted before I got all the words out, whizzing by us and out the door in a flash. At the same time, I slammed my head backward with as much force as I could muster, ramming into what felt a lot like Richie’s chin.

Something cracked, and Richie grunted, then went crashing onto his ass.

Stars detonated, shooting across my vision. It didn’t matter, though. Hailey was gone.

“Bitch,” Richie roared. “What’d you go and do that for? We had an understanding.”

He staggered to his feet, gripping his chin. A dark satisfaction bloomed inside me despite the throbbing in my head. I’d hit himhard, even with my arms tied behind my back.

“Now I gotta go chase her down.” He turned, half stumbling, but steadied more and more with each step.

I couldn’t let that happen.

Hold the line.

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