Page 79 of Her Reluctant Hero
Chapter Fifteen
She screamed his name and scrambled toward him, only to be snatched back by the hair, stumbling, scraping her forearm on the asphalt. Despite the pain, like needles prickling her scalp, and the gravel tearing at her skin, she clawed the ground to get away, to get to Alex. Her throat burned with unshed tears, with an agony no amount of screaming could alleviate. He couldn’t be dead. He couldn’t. Not because of her. But if he was alive, he would be moving. He would be trying to get to her.
The scene was a nightmare. She couldn’t reach him. Her vision telescoped and suddenly her breath was forced from her lungs as one of the other men lifted her over his shoulder, carrying her away, away from Alex.
He hadn’t moved. Not a muscle.
She kicked, twisted, screamed, but was held firm and dumped in the SUV. As soon as the man released her, she bounced out of her seat, heading for the door, only to be met by a fist to the temple.
And blackness.
Alex fought for breath as he stared at the sky and heard the plane’s engines start. Damn it, damn it, Isabella was on that plane and he couldn’t move, couldn’t go after her. The stars blurred, darkened, came back into focus, but only silence now. The plane was gone.
Isabella was gone. His gut churned with pain and despair. He’d failed her. She was back in the hands of the monster.
The next thing he knew, Julian was over him, cursing him, and ripping the bullet proof vest from him. Alex couldn’t pick out his words because, well, Alex was trying to draw air into his lungs without pain. What had they shot him with, a cannon? His chest felt like it had caved in.
Then he realized Julian was cursing him in Spanish. Too much effort to listen, to translate. Instead, he grabbed his friend’s arm and forced his attention. “Saldana was here. He took Isabella.”
“We’ve got satellite tracking him,” Julian said grimly. “I told you not to engage.”
“He took Isabella,” Alex repeated, each syllable a struggle.
“Yeah, well, you didn’t save her now, did you?”
Alex let his head fall back to the asphalt, released Julian’s shirt. “He’s going to kill her.” After he made her suffer for leaving him.
“We’ve got eyes on him, buddy. We know where he’s going.”
Alex shoved himself up on one elbow, but the movement made him dizzy as hell, and nauseated. His head throbbed like a son of a bitch. Still. “I’ve got to get to her.”
“You’ve got to get to the hospital for some x-rays,” Julian retorted. “Looks like you hit your head pretty good. Might need some stitches. There isn’t a plan in place yet, anyway.”
Alex ground his teeth. “The longer she’s with him, the more danger she’s in.”
“It won’t be long,” Julian insisted. “You just need to get patched up. We’ll get her back.”
“You keep an eye on her.” He scanned the area, what he could see with his telescoping vision. Great. A concussion. Just what he needed. “I got Danes and some of Saldana’s men. They still down?”
Julian glanced behind him. “I don’t see any bodies. Lots of blood, though.”
“Didn’t get Saldana—scared I’d hit Bella. Stupid.”
“Not stupid. You can’t risk a hostage.”
“Not a hostage.”
She wasn’t—she was the woman he’d sworn to protect, a woman who trusted him to keep her safe. He’d failed her.
“The SUVs? There were two. Expeditions, I think.” He strained to see past Julian’s shoulder across the dark tarmac.
“Gone.”
He closed his eyes again. “Maybe surveillance footage—”
“We got it covered, Shep. We’ll take care of it.”
“Don’t let him hurt her,” Alex said and passed out.
