“Yeah. Angelica Elizabeth Macleod.”
“Angelica?”
“Yep.”
Holy fuck.
“Angie graduated high school early. Smart girl. Mother’s a raging alcoholic and pill popper, still in Juneau. Before your girl left for her teaching job she arranged for the sister to live with the paternal grandmother because the mother was abusive. Angie practically raised the sister. But…oh shit, we just got a lead on where Jason is. I’ll call you back.” He disconnected.
I took a minute staring out at the woods beyond the deck. I heard noise in the house so I stepped in. She was at the sink filling the tea kettle.
“Angie,” I said. She spun around and it took a second to penetrate. When it did, her eyes were wide. Her mouth dropped open.
“Yeah, I know.” I said, “We need to talk. There are some things going on. Gan Chen and a few of his people are here to try to catch Jason because Jason wanted to buy you and got pissed when he found out you were sold to me. But Gan got shot. He’s in the hospital. Zack told me your name because---”
Her hand clapped over her mouth and she started to tremble so I stopped talking, got to her, got my arms around her, and she shrieked, ducking to get under my arms and away and then she ran around to the other side of the table.
She pointed at me, “No. Stay back. I have to go save her.”
I stopped and put my hands up, “Baby, listen…”
She backed up until her back was to the door and then her hand went to the doorknob.
“We have to talk, Angel. I know some of your story. I need the rest.”
“Oh God!” A sob tore out of her mouth. She turned the knob.
“Don’t, baby. Come here.”
She darted out and started to make a run for it. She ran toward the woods.
Fuck! I started running for her. Then I heard a gunshot. It whizzed by me. What the fuck? I heard another shot. Angel was down. I dropped to the ground. I saw movement from the corner of my eye. He was on the other side of my car. Where the fuck were the security guards? Thank God I was still packing; I fired my gun and clipped him on the shoulder. I ran for him and he shot but missed me. I shot again and caught him in the face. He dropped. I ran and then I was standing over him. He was Asian. He was dead. I shot him again to be sure. Then I ran for her, watching in case there was anyone else. She was lying on her stomach on the grass.
“I guess your angel is getting her wings,” she said when I leaned over and examined her. She was shot in the calf. She’d be okay.
“Not yet you aren’t, let’s go.” I carefully lifted her up and carried her to my Explorer. She passed out.
Chapter 11
Angel
I woke up in the hospital. I was on an exam table and they were telling Dare they were going to take me into surgery to get the bullet out but that I would be okay.
The nurse and doctor started to talk to me, noticing I was awake and I started to feel the blood thundering in my ears, the panic setting in. He was sitting beside me. He had my hand in his and he gave me a look, a look that snapped me into behaved slave mode. But it felt like I was splitting in two. Slave girl and scared girl who needed to fucking save her sister from the fiery pits of hell.
The nurse and doctor left the exam room and Dare said, “Hey.”
My eyes widened and I started to feel the panic rise. “No. Chill out,” he leaned over me, seizing my wrists, “You can’t freak out, baby. You freak out and they put you in the psych ward. Chill the fuck out.”
“I gotta go, I gotta go. Holly. Holly.”
I realized my throat was naked and I started hyperventilating
“It’s gone. It’s gone. My collar, Oh my God!”
“Baby!” His voice got very stern, “Chill out now before things go really fucking wrong.”
Dare