Page 39 of Rescuing Micah (Prey Security: Cyber Team #3)

This was it.

Teresa was lying in a hospital bed, just like she’d been last time when these monsters had removed part of her liver.

Like last time, she watched as the anesthesiologist approached, a syringe in his hand.

She wanted to fight, or at the very least come up with some sort of snappy retort that would show these people she wasn't afraid of them.

Only she was.

Terrified in fact.

But she’d made a promise to herself not to give in to that fear and let it consume her. So to that end, since she couldn’t come up with a sassy remark, she merely held the gaze of the man standing beside her bed, ready to put her to sleep so he could steal her organs.

Just because they didn't want to see her as a human being, one just like them with hopes and dreams for her future, plans and goals, didn't mean she wasn't. And she wanted them to be reminded of that, even though she knew it wouldn't change anything.

The drug was injected into her IV, and almost immediately, she began to feel sleepy.

Even though she knew she would wake up on the other side of this operation, they weren't going to kill her just yet, when there was so much more money to be made keeping her alive as long as possible and harvesting as many organs as they could, she wouldn't wake up the same as she was right now.

When consciousness returned, she would be missing another organ.

One she could live without, but it would still be a piece of herself gone.

Pushed into oblivion by the drugs, the world faded to black around her, but at the very last second, she could have sworn she felt a small sting on the inside of her elbow. Right where her IV was connected.

There was no time for her to examine the feeling, try to figure out what it was, or wonder if she’d merely imagined the whole thing, because she passed out.

Only then there was more pain, a sharp stabbing one in her stomach right where her partly healed wound was.

“Stay still, don’t move,” a voice murmured close to her ear, but the words took a while to penetrate.

Why was someone telling her to be still?

And who did the voice belong to?

It was familiar, yet she couldn’t seem to place it.

More voices spoke around her, chattering away too fast for her to be able to make out the words.

The energy from them seeped into her mind, though.

Panicked, angry, scared.

That’s how the voices sounded, but she still couldn’t figure out what was going on.

“Can you hear me?” that same voice spoke, this time low and hurried. Urgent.

Try as she might, her head was still too stuffy to be able to use her brain properly. Everything was fuzzy, and she wasn't sure what was real and what was just an illusion.

“I need you to wake up, we don’t have much time. I think … I think someone is coming for us, but I'm afraid they’re going to kill us before we can be rescued. I won’t let that happen. But I really need you to wake up,” the voice finished, desperation bleeding into the tone.

Someone coming for them?

Rescue?

The trafficking ring.

The surgery.

It all came filtering back in as the fuzziness in her head receded enough that she could focus again and access her memories.

She was supposed to be unconscious, put to sleep so she could be operated on. Why was she awake, and what had been the pain in her stomach?

Blinking open heavy eyes, she saw the nurse standing beside her. William, the one who had loosened the strap binding her wrist to the bed so that she could activate the tracker. That had been a couple of hours ago, so by now there was every chance that Prey was already mounting a rescue.

“Coming?” she asked. Her throat felt dry, and her voice came out scratchy, but William nodded, relief evident in his dark eyes.

“Yes. I wasn't going to let them operate on you, so I knocked out the IV, not enough to be noticeable but enough that it wouldn't really knock you out. I … didn't really have a plan for after that, but I was hoping you’d have an idea?”

Yeah, he looked hopeful all right.

Misplaced hope, because her brain was barely functioning. She’d gotten enough of the drugs to temporarily knock her out, but she’d obviously woken right as they were about to start the operation. That had to have been the pain in her stomach.

Lifting her head, Teresa looked down her body.

Saw she was mostly naked, the hospital gown she was wearing bunched up around her breasts.

There was blood on her stomach, running in rivulets down her sides, but it wasn't enough that she had to be concerned about blood loss.

“You saved me,” she murmured.

“Maybe? I'm not sure yet. We have to do something,” William said, already undoing the rest of the leather straps, then tugging down her gown to cover her as though modesty was what she was most worried about right now.

Did she want all these people to see her naked body?

Of course not.

But she’d rather live.

“Where are they? You said something about someone coming?”

William nodded. “Just as they started, there were shouts from outside. Apparently, there’s a helicopter flying over us.”

“Prey,” she murmured in relief as she pressed her palms to the mattress and pushed herself up. Her head spun for a moment, and she had to clench her eyes against the sickening feeling, but hope was also bubbling to life inside her.

If Prey was coming, then rescue was just moments away.

But then the memories of the ship Ava had first escaped came to mind. When the trafficking ring realized Ava was gone, they had slaughtered everybody on board. Not just the innocent men and women they had abducted to cut open and steal their organs, but all the doctors and nurses had died, too.

Everyone.

By the time the rest of Nathaniel’s SEAL team had reached the boat, there hadn't been a single survivor.

That wasn't happening this time around.

“We need weapons,” she said as she opened her eyes and swung her legs over the side of the hospital bed. “If they come back, there’s every chance they’re going to kill us before we can be rescued.”

The nod William gave was resigned. He knew that, too. Whether because he’d been told already what had happened on that ship a few months ago, or because the surgeon had said something before leaving, she wasn't sure, but she was glad they were both on the same page.

“Weapons, right.” William stood and walked around the room.

While the young man looked for something to defend themselves with, Teresa stood on shaky legs. She was determined to do whatever it took to remain alive, to fight for her life with everything she had. She just had to hope her body was up for the task.

After being restrained on the bed for hours, her limbs felt weak and heavy, but since there was no time to worry about it, she shuffled over to William, who was holding up a couple of scalpels.

“Best we’ve got,” he told her.

“It’ll do if we act quickly,” she said, taking one of them. The metal was cool against her palm, the blade small. If this was going to work, they were only going to get one chance at it.

Since William was looking at her expectantly, Teresa knew she would have to take the lead.

“We’ll wait by the door. We kill whoever comes through it.

” She said the words confidently, like her heart was hammering against her chest. If Prey was already on board, she had no doubt that they would be able to prevent her or William from killing them, so the safest bet for them, their best chance at living, was to act immediately.

Although he nodded, William paled, and she hoped he could do this.

No sooner had they both scurried over to stand by the door than it swung open.

A single figure stepped through it, and just like she’d planned, Teresa didn't hesitate.

With a smooth slashing motion, she lifted the scalpel high and then brought it down, aiming for the person’s neck. The sharpness of the blade was perfect for slicing through the skin there, and a single cut at the carotid artery would sever it and leave the person bleeding out, unable to be saved.

Unprepared for an attack, believing that she was still unconscious on the bed and that William was watching over her, the female surgeon was an easy target.

One slice and it was done.

Blood squirted out, then began to stream down the woman’s neck.

Shock widened her eyes, and her hands flew to her wound as her gaze landed on Teresa.

The woman tried to speak but couldn’t. She stumbled and then fell.

Dying.

Teresa had killed her.

Knowing it was either her or them didn't stop the nausea churning in her gut. She’d taken a human life.

Fighting against the nausea, knowing that she couldn’t dwell on what she’d just done because there was more danger waiting for them out there, she turned to William and nodded at the door.

Together they crept out of it, and as she walked slowly along the corridor, Teresa prayed that Prey would hurry up and arrive because she wasn't sure that she and William could kill enough people on their own to survive.

May 7 th

12:25 P.M.

Watching the torn pieces of paper flutter toward the ocean below was oddly cathartic.

Micah knew it wasn't really wiping the slate clean and having a fresh start, but it felt like it was.

There was always going to be his choices between them. Even if Teresa did want to give him a second chance, things would never be exactly the way they’d been in the past, the way they could have been if he hadn't messed everything up.

But they could still be good. The two of them could still be happy together. He would love her with every fiber of his being, and he would support her for the rest of their lives. He’d take care of her the way he always should have, and they could build the family they’d once planned.

Actions had consequences, and both he and Teresa had been living out the ones that came with his choice for too long now. It was time for him to step up and be the man Teresa had always deserved.