Page 105 of Girl Lost

Rage snapped loose.

She twisted away from the gun and jabbed her fingers into his eyes. He roared, stumbling away. Her knee shot up into his groin. He folded and sank to the floor, gasping.

Luna scooped up the gun he’d dropped.

“Summer, run!” Luna shouted, already moving toward Trinity.

Summer darted for the scalpel on the floor where Dr. Forest had dropped it. Dr. Forest slammed into her from behind. His arm locked around her waist. He yanked her tight against his chest. The scalpel, now in his hand, pressed against Summer’s throat.

“That’s quite enough,” Forest snarled, positioning himself between Luna and Trinity. “One more step, and I’ll open her throat. And as for Trinity...” His eyes flickered to the table. “Well, without immediate treatment, I’m afraid she doesn’t have long.”

Luna froze. Her heart pounded. She’d taken down the enforcers, but at what cost? Now both the girls were in immediate danger.

“What do you want?” The gun trembled in her hand.

Dr. Forest’s lips curled into a cold smile. “What I want is your cooperation. You’re going to help us escape this facility. And we’ll be taking Stryker’s ... resources ... with us.”

Luna’s stomach turned at his implication. “You’re insane.”

“Perhaps,” Forest conceded. “But I’m also the only one who can save Trinity’s life right now. So what will it be? Will you help us? Or will you watch both of them die?”

The beeping of Stryker’s heart monitor punctuated the silence. She didn’t have a shot. How long had it been since they’d gone dark? Reinforcements had to be close. They had to know things had gone sideways. So where was the cavalry?

Summer squirmed in Forest’s grip, but the blade was too close. Trinity wasn’t moving. Her life could be slipping away.

They were out of options.

She raised her hands with the gun hanging from one finger.

The door to the operating room burst open with a resounding crash.

Corbin leaned heavily against the doorframe, his shirt soaked through with blood. His face was pale, but he held a gun aimed at Dr. Forest—a weapon he shouldn’t even be able to hold with the way his fingers shook. Yet there he was, still standing, still fighting. “Let them go.”

Forest staggered back a few steps, dragging Summer with him. A rivulet of blood bloomed at her throat.

Luna curled her fingers around the gun and brought it up. The first enforcer—the one with the shattered leg—had dragged himselfto the wall and collapsed there, motionless. Maybe unconscious. Maybe just praying no one touched his leg again.

She kept her aim steady, eyes flicking between Forest and the other one. The guard she’d nailed in the groin had made it to his feet, listing to one side but still breathing. Still dangerous.

“How nice of you to join our little party,” Forest said to Corbin. “But I’m afraid you’re outnumbered here.”

With a few shaky steps, Corbin moved behind Elizabeth’s wheelchair, the muzzle of his gun trained between her shoulder blades. “Let them go or your daughter gets to experience what it’s like to be on the other side of your twisted experiments.”

Elizabeth gasped. “Dad...”

Dr. Forest’s face contorted. “You wouldn’t dare!”

“Try me,” Corbin snarled. “I’ve seen what you’ve done. The lives you’ve destroyed. Don’t think for a second I won’t do whatever it takes to stop you.”

“You’re bluffing,” Dr. Forest said, but his voice had lost its edge.

Corbin’s eyes narrowed. “Want to bet Elizabeth’s life on that?”

“Fine. You win.”

Dr. Forest shoved Summer into Corbin, and he caught her, taking his gun off Elizabeth.

In that moment of distraction, Elizabeth wheeled herself to Stryker’s side, grabbed a needle from a nearby tray, and plunged it into his IV. Her thumb pushed its contents into the line.