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"Let her go, Kyle. She's innocent. It's me you want to hurt."
"You're so stupid, Andy; always will be. This bitch didn't care about you when she left without a backward glance. She kept your child from you, how can you just forgive her?"
Annie saw Andy's eyes widened when Kyle's arm clamped down tighter around her throat. The pain didn't come right away, or she just didn't feel it. For the past couple of hours, her body had numbed to a concerning degree.
"Kyle, let her go, please. You have the money. You don't have to hurt her."
Kyle laughed. "Begging for her life when you left me in that place to suffer."
"How was I supposed to know! I thought you were getting the best treatment. And you deserved it. How could you, Kyle-you raped an innocent woman?"
"You better be very careful of your words when you speak to me, Andy. I could easily kill your precious Rayanna. And with that gun pointed at the back of your head, I would say you're playing with fire."
"What else do you want from me, Kyle? You kidnapped Gregg's wife and pressured him into betraying us. What else could you possibly want from me?"
"I want you dead!"
"Well, take me and let Annie and my son go."
"I'll do what the hell I want. I'm done listening to you," Kyle spat.
"Kyle, Is it more money you want? I-"
"You know all I wanted was the money. I sent you those notes so it would look like it was someone random. That it would never trace back to me. When I threatened to kill someone close to you, I was thinking of your mother-never your perfect Rayanna."
Every time he sneered her name Annie flinched. Her eyes scanned the room. Expect for the man holding the gun to Andy's head, there were only two other men in the room. Kyle had his two main bodyguards close; her kidnappers. They stood straight as arrows as Kyle talked. Guns pressed to their chests. Permanent scowls etched on their faces.
"My mother was the closest thing you had as a mom," Andy shouted.
"Everyone knows she was a spiteful bitch. I hardly tolerated her."
An outrageous look flashed across Andy's face and he clenched his jaw. "You were never my friend, Kyle."
"And you were weak. You weren't fit to be my friend, Andy. Now, as I was saying-my men said you needed a little more motivation when you ignored the first set of notes. That's when I knew I had to find Rayanna." Kyle smoothed her hair back. "And guess what I found, Andy?"
Kyle didn't wait for Andy's answer. "Your little runaway girlfriend had a baby. Now that was what I call a bonus ball. I did not know at first he was yours. No, it was a surprise."
"Ah, Ah, don't angry, Andy. You look like you might burst a vein. But I had my reasons for not sending pictures of the baby to you."
"What reasons?" Andy all but shouted.
"I wanted to kidnap him. Hold him for ransom. You know the full coverage. I know that would have convinced you enough to put the money into the account."
Andy growled, his chest puffed out as though it took all his willpower not to charge at Kyle.
"I sent my men to her little apartment, but she wasn't there. When they finally tracked her down she'd gotten away from them."
Annie sucked in a deep breath, her lungs expanding as she took in Kyle's words. That would explain that night someone chased her. Kyle wanted to kidnap her baby.
"By then you had already found out where she lived. My men were too late when they tracked her back to her apartment. You were good, but I was better."
"I'll kill you."
"You said that already. You sound like a broken record, Andy. It doesn't suit you. Do you remember the attack in the parking lot? After that didn't work I know I had to step up my game. Well, I had to deal with that failure first. I guess he couldn't live without his legs and he took his own life."
Annie's head jerked up when snickers from the men reach her ears.
"That's when the perfect idea came to me. Oh, thank you for telling me where you were hiding out. You made my job easier. That's when I planted the body where Gregg would find it."
Annie remembered the call about the gang member Gregg found dead. The same man who attacked Andy. God, it was all a setup.
"He took the bait, and that's when I reached out to him-that's after I kidnapped his wife. I lied to him I would leave Rayanna and your son alone if he brought the money to me. He gave me the perfect advantage when he called you away."
"I never felt better when that bomb exploded."
"Good men died that day. How can you be so cruel?"
"Hey, you can't blame me, I told him he had to make it look good or his wife dies."
"Where is Gregg, Kyle? Where are you keeping him?"
"He's probably dead by now. I sure hope not... for your sake."
"You're crazy Kyle. You need help; a psychological evaluation."
Annie's eyes pleaded with Andy to stay quiet but he paid no mind to her. She felt the slight tremble of Kyle's body; she knew he was mad. She knew Andy's words cut him deep. And she knew what was coming. Bile bubbled up at the back of Annie's throat until it scaled her tongue with the taste of it. Her feet ached and she willed herself from crying out.
"You're sick, Kyle," Andy belted out.
Annie braced herself. She glanced at the man standing behind Andy. Something about him wasn't right. His head was down. Now the realization pricked at her mind, he never once looked up. She remembered the frozen look on Andy's face when the man spoke. What did that mean? He didn't look like any of Kyle's bodyguards. And Kyle was too busy boasting about his victory to notice.
Annie knew Kyle suspected Andy would come for her. So he kept her close. When the electricity went out, Kyle had dragged her into another room and stationed men outside the door. They'd waited for the generator to kick in. When the lights had blinked on, it had horrified Annie to see the men dragging in a bloody man.
Her eyes went to where he slumped unconscious against the wall. She looked away quickly. A wave of sorrow rushed over her. Annie sucked in a painful breath when one of Kyle's men walked towards Andy.
"Do your worse." She heard Andy growled.
When a meaty fist landed in his stomach with a heavy thud, Andy grunted and doubled over. He let out a string of curses as he coughed. As Andy straightened up, something caught her eyes, the man that had been holding Andy at gunpoint spun away from view so fast she didn't see his features. Then she realized: he was avoiding Kyle's line of sight. It was almost comical.
She waited for Kyle to notice but he was laughing like a maniac. Andy was right, Kyle was crazy. When Andy groaned again, Annie remembered the punches and kicks Kyle had rained down on her hours before. She was so tired; weariness weighed heavily on her shoulders. Her knees threatened to give out. She didn't know how they would get out of this but she prayed Andy had a plan.
Annie prayed he'd alerted the police. She swallowed, her throat raw from screaming. God, all she wanted to do was get the hell out from Kyle's hold. Andy was now wiping the blood from his nose as Kyle continued to rant how he would pay off his debts with the money. Her eyes met Andy across the room and she tried to smile once again. But her swollen mouth wasn't having any of it, her smiled turned into a grimace.
Andy never took his eyes from her. Annie recalled the pain she saw rooted deep on his face when his narrowed eyes had searched the length of her battered body. She saw his nose flared wide when they landed on her toes. It only looked bad, but it was mere flesh wounds she got trying to unscrew a bolt from the bed with her toes. What a stupid mistake that was? She had needed a weapon but in the long run, she still didn't achieve her goal.
******
Andy wondered how much time had passed. Wasn't the fifteen minutes up yet. He prayed the police would show up. He was in a bind. He didn't know who to trust.
Louie was losing too much blood. He didn't know if the men had found Gregg or his wife. Then there was Julian. Andy gritted his teeth. With the amount of betrayal he encountered, it was a miracle he still functioned.
Andy was running out of options. He had to find his son. He had to-his eyes went to his love. He needed to get her away from Kyle.
Andy was about to beg like a man with no other choice when he heard it:
"Duck. Now, Andy."
The whisper of words brushed over his ears so smooth he went to his knees in a flash-without thinking. A shot rang out then a high pitch scream erupted and Kyle stumbled back into the wall clutching his shoulder. His face reddened with anger.
"Get Annie, Andy!"
Andy sprung to his feet and made a mad dash across the room just as Annie cried out. He snatched her around the waist and went down hard. His body cushioning her fall while his shoulders taking the brunt of the impact. Andy grunted and with a mighty flex of his muscles, he flipped her under him covering her with his body as all hell broke loose.
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