Page 4 of Escaped (Snowbound with a Stranger #3)

A Twist of Fate

Eli

It was just like old times. Clearing each hallway, room by room, Baron and I had already systematically disarmed four more of Hawkins’ men, leaving them unconscious for their hapless boss to deal with. Despite the growing euphoria, the weapons, and the good fortune to have found a key for the cuffs, I refused to allow myself to enjoy the moment.

Erin was still at Hawkins’ mercy. I wouldn’t rest until I knew she was finally safe.

That’s what I promised her, after all.

My lips twitched at the unhelpful reminder. I’d vowed to look after her, but all I’d done was inadvertently lead one of my foulest foes right to her door.

“Clear.”

Baron appeared from the most recent doorway, his weapon poised. So far, neither of us had needed to fire our guns, finding they made far greater blunt instruments.

“No one’s home.”

“Shame.”

All my pent-up, frustrated rage had put me in the mood to eradicate more of the army Hawkins had gathered, but knowing we were leaving them alive to live with the ignominy of defeat made it all the sweeter. Those men were going to wake up with smacking heads and know they were outmaneuvered by two underestimated prisoners. I hoped they fucking choked on the memories.

“Keep moving.”

Baron was already stalking ahead, his sights set on the next objective.

I couldn’t recall ever seeing him so intent on overcoming a challenge.

When I’d worked under him, he’d been more likely to delegate tasks to men like Hawkins.

It seemed his time in incarceration had focused his mind and reminded him that the only way to truly get things done was to do them himself.

“There’s another room up ahead.”

Jogging to catch up with him, I gestured to the door on the left.

“I’ll handle that one.”

Watching Baron take control was inspiring.

That a man at his stage of life could be so damn competent had prompted me to remember how much I missed the old job.

Yes, I’d relished all the years in the wilderness, taking care of the natural world, but there was still a part of me that yearned for the fast-paced adrenaline of the past.

I’d forgotten how good it was when my senses were sharp and I was ready for action.

Even though I’d never loved taking orders, I’d consider obeying again if I could replicate the rush of purpose and strength our current mission was providing.

I was alive again in a way I hadn’t been since Hawkins had swiped my career away, and all those years of training returned in one heady blast.

“Hang on.”

Baron reached for my arm as I hurried past him. “Wait.”

“What?”

I spun, impatient at his sudden delay.

“Listen.”

He mouthed the word, motioning to the end of the corridor.

“I hear someone.”

Turning, I forced myself to concentrate. Standing still, with the gun in my hand, it was difficult to hear anything other than the charging of my heart, but when I focused, I could hear the subtle shuffling of someone moving in the hallway.

The noise was different from those we’d encountered previously.

Those guys had come in pairs, their banter and boots resonating around the corridors well before their ugly mugs came into view.

The scuffling sound reverberating then was entirely dissimilar. It spoke of a much lighter tread, and based on what I could hear, there appeared to be only one person.

“You’re right.”

I matched his quiet tone.

“I’ll deal with them.”

“Okay.”

He nodded, apparently content for me to take the lead. He had, after all, dealt with the majority of the assholes we’d encountered so far and was probably looking for me to pick up the slack.

“Be careful.”

Be careful.

I might have scoffed at his warning had I not been so determined to take care of whoever was coming. Gun lifted above my head, I was poised to take the newcomer out the same way I’d dealt with the others.

Time protracted in that way it always did when we were waiting for something, when all our attention was fixed on that one, central point of concern.

In that suspended bubble, I held my breath, ready for the aggression that was likely coming to greet me.

My pulse was racing, nervous energy colliding with excitement as I prepared for the confrontation.

Whoever it was wouldn’t know what had hit them.

***

Erin

Have I ever been more anxious than this?

The question ricocheted as I edged along the looming hallway.

I’d known unease plenty of times before, never more so than since Chelle’s little adventure had unraveled so lethally, but none of those occasions compared to the panic furling in me then.

On my own, everything seemed harder.

I probably hadn’t been out of Hawkins’ office for very long, but in that time, each second had lengthened to become an hour.

Alone, each breath was amplified, as was the noise of every step I took.

My fingers tightened around the gun intermittently before relaxing as anxiety about accidentally pressing the trigger flitted through me.

Those were only the physical symptoms of my stress, though.

Without another person to back me up with moral support, I found myself second-guessing every decision.

Had I chosen the right direction? Was my current path the route to freedom or only toward more men hellbent on my subjugation? And if and when I met those morons, would I be capable of firing the gun?

Trepidation twisted, focusing me on the more important question—would I be willing to fire it?

There were no answers as I walked on, no voices of reassurance.

Eli had been torn from my side and I had no way of knowing whether I’d ever see him again.

Whatever happened next was up to me.

Grappling with that concept, my steps slowed, the sound of each as quiet as I could muster as I neared another corridor intersection, and my apprehension intensified.

I thought I’d heard male voices coming from around the corner a few minutes before, but when I’d listened to check, there had been no obvious sounds, making me wonder if I’d simply invented the concerns.

Standing on the brink of discovering the truth, though, I wasn’t so convinced the voices had only been an illusion.

What if there’s someone there? I inched closer to the wall, bracing myself.

What if there’s someone and they’re just waiting for me to come around the corner?

My old acquaintance, nausea, stirred at the unsettling queries.

Not that there was anything left in my stomach to rise to the fore, but still, the sensation remained, adding to my escalating sense of unease.

Grasping the firearm with both hands, I lifted it in front of me, determining that, should someone be lurking around that corner, I was going to be ready for them.

It didn’t matter that I had huge qualms about using the damn thing—it was then or never.

Who could say how long I loitered there, my digits gripping the black gun? It seemed like an extended amount of time was spent hovering, but in reality, it might only have been a minute.

In the end, my own sense of looming impatience coaxed me into action, deciding that whether there was an enemy waiting or not, the only way to find myself out of Hawkins’ nightmare was to move.

It wouldn’t be long, after all, before he’d discover my absence, and then he’d have goodness knew how many idiots with guns running around after me.

I had to keep going while I still held the element of surprise.

Steeling myself, I slid to the end of the wall, my stomach in knots as I spun to face my potential aggressors.

My gaze landed over not one man, but two, and as their tall, stocky physiques towered over me, I staggered back with shock.

Not that it was a surprise to have encountered them—I’d been expecting as much—but the sheer size of them daunted me.

Worse still, they were both armed, my attention landing squarely on the evil-looking guns in their hands.

“Stay back!”

I hissed, waving the gun in their general vicinity.

“I have a gun and I’ll use it.”

Even to my own ears, it was the least threatening warning of all time, and I cringed as the words left my lips, squeezing my eyes shut, even though I realized it was a foolish thing to do. I needed to focus, to wield the weapon convincingly and be prepared to fire, but in the face of my opposition, that suddenly seemed impossible.

I wasn’t really going to shoot them, was I? However dreadful a man who worked for Hawkins might have been, could I truly take his life? But if I didn’t shoot them, what would happen? How was I ever going to fend them off? I wouldn’t win in a fist fight, and I could never outrun them.

Doom spiraled, rising until I almost doubled over. Apparently, it didn’t matter to my weary body that there was nothing left to vomit. It was determined to make me heave, regardless; to make me suffer at that most crucial of moments.

“Erin?”

Staring at my knees, my name had been the last thing I expected to hear, and it took a few seconds for my brain to process what that meant.

“Erin, are you okay?”

His concerned timbre was strangely familiar, though I couldn’t persuade my chin to rise.

“So, this is Erin?”

The other guy spoke, his tone almost upbeat as he moved in beside me, but hunched over on my haunches, I couldn’t bring my focus any higher than their thighs.

“Please.”

The pounding in my head was back again, the same brutal rhythm that had seen me attempting to redecorate Hawkins’ God awful color scheme.

“Just leave me alone.”

“No chance.”

The first one lowered in front of me, one of his large hands pushing my gun down as he lowered his own.

“You’re the reason we haven’t left.”

“What?”

Only then did I convince my chin to rise, my eyes locking with the familiar, calm, gray pools of Eli’s gaze. “Eli?”

I couldn’t believe it. Of all the possible scenarios I’d imagined, I hadn’t conceived one where he was roaming the halls, looking for me. Bloodied and bruised from the beatings he’d endured, he was there—alive and kicking.

“B-but I th-thought you were Hawkins’ prisoner?”

I couldn’t seem to get my words out, couldn’t believe he was real.

“I was.”

His lips curled as he signaled to the guy behind him, and with his cut mouth, I had the sense that even grinning that way was liable to induce pain.

“But with a little help from my friend, I’m free.”

My focus darted to assess the face of his so-called friend, though I didn’t recognize the knowing eyes of the man who smiled at me.

“You have a friend here?”

My attention returned to Eli.

“It’s a long story for another time.”

Eli reached for me, his fingers grazing my chin.

“Did that son of a bitch hurt you?”

“No, I…”

Closing my eyes, I tried not to remember how hideous it had been when I was tied to the chair in Hawkins’ office. For long, awful moments, I’d envisioned all the horrid things that he might have tried to do, but I dismissed the images with a shake of my head.

“I puked all over him and managed to make a run for it.”

“You vomited on him?”

Eli laughed, despite the pain gleaming in his eyes.

“I did tell him I didn’t feel well.”

Shrugging, I wished there was time to lean into the hand of the man who’d come to be something of a life raft in the midst of the storms coming at me, but there, in Hawkins’ grim hideaway, was hardly the time or place. We were both in bad shape, and somewhere in the labyrinth of Hawkins’ lair, there were still countless assailants after us.

“He got what he deserved.”

The smirk I remembered only too well lit up Eli’s battered face.

It was an ironic thing for the man I’d once considered my captor to infer—that Hawkins had received the retribution he warranted—but as Eli rose to his feet and offered me his hand, I accepted he was right. Whatever had transpired between us, whatever power struggles I’d grappled with, was nothing in contrast to the damage Hawkins had done.

“How are you?”

Sir. Rising to my full height, I held back the final word as I trailed a fingertip lightly over his bruised cheek.

It was there, though, that instinct to defer to him, even after everything we’d both endured without the other, as though Eli had spent years conditioning it into me.

“I’ll survive.”

Turning, he kissed the top of my finger.

“We’ll talk later, but we need to get going. Are you injured, little girl?”

Little girl.

The term of affection that had once riled so deeply reverberated over me like resonance from a gravelly bass guitar.

“I’m fine.”

Running my fingers over his growing stubble, I was telling the truth too.

Logically, I acknowledged we were still in danger, yet with Eli by my side, my panic was fading.

“Are you sure?”

He never said so, but I had the distinct impression he was thinking how awful I looked. No doubt, I did. Sleep-deprived and sick, I must have looked a complete state.

“Yes.”

I smiled as I motioned toward the man who was fast becoming a third wheel.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?”

Eli’s gaze traveled from me to the stranger.

“Erin, this is my old boss, Paul Baron, and Baron, this is Erin, my little girl.”

He concluded the introduction by winking in my direction. The thought occurred that I should have been embarrassed to have been referred to that way in front of someone else, but there was no shame as Eli introduced us.

“Good to meet you.”

Looking between the two of them, I recalled Eli telling me about Baron in the long hours we’d spent together.

“Good to meet you, Erin. He hasn’t stopped talking about you.”

Baron laughed softly, gesturing to Eli, who was scowling at his side.

“I was his and Hawkins’ boss.”

“Hi, Paul.”

I reached for his friend’s outstretched hand, genuinely grateful for any part he’d played in the outcome that saw us all reunited.

My lover had proven himself to be more than capable, but given the state he’d been in when I’d last set eyes on him, I wasn’t surprised it had taken a helping hand to pull him out of the pit Hawkins had thrown him into.

“Thanks for helping Eli out.”

“Of course.”

Paul’s smile was warm as his hand withdrew,

“With the intros done, we’d really better go.”

Eli ducked down to collect Hawkins’ gun from the place I’d left it.

“Where are your boots, little girl?”

I couldn’t help but snigger at the naivety of his question. Perhaps they’d hooded him too and Eli hadn’t seen what had happened to me, but I hadn’t had any footwear since the cabin.

I looked down at my toes.

“Apparently, footwear wasn’t a priority back at the cabin.”

“Okay.”

Eli exchanged a glance with Paul.

“I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we find it. What about the gun? Do I want to know where you got this from?”

Turning the weapon around, he thrust it at me.

“Hawkins’ drawer.”

Pride echoed in my voice as I explained.

“He ran off to get cleaned up and I got away.”

“You didn’t tell me Erin was such a firecracker, Rosen.”

Paul smirked.

“She’s incredible.”

Leaning forward, Eli brushed his lips over my forehead.

“But before we celebrate too hard, we still have to find a way out of here.”

Our collective attention drifted around the corridor, as though we’d forgotten where we were.

“Guns at the ready, then.”

Paul tilted his against his chest as he turned away.

“If we need to, we’ll blast our way out.”