Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 100545 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100545 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
The soldier stepped back, making space for another guy. They took hold of their assault rifles, so close Clover could almost sense their smell, but before his heart could have burst out of his chest, one of the men, tall, with shoulders as broad as a bear’s glanced straight at him from behind the black balaclava.
Time stopped. Clover couldn’t breathe, trapped in his cage and torn between begging for help and remaining perfectly still, but when a series from a shotgun tore through the air, he screamed out and covered his head in hope he wouldn’t be in the way of stray bullets.
“Tank!”
Like that time when Riggs had taken Clover, Tank had come for him. He couldn’t be a hundred percent sure because of the balaclava, yet he was. He knew Tank’s shape by heart, with or without the gear. The other man, who’d just rolled behind a decorative fountain with the grace of a wild cat, was Drake. Nobody else moved like him.
“I’m here!” Clover yelled over the noise of the rotor. Tears rolled down his cheeks once recognition kicked in, and he wasn’t even embarrassed. He reached through the bars, desperate to feel familiar touch. He’d never known true safety before falling asleep in Tank’s sturdy arms. And now, even with bullets flying left and right, he felt more secure than he’d had in the peaceful silence of the night.
Tank didn’t even try to hide. He pulled up his rifle, aimed, and shot a handful of times, stopping the onslaught. “Cover me,” he roared, heading toward Clover like a superhero about to break bullets with his body.
Drake was too focused on their surroundings to catch Clover’s gaze, but Clover still stared at him in awe. Drake would put his arm in a lion’s mouth to save him. Despite this place surely hitting all too close to home, there he stood, sending a series from his rifle at two security guards who’d just entered the walled garden.
Tank’s entire weight smashed against Clover’s cage.
“There’s other captives here,” Clover whimpered. “She’s got some fucked-up human zoo here!” He knew he shouldn’t distract Tank, but the need to touch him was too overwhelming, and when he squeezed his man’s forearms through the thick clothes, a helpless sob left his mouth.
He could barely feel Tank’s body heat through the protective gear, but the strong forearm felt solid. This wasn’t a dream. They’d come for him.
They cared.
Tank reached inside the cage, and from up close Clover recognized his dark eyes through the slits in the mask. The firm squeeze on his shoulder was like an invitation home, but Tank let go as quickly as he’d touched him.
“We’ll take care of them later. Now get away from the lock,” he said, and showed Clover his gun.
Clover did as he was told, curling up in the farthest corner and covering his ears. The shots still rang in his head when Tank sent bullets at the padlocks, but with the helicopter flying off into the distance, he could at least hear Tank breathing heavily.
Clover burst out of the cage as soon as it was open and pressed his face against the hard bulletproof vest. A sense of absolute safety settled onto his shoulders along with soft fabric. Dazed by the adrenaline coursing through his veins, he looked back, only to realize Drake had covered him with a large black hoodie.
“Are you okay?” Drake asked as if he hadn’t just killed several guards. It was surreal, but Clover refused to write off his joy as a dream.
Clover nodded, reaching out for him with a trembling hand. “Now I am. I was so scared. But now you’re here.” In the red light, the two tall men dressed in black could have been demons with guns in their hands, but to Clover, Tank and Drake were the guardian angels he’d never had.
“Do you know where she is?” Tank asked, pulling Clover into the shadow between the cages.
Clover shook his head, cold despite the hoodie. He stopped breathing when his eyes recognized distinctly human forms hiding between the plants that filled up so much of the space provided for each person in the enclosures. His throat tightened, but as they neared a door leading inside a simple building topped with barbed wire, he dared to speak.
“We’ll be back. I promise!” he shouted to Ava who emerged from the shadow and grabbed the bars as she followed him with wide eyes. He didn’t want to imagine what that woman had been through. Even now, she didn’t say a word.
They walked past the cages and through a wall that led into a more traditional garden, with sculpted bushes peppered around the perimeter and a large flower bed in the middle. A vicious barking erupted from the side, and Clover pushed into Tank before spotting a huge German shepherd inside an enclosure adjacent to the wall. The dog was as tall as Clover when it stood on its hind legs, resting the front paws against the mesh fence, frustrated that it had no means to follow.