Page 100 of Break Me
I yanked her away, tossing her against the car. The gun was pointed at her, but Emily was unable to see.
“Hey, little princess. How are you doing back there?” I asked, leaning over and offering Emily the biggest smile in the world. While her little eyes were open wide and I sensed she was finally cluing into the danger surrounding her, she was still calm.
“Mister Boyfriend. I wanna go home.”
“I know you do, honey. Mommy is on her way. She just got caught up in something at work and I couldn’t get here fast enough.”
“How touching,” the woman said under her breath.
I offered a look that told her in no uncertain circumstances to shut the fuck up.
“Yay!” Emily clapped her hands, but she was searching, trying to figure out what was going on.
“Just hold on, baby girl, and we’ll get you out. Maybe some ice cream later. Okay?”
“They won’t stop,” the woman said.
“Yeah? Who are they?”
She laughed and I dragged her further away, slamming her back against the car. From this vantage point, I could tell if the asshole dared move from his comatose position. If so, I’d put a bullet in him.
“For me to know. They won’t want me telling you.”
“Papadakis?”
She didn’t even flinch.
Sirens sounded from all directions and another squeal of tires coming from behind pounded in my ears.
With another quick glance into the back seat, I was able to breathe a full sigh of relief.
While now there were tears in Emily’s eyes, her little arms reaching out to me, I couldn’t detect any sign of injury. She’d obviously heard the sirens since they were getting closer.
The woman laughed, acting as if this was all a game.
Halle was out of the car in seconds, racing toward us. When she saw me and what I was doing, her eyes opened wide. Then she noticed the woman I had locked in a hold.
“Emily! Emily!” The tone of Halle’s voice drove a knife straight into me. “I could kill you,” she gritted out toward the unknown assailant.
“Let go of me,” the woman snapped. “You can’t win this.”
“You make it sound like a war.”
“Perhaps it is.”
My anger was now off the charts and I wasn’t interested in toying with her any longer. Yanking her around to face the sedan, I wrapped my arm around her neck. Then I jerked her as far away from the car as possible. The last thing I wanted was to traumatize the sweet little girl more than she’d been.
“What did you think you were doing?” I barked in her ear.
“What I was paid very well to do.”
“Then you’ll need to tell me by whom.” I patted her down, searching for any identification. As before, there was none.
“Oh, my baby. Oh, sweet girl.” Halle struggled but finally managed to free her daughter, gathering Emily into her arms. She almost tumbled backwards as she tried to get as far away from the vehicle as possible. Even turning away to protect her daughter even more.
But before she did, the beautiful fighter locked eyes with mine, hers filling with tears. As she mouthed a thank you, three black and whites rolled up to the scene.
“Now, you have about thirty seconds before the police arrive. After that, I can’t help you. Who the fuck hired you?” I growled into the woman’s ear. I had maybe a minute before all hell broke loose. I yanked her further away, trying to shield her from Emily’s view.
