Page 14 of Cast in Shadow
Aggie dropped back down to the floor, and frantically went to work on the ties around her ankles. If she could stay out of sight long enough to free her legs, she’d be in a better position to defend herself.
The door opened slowly. A figure entered, stopping just inside the room. Aggie squinted to see who it was. It was a large man, not one she recognized. His arms were outstretched, as if holding a weapon, and he began working his way across the space toward her. He was big, his movements powerful and graceful. She stayed on the floor, barely daring to breathe as she gripped the knife. It wasn’t much in terms of an effective weapon, but it was all she had. Combined with the element of surprise, it would have to be enough.
The newcomer crouched down, checked out the geeky guy on the floor, then stood again, and turned in a circle.
It didn’t take long for him to spot her. He moved forward, his steps quicker than they had been but still silent. “Are you all right?”
She pulled out the knife and held it to his throat. “Do I look all right to you?”
“I’m not here to hurt you,” he said, his voice calm, as if she didn’t have a blade pressing against his jugular.
“Why are you here?”
“To get you out, although I’m not sure you need my help,” he said with the ghost of a smile. It was oddly distracting. “Are there any more besides the kid with the broken face and the two guys posted outside?”
There were two men posted outside? “One. He left, but he’s coming back.”
“Then, we should be gone before then. Agreed?”
Aggie didn’t know who this guy was or what he wanted, but at the moment, he was the lesser of evils and her best chance of escaping.
“Agreed.”
“Then, how about we save the shave for later?”
She realized she was still holding the blade against his neck and lowered her arm.
“Here. These might come in handy.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out her glasses.
She put them on and got a good look at his face. Gorgeous gray-green eyes stared back. A zing of awareness shot through her, and for just a moment, she forgot to breathe.
Not the time, Aggie. Put that adrenaline to better use.
She forced her gaze away when she felt heat rising beneath her skin and took a better look around, getting her first clear picture of where she’d spent the better part of a week. It was an old farmhouse, by the looks of it, and one that hadn’t been renovated for decades, if the harvest-gold appliances were any indication.
The mysterious stranger stood and held his hand out to her. She took it, wincing when she got to her feet. Well, one foot. The other she held mostly in the air. Swollen and twisted as her ankle was, even slight pressure caused pain to shoot up her leg.
He looked down, frowning. “Can you walk?”
She gritted her jaw in determination. “I’ll crawl if I have to. Just get me out of here.”
He grunted skeptically but said nothing. She hobbled along behind him, pausing at the table to grab her laptop.
“Wait here,” he told her. “I’m just going to make sure we don’t have any new arrivals.”
He disappeared, returning a minute or so later. It felt like forever.
“Sorry, but I’m going to have to override the DIY.”
Before she translated his statement, he lifted her over his shoulder like she weighed nothing. She let out a gasp and grabbed at his shirt, intent on holding on and trying not to think about the steel bar of his arm pinned against the back of her thighs. He moved with swift, long strides, taking them into a copse of trees far faster than she could have gotten there herself.
He placed her into the front seat of an older-model sedan. The steering column was already apart, suggesting he’d hot-wired it once. He did so again with remarkable speed and efficiency. They turned onto a two-lane road, took the first right, then accelerated when the road straightened out.
“Get down,” he commanded.
“Wh—” she started when his large hand shot out and palmed the back of her head, pulling her down until she lay prone in the front seat, her face pressed against his thigh. A very muscular thigh. She thought about biting it in principle.
“Sorry,” he apologized several long moments later when he removed his hand. “I think we just passed your friend.”
