Page 88 of Caged

Franks laughed as he reached down and ripped Cate’s shirt. When he leaned in close, she head-butted him.

I loved her for refusing to give up. He might kill her, but she’d go down fighting.

Franks saw blood on his hand after wiping it under his nose. “Fuck this,” he said before punching her. He got up andgrabbed a syringe from the desk. Cate’s eyes widened as she saw it in his hand.

So did mine. I doubled my efforts to break free.

He made quick work of finding a vein in her arm and sliding the needle in. “This will make you more cooperative.” His laugh turned my blood cold.

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

I screamed and fought harder against my ties, this time standing and slamming the chair into the floor. No way in hell was I letting him do this.

Franks walked to the desk and picked up another syringe. “Your turn.” He punched me in the sternum, knocking the wind out of me. I struggled as he held my arm still, easily finding my vein and shoving the needle into it.

“You suck at this.” All my straining against the ropes had created just enough wiggle room for me to yank my arm away, causing the needle to tear my skin. The rope prevented me from head-butting him like Cate had.

The drug acted fast in my undernourished body, rendering me mostly immobile. I tried yelling, but my words sounded like gobbled garbage as Franks spun my chair, forcing me to witness his assault on Cate.

Gunfire sounded from down the hall.They’re getting closer. I prayed we could hold on long enough for my father to find us.

Would they find us before Franks shot us?

Please hurry.

He yanked Cate’s hair back and slammed his mouth over hers while grabbing a breast and squeezing. She didn’t cry out. Didn’t flinch.

She couldn’t.

Unable to control her muscles, her eyes stayed open. Which meant I saw her pupils widen as tears rolled down her cheek. He’d drugged the fight out of her, and she had to watch as he closed the distance again.

Rage and fury burned through my veins but I was helpless to stop him.

Footsteps in the hall made Franks stop. Stepping back, he said, “Time’s up.”

No, no, no.

There was nothing I could do as he drew his gun, aimed it at me, and fired. I barely had time to register that he’d missed, before the door crashed open.

Franks didn’t bother checking to see if he’d hit me, instead aiming at Cate and firing again. She wasn’t as lucky; her body jolted before blood stained her shirt.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.I struggled against the drugs in my system, which were already wearing off thanks to the needle tearing out of my vein before the syringe was empty.

More shots sounded before Franks hit the floor and the team rushed in.

I couldn’t see who’d entered, but knew they’d clear the room before helping us. Precious seconds ticked by as blood continued to flow from Cate’s wound and her head drooped forward.

Jack sank to his knees in front of me and asked if I was hit. I tried to answer, but my tongue felt like it was three times too big for my mouth and made of lead, so all that came out was grunts and squeaks. He searched my eyes, looking for answers, so I blinked and turned them to Cate.

“I got you, little brother.”

A half a second later, AJ slung his rifle and dropped to his knees in front of Cate.

Jack needed to leave me and help Cate, but my mouth refused to work so all I could do was plead silently for him to get the message.

AJ applied pressure to the upper right side of her chest.The bullet missed her heart, but did it puncture her lung?AJ said, “She’s been hit.”

Hearing that, Jack checked me for bullet wounds before helping AJ.

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