Page 10 of His Witness To Protect

She recoiled as his hands reached out to touch her hair.

His eyes flashed angrily, and he shot out of the chair and grabbed her neck, ranting furiously.

Spittle landed on her face as he spoke.

“What?” He spat, spittle landing on her face. “I’m not good enough for you? Not as dreamy as your FBI boyfriend?”

She said nothing, which only seemed to annoy him further.

“That pretty boy you run around with isn’t going to be around to save you all the time,” he spat venomously. “Not after what I have planned for him.”

Silent, Brie continued staring.

“I’m going to enjoy sending your soft little pieces to him one after the other. We’ll see just how quiet you can be then.”

The other man kept quiet all through his partner’s tirade, watching her with an eerily blank expression.

The first man began to caress her face and stroke her body while she struggled to contain her fear.

“I’m going to enjoy doing things to you,” he said as he licked her face. “You’re going to enjoy them, too,” he said forcefully as he yanked her hair, and she cried out.

Suddenly, they heard the front door crashing down.

Both men shot to their feet. The second man slipped to the back of the door without making a sound.

The first quickly untied Brie and held her in front of him just as Mack burst into the room.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Mack surveyed the room in less than a minute and evaluated the situation. He cursed silently as he saw the killer was using Brie as a hostage. He started to speak, trying to distract him.

“Let the girl go,” he threatened. “This is between you and me.”

In an eerily soft voice, the killer replied, “Oh no, Mackie,” hegiggled. “We just can’t do that now, can we? Sheknowstoo much. She’sseentoo much.”

Mack continued to curse silently whilst looking around for a way to manipulate the situation to his advantage.

His eyes met Brie’s. He tried to read her, but he couldn’t.

He began to talk slowly, trying to persuade the killer into letting Brie go, moving ever so slowly closer to where they stood. He said she’d never meant anything to him, and the FBI had only agreed to use her as bait.

“She doesn’t mean anything. She’s just a dumb, fat blonde.” The lie burned his throat. “Just let her go and let us settle this.”

It broke him to watch Brie digest his words. It hurt him that she couldn’t tell that they were lies. He willed her to see through the ruse. He willed her to hold on.

He held her eyes, struggling to decipher the message within.

He moved closer and closer to the captor and his captive, about to reach out for them, when suddenly he felt something heavy hit the back of his head.

The world went dark instantly.

When Mack woke up, the room was empty.

Dizzy, he jerked up and looked around wildly. He called out in a hoarse voice, “Brie! Rachel!”

There was no response.

Panicking, he kept calling their names as he ran out of the room, stumbling until he got outside. His car was gone. He was stuck.

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