His grip loosened enough for me to thrust my elbow back into the man’s gut, and then I spun, shoving the heel of my hand into the man’s nose. His head snapped back as he cried out.
“That’s two, fucker!”
But the footsteps rushing my way signaled more danger. I didn’t know who they were or why they were after me, but I wasn’t sticking around to find out. I took off at a sprint toward the elevators, but I wasn’t fast enough. A heavy body slammed into mine and I went crashing to the ground, taking the brunt of the fall on my left side.
I immediately twisted, thrusting my elbow back, only to meet air. Another body straddled mine, gripping my wrists in a tight hold as a zip tie was wrapped around my hands.
“No! Get off me!” I shouted, bucking my hips and twisting to try to knock the man off. He stood and grabbed me by the wrists, hauling me upright. As soon as he released me, I swung with both fists together, nearly catching him in the jaw. He shifted at the last second, then grabbed me by the hair, yanking me toward him.
Whimpering in pain, I drew him in, then rammed my knee up into his groin. His eyes rolled back as he bent over, wheezing. Not a single one of them learned. But he didn’t let go of my hair, and in the process, dragged me to the ground with him.
I was about to slam my fists into his face when another man came flying at us from my right side. I barely caught him in myperiphery as he slammed into the man holding me, tackling him to the ground.
Jumping to my feet, I spun just as another man pulled a gun, but he wasn’t aiming it at me. The gun fired and I yelped, not used to guns being fired in a public place. Spinning, I saw one of my attackers fall to the ground.
“Holy shit,” I whispered.
“Claire! Not the grenades!”
Gasping, I spun again, only to see a woman looking rather disappointed that she couldn’t throw the deadly device in her hand. “But?—”
“We’re in a hospital!” the man shouted.
I was grabbed again from behind, but couldn’t struggle out of his grasp. “Bad fucking idea. This could have gone smoothly,” my first attacker whispered. “I would have even shown you a good time first.”
Disgusted, I writhed in his arms, struggling to get free, but he was aware of how capable I was now, and he wasn’t giving me any openings.
“Let her go!”
I was jerked around again, but this time, I was facing someone I actually knew. “Rob?” I gasped in surprise.
But he didn’t show any signs of recognition. His eyes were focused on the man behind me. I noted the way his body moved as if he was in situations like this all the time, how his muscles contracted as he stood ready to attack, and most importantly, the gun he held in his hands so expertly.
Yeah, it was totally hot.
“Cheryl, I need you to trust me.”
Rolling my eyes, I sighed. “It’s Krista.”
“Right. Just trust me. I’ll get you out of this.”
“She’s going with me. There’s something we need to take care of.”
Rob’s jaw clenched as he tightened his grip on the gun. “That’s not gonna happen. You’re outnumbered. There’s no way out for you.”
“That’s what you think.” I heard the confidence in his voice and knew this was gonna be bad. “Hope you’re ready for a little fun,” he whispered in my ear.
A scream unlike anything I’d heard before came from my right, followed by a shout of terror. The man behind me jerked us in the direction of the sound, and the woman from earlier came running at us with a book in her hands.
Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, she swung with all her might. Except I was the person standing in front, and that book was coming right for my face.
I dropped my weight, but it wasn’t enough. The spine of the heavy book hit me right in the cheek, and my whole body jerked to the right. I wasn’t sure what happened after that. The man behind me disappeared, and I fell hard to the ground, landing on my ziptied wrists.
I was rolled over and hauled to my feet seconds later by Rob, who grabbed my arm and started running with me through the hospital.
“Where are we going?” I shouted. “And who were those men?”
“I’ll explain later!”