Page 5 of Escaped (Snowbound with a Stranger #3)

Toward Freedom

Eli

The relief emanating from every fiber of my being was the all-consuming variety I’d never known before. Even though my heart rate was still high and the omnipresent threat Hawkins and his cronies posed was all too real, I sensed myself relaxing as Baron moved away.

Erin was okay, but more than that, she’d managed to avoid the worst of Hawkins’ attention and wriggle free from his grasp, arming herself in the process. I couldn’t decide if divine intervention had played a part in the miraculous outcome, or whether she was seriously more accomplished than I’d given her credit for, but either way, I thanked my lucky stars.

“Follow him.”

Moving in behind her, I whispered the word into her ear.

“I have your back, little girl.”

I never asked if she wanted me ‘at her back’, but the suggestive smile she offered as she twisted over her shoulder to receive my words offered reassurance.

“I’m so happy I found you.”

She reached for my hand.

“I hoped I would, but I didn’t know, and—”

“Shhh.”

Baron pressed one finger to his lips, his eyes drilling into me as he turned to silence us.

“I’d like to maintain the element of surprise if we can.”

“Noted.”

Squeezing Erin’s hand, I accepted responsibility for our volume. “My bad.”

Baron’s face relaxed.

“Listen, I know you two have some catching up to do, but let’s not forget where we are.”

I doubted that was possible.

“We need to find an exit, and ideally, some means to get away.”

Though that might be easier said than done.

“I might be able to help with that.”

Erin reached tentatively into her pocket and tugged something free. Opening her palm, she revealed what looked like a vehicle key fob.

Baron paused, his brow rising.

“You have a car?”

“Yeah.”

She shifted her focus between Baron and me.

“I kinda borrowed the key from our host. I figured he must have a car around here somewhere, or why bother with the fob?”

“Brilliant.”

Baron grinned.

“Thank goodness for your resourcefulness, Erin!”

“I don’t approve of theft.”

My tone was intentionally low, my cock stirring at the sight of her eyes widening. Naturally, I couldn’t have cared less that she’d stolen from the worm who’d snatched us both away, but it was fun to toy with her anyway. Arching a brow at her, I felt more like myself already as I lowered my voice.

“And you know how I deal with troublemakers, little girl.”

“I think he owed me!”

The growing blush on her cheeks was adorable, and I considered ordering her to call me ‘sir’ just to add to the effect, but our predicament insisted I wait for my gratification.

“You’re right.”

I could have kissed her right then and there. Erin’s ingenuity had presented us with a serious getaway option once we found our way out of the confines of Hawkins’ bunker.

“He owes us all, and that’s why you get a free pass, little girl.”

“Gee, thanks.”

She slipped the fob back into her pocket.

“Maybe I’ll let you come along with me and Paul, then.”

Snorting quietly at her childish inference, I shook my head. She’d pay for that remark later, but only once I got her safely into my bed.

“Come on.”

Ignoring our banter, Baron looked bemused as he urged us on.

“I reckon if we follow the external wall, we’ll have to find an exit at some point.”

“Good plan. I think there’ll be…”

I never finished that sentence, the sound of male voices echoing from the hallway behind us capturing my attention. Pausing, my heart raced as I checked the coast was clear.

“Behind us!”

Keeping my voice hushed, I motioned in the direction I meant, thankful there was no sign of company yet.

“They’re coming!”

“Go!”

Baron yanked at my sleeve.

“Take her and keep going. I’ll deal with them.”

“You’re sure?”

It seemed wrong to abandon a man I respected so much, especially after he’d worked so hard fighting for both of us, but Baron’s words reflected my inherent desire to protect Erin.

I’d lost her once, and whatever happened, I wasn’t going to let her slip away again. Nothing between my little girl and me was set in stone—hell, I didn’t even know if she was mine—but I certainly wasn’t going to allow a fiend like Hawkins to pollute what we’d created. That man had ruined my professional life. He wasn’t taking my personal joy as well.

“Go!”

Baron hissed the word at us, his gaze narrowing.

“Why are we even talking about this? Get out of here, find the car, and if you can, wait for me.”

“No, we should stick together.”

Erin looked frantically between us as the voices of the newcomers grew louder.

Scanning the hallway, I couldn’t see the looming threat, but the assholes were making their presence known. At any moment, they’d come into view and set eyes on the three of us.

“I’ll find you both.”

Baron answered her directly.

“Now, Rosen—go!”

“Erin, now.”

My clipped tone garnered her focus and, brow furrowing, I could see how much she wanted to argue. The Erin of old might have done so, too, pressing her point despite the hazards, but the version standing before me knew better. Only a few days with me had put paid to that. She knew what kind of danger we were in.

“For fuck’s sake.”

Her jaw tightened, but she allowed me to tug her away from Baron.

“Baron’s a big boy.”

Wrapping an arm around her, I hurried her along the corridor in the opposite direction.

“He can take care of himself.”

“But it’s not right,”

she protested, jogging to keep up.

“He helped you and—”

Her complaint was splintered by the deafening sound of gunfire, her face paling as she glanced back. “Oh, God!”

“Run!”

My strides lengthened as another volley ripped through the air behind us.

“And keep that gun close by.”

I prayed she wouldn’t need it, hoped that the things unraveling around us wouldn’t require a woman as innocent as Erin to open fire and have to live with the consequences, but I sensed the walls were closing in around us. We’d spent too long dallying in the hallway, too long talking when we should have been moving, and we’d allowed Hawkins’ goons to hunt us down. That was just as much my fault as anyone else’s—more maybe, since I was the one who’d started speaking to Erin—but running down the hall, culpability didn’t much matter.

Taking her hand in mine, we broke into a faster sprint. A part of me was still left behind with Baron, hoping he could handle the incoming barrage and make it out in one piece, but a larger facet was already working out our next move—where the way out would be, how we’d discover where Hawkins garaged his vehicles, and then, ultimately, getting us the hell out of there. If all went according to plan, Baron would join us, and we’d be home and dry.

Well, not home, but away from Hawkins, at least.

She’ll be safe. I glimpsed her in my peripheral vision, pulling her closer as we rounded the end of the corridor. So long as she’s safe, everything will be okay. I’ll make it okay.

“Where to now?”

she gasped, hanging onto my bicep as we reached an intersection.

“Keep going,”

I muttered, my concentration shifting between the way ahead and the impending menace we were running from.

“We can’t be far from a way out.”

“I hope he’s all right.”

Her voice was barely a murmur as my attention slid back to the direction we’d left Baron.

“He will be,”

I resolved, encouraging her to start moving again.

There hadn’t been any gunfire for a few moments, and my earlier remark had been true—Baron had been dealing with scum like Hawkins even longer than I had.

“You’re always so sure of yourself.”

She managed a half-smile as I pulled her on.

“That’s me.”

I couldn’t argue with her logic. Even when I was uncertain, I didn’t normally let it show.

“I was still worried about you, though.”

Her brow creased as she hurried beside me.

“I didn’t know what had happened to you when they brought us here, and…”

Her voice cracked with emotion as her hand rose to dab at her eyes.

“Hey.”

There wasn’t time to console her, but something about her vulnerability affected me the way no one else ever had. In the limited time we’d known each other, I’d been exposed to many sides of the woman, but none of them stirred me like her upset.

“It’s okay. I’m fine.”

The pain that ricocheted as I tugged her closer begged to differ, but I hoped she wouldn’t notice the flickers of discomfort on my face.

“I know.”

Her green eyes were watery as she gazed up at me.

“I’m so happy you are.”

A thousand responses sprang to mind. Hundreds of ways I could soothe her and share how I was feeling, and at least another dozen I could convey how her absence had inspired the demons to slither back into my life, but the approaching danger stole every single one of them.

“We’ll talk later, beautiful.”

Squeezing her shoulder gently, I hoped to anything holy that she could tell how much she meant to me.

“I promise.”

“There’s no time now.”

She finished the line for me, glancing anxiously over her shoulder. “I know.”

“’Fraid so.”

Baron hadn’t stayed to hold the fort so we could get ambushed a little further along the corridor. “Come on.”

We were moving again then, dashing down the passage until it opened out into a foyer of sorts.

“There!”

Her voice was laced with hushed excitement as she pointed to an enormous metal door.

“Could that be the way out?”

“Yes.”

My focus fixed on the latest barrier as we approached, but tugging at the huge handle, I realized it was locked.

“Yes, that definitely could be—”

“Well, well, well.”

Hawkins’ crooning tone interrupted my sentence, his unpleasant expression smug as he stepped out in front of us. Time around us seemed to cease as a line of his goons moved in on either side of him and blocked our escape.

“Look who’s leaving without saying goodbye.”

Chapter Five

Gods and Monsters

Erin

“No!”

I didn’t know if I actually said the word aloud, but its resonance resounded in my head as I stared at the increasing numbers of Hawkins’ men. Not only had the slimy moron found us, but he appeared to have brought a fleet of antagonists with him for the ride, each of them armed with his own cruel version of the weapon still clutched in my hand.

“How many of you want to die today?”

Eli’s voice boomed from my side, and I watched as he edged forward, waving his weapon at our adversaries.

“There’ll be no one dying today.”

Hawkins faked a smile.

“You two are much more valuable to me alive, especially you, pretty.”

His attention traveled to me, my skin crawling at the hungry look in his eyes.

“Stay the hell away from me.”

Pointing the gun in his direction, my finger grazed the trigger and sent my pulse galloping.

Until that moment, I’d never been serious about shooting anyone, but standing there, Hawkins was a sorely tempting target. He’d injected so much poison into our lives. A part of me reasoned he deserved the fate, but I couldn’t believe I was the sort of person who’d actually consider shooting him.

Is that who I am?

I didn’t want to be the villain, but I was tired of playing the victim.

“Don’t worry.”

He laughed dryly.

“I’ve forgiven you for puking all over me, and I’ve thought of some ways you can make it up to me.”

“No chance.”

I spat the words at him, defiant despite our waning odds.

There were three times as many of them as there were of us, but in that moment, the probabilities didn’t matter. Whatever transpired, I was determined to never cede to a man as disgusting and cruel as Hawkins. I’d turn the gun on myself before that happened.

“I think the lady gave you her opinion when she vomited all over you.”

Conceit oozed from Eli’s voice, his bravado cocky considering how many more of them there were.

“Ah, yes.”

Hawkins folded his arms over his chest as he surveyed Eli.

“Who’d like to tell me why our guest here is out of his cell?”

“They overpowered us,”

one of the assembled men grumbled, rubbing his temple gingerly to reveal a raised, red welt.

“This one pretended to play dead while the other one took us by surprise.”

“What the fuck do I pay you for?”

Hawkins rolled his eyes.

“Never mind. We’ll deal with him, but first, I want the lady transferred to my bedroom.”

“What?”

Eli and I barked at the same time, panic colliding with my anger to form a potent response.

“We were interrupted last time…”

Hawkins’ condescending tone belied the fact that we were all waving guns at one another. I was struck by the level of arrogance it took to feel such little terror in the face of such a threat that he was happy to continue to torment me. Either he believed he was infallible, or he was the least self-aware person I’d ever met.

“But that won’t happen again. This time, I’ll get what I came for.”

“No fucking way!”

Eli’s voice was like thunder.

In a split second, Eli moved, pushing me to the ground before he opened fire. I landed awkwardly against the wall, twisting out of the way when the bullets rained down, yet simultaneously compelled to watch the outcome of his impetuous attack. Not that I blamed him. I was equally as repulsed by Hawkins’ vile commentary, but there’d been no prior planning for such an event, and neither of us knew which way things would go.

Either Eli would maim and injure our foes sufficiently so we could flee, or something terrible was about to happen right in front of my eyes. From my current position, there was nowhere I could go to hide from the latter.

Flinching at the screams of the men who’d been sprayed with Eli’s bullets, I peeked up at their agonized expressions. Two of the guys closest to me yelled out with pain, clutching their shoulders and thighs as they fell to their knees, while another was thrown backward by the force of the gunfire.

“What about you, Hawkins?”

Eli straightened, apparently unperturbed that the remaining three assholes also had guns focused in our vicinity.

“Do you want some?”

“Somebody shut him up.”

Hawkins’ tone was predictably dry. It spoke of a man who’d always had impunity and didn’t believe anyone could hurt him.

“But don’t kill him. I want them alive.”

A curt silence protracted as I processed what that meant. He’d given the order to injure Eli—to maybe harm us both—and the entire sorry outcome was unraveling right in front of my eyes. Rising to my knees, I screeched as the farthest gun from me opened fire, a line of shots cascading between me and Eli and forcing me flat against the hard floor. Angry shouts were drowned out by another volley, but that time, I heard Eli’s anguished cry as at least one bullet hit its mark.

“Eli!”

I shrieked his name from the ground, my heart threatening to leap into my throat as I rose to my knees and crawled to the opposite wall. Advancing on his slumped form, awareness of everything else was muted.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m all right.”

He winced, holding up a bloodied hand from my shoulder to halt my progress.

“It’s just a flesh wound. Don’t worry about me. Look after yourself.”

Me?

He was right. I was armed and could do something about our aggressors, but the gun lodged in my hand felt like lead as one shaky hand rose to elevate it.

“About time you hit the target.”

Hawkins let out an exaggerated sigh, but no one seemed to comment on my rising weapon.

“No, don’t shoot her. Just round them up and get them moving.”

“Do it.”

Eli mouthed the words, his brows knitting, though I couldn’t decide if the expression was born of his guilt about the situation we found ourselves in or the pain he was experiencing.

Acting in what felt like a microsecond, I spun, holding the gun at face level and squeezing the trigger as I went. A thousand arguments wrestled in my mind as the thing fired, assertions about why I had to fire to save us both and how I sensed I’d never be able to live with the choice, but in the heat of that moment, the knowledge we needed to stay alive overruled each of them.

I heard the shout of one of Hawkins’ henchmen as a bullet pierced his arm, my insides cramping at the certainty that I had put it there as another goon charged toward me.

“I said, don’t hurt her!”

Hawkins’ furious tone radiated over the noise of my pounding heart as the approaching wall of muscle shoved me backward and knocked the gun from my hand. I hit the ground with a painful thud, and by the time I’d acknowledged the weapon’s departure, it was already skimming along the hallway behind my head.

“You’re coming with me, darling.”

Pinning me to the floor, the toothless assailant offered me a sickening grin. I considered snapping my knee north to connect with his balls, but the weight on my legs made that all but impossible. For the time being, the fucker had me, and his snarling position meant I couldn’t move to see if Eli was faring any better.

“The boss wants your attention.”

Staring up at the ugly fiend, my senses strained to hear what was going on behind him. Turning my head, I thought I caught sight of Eli’s mop of dark hair as he pulled himself to his feet.

“Just let me up!”

Shifting my left arm to push at his enormous shoulder, I tried to see past the idiot’s scowling face, but I was knocked abruptly to my back, my head bouncing off the hard floor as the two connected.

Winded by the huge palm that had smacked me in the chest, I blinked at the ceiling as his warning reverberated over me.

“Stay.”

I wanted to tell him to go and fuck himself, but as I opened my eyes, I saw stars, three or four versions of the nasty monster looming over me.

Squeezing my eyes closed, I tried to focus on something, on anything other than the foul-smelling and bad-tempered thug pressing himself against me. How was Eli doing? Had it been him I saw staggering to his feet?

He’s been shot!

I wanted to cry at the reality, but a fleeting memory of the time we’d spent together held the emotion back. Eli had been shot before and survived. If he was right about the flesh wound, he could endure the latest onslaught.

Time slowed as a barrage of ear-splintering volleys punctuated the scene behind my antagonist, and, opening my eyes, I strained to see what was happening. It was useless, though. The dizziness in my head wouldn’t cooperate, and my limbs were still pinioned to the ground courtesy of Hawkins’ hideous brute.

“No fucking way!”

Shifting over me, the moron could see what had happened, though, and falling to his knees at my side, he fumbled for his stowed gun.

“No!”

My voice sounded hoarse and distant as I reacted to his response, but whatever he was going to do, he’d left it too late, and even I flinched as the barrel of a weapon was thrust hard against his temple.

“Yes fucking way.”

My gaze flitted from the weapon at the deep resonance of the new voice, knowing who I’d find holding the gun. Somehow, Eli had not only pulled himself to his feet, but he’d managed to get himself into a position to intimidate the hoodlum antagonizing me.

“Throw your gun toward the wall, prick.”

Eli pressed the end of the weapon against the side of his head.

“And do it slowly.”

Holding my breath, I watched as the goon obeyed, his anger swirling in his gaze as he reached for his weapon and hurled it down the passage to join mine.

“Who has the key to get out of here?”

Despite the long hours we’d spent snowbound together, I scarcely recognized Eli’s growl, my attention darting between the villain who’d smacked my head against the ground and the man who’d captured me.

“Fuck you, asshole.”

Hawkins’ guy’s jaw clenched, his focus drilling into me as I shuffled out of his reach and slid back to the side of the wall.

“I’m not telling you anything.”

“Of course not.”

Eli smirked as though he’d clearly expected the minion’s reply.

“But it turns out, all of your friends are out of it, so I’m going to need a little cooperation from you.”

From the new vantage point, Eli’s ‘work’ was easier to see for myself, as were the results of the gunfire I’d heard moments earlier. Aside from the one remaining goon currently held hostage, Hawkins and all of his men were sprawled out on the ground between me and the exit. A deep red puddle stretched between the bodies, suggesting some were hurt rather more badly than my conscience might have liked.

Logically, there were only so many conclusions to draw from the scene. I could have hoped Eli had pistol-whipped them all into unconsciousness, but the fact that I’d heard shots was a perturbing nudge to the potential unwelcome truth—he’d shot those men.

Just like I shot at them.

Blowing out an uneasy breath, my concentration slid back to Eli, though our eyes never met. I had shot one of them, but that guy had been on his feet when I’d last seen him. Evidently, something else had happened to him since I’d been knocked from mine.

Eli had happened.

He’d done what he always did and had taken control, in the most brutal way possible.

“Last chance, fucker.”

Eli tugged back the trigger, his jaw clenched. In all the time I’d known him, I’d never seen him look so determined.

“My lady and I are ready to leave, but the door’s locked…”

“I already told you.”

The brute on his knees twisted to snarl back at Eli.

“I’m not telling you nothing!”

Eli shook his head grimly.

“Don’t think I won’t blow you away, you miserable fucker…”

The splatters of blood on Eli’s face corroborated that he’d hit his target at least once since I’d been knocked to the floor, the idea disconcerting as I attempted to reconcile it. He’d done those hideous things to protect me.

As if he sensed the weight of my stare, his attention slid to me. No words were exchanged in the lengthy seconds that passed between us, but I sensed a hundred warring emotions on his weary face; the things he was feeling but couldn’t tell me.

Silently, I put the piece of his puzzle together in my mind, imagining what he wanted to say; that he longed to end the idiot at his feet but knew I’d likely plead for compassion. That he worried I was okay, when in truth, he was the one still bleeding from a gunshot wound, and no doubt, that he was concerned about his old friend too. There’d been no sign of Paul since we’d left him behind.

In that one shared moment, his gray gaze conveyed all that emotion and more; the reality of the man he was versus a glimpse of the one he still hoped to become—with me.

“Last chance.”

Eli’s focus never left me as he snarled the threat, and under his breath came the softer words he intended for me.

“Don’t look, little girl.”

“Do it!”

Apparently oblivious to Eli’s sentiment, the guy spat out the words.

“I don’t give a sh—"

The brute on his knees never completed that sentence, the trigger at Eli’s finger compressing, ordering the bullet from the barrel and straight into his brain.