“Maddox.” His name had never sounded so good.
His face was covered in rage, and I could spot some cuts and bruises on him. Had they tied him up to keep him from me? He kept punching the man, and I was suddenly worried we’d have a bigger problem on our hands if he killed him.
“We have to go, Maddox. We have to go now.”
My voice pulled his attention, and he looked at me, sweat dripping from his brow. His eyes were wild, his breathing ragged. When I pulled at the bindings, he snapped and rushed toward me, taking a knife from his boot to cut them. Once I had one arm free, I felt better, not even caring I was naked in front of him right then. Maddox cut the last one, pulling me into his arms. I clung to him for a moment, needing to feel his solid presence.
“Come on, we need to get out of here.”
He took off his shirt and pulled it over my head, helping to hide my nakedness. I didn’t know where my clothes were, but I didn’t particularly want to look at the floor either. When we walked around the bed, a moan snagged my attention, and my eyes fell to the man I’d wanted to avoid.
Before thinking about it, I reared my foot back and kicked him. It hurt since I didn’t have a shoe on, but it felt worth it to hear him groan as my foot collided with his chin. Pulling my leg back one more time, I landed another kick to his groin, and he doubled over, moaning more.
“Help,” Bill groaned, but I ignored him. “You won’t get away with this,” he wheezed.
“Watch me.” Maddox pulled me into his arms, carrying me, which was much faster since my foot hurt. Still worth it.
“How’d you get here?” he asked, scanning the hallway and heading out in a different direction.
“Bicycle.”
“Shit,” he mumbled. “Okay, we’ll have to leave it and jump his truck.”
We stepped out into the night air, and I felt like I could breathe again. My blood pounded in my ears, adrenaline racing through me.
“What are we going to do?” I asked.
Maddox glanced down, worry lining his brow. “I dunno. Leave, I suppose. I really don’t know. I’m sorry, Darcie. I can’t believe he tried that.”
“Where were you? Why didn’t you answer?” I asked, not knowing if I wanted the response.
His brow furrowed, and a harsh look crossed his face, but he shook his head, not wanting to tell me. I’d let it go for now, but I knew it was something I needed to know. I couldn’t deal with secrets. Maddox opened the truck door, placed me down gently, and buckled me in. He shut the door and went around to the other side. He paused, walked back to grab my bike, and threw it in the cab.
I watched in amazement as he pulled the cover down and hot-wired the truck quicker than I could ask how we were going to get out of there.
“Okay, you’ve gotta show me that!”
Maddox glanced over, a smile spreading across his lips. “Sure thing, Princess.”
He pulled out of the neighborhood, and we both sighed in relief, the energy-draining from me. My body began to shake as the adrenaline wore off, and I realized how cold I was.
“I really need to stop only getting your clothes when I’m naked,” I said, attempting to joke. It fell flat, Maddox’s jaw tightening.
“You can have anything of mine, Darce.”
I sighed. “So, where to now?” I asked, looking out the window.
“Let's worry about getting out of here first. Grab what you want to take with you, whatever will fit into a bag.”
“Okay.” My voice was small, but I knew it was the right choice. We couldn’t stay here now. As much as I hated my job most days, I’d miss Joe and Jodie. They were friendly, and I liked them.
“I’m—”
His words were cut off by the red and blue flashing lights. We looked at one another, panicking.
“Just stay calm. I’ll take care of it.” I nodded, fear climbing up my throat.
The officer knocked on the window, shining a light on us. “Roll down the window, sir.”