Page 102 of Like An Animal

“Tobias is down and dying. He was shot in the neck. Max is alone now.”

“They’re five minutes out. Breathe.”

A lot can happen in five minutes. Five minutes can be the difference between life and death. Five minutes alone with seven opponents is a guaranteed defeat.

“Is there no one closer? He’s all alone, dammit!” More tears fill my eyes as Massimo refills his clip, but before he can lock it in place, a bullet is shot at him…specifically at his hands. It pierces both of them and he drops his gun.

“No, no, no. No, no!”

“What the fuck is happening!” Xavi yells through the phone as they charge for Massimo, pinning his body to the ground. He tries to fight them off but it's futile. One starts kicking him as the others force his hands behind his back, binding them.

“Leave him alone!” I scream, even though I know no one can hear me except Jer and Xavi.

“Focus, Bron! Is Max okay?”

“No,” I whimper. “They got him. He can’t fight.”

My heart aches as they pull him to his feet and one of the men in all black, including their masks, pushes him through the front door.

I change the camera to follow them. I can tell Massimo is yelling and trying to stop them from forcing him to go where they want him to but there’s too many of them. There’s seven of them, not including Dimitri trailing behind, and only one of Massimo.

“They’re taking him into the house and down the hall.”

I keep switching the cameras to follow them, but they head straight for the bedroom the panic room is attached to.

“They’re on the other side of the door.”

I switch to the camera above the closet doors and one of them walks right over to the closet, yanking out all the clothes blocking the door.

A small gasp falls from my lips. “They knew where the panic room was. How? I know Max didn’t tell them,” I ask, hoping Jeremy might have an answer.

“Because Dimitri was involved in the build. He knew where it was.”

One of the men kicks the back of Massimo’s legs, forcing him to his knees. Seeing him in this light shows how badly his shoulder is bleeding and how bad the bruises are on his face.

“He’s in bad shape, Jer,” I say as fresh tears flood my tear ducts.

“They’re only a few minutes away, baby. He’ll be fine. Just breathe.”

One of the men walks up to the panic room door and presses the button on the wall above the keypad.

“Mary Elizabeth, I know you’re in there. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be,” Isaac’s sickening voice fills the room.

“Do you recognize the voice?” Jeremy asks.

“It’s Isaac. If I don’t go out there right now, he’s going to kill Max.”

“Don’t think about it. He’ll be fine. Help will be there soon,” Jeremy’s smooth voice comes through the phone.

“I can’t just let him die, Jeremy! You don’t know Isaac but I do. If it was anyone else, maybe he would be okay, but Isaac is sadistic. If I hadn’t made the deal I did when I did, he was going to have your brains splattered all over Xavi’s face!”

Isaac is vindictive.

I’m the only one that can save Massimo’s life.

“Mary Elizabeth, you know I’m not a patient man. I’ll tell you what. If you come out in the next thirty seconds, I won’t put a bullet in this tool’s heart.” Isaac holds up a gun with a silencer screwed on the end to accentuate his point.

“Don’t you dare fucking do it, sokrovishche!” Massimo yells which earns him a punch across the face from one of the maskedmen. “You gave me your word so don’t you dare open that door!” Another one punches him in the stomach and the pain across his face is impossible to ignore.