Page 100 of Erik's Redemption
She slammed the office door closed and slipped the lock before grabbing the phone.
“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?”
“There’s a man trying to hurt me! I need police assistancenow. And my friend’s in another apartment. She needs an ambulance!” Hannah quickly rattled off the address of the building as a body hit the door—hard. She cried out and dropped the phone.
James rammed the door again, and her breath stopped. The cheapy, flimsy lock wouldn’t hold. He was going to get in.
With a straightening of her spine, Hannah lifted the knife.
The lock broke, then James was in front of her, less than an arm’s length away.
His chest moved up and down with his fast breaths, his face contorted in anger. “You fucking bitch! You think you can get away from me again?”
“IknowI can.” Her voice was firm this time, any tremble gone. “And I’m going to make sure you go back to jail and stay there for the rest of your worthless life.”
Anger reddened his cheeks. “I should just fucking kill you.”
She swallowed, trying not to focus on the gun pointed at her. “But then how would you get your money?”
He stepped forward, looking angrier than she’d ever seen him. “Put down the knife, Hannah.”
“No.”
He lunged—and she swung the knife, slashing at his chest.
He growled as blood bloomed across his shirt, but he didn’t stop, grabbing her wrist and sending them both to the floor. Her head hit the corner of the desk on the way down, pain shooting through her skull and her vision blurring.
It was enough to give him the upper hand. He took the knife from her fingers and pressed it to her throat. “Now, this is what’s going to happen. We’re going to go meet my friends, and you’re not gonna make a fucking sound. Because if I feel threatened in any way, Iwilljust fucking kill you and run.”
CHAPTER 35
The car had barely stopped before Erik was out and running toward the side of the building.
“Erik.Fuck. Wait!”
He ignored Rachel’s call and kept moving. He was almost around the corner when fingers wrapped tightly around his arm, yanking him back.
“Stop,” Rachel growled. “You’re gonna get a bullet to the fucking head. We have to be smart and work together.”
“I need to know she’s safe!”
“Yeah. But if she isn’t, if they have her, she needs you to bealiveto get her out. Understand?” When he didn’t answer, she rolled her eyes. “We need to enter the alley together and cover each other’s asses.”
He took a deep breath. “Fine. But we gonow.”
They moved quickly and quietly along the side of the building, toward the alley. Erik’s muscles twitched with the need to move faster. To kill every asshole involved. They’d seen an image of the undercover FBI agent. He was the only man who wouldn’t die tonight.
When they reached the alley, Rachel held up her hand to signal that she was ready.
The second she dropped it, they both swung around the corner, briefly taking in the handful of men who stood several yards away before firing.
The agent immediately dropped to the ground, making him easy to miss.
A man in black lifted his weapon, but Erik fired first, getting him between the eyes.
It wasn’t until every man was down, bar the agent, that Erik’s heart slowed. Hannah wasn’t here.
But neither was Moreno.
