Thrusting my fingers in my hair, I start pacing the hallway.
“What the fuck do you expect me to do? Twiddle my thumbs waiting for Ben to trace the car they took her in? She could be dead by then!”
I’m filled with unchecked rage, like an explosive device about to go off at the slightest provocation. I’m terrified. Over an hour has passed since my wife’s been taken, And so much can happen in that time. They could have taken her out of state by now, or worse… killed her.
“Then go sit with your son. Be with your family, Noah. Let us handle this.”
“I’m not going to sit in your office like a damn civilian, Sarah.” I glare at her, my words laced with sarcasm. “Do you really expect me to wait around after you all did such a fine job protecting her?”
Sighing, she shakes her head in disbelief.
I know it’s not her fault. She came as a favor to me and had no idea the team backing her up had a fake in it. There was no time for her to verify their credentials when she rushed at my request.
“This is not the time to be pointing fingers, Agent.”
I grunt in frustration, my back thudding against the wall as I slump down on it. I bury my face in my hands, desperation and agonizing fear seeping through every atom in my body.
Ria.
“Noah––” She gets cut off by the sound of pounding footsteps echoing through the halls.
I look up to find Ben and Garrett rounding the corner into the hallway in a hurry.
“We have an address! Let’s go!”
I don’t need to be told twice. I jump to my feet and sprint out the door, Agent Smith on our tail.
“Is that all you got?”
Using my elbows as leverage, I spit out blood from Penelope’s sucker punch.
After she threw the gauntlet earlier, proclaiming our need to finish this one-sided vendetta, I taunted her about hiding behind guns and money, knowing I would have a better chance at getting out of here if we fought hand to hand as opposed to shooting bullets.
Like a rabbit to a carrot, she took the bait. She throws her gun behind her, and we have a scuffle not unlike the one we had in the basement but this time with no weapons and no one to run interference.
One second, she gets the upper hand and the next, I’m on top of her, jabbing her with my fists. I channel every bit of training I’ve gotten from Noah and self-defense classes into making it an even match.
I don’t know how long we’ve been at this but at some point, we both jump to our feet and charge at one another. I manage to evade her first few punches, landing blows on her stomach and head but then she fakes a punch and successfully lands a hard one straight for my nose, causing me to hurl backwards. I manage to extend a foot to trip her and she falls, landing on her shoulder with a yelp.
My fucking body is screaming but I suspect the adrenaline rush is numbing most of the pain.
My focus is getting out of here and back to my family by all means necessary.
I stumble to my feet, as the room spins slightly, but I keep my eyes trained on Penelope. She’s not as quick as I am this time and she starts to struggle.
I scan her from head to toe and that’s when I notice it. She landed on the knife she had chucked earlier, and it’s now jammed into one of her legs.
She screams in pain, clutching both her shoulder and leg.
My eyes inspect the rest of the room, taking note of every single weapon I see. With one hand on my injured shoulder, I hop and grab every discarded gun, taking out the magazines and scattering the bullets as quickly as I can.
Finally, I pick up my gun from where I dropped it after she jumped me. I clasp it with a shaky hand and point it at Penelope. She’s gritting her teeth as she writhes in agony on the floor, her face pale and defeated.
“It’s over, Penny.”
She shakes her head, closing her eyes.
“I hate you, Alessandria.”