Page 75 of The Scenic Route
Felicity let her knees soften so she fell to the ground. Even though she controlled the drop as much as possible, it still hurt. She was still dazed from the blow, but even the few working brain cells she had at the moment were enough to realize that she wasn’t in any shape to fight off two attackers. If they hit her again, she’d really be unconscious, and she really, really didn’t want to be vulnerable and helpless while being held captive by militia members in their van.
“See,” the other guy said. “I hit hard enough. You need to trust me about things like that, Clint. I’m a professional after all.”
A professional what?Felicity wondered, forcing herself to go limp as rough hands rolled her onto her front and yanked her arms behind her back.Professional kidnapper?
“Professional?” Clint scoffed. “You’re an adrenaline junkie who likes to play with fire.”
Fire.The connection clicked. He was one of the firefighters she’d met that first night at Levi’s. Not the chief or the young, frowny one but the cheerful, middle-aged one—what was his name? Something Irish…Phineas or—Finn. Finn Byrne. She remembered the career-appropriate surname.
“Hurry up,” Clint said. “Let’s get out of here.”
“What about Kelsey and Trey?”
“Deadweight.” Clint’s voice had a note of dark amusement. “Why do you think I chose them to set the bomb?”
Finn didn’t respond except for an exhaled huff that could’ve meant anything.
A zip tie tightened around her wrists, digging into her skin and bringing her back to her rather dire current situation. Those same rough hands rolled her onto her back, and she struggled keeping her expression slack and her body limp when her weight painfully pressed her captive hands against the rocky ground. He pulled her phone from her pocket and must’ve tossed it, because she heard a distantthunkshe assumed was her cell hitting a tree trunk. There was the familiarripof duct tape being pulled off a roll before a piece was flattened over her mouth.
It was hard not to panic at that point, wondering if the next piece of tape would cover her closed eyes. Instead, she heard the side van door roll open, and she decided thatthatwas the scariest sound, even worse than the duct tape. Felicity knew all the statistics, knew that once she was in the van, the chances of her surviving dropped off the cliff. As the men each grabbed one of her bound arms and heaved her inside, she fought to stay limp, every instinct in her screaming for her to fight back and run. Maybe there’d be a better opportunity later to take her captors by surprise and escape, but maybe there wouldn’t be.
Maybe she’d die first.
Eighteen
Bennett saw the flash of lighter skin the militia member had missed with the body paint. With a feral grin, Bennett ran toward that bare patch of neck, trying to stay as soundless as possible as he darted from tree to tree. His blood sang with the thrill of the chase, and he couldn’t believe it was less than a month ago that he’d felt burned out and constantly numb.
Then he’d seenher, and his world had lit up.
Focusing on his quarry, he firmly reined in his thoughts. If he started thinking about Felicity, his concentration would be shot, and he’d be useless for anything except staring into space with a goofy smile.
The pale-necked militia member crouched next to an evergreen, breathing hard enough for Bennett to hear the wheezes twenty-five feet away. The way the bomber’s gaze was frantically darting around made Bennett fairly certain that they hadn’t spotted him.
Sticking to the blackest shadows, Bennett closed in.Lasttime you’ll try blowing up my wife, he thought with grim determination. His heart had almost stopped when she’d pulled Dino to the floor and he realized what was about to happen. When he tried to cover her with his body, she’d done her best to cover him right back.
The goofy-smile thing was starting to happen again, and Bennett quickly sobered. He didn’t need a flash of his teeth to catch the light and give him away at this point. Slowing his pace, he crept up behind his quarry and then exploded into action, grabbing the militia member from behind and shoving them face-first to the ground.
“Get off me!” a feminine voice shrieked, but Bennett didn’t hesitate.
Pulling her hands behind her back, he had her secured with his spare pair of cuffs within seconds. Zip ties worked to restrain her ankles and then connect the two to finish the hog-tie.
“C’mon.” Her tone had changed drastically, become coaxing, even flirtatious. She tried to toss her hair, but it didn’t work very well with it hidden in her beanie. “Untie me. I’ll walk back with you, turn myself in. You don’t think I’ll give you any trouble, do you? Not when you’re so big and strong.”
Ignoring her pleas, he stood, noting the location to let the sheriff know where he could find her, and then he went back into hunting mode.
The bound woman on the ground was still trying to convince him to let her go, but her voice rose to a frustrated shriek as he walked away.
“Kelsey?” a male voice shouted. “Are you okay?”
Bennett blinked. Apparently, his second quarry wasn’t going to be much of a challenge. Slipping through the shadows once again, he made his way toward where the calls originated.
“He tied me up!” Kelsey yelled back. “You have to come rescue me, Trey!”
There was a long moment of silence that Bennett used to close the distance between him and Trey, followed by the sound of someone running while trying to keep it quiet. The snapping of twigs and scuffling of leaves were getting fainter, and Bennett held in a snort when he realized that rather than rescuing his partner, the second bomber was running away.
Kelsey seemed to realize this as well. “Trey! Don’t you dare leave! Get back here right now and help me, or I swear to God, I will tell Clint you were the one who forgot to lock the armory that night. Trey!”
Bennett pursued the running man, moving faster now that silence wasn’t required. Between the crashing sounds Trey was making as he plowed through the underbrush and his heaving breaths, there was no way he was hearing anything else.
