Chapter 4
When Evelyn came to, she found herself tied to a chair on a rickety platform high in an abandoned factory. A sharp wind blew through the broken windows and chilled her to the bone.
A gaunt man with crazed eyes stared at her, his expression hard.
“Who are you? Why did you kidnap me?” Evelyn struggled against the ropes, panic racing under
her skin.
The man sneered, his voice rough. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
The factory door slammed open.
A tall, familiar silhouette filled the doorway. Graham charged in against the light.
Sophie followed behind him, face white with worry.
“Evelyn!” Graham’s pupils contracted when he saw her. He fixed the kidnapper with a hard look and barked, “Let her go. If you’ve got a score to settle, take it out on me.”
The kidnapper’s eyes flashed with hatred.
“General Sterling! Long time no see. You led that raid on me and my men. You wrecked my arms
deals and drove my wife to jump. Today, I’ll make you know what it’s like to lose someone you
love.”
Graham’s face went cold. “You broke the law. You deserved to be arrested. Your stubbornness
dragged your family into this, not me. If you want to settle this, settle it with me. Let her go.”
“Settle with you? Perfect.” The kidnapper laughed, unhinged. “Cut off your left hand right now and I’ll think about letting your sweetheart live.”
“No, Graham!” Sophie screamed and lunged forward.
Graham didn’t hesitate. In one fluid motion he drew his pistol, thumbed the slide, and fired into
his left arm.
Bang.
The shot thundered through the cavernous factory. Blood spurted from his arm, soaking his
sleeve.
“Graham!” Sophie cried, rushing to him.
He shoved her back, face pale and sweating, eyes locked on the kidnapper. “Let her
Chapter 4
- go.
17.39%
The kidnapper stared, stunned that Graham had actually shot himself. Then he laughed louder, more deranged. “You really think one hand will buy her back? Dream on. I’ll make you watch her die and feel the despair I felt.”
He shoved Evelyn’s chair toward the platform’s edge.
“No-!” Graham screamed and hurtled forward like a man gone mad.
The world tilted. Evelyn plunged downward, terror closing in.
At the last second a massive force caught her.
Graham had thrown himself under her, using his body as a cushion. They crashed onto the concrete below with a bone–rattling impact.
He coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Outside, a squad of soldiers burst into the factory.
“Seize him!” Graham ordered through clenched teeth.
The soldiers quickly subdued the kidnapper.
Sophie ran to them, tears streaming down her face. “Graham, Evelyn–you’re both hurt. You need a hospital now. I’ll drive.”
With Sophie’s help, Graham struggled to his feet. He ignored the blood that kept seeping from his arm and the obvious internal pain, reaching instinctively for Evelyn in his arms.
His voice–usually composed–trembled with panic and something like tenderness. “Evelyn? Are you all right? Are you hurt? It’s okay now. You’re safe…”
He looked at her as if she were something fragile he had to protect.
Sophie had already started the car.
From the driver’s seat, she watched them in the rearview mirror–the two of them clutching each other–and something cold and poisonous flashed across her face: a quick, venomous gleam of
jealousy.
They sped onto Riverside Bridge. Sophie’s jaw tightened.
Then, without warning, she jerked the steering wheel hard. The car ripped through the guardrail and plunged toward the churning river below.
Crash.
Chapter 4 At
17.39%
Icy water flooded the cabin.
Evelyn, stunned from the impact, swallowed water and choked. Instinct took over. She fumbled for the emergency hammer and smashed it against the window with everything she had.
The glass finally gave. She clawed through the opening and was swallowed by the freezing water.
She couldn’t swim. She thrashed and gasped, “Help-”
A moment later, she saw Graham claw his way out of a shattered window. Their eyes met, and for an instant she read struggle and pain in his gaze.
Then, without hesitation, he turned and swam toward Sophie, who was floundering not far away.
He chose to save Sophie first.
The river’s cold bite was nothing next to the cold despair that tightened in Evelyn’s chest.
As the last of her awareness dimmed, flashes moved behind her eyelids: the hard, retreating shape of him at her mother’s funeral, missed calls on a hospital phone that had never been answered, the bowl of chicken soup that had nearly suffocated her.
Then the dark took her.
Chapter 4
