Page 61 of Saving You

Bone chilling cold swept through me, he knew Miles had asthma. Had he had an attack while he was with him? He didn’t have an inhaler. Oh, God, was he even alive?

“Where is he?” I’d wanted to stay strong, to show Avery he couldn’t fuck with me, but my voice wobbled, my fear leaking out with the question.

“He’s right this way. I’m not a monster, Mia, I’d never keep a mother from her child. In fact, I think we could be a happy family, just the three of us.” I looked pointedly at the gold band circling his ring finger on his left hand. He shrugged, “I’ve heard wives are very easy to get rid of.”

Bile rose in my throat. I’d known that he’d killed Angie, or at the least had her killed. But to have him confirm it had the years since she’d passed disappearing, making it like I’d lost her all over again. I hadn’t been able to save Angie, I wouldn’t make the same mistakes and lose Miles, too.

Cautiously, I moved to step down the hall in front of him. My body jerked backward with a vicious tug on the back of my pants. I whirled, prepared to fight. He looked triumphant, holding my phone aloft in his hands.

“You won’t be needing this anymore.” He slammed it to the ground, shattering the screen against the marble covered floor. Then, he brought his heel down on the device, leaving me with no way to call for help. I could only pray that Adam had followed the signal long enough that he knew where we were.

Liz was still my contingency plan. She’d given me half an hour alone and if I didn’t contact her by then, she had Adam’s number and was alerting the cavalry.

“You aren’t hiding any tracking devices or weapons, are you, Mia?” Avery looked furious, like the possibility had only just occurred to him. He’d just crushed my tracking device without bothering to check, which was a relief because I didn’t think he’d take the deception well.

I held my arms to the side and spun in a circle, showing him that I was unarmed.

“What’s that in your other pocket?” His hand snaked behind his back. Maybe he did have a weapon, a knife or more likely a gun. If I could get close enough, maybe I could get it from him.

Slowly, I pulled out the inhaler I’d stuffed back there and showed him. His arm relaxed by his side and his lips tilted with a smirk. Avery probably thought I was stupid, too poor and uneducated to be a threat.

He was right about a few things, I was poor, I didn’t have a fancy degree to my name. What I did have were quick reflexes and the ability to think on my feet. When he closed the distance between us, I kept my breathing even, my muscles loose until the last second. He was half a step away when I reached behind me, fingers closing around cold metal.

When I’d first entered the house, I’d clocked the golf bag sitting in the entryway. The clubs looked shiny and expensive just like everything else he owned. Half of them had soft looking covers but the other half didn’t. Those looked solid, like they could hit the piss out of a golf ball or hopefully dent a murderer’s skull.

Yanking it loose, I choked up on the shaft and swung as hard as I could. The club head connected with Avery’s temple and he fell to the ground clutching the side of his face. He was injured but still conscious. I’d lost the element of surprise which was the number one tool at your disposal when your enemy was bigger than you. Angie had taught me that.

Her face filled my mind, happy and laughing like that day we’d gone to the fair, like the picture in my locket that was frozen in time. The memories flowed. A thin girl with tangled black hair standing up for me when the other kids laughed at my secondhand clothes and worn-out shoes. That same girl giving me half of her sandwich when I was still hungry and mine was gone. The two of us huddled under a thin blanket on a twin bed while we confessed our dreams in the dark.

On the heels of those bittersweet memories was the despair I’d felt when she’d gone missing. The days spent searching and the nights lying awake, wondering if Angie was still alive. Phone calls and posters and begging for help that never came. Then the overwhelming elation when I’d received that call telling me she needed me.

Then, a flash of the bruised and broken shell of the girl I’d known lying in a hospital bed, ignoring her own pain while she smiled down at the tiny baby in her arms like he was a miracle. And he was, her miracle, my miracle, the living proof that she’d been real and beautiful and my sister.

Tears streamed down my face as I stared at the monster that had taken her from me, had taken her from Miles. I screamed my pain until my voice broke and brought the club down with all my strength.

He was ready for me. Avery grabbed the club and tried to tug it from my grasp. I pulled with all my might but was unable to rip it from his hands. He looked mean before but with a trickle of blood running down his face he looked absolutely demonic.

I released the club and he fell back to the floor as I ran to get another. My fingers were slick with sweat and the club slipped from my grasp, dropping back into the bag. Avery released a scream of his own and I jerked my head in his direction. He was back on his feet and racing toward me, the club I’d just hit him with gripped in his fists.

Bracing for pain, I made another grab for a weapon when a shot echoed in the entryway. Instinctively, I dropped to my knees and covered my head as two more shots rang out, followed by a thud that shook the floor beneath me.

Firm hands grabbed my shoulders and I fought back, screaming as I swung out with my fists.

“Mia! It’s me, it’s me. Look at me. You’re safe, angel. Open your eyes and look at me.” My eyes flew open and connected with familiar molten gold.

“Adam,” I sobbed, throwing my arms around him. I ignored the body lying nearby, unmoving. He was dead, Drake Avery was gone. He couldn’t hurt us anymore. Miles was safe.Miles.

“I don’t know where he is. You have to help me find him, Adam.” He nodded and helped me to my feet, holding up my trembling body when my knees threatened to collapse. We weren’t alone, the hall was filled with the familiar faces of Falls Security as well as multiple uniformed police officers that were streaming through the front door.

Everyone was shouting, questions and demands coming from all angles. I didn’t care, I wanted my baby and no one was going to stop me from finding him. Another look at Adam confirmed he felt the same way.

“Let’s get our boy.” He gripped my hand and pulled me toward the stairs.

“I got him!” Baz appeared at the top of the stairs, Miles looking tiny in his arms as he leaned heavily on one leg.

“Miles!” I rushed forward, meeting him at the bottom. “Why isn’t he awake?” Panic gripped me, my hands fluttering over Miles’ small body looking for injuries.

“He probably gave him something to knock him out. His breathing is regular, no signs of bruising or lumps like he took a hit to the head.” Baz carefully passed Miles into Adam’s arms.

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