Page 170 of Covert Mission
If my fucking cell phone hadn’t died, and I forgot the sat phone in the truck, I’d know. I could have called Camile.
Shit, the night just didn’t go as planned.
I shrug off my pack as I turn on the path of stepping stones that lead to my place. That’s when I hear something.
A whimper. The sound makes my skin chill.
I speed up, crossing through the shadows.
Then I see my worst nightmare. In a flash, all the blood in my body runs like a river of flaming lava. I burst into a sprint. “Get the fuck off of her!”
Instead of letting Camile go, the shadowy figure drags her in front of him. The glint of metal makes my heart collapse and my throat tighten.
I skid to a stop and hold up my hands.
Be smart. You know what to do. Don’t let emotion put Camile in more danger.
“Drop the knife. Let her go.”
A rage-filled voice crackles across the space between us. “You fuckedeverythingup!”
“Let her go. This is between me and you. Man to man.”
“Fuck. You!”
The knife glints as the man angles it closer to Camile’s neck. Camile squirms and gasps.
“It’s okay, Poppy. Don’t fight him.”
I still myself, putting my mind into the place where rage and pain turn me into an animal. Where unknown strength lies.
Focusing back on the face of a man I’ve never met, but that I know is Camile’s boss at FamFind, Ralph, I let visions of my father flood into my head.
Gasoline to fire. “You touch her with that knife, you die. It won’t be slow and it won’t be painless. I’ll make you wish you were never born.”
His breath is chugging. Rage making his veins bulge and his eyes shine with evil. “She was supposed to be easy. To be seduced by the money. To look the other way. Fuck… notruineverything!”
I draw a slow breath, fueling my blood, allowing my muscles to coil.
A shadow emerges from the side of my rental. Truck’s sleek, black handgun is raised as he moves silently toward the man.
He doesn’t have a good shot. Not without putting Camile at risk. I trust him with everything. He won’t endanger her, not unless this goes even further south.
“Put the knife down.” My tone is low and lethal.
“She’s coming with me.”
“You’re not taking her anywhere. You’ll have to kill me first.”
He shifts nervously, rocking between his feet. He’s starting to realize just how dangerous this situation is. That I’ll never let her go.
The man squeezes her neck, choking her more.
She goes up on her toes, silently grimacing, but being stoic as fuck. The look in her eyes is complete trust.
I can’t let her down.
The fury inside of me explodes.