Page 6 of Rescuing Micah (Prey Security: Cyber Team #3)
Dropping low as he reached for her again, she slammed her fist into the first man’s groin again, and he howled and doubled over. On her hands and knees, she ignored the stinging pain as debris cut into her palms and quickly crawled away from the two men.
The first had blocked the path of the second, and she pushed to her feet and started running. Someone would have heard her scream, someone in the deli had likely seen the scuffle and already called the cops.
All she had to do was get around the van and back onto the busy street, and she should be safe.
But a hand grabbed her hair before she could make it.
Yanked her back and swung her sideways, into the wall, her head connecting with a sickening thump that had her seeing stars.
She’d done her best to escape, but it hadn't been enough.
April 29 th
8:36 A.M.
Micah knew the second the van pulled up in front of the alley he’d just seen Teresa turn down, that something was wrong.
The problem was, he was still too far away.
It took mere seconds to commit an abduction if you knew what you were doing. He should know, he and his team had performed plenty of them. Always picking up someone who was either dangerous or someone they thought they could persuade to help them get to someone who was dangerous.
But Teresa was neither of those things.
Sure, she’d made a youthful mistake when she was seventeen, and in doing so broken his heart and permanently damaged his ability to trust the opposite sex, but she was a good person. One who loved hard and worked hard. She was dedicated and cared about the people in her life.
He didn't need to know everything that had been going on with her or Prey to know that she was in trouble, and if he didn't get to her quickly he could lose her.
Dodging around people as he broke into a dead run, he prayed he made it there in time. As he approached, he could hear a muffled scream, and his heart about jumped out of his chest.
Even though he’d stared down hundreds of armed militia, been captured along with his team, been caught up in explosions, and even survived a helicopter crash early in his career, Micah was pretty sure he had never been as terrified as he was in this moment.
As he rounded the van, he saw a man grab Teresa by the hair and swing her into the nearest wall.
Her head bounced off the brick, and he saw red.
There was not a conscious thought in his head as he closed the distance between them, grabbed the man’s head between his hands, and twisted in such a way that he snapped the other man’s neck.
Then he dropped the body and left it where he lay, so he could advance on the other man. This one was hunched over, clutching his groin, and Micah smiled as he realized that had to be Teresa’s doing.
Little spitfire.
Needing to incapacitate the man completely until help came, Micah slammed a fist into the side of his head and watched with great satisfaction as the man’s eyes rolled back and he dropped as well. Still alive, so the cops could interview him when he came round.
Now, though, he hurried to Teresa who was leaning propped up against the wall, still on her feet, her wide chocolate brown eyes watching his every move.
“You killed him,” she murmured as he approached.
“Rather I’d left him alive?”
She shook her head quickly, then winced, pressing a hand to the side of her head, gently probing the lump on her forehead and the gash on her cheekbone.
“They tried to abduct you,” he said, his voice coming out in a harsh growl that made her flinch.
“They did,” she agreed. Then abruptly she straightened, swaying slightly. “I have to get back to Prey. Have to search the security cameras to see if I can get an ID. That guy is probably going to be out for a while, and we need to know who they are so we can try to find who sent them.”
“Whoa.” He caught her elbow as she staggered past him, still swaying on her feet. “I think you should sit down before you fall down.”
“No time. They followed through on their threats pretty quickly.”
“Their threats?” he growled, wishing he hadn't left last night. He should have stayed and offered to help Nathaniel and Ava with their friend who had the problem. Definitely should have decided to stay once he bumped into Teresa and realized she was the teammate with the problem.
If he had, Teresa sure as hell wouldn't have been out there alone and unprotected, completely vulnerable to an attack.
“I don’t have time to explain,” she grumbled, trying to pull free of his grasp.
Tightening his hold just enough to keep her in place without hurting her, he met her gaze squarely, doing his best not to focus on the blood and already forming bruises. “Make time.”
“Come with me then. You already know Nathaniel, right? You're on his SEAL team, so you already know about the trafficking ring.”
“I know about them,” he agreed with a sharp nod. “I just don’t know why they attacked you in an alley.”
“Call the cops, tell them where we’ll be, and come with me. Either that or you can stay here and wait for them, but I'm going back to work.”
Realizing she wasn't going to back down, Micah muttered a curse under his breath and released his hold on Teresa. Untying the laces of the man he’d knocked unconscious, he used the shoelaces to bind his hands and feet, then dialed 911, quickly explaining who he was, what had happened, and where he and Teresa were going to be.
Then he followed her back across the street to her building.
The way she wobbled slightly had him aching to reach out and scoop her into his arms. But since he was pretty sure that wouldn't be well received, he settled for remaining close, ready to catch her if she fell.
Swiping her keycard as they went into the elevator, they headed up to a different floor than the one he’d been on last night when he visited Nathaniel and Ava in the apartment they were staying in. This floor was quieter, with closed doors lining the corridor when they stepped out of the elevator.
Like she hadn't just been attacked and injured, Teresa walked with purpose and determination toward the only open door. Micah couldn’t not be proud of her, she was a warrior, tough enough to compartmentalize what had happened and still be able to focus on what needed to be done.
The room went deathly silent when she stepped through the door, then everybody began to talk at once. Cries of concern and demands for explanations came from all four of the women and two of the men, including Nathaniel, who hurried toward her, their concern evident in their voices and expressions.
While it might have been unnoticeable to the others, he caught Teresa’s small step backward, and that look she got in her eyes when she was overwhelmed.
“Quiet,” he snapped, surprising everyone into silence. “She’ll explain what happened, just give her a chance.”
Shooting him a quick glance of thanks, she nodded to her team. “I came right back to explain, and we’ve already called the cops. Well, Micah did.”
Nice to know she was no longer pretending that they didn't know one another.
“How did you two meet?” Nathaniel asked, his gaze bouncing between them.
“He saved me,” she said quickly, clearly not wanting to get into their past, which given what had just happened, he didn't argue against. “Two men got out of a van and tried to grab me.”
“Always with the vans,” Ava muttered.
“I managed to get away from one of them, but the other grabbed me.
He probably would have gotten me into the van if Micah hadn't shown up.” Teresa swallowed audibly, and there was no probably about it.
If he hadn't arrived when he did, those two men absolutely would have been successful in their abduction attempt.
“I killed one of them, the other is restrained, and cops are on the way,” he quickly added.
“Didn't take them long to follow through on their threat,” a pretty brunette with gray eyes said.
“What threat?” he asked.
“Last night, someone broke into the apartment Teresa, Ava, and Chelsea share,” Raven Oswald replied.
While he’d never met the woman before, Raven’s brother, former SEAL Eagle, was an absolute legend in special forces circles.
“They trashed the place and left a message painted on the wall. It told them to back off. As you know, the ring abducted Ava a couple of months ago, then came back for her a second time. Isabella was also taken by the ring.” Raven nodded at a blonde with a wild mop of curls.
“They know that Prey is involved in hunting them, and that we’ve managed to locate several of their facilities.
I'm betting they're scared we’re getting too close and they thought threats would work.”
“As if they would.” Teresa scoffed like she hadn't just been almost abducted by ruthless traffickers who would lock her up and remove her organs one by one if they managed to get their hands on her.
“You can't keep looking for them,” he blurted out, drawing the attention of every person in the room, including Teresa, who glared at him as though she’d love nothing more than to punch him in the groin the same way she’d done to the man who’d tried to kidnap her.
“Excuse me?” she demanded, her voice all frosty.
“They tried to kidnap you,” he said slowly.
“And I’ll be more careful in the future, but we’re not going to back off,” Teresa told him.
“We’ll all be more careful,” Raven added. “From now on, no one goes anywhere alone. I'm going to assign bodyguards.”
“Done,” he quickly agreed.
“What do you mean done?” Teresa eyed him suspiciously.
“You need a bodyguard. I'm on leave, I'm already here, and I'm more than qualified. I already know about the trafficking ring, so I'm volunteering for the job.”