Okay, Taylor, keep going. Four down, probably loads more to go!

As I pressed on up the hallway, Elliot’s walkie-talkie crackled to life on my belt. “I don’t know where they are, there must be more than one guy. Elliot and Tanner are dead, and I’ve heard a lot more shots since then.”

I smiled; I could definitely use that to my advantage if they thought there was more than one of me.

I stopped when I heard whispering around the corner. Pressing myself against the wall, I reached into my shoulder bag and pulled out the little mirror I’d brought from my SWAT kit. I positioned it so I could look around the corner to see who was there. There were two guys talking in whispers, looking around desperately; one of them was running his hand through his hair nervously. Both were armed, but from the way their guns were hanging loosely at their sides, I knew that they had no idea how close to me they were. I shifted and dropped to one knee as I rounded the corner, shooting them both dead instantly.

I was on the move again. Further up the hall there was a large, expansive room. My eyes widened as I peeked around the corner, checking it was empty. Shit, this isn’t going to be an easy room to cross! There were desks everywhere, giving so many places for people to hide. I frowned and looked at the door on the opposite side, knowing I needed to get to the stairs on the other side. This side of the building was now clear, so she had to be somewhere over there. How the hell am I going to cross this room on my own? There was no possible way I could cover all of my hotspots and my back would be exposed. But there was no other choice.

I reloaded my gun and stepped tentatively into the room. Silently, I berated myself for not calling for backup. I knew I didn’t have time to wait for them, but I should have at least sent someone a message to let them know where I was. I still would have had to move in on my own, but at least they would be aware of her whereabouts if I’d sent that message. If I died right now, they would have no idea. Clearly I had let my emotions get the better of me. I made a mental note to send a message to one of the agents as soon as I made it across the room.

There was a rustle of movement to my right. I flicked around too late, and a guy smashed my gun out of my hand, breaking one of my fingers at the same time. Before I knew it, there was movement from all sides; I knew I needed to move quickly.

I lunged forward and punched one of them in the throat; I gripped his hair and smashed his face into my knee, knocking him unconscious. Before he even hit the floor, another guy stepped out, pointing a gun at me. I grabbed my knife from my waistband and threw it into his chest. I turned to my right, readying myself as another one stepped forward. I knew that move would leave my back exposed, but I had no choice. I punched him in the face, gripped the back of his head and crashed it against one of the desks, just as another guy came from behind and hit me on the back of the head with something hard, knocking me out cold. I didn’t even have time to feel it before I was unconscious.

Chapter Forty-Eight

~ Anna ~

I had no idea how long I had been slumped on the floor – it felt like days, but it was probably only a few hours. I sat there motionless as Jimmy came back, carrying a pre-packed sandwich and bottle of water, putting them next to the unopened one he’d brought me in earlier.

He looked at me apologetically. “I’m sorry, Anna, I am, but I had to. I don’t have a choice,” he explained, frowning. I nodded and turned away from him. I couldn’t look at him because I knew I would cry again, and I needed to be strong now.

“I need the bathroom,” I muttered, defeated.

“Okay, come on then.” He took my arm, holding me tightly as he pulled me to my feet.

As soon as we stepped foot outside of the room I was being held captive in, I elbowed him in the face and ran as fast as I could. I had no idea where I was going as I stumbled along, opening doors at random, hoping to find fire escape or maybe a weapon I could use or something. As I rounded a corner, I ran smack into a beefy guy who wrapped his arms around me. I looked up into Mark’s sneering face. My heart sped up as my mouth popped open in shock. Mark featured in my nightmares a lot of the time. He was Carter’s right-hand man and second in charge. He was probably the one that had been running the organisation while Carter was locked up.

I struggled and thrashed, but he was holding my arms too tightly for me to get away. A muscle in his jaw twitched as he looked down at me distastefully. One of his hands wrapped around my arm with bruising force as he whipped back his other hand and slapped me hard across the face. His grip on my arm was the only thing from keeping me from flying to the ground. My whole face exploded in pain and little lights danced in front of my eyes, making me feel dizzy and disorientated.

“Stop struggling or I’ll have to tie you up, and that would be uncomfortable. Carter said we needed to keep you comfortable,” he spat, sneering at me angrily. He’d never understood Carter’s fascination with me; he’d always looked at me like I was a piece of trash – but only when Carter wasn’t there, he wouldn’t dare do it in front of him.

A tear escaped, and I fought to keep them away as I stopped my useless efforts to escape. The best I could hope for now was death, but I knew that wouldn’t be happening anytime soon. Maybe if I could piss Carter off enough, he’d kill me. Maybe he’d even kill me by accident, beating me for letting Ashton kiss and touch me. Mark led me to the bathroom and stood there watching while I went, which was humiliating to say the least. When I was done, he pushed me roughly towards Jimmy, so I tripped and fell into his arms. Jimmy looked annoyed as he put me back in the room and was wiping at his split lip with the sleeve of his shirt.