His Reluctant Bodyguard (20 page)

As he spoke, his sister re-entered and gave him a poke in the chest. "Leave the lady alone. She
don’t
need to worry about such stuff." She turned to Avery and motioned for her to follow. "Don’t worry, Mademoiselle, I’ll take care of you."

"
G’night
," Avery slurred, trailing after Yvette.

A slight breeze ruffled the frilly curtains in the dim bedroom. As much as she would have liked a shower, Avery knew she wouldn’t be able to stay awake for even five more minutes. She kicked off her shoes, untied her twine belt, and let her baggy pants drop to the floor. Her eyes closed before her head hit the pillow.

Shouts and loud noises jolted Avery awake. The deafening retort of a gun sent her leaping from the bed. A second shot and a terrified shriek sounded as she jerked her pants back on. Then, as she fumbled to tie the belt, the door burst open and a compact man with a huge gun in his hands stood on the dim threshold.

Her hands flew up, palms out, which was a surprise considering she couldn’t move or breathe.

An ugly sneer spread across the man’s face. "What have we here?"

He motioned with the barrel of the gun for her to move, while from the front room, Yvette screamed again.

In spite of her terror, Avery managed to stumble past the gunman. In the front room, two more gunmen held Yvette between them. The struggling girl had a strip of duct tape across her math, and her wrists taped together. Thierry and
Roussellot
sprawled unmoving on the floor, blood spreading on the rug under them. Avery fought down the scream rising in her own throat.

One of the men backhanded Yvette and anger over-rode Avery’s fear. "Don’t hurt her! She’s just a little girl."

As the two gunmen stared at her, the man behind her circled around to stand in front of her, his automatic weapon still pointed menacingly, but his expression looked speculative. "So you’re an American."

Even though it wasn’t a question, Avery spat out, "Yes."

His eyes narrowed. "Then you must be here with Rip
Pollendene
."

Avery clamped her mouth shut and glared at him, while the other two snickered, probably at her audacity.

"Jean
Baptiste
will be very pleased to see you," the man taunted.

Yvette kicked one of her captors on the shin and earned another slap. As Avery started to sputter in protest, the unharmed guy slapped a strip of duct tape across her mouth.

"Co-operate or I’ll shoot your little friend." The guy who’d found her threatened, pointing his weapon at Yvette’s legs. "I won’t kill her. At least not right away, but I will shoot."

Avery nodded her acquiescence while still staring daggers at him and picturing
herself
choking the life out of all three of the thugs. The one with the tape wrapped a strip twice around her wrists, and gave Thierry’s inert form a kick as he stepped over him. When Thierry made no noise or movement, tears gushed from Yvette’s eyes.

Oh please don’t let Thierry and
Roussellot
be dead
! Avery silently prayed.

"Outside," ordered the one closest to Avery, and he motioned with the gun at the door.
"Move!"

***

The moment Rip spotted the open front door of the house, he knew something was wrong.

"What the hell?" Luc gasped as Rip leaped out of their cart before it came to a complete stop.

Pistol in hand, Rip barreled over the threshold shouting, "Avery?"

He almost tripped over Thierry’s bloody body, and he swore when he took in the shocking sight. Luc rushed in a moment later and cried out in dismay. As his friend dropped to his knees beside the two bodies, Rip ran for the other rooms.

"Avery?" he called again, even though his gut screamed that she was gone. All he found in the dark bedroom were her shoes.

"Rip!" Luc’s shout sent him dashing back into the living room.

Bent over the body of
Roussellot
, Luc’s hands were stained with blood, and tears trickled down his cheeks. "He’s alive!"

Shoving his pistol back into his waistband, Rip dropped to the floor as Luc pulled out his phone with shaking fingers. While Luc spoke rapidly into the phone, Rip saw the boy
Roussellot’s
eyelids twitch. A miracle considering how much blood was everywhere.

"Hang on,
Roussellot
! Help is on the way." Much to his relief, the kid drew in a ragged breath,
then
gave a weak cough. Rip glanced over at Thierry and then back to Luc, who shook his head and choked back a sob.

The minutes that passed while they waited for the paramedics to arrive seemed to drag on for a lifetime. Luc staggered into the bathroom, but the box of bandages he brought back were so small they were useless.

"Get some towels," Rip ordered while he clasped
Roussellot’s
clammy fingers.

Luc returned with an armful of towels and a sheet, which he draped over Thierry’s body. Unfolding a bath towel, Rip pressed it against the wound in
Roussellot’s
chest, and the boy moaned.

"Hang in there, kid," he ordered again, while he discerned the faint wail of a siren.

Roussellot’s
eyelids fluttered and
raised
halfway. His fingers gripped Rip’s like a vise as he struggled to form words. "
Th
—they… t—took her." He rasped out. "Took them both…
JB’s
men."

Rip swallowed down the cry of anguish that rose in his throat, but his mind absolutely refused to think that Avery might be dead. Over his shoulder, he heard Luc groan. In front of him,
Roussellot’s
eyes drifted shut and his breath rattled.
 
Rip pounded his fists into his thighs to center the searing pain coursing through his mind and body.

Though still in the distance, the siren grew louder. Why was the fucker taking so long? Rip grabbed another towel with his free hand and mopped at the blood seeping under his knees, all the while fighting the urge to rant and rave. Finally, the screaming siren sounded like it was rounding the corner.

Luc went outside and re-entered a few moments later with two paramedics on his heels. The two men brushed Rip aside in order to work on
Roussellot
. Rip backed into the kitchen and washed, the lines from
MacBeth
about hands never being clean suddenly echoed inside his head. His jaw ached from being clenched so tightly. He couldn’t do anything else for
Roussellot
,
instead he had to focus all his thoughts and energy on Avery.

By the time he returned to the living room, the paramedics had
Roussellot
on the stretcher. As he followed them outside, the lights of another vehicle flooded the walkway and a golf cart parked close to the walkway. While the paramedics loaded
Roussellot
into the ambulance, Luc led the two newcomers inside. Rip stood like a stone, fighting to remain calm enough to function. He couldn’t help Avery if he lost it.

The ambulance roared away, siren blaring. Luc's two compatriots carried out the sheet-draped body and placed it in the back of their golf cart. Luc bent his head and spoke briefly to them, but Rip was too far away to hear what was said. The cart pulled away, and Rip shook himself into action. The golf cart he and Luc had driven here was fine for short distances, but too slow for long ones.

Luc met him halfway down the path. "Don’t worry, we’ll find her, Yvette too."

Rip side-stepped around him, headed for
Roussellot’s
jeep, still parked in front of the cottage. "I know where she is, and so do you. JB and his men have gone to the power plant."

"You’re probably right." Luc grasped him by the arm, but Rip shook off his hand. "But you can’t go alone. We aren’t sure how many men he has with him. That’s why two troop transports are on their way."

"I’m not waiting," Rip insisted. His churning gut shouted at him that he’d already waited long enough. The troop trucks would also be too slow.

As he hopped into the jeep, Luc dogged him. "It will only be five more minutes. Be reasonable, Rip. Getting yourself killed won’t help Avery."

"Then I’ll do my best to stay alive until you and the troops get there."

The kid had left the key in the ignition. Rip started the engine, jammed the jeep into gear and peeled out, while Luc jumped back with a yelp. As Rip sped away, he was thankful he’d been paying attention when they’d driven through the dark streets from the fort. Concentrating, he reversed those directions until he reached the main road that led to the interior of
Benezet
and the power plant.

Headlights split the darkness in front of him. Squinting, he could see a second set of headlights behind the first – Luc’s troop transports. At least they wouldn’t be very far behind him.

Rip made a precipitous left turn in front of the first truck and drove onto the wide, empty highway. As he floored the jeep, he prayed Avery would still be alive when he reached the power plant.

Chapter 12

After bouncing around in the cargo area of the SUV for what felt like forever, Avery ached in places she didn’t remember possessing. Breathing with tape over her mouth was no picnic either. But poor little Yvette was in far worse shape because on top of everything else, she cried uncontrollably the entire time.
Probably over her brother.
Maybe also out of fear, which Avery totally
understood.

However, Avery herself was so upset over the three men’s callous shooting of Thierry and
Roussellot
, and angry at their treatment of the girl, that she didn’t have room to be afraid. She’d figured out where they were going after the first hour. The only reason to drive so long was if they were headed to the power plant. Rip’s earlier words about controlling
Benezet
by controlling the power plant echoed in her mind. JB
Pollendene
wasn’t going away without a fight.

Well, neither was she.

By inching carefully around, Avery got her restricted hands close enough to Yvette’s mouth to touch the tape on her mouth. When the girl realized what Avery intended to do, she actually stopped crying. Avery’s fingers didn’t want to cooperate at first, but she finally managed to grasp a corner of the tape and jerk.

Yvette gave a squeak of pain but disguised the sound with a fake sob. Her dark eyes were bloodshot from her tears, but she gave a nod indicating she knew it was her turn to remove Avery’s tape. Their three captors didn’t notice anything, for they didn’t pause in their conversation. Since they were speaking in
Benezet
dialect, Avery didn’t know what they were talking about, nor did she care. All she could think about was escaping.

Fumbling for several long minutes as the vehicle rumbled over a rough patch of road, Avery got her face positioned close enough to Yvette’s hands for the girl to grab the tape. But she lost her grip after only pulling the strip halfway off Avery’s mouth. Avery fought not to make a sound as Yvette gave the tape a second yank.

Holy
moly
that hurt!
Avery ran her tongue over her raw lips, but her mouth was so dry it didn’t help much. She also felt the vehicle accelerate as the road seemed to smooth out.

Squinting at Yvette, Avery saw the girl was ripping at her taped wrists with her teeth. Quickly, Avery followed suit, struggling to catch the edge of the tape. Obviously, Yvette was more skilled. Avery had just pried back the tape a couple of inches when the girl’s fingers touched her face.

Pulling back in surprise, Avery felt Yvette slowly and quietly peel away the bindings. Avery flexed her fingers to make sure they were still functioning properly while the jeep bounced over another rough patch of road. The girl rolled to back of the cargo space and reached for the latch on the window as they picked up speed again.

Avery put her hand over Yvette’s fingers and shook her head. They needed to wait for the SUV to slow down before they jumped out. The girl seemed to understand, for her hand relaxed under Avery’s grip. Both of them waited breathlessly as endless minutes dragged by.

"
Merde
!"
The man in the back seat suddenly shouted.

They were discovered!

Everything happened at once.

The guy shouted again and his arm flailed over the seat. The driver hit the brakes, and Yvette grasped the latch and shoved with her shoulder.

Amid more shouts, the back window flew open and Avery followed Yvette over and out. She tucked and rolled as she crashed onto the hard pavement. Brakes squealed as Avery struggled to her feet. The girl was already up and moving toward the over-grown bushes on the side of the road.

Behind her, Avery heard car doors slam. She leaped to follow Yvette and her over-sized pants slipped over her hips and fell to her knees. As Avery crashed to the ground, two of her three captors rushed up, guns drawn. One of them shot in the direction where Yvette had disappeared. The other shoved his weapon close to Avery’s face,
then
leered at her bare thighs.

Awash in humiliation, Avery jerked her pants back up and knotted the twine belt. The second guy stomped off
into
the bushes, while Avery’s
pervy
captor prodded her back to the vehicle.