Page 48 of Cursed Fox

Seconds later, I pulled into a run-down neighborhood and cursed under my breath.

"This is where he's holding my baby girl?"

The address was nothing more than a dilapidated house that looked like no one had been in it in at least ten years. The shingles on the roof were falling off. The shutters around the windows were broken. At least one window we could see was smashed. The front porch looked like it would fall down the second I stepped on it.

The house needed to be demolished, not housing anyone, least of all Jessie.

"We need to find another way in besides the front porch."

Nancy nodded her head, but her words contradicted her action. "I need to get in to my baby as soon as possible."

"I know you do, but we need to be smart about this. Who the hell knows what kind of surprises Thomas has waiting for us." I turned the Jeep off and turned to her. "Just give me one minute to do a quick three-sixty to see what we're up against."

I waited until I had her confirmation before stepping out of the vehicle. Starting on the right side of the house, I moved with precision. What I found didn't surprise me. More broken and dirty windows.

A glance inside indicated the interior of the house was worse than the outside. There were holes in the walls. Some parts were even ripped down to the studs like someone had started a renovation project but never finished. The few walls that were intact had wallpaper peeling off. Large water stains could be seen on parts of the ceiling, and the majority of the flooring had been torn up.

It wasn't until I made it over to the other side of the house that I found where Thomas was holding who I assumed was Jessie. The girl was a spitting image of her mother, and she was tied down to a chair while her sperm donor paced in front of her.

I was just turning the corner when I heard the squeak of lumber bending under someone's weight.

"Son of a bitch."

I picked up my pace and arrived back up front just in time to see Nancy’s back as she entered the house.

The damn woman hadn't waited like I’d asked. I should've known.

Following behind her, I raced up the steps, praying the entire time that the porch didn't give out on me. Thankfully it held strong as I charged through the front door.

"I see you brought a friend.” Thomas’s voice was cold and empty. “Is this the infamous Westley who kept you from ruining your life like I expected you to?”

"No," I answered for Nancy. "I'm Lex."

"Well, Lex, I'm glad you could join the party. Now you can watch Nancy die, too."

Thomas whipped a gun out of the pocket of his coat and aimed it at Nancy. He wasn't very steady with it, which told me he probably wasn't used to holding one, let alone firing it.

"No one's dying today," I replied confidently.

Thomas swung the gun in my direction. Good. I would rather it on me than Nancy any day of the week.

"That's not your choice. I don't know if you noticed, but I'm the one with the gun, not you."

Oh I noticed. And I wanted to kick myself for not carrying. I relied so heavily on my hand-to-hand combat that it was rare I had a gun on me. Today would've been the perfect day.

"Why don't you put the gun down and we can talk about this."

Waving the gun around, Thomas started to yell. "I don't want to talk about anything. I want what I set out to do years ago."

"And what's that?" I moved a few steps closer. If I could just get close enough, I could disarm him. Thomas barely looked proficient holding the gun, I doubted he would be able to ward off an attack when presented with it.

"Kill the bitch who stole my life from me."

Everything happened so quickly, my mind was barely able to keep up.

Before he was fully done explaining what he wanted to do, Thomas aimed the gun back at Nancy and fired. My bodyimmediately reacted and charged forward, tackling Thomas to the ground where we wrestled for the gun. It went off a second time before I managed to rip it from his grip.

I could've sworn I heard someone screaming “Mom” but I was too focused on raining down punch after punch on Thomas's face. I didn't let up even when the body beneath me stopped fighting and went slack.

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