Maya Banks - Colters’ Gift

Her head hurt. Her side hurt. Every muscle in her body ached.

A sound to her right had her jerking around, pistol up. A squirrel scurried up a tree and the gun wobbled precariously in her grasp.

She was losing her mind and she was rapidly losing any strength she had remaining. The brief adrenaline burst she’d experienced directly after the crash had long since fled, and she was barely existing on fumes.

She had no idea if she was heading in the right direction or not. The crash had completely rattled her and she hadn’t logically thought about direction when she’d fled the crumpled SUV.

What bolstered her spirits was that she hadn’t heard any shots fired. She hoped that her supposition would be correct in that they would come after her and not bother with Liam and Noah. She just prayed that neither were seriously injured in the crash.

After catching her breath, she took off in a jog again, determined to keep on the move and her attackers at a distance. After one particularly steep climb up a rocky incline, she realized that she was back on the road.

Jubilation filled her and she set off in a dead sprint. When she heard an approaching vehicle, she turned, relief making her weak-kneed. Her relief turned to paralyzing fear when she recognized the Hummer that had forced them off the road. The Hummer skidded to a stop, kicking up a cloud of dust. The driver was out and rushing toward her before it had fully stopped.

It was time for payback. She raised the hand holding the pistol and took aim. It was a peculiar moment of disconnect for her. The person wasn’t real. The situation wasn’t real. The gun wasn’t real and neither were the bullets.

It took her back to some of the dreams she had when she was being pursued and she would point the gun and it either wouldn’t fire, or it would be out of bullets. She’d awakened, frightened and frustrated by her inability to shoot her attacker.

It would indeed be over her dead body if she wasn’t able to pull the trigger this time.

And evidently, the man charging her didn’t think she had the balls to do it either because he never let up. She waited until he was only six feet away, and then she calmly pulled the trigger.

The explosion was deafening. The gun jerked in her hand, the recoil so much that she feared she’d missed her target all together.

But then she saw the bloom of red on his chest. The faint shock that registered on his face. He staggered, barely keeping himself up right.

She shot him again, this time right through the forehead.

He went down like a rock.

Before she could register any relief or satisfaction, pain exploded in her head and she went sprawling to the ground. The gun flew from her hand and through the foggy haze of her semiconscious state, she heard the rapid exclamations from other men.

“Holy shit, the bitch shot Mark! We should kill her and be done with it,” he said, his voice full of shock and rage.

“Don’t be stupid,” the other man said, in a voice that suggested he thought his accomplice was just that. “It’s one less person to share the bounty we’re being paid to bring the bitch in to Knight. We split two ways now instead of three and the boss is happy. Now let’s get the hell out of here before the cops start showing up.”

Her stomach twisted into a vicious knot. She’d been so focused on the threat in front of her that she hadn’t heard the two men behind her.

Realization of her circumstances sent terror through her veins.

Joel Knight wanted her back.

He’d hired these men to do whatever was necessary to bring her to Joel.

They hadn’t blinked an eye over their fallen accomplice. It was a financial transaction for them and nothing else.

She was so fucked if they got her off this mountain and back in Joel’s world where he made the rules and nothing could touch him.

But at the same time, they hadn’t been ordered to kill her. Joel wanted her back. Alive. At least for the short term. Could he not know of what she’d done? Was this all about the blow to his ego because she’d dared to walk out on him?

If he didn’t know that she’d stolen incriminating evidence from his computer or that she’d spoken to the district attorney, she might manage to stay alive long enough for Liam and Noah to find her.

Most important she’d led these bastards away from Noah and Liam. She clung tenaciously to that thought. They were alive. They would come for her.

She was barely clinging to consciousness when the two men yanked her to her feet and dragged her toward the truck driven by the man she’d shot.

They merely left him on the road, lying in a pool of his own blood.

At least Noah and Liam and the Colters would find the body, and they would know what had happened to her.

It was her only hope.

They took a roll of duct tape and roughly wound tape around her head and over her mouth. Then one taped her hands together, winding the tape around and around her wrists. Once that was accomplished, they tossed her into the back of the Hummer and grabbed her ankles, bruising her skin with the force of their grip.

After securing her legs with the same tape, they tossed the roll over their shoulder and slammed the back door shut. Without sparing another glance in her direction, they got into the cab of the Hummer.

The driver began the awkward task of turning around on the narrow road and several times sent rocks tumbling over the edge of the sharp incline.

After a moment, he had them turned in the way they’d come, and he floored the accelerator. She bumped painfully all over the backseat, the seat belt buckles digging into her skin and hitting her ribs.

They were bringing her to Joel and what he planned for her she had no idea. She could no longer deny the sort of man he was. The blinders had been off for a very long time now.

She knew what he was capable of. She knew what he’d already done to numerous women.

What was one more woman’s blood on his hands?

WHEN Noah heard a shout in the distance, he breathed a huge sigh of relief. Liam had left, taking Noah’s gun with him, as soon as he’d learned that Lauren had struck out on her own.

He hadn’t wanted to let Liam go. Liam was obviously injured and fighting his hold on consciousness. He was bleeding steadily from his head wound.

But what choice had either of them had? How could Noah hold him back when Liam was all the help Lauren could expect so soon?

Liam had been terrified the moment Noah had told him what she’d done. And it was obvious that he was torn between leaving Noah in such a horrible situation and going after Lauren.

Noah had quietly pointed out that there was nothing Liam could do for him. Noah was stuck until help arrived. But Liam could go in search of Lauren and hopefully reach her in time.

Noah had never felt so helpless in his life than he did now, pinned in the SUV while Lauren was out there fighting for her life and Liam was somewhere in between.

Relief made him temporarily weak, and it took a second for him to muster the strength to shout back upon hearing Adam Colter’s call. A moment later, the older Colter brothers appeared at the vehicle, their expressions worried and grim as they took in the wreckage.

“Are you hurt, son?” Adam asked. “Where are Lauren and Liam?”

“No, sir, I don’t think I’m injured that badly. Just can’t move my legs but I can feel them.”

Then he quickly related the events that occurred right after the wreck, and Liam’s departure to go after Lauren.

“I’ll call Seth and give him the update,” Ryan said grimly.

“I did,” Noah said. “He was on his way out. I told him to get everyone in the damn town out if that’s what it takes.”

“Okay then. We just need to concentrate on getting you out of there,” Ethan said. “I have some tools in the truck. I’m calling for a wrecker just in case we can’t get you out of this. I know you don’t want to be stuck here when Lauren is out there and her fate has yet to be determined. We’ll do our best, son.”

“Thank you,” Noah said, his fingers flexing and then curling in agitation. It was killing him to have to sit there, unable to move, while others searched for Lauren.

Ethan and Ryan turned and ran in the direction of their vehicle while Adam stayed with Noah. Adam put his hand on Noah’s shoulder and squeezed.

“I don’t want you to panic. I know you’re worried. I won’t tell you not to worry because in your shoes, I’d be pissing my pants and freaking out. But I want you to know that not one of us will rest until we get Lauren back.”

Noah nodded, not trusting himself to speak. The more time that passed, the sicker at heart he became. Liam hadn’t returned and neither had Lauren.