Andrew's voice was low and gravelly. "No. Where are you? How many men did you bring? Benjamin has numbers, we need backup."

"I've got four guys with me," Tristan replied over the line. "We're already in the woods."

That was enough.

"Emily is somewhere in here," Andrew said. "Can you track her location?"

The line went dead silent, save for the howling wind on Tristan's end.

Andrew didn't speak either.

A few agonizing seconds passed before the rustling of leaves filtered through the speaker.

Tristan's voice dropped to a whisper. "I see her. Benjamin is right there. I'm moving

in."

"Send me a live ping," Andrew demanded immediately. "I'm coming."

Tristan hung up without another word.

Andrew looked down at the screen. A second later, a live GPS tracker popped up in the messages.

Gripping the phone, Andrew pivoted, ready to sprint straight back into the darkness.

Panic surged through Beatty. She grabbed his arm. "Mr. Lane, you're severely injured! Stay here and let me go find them!"

Andrew yanked his arm free, his expression freezing over. "No. If you're scared, stay here by yourself."

He didn't pause for even a fraction of a second. His tone was sharp and impatient, radiating a clear, unmistakable dissatisfaction with her interference.

At this point, Beatty knew she had completely lost the argument.

She was furious and hated the fact that he was turning back for Emily, but she wasn't stupid. Wandering off the dark was a death

alone to th

sentence. She had no choice but to

follow him.

FindNovel.net

Desperate to get back in his good graces, she quickly added, "Mr. Lane, if there's a

fight, stay behind me. I know kickboxing, I can protect us."

Andrew barely spared her a glance. "I don't need you to. Just watch your own back."

"I'm serious," she insisted. "I'm not exaggerating."

He didn't bother replying.

Meanwhile, Emily's luck had run exactly as Andrew had predicted. She hadn't made it far before Benjamin's massive thugs caught up with her. They roughly twisted her arms behind her back, pinning her violently against a tree trunk the Tough bark scraped painfully against her cheek.

The thug holding her was panting heavily. "Keep running, bitch! Let's see you try and run now!"

With a vicious sneer, he delivered a brutal kick to her shin. "Run!"

Emily let out a muffled groan, her face twisting in agony.

Her entire body felt like it had been run over by a truck. The pain was blending together into one giant, numb ache. She didn't even have energy to fight back anymor

the

She had spent the entire night running. She was exhausted, drained to her very core. The fight had simply left her.

The thug was screaming insults inches from her ear, but the words sounded muffled, like she was underwater. Her brain was a swirling, disconnected mess.

Unsatisfied by her lack of resistance, the thug grabbed a fistful of her hair, yanking her head back while continuing to shove her body into the bark.

"Why aren't you running?!" he roared, completely out of breath but refusing to stop his verbal assault.

One of the other men grabbed his shoulder. "Enough. Boss said to grab her and move. Don't waste time, the cops are gonna be here any second."