Page 116 of Resisting Temptation (Men of Honor 3)
He grinds his teeth and nods.
“Good.” I look over at the others. “Let’s go!”
After the three of us get back in Coop’s truck, he guns it and calls in for backup. “If we’re lucky I can make it there in under twenty minutes.”
“Make it ten,” I tell him, but even that is too long. The closer we get, the more I allow my darkness to surface. For those bastards’ sakes they better not have hurt either of them in any way, or what I did to those motherfuckers in Iraq will look like nothing in comparison to what I will do to them.
CHAPTER 35
Faith
I pull at the rotted wood, my fingertips swollen and bloody, pulsating to the same rhythm of pain in my head, but I don’t give up. “We’re almost there, Christopher, a little more and I think we can make it out.” The problem is the higher we get, the dryer the wood is, and that is not easy to rip out.
“Shit!” he curses when the next board won’t pull and shakes his head in frustration, his body exhausted. “Here, back up!”
I move out of the way and he starts kicking at the dry board. It does more than what our hands were doing but still not enough, at least not fast enough. I try to assist, but since my feet are bare I’m not much help. Finally, after a good few minutes of non-stop kicking, I hear the wood crack. He stops and we both move forward, pulling with all of our strength until it gives away.
He looks over at me, “Do you think we can make this? Because I’m not sure we can break much more.”
I assess the small opening and nod, knowing we don’t have much choice; we have to at least try.
“Okay. I’ll go first then I can help you from the other side.”
“Okay, be careful and go slow.”
He moves forward then stops and turns back, looking at the scattered bones in the corner. He crawls over and I see him pick something up off the ground and shove it in his pocket. I’m assuming it was his mother’s ring. I give him a strong hug before pushing him to the small opening. He gets down on his belly and maneuvers himself every which way, grunting and moaning until he gets his head and shoulders to the other side.
“You okay, Christopher?”
“Yeah, I’m good.”
I push at the bottom of his sneakers with my cuffed hands, hoping the extra shove will help, and it seems to, because after another minute, he’s out. I laugh softly in relief then try to follow what he did, mine proving much more difficult with my hands cuffed in front of me. I try to ignore what’s in the mud as I sink the side of my face in it. The rough wood scrapes against my cheek, adding to the throbbing pain in my head, my bare shoulders getting the same treatment. Once I have my top half out I try to get on my elbows, but gasp in pain from the pressure on my lower back.
“Just wait. Lay completely flat and your arms out in front of you.” I do as he says, and he grasps my wrists then pulls me slowly. I try to ignore the sting on the backs of my legs from the splintered wood, but thankfully I’m out before I know it.
“Oh my god, we did it,” I breathe out relieved, slinging my cuffed wrists around his neck.
He hugs me back briefly, “Come on, let’s go.”
We stand up and look both ways. “I think we should go toward the front,” I whisper. “I don’t know what’s behind here, but if we go to the front we know there is a road a little ways down, and hopefully we can flag down a driver. We just have to steer clear of any windows.”
He nods in agreement then grabs my arm to pull me with him. I bend my elbows bringing my wrists under my chin finding it easier to move quicker. Just as we make it to the side of the house I hear the back door slam open behind us, and my heart completely stops in fear.
“What the fuck did he say?” I hear Floyd ask in a rage.
“He just said the cop and three guys came to the bar, the one sounded like that boyfriend of hers, and, supposedly, the bastard almost fucking sliced open Silas’ throat until he gave up our location.”
“Fuck! I fucking knew we shouldn’t have said anything to that pussy,” he seethes, his voice sounding further away.
Christopher and I look at each other then start running as fast as we can, knowing we are about to be found out, and sure enough, seconds later I hear a loud bang in the distance. “Fuck! Where the fuck are they?”
“Shit. Faith, come on, we have to move faster.” I try but stumble a few times on my damn feet, thankfully Christopher manages to keep me upright by the hold he has on my arm.
“There they are!” I hear Spike shout.
I glance behind me to see them racing after us, and watch as Floyd raises his gun in our direction. I scream when a shot goes off.
“Don’t look behind you, just keep moving!” Christopher shouts, pulling me faster. It’s faster than what my feet are capable of, and I land on my stomach painfully.
“Ugh!” I shout in frustration, then get back up quickly with the help of Christopher and push myself harder. “If that happens again, you keep going, Christopher, and don’t stop.”
“No. I’m not leaving you.”
“Yes. You have to, it’s…” Just as we head into the woods another shot goes off, and this time I hear the bullet whiz past my ear.
A whimper of fear rips from my throat but I continue to push myself to my limits, and try to ignore the sharp pieces of earth biting painfully into the bottom of my feet.
A minute later, Christopher pulls me off to the side and hides us behind a tree. He holds his finger up to his lips, motioning me to be quiet, and I try to stop my heavy breathing but my lungs are craving oxygen badly.
