Chapter Eleven
The American is straddling Savannah’s lifeless body, giving her CPR. One look at the guns drawn, and he jumps back, raising his hands.
Daniel is the first to move. He races forward, hitting The American with the butt of his gun. Shrieks become louder as two females burst out of the bathroom and attack Keith and Mark.
Cole leaps forward, climbing on top of Savannah. Two fingers check her pulse while his other hand checks her pupils. “Please, baby,” he whispers.
Shutting out the war around him, he concentrates on trying to bring life back to her body. Nothing. He shoots up, lacing his fingers on top of one another pumping her chest, desperately wishing he could reach inside her and hold her heart in his hands.One, two, three…he counts, his lips meet with hers and fill her lungs with his own breath. Focusing all his energy on her, he’s hoping for a miracle. She looks so small and fragile, her beautiful eyes once so lit with fire are cold and dim.
“Don’t you dare leave me, Savannah. I swear to god, I will give you the world if you come back to me.”
Mark suddenly appears at his side, his hands moving all around as he tries to assess the scene. “Mark.” Cole’s voice breaks as he looks at his brother in pain.
“Come on, Savi.” Mark starts rubbing her limp arm. “We need you.”
“Please, no!” Cole begs. Hiseverythingis slipping away, the only woman he’s ever loved, the mother of his unborn baby, leaving him, but not by choice.Damn it, it’s not fair!He pounds on her tiny chest, feeling the world has committed the worst crime…there is no good on this earth …only evil.
Suddenly, Savannah gasps and starts coughing, twisting to her side under him.
“Savi!” Cole shouts, grabbing her head and pulling her to him. She starts sobbing, and a horrible shaking takes her, her breath ragged. He carefully strokes her back and watches her blue-tinged face slowly turn to a waxy white. As soon as she takes him in, she whispers his name. He wraps her in his arms gently, allowing himself a moment to breathe.
“Cole.” Mark’s voice gets through to him.
Snapping out of it and back into Army mode, Cole realizes they don’t have much time before company arrives. He pushes the fear of the last several minutes away to deal with later, knowing right now he needs to get them all out of here alive. Keith informs them that one of the girls tripped the alarm. Paul and John are now guarding the door, waiting for them to arrive. The redhead in question is looking at them with a nasty expression on her face. Damn, it won’t be long. They have to get out. Cole looks at the girls and tells them if they want their freedom, they better get the hell out now. The blonde girl eyes Savannah’s trembling body then bolts down the hallway, but the rest stand in fear or, God knows, they might be suffering from a type of Stockholm syndrome or something. Either way, he figures he isn’t going to worry about them; they aren’t his problem.
“Let’s move!” he directs his men. Daniel and Mark force a handcuffed Tim and The American to their feet and head down the hallway.
“Fox Two to Raven One,” John’s voice flows over the radio, “we’ve got company in five minutes.” Gunshots ring over their earpieces. “You guys need to move now!”
“Ten-four,” Mark answers. “Get the SUV ready, we’re transferring two hostages.”
“Copy that, Raven Two.”
John and Paul spray bullets at the men as they try to close in on them. They take out more than half of The American’s army. The rest seem to pull back when they get sight of Blackstone’s hostages.
Daniel has the two men blindfolded and piles them in the truck, handcuffing them to a metal bar. Tim is pleading with Daniel to let him go, that it was all a misunderstanding, while The American remains silent.
Cole feels Savannah’s grip tighten as he gets closer to the vehicle. He wishes he planned this better as he jumps inside, keeping her on his lap tight against his chest. Mark, Daniel, and Keith squeeze in beside them, while Paul takes the front with John.
“Call it in,” Cole orders Paul once they are on the road. Headlights are coming up quickly behind them.
Savannah doesn’t speak. She barely even moves. He has to keep shifting to make sure she is all right. Her eyes are glued to Daniel’s watch, and she hardly blinks. It takes everything Cole has not to turn around and kill the man who tried to take everything from him. Wanting answers on what the fuck happened back at the house is eating away at his mind.
Ten, fifteen, twenty minutes go by. Cole keeps checking the side mirror, watching the same headlights follow them along the dark road. No shots have been fired yet.
“I can smell you, my love,” The American whispers into the silence, making Savannah tense as she hears his voice, snapping her out of her trance. Daniel shakes his head at Cole, making sure he doesn’t react. “I can still feel your soft lips, your smooth skin, and the taste of your tongue.” Savannah turns her face into Cole’s chest, silently sobbing.
“He’s trying to get to you, baby. Just tune him out,” Cole whispers in her ear. He kisses her softly, wanting to calm her.
The American chuckles and leans his head back against the window. “When my hands felt that last tiny gasp of air pass through your lungs, I knew I should’ve stopped, but your eyes were hypnotic. You held me in the moment.”
Cole reaches forward and grabs Paul’s stun gun from his hip. He shifts Savannah so she is sitting upright, turns, and forces the tip of the gun through the bars and stuns The American in the neck before anyone has time to react. The American screams, his body jolting upward.
“One more word, and I’ll kill you.” Cole doesn’t even recognize his own voice he’s so fucking livid. Yanking the wires from the gun, he presses Savannah back down to his chest and hands the gun to his father while the asshole tries to control his breathing.
“House to Blackstone,” Mike’s voice breaks through.
Cole presses the button on his neck to activate his earpiece. “Go ahead.”