Page 46 of Riggs
Rex barks something to his man, and he walks toward Piper and me. Pointing his gun at us, he says, "let's go."
I'm walking past Rex when he reaches out and snags my arm, stopping me. "Don't fucking try anything, Luna." The vibes coming off him send chills running down my spine. I know the consequences of what I am about to do, but my only concern is for Piper. Piper holds onto my hand for dear life. I can feel how scared she is by the way her body is trembling. As we walk past Abe, neither Rex nor his guys notice when I signdistractionto Abe. He gives me a slight nod. My stomach twists at the thought of putting Abe in the position where he might get hurt, but I know he wants his granddaughter out of danger just as much as I do.
When we get to the bathroom, I go to close the door. As suspected, the asshole who escorting us stops me. He shakes his head. When I am about to protest, Abe comes through for me, and the man in front of me startles, then darts down the hall in the direction of the living room. I slam the door closed and flip the lock. Next, I rush over to the window to pull it open; only it won't budge.Shit. Think Luna.Twisting around, I peer around the bathroom before my eyes settle on the shower.
An idea comes to mind when I pull back the plastic curtain revealing the metal rod. Reaching up, I pull on it, and the suction cups release from the tiled wall of the shower. I take the rubber end of the metal rod off and motion for Piper to stand back. Using both hands, I lift the rod and bring it down on the glass with all the strength I can muster. The window doesn't shatter, but it does puncture a hole through the glass.
Good enough.
Using the hand towel hanging next to the sink, I wrap it around my fist and begin punching out the glass. As I finish clearing the last shard of glass from the sill, Piper pulls on my shoulder while pointing at the bathroom door. Someone must be trying to break in. Knowing I have only seconds before Rex comes through the door, I take Piper by her arm and guide her to the window. She puts one leg through and then the other while I hold her arms, so she doesn't cut herself as she lowers herself to the ground below. The moment her feet touch the ground, I let go of her hands. Looking up at me Piper waves her arm, motioning for me to follow. I glance behind me at the door to see it has started to splinter from its hinges. I know there is no time for me to escape. I have to fight off whoever is coming through that door, giving Piper enough time to get away. I sign, "go." But she shakes her head and continues to plead with me.
Peering over my shoulder, I startle as Rex busts through the broken door. My determination to save Piper has me doing something I haven't done in over twenty years. "Go!" I scream, my throat feeling like I gargled nails. Using my voice seems so foreign, but I need for Piper to listen. Her eyes go wide. Whether it's from the fact I just projected my voice or because Rex is directly behind me, I don't know. Piper turns away from me and darts across the yard as fast as she can into the darkness, and I want to cry in relief.
My relief is short-lived because the next thing I know, I'm pulled away from the window by the hair on my head, drug out of the bathroom and down the hall to the living room where Rex tosses me to the floor in a heap next to Abe's bloody motionless body. I start to cry as I crawl across the floor to check on him. Only I don't make it two feet when I feel the blunt force of a steel toe boot hit my stomach. I wrap my arms around my midsection, trying to catch my breath. Rex kneels on the floor over my body, snatches my head back and sneers. "You're going to pay for that." He punches me across my cheek, and a hot searing pain explodes across my entire face. Just as he rears back to deliver another blow, all hell breaks loose around us.
