Owned (Office Intrigue Book 8) by Nicole Edwards (year 2 reading books TXT) 📗

I craned my neck around in an attempt to see who he was.

“Oh, good. You’re awake.” He sounded amused. “Ready to get your ass outta here?”

I had no idea who the Good Samaritan was, but I wasn’t about to tell him to leave me be. Getting out of this inferno was the only hope I had of saving my sister.

Then it hit me. Was this guy a Good Samaritan? Could be he was one of the assholes who’d been chasing me and he wanted me out of the car so he could execute me the old-fashioned way.

“Ransom, I need you to help me here,” the raspy voice demanded.

It still didn’t register that he knew my name, even as I dug for the seat belt release, my shoulder screaming in pain.

“That’s a start,” the man said as he crawled in through the gaping hole in the back. “You might wanna brace yourself. I’m gonna break the seat.”

Break the seat? What the fuck?

He didn’t hesitate, gripping both sides of the driver’s seat and yanking it violently until something snapped and it abruptly reclined. Guess he didn’t know there was a button for that.

Good news: if he was going to kill me, he didn’t sound eager to do so. Bad news: torture was still a possibility.

I could see flames in front of me, feel the heat on my legs.

“Goddammit, Ransom. If you wanna live, you’re gonna have to give it your all here, man.”

Oh, I wanted to live. If only to ensure my sister was safe. She was my motivation, the reason I managed to work through the godawful pain igniting in every nerve ending. It took effort and a good three minutes, but with the guy’s help, I managed to get out of the car with him dragging me. Once out, I tumbled onto terra firma, rolling away from the heat. I tried getting to my knees, but my arm wouldn’t work, so I fell, gasping through the pain.

I screamed when he got a good grip under my arms, dragging me a few feet away, telling me not to move.

I expected the bullet. Waited for it, even as I turned my head to the side, looking for something that might save my ass here.

It was then I saw a body. The guy wasn’t ten feet away, and despite the smoky haze in the air, I could see the neat little bullet hole in his forehead, his eyes wide and lifeless.

“The men who ran me off the road…” I said, turning back to the guy who’d helped me.

“I took care of them.” He didn’t sound affected by the fact he’d shot a guy in the head.

“And you are?” I coughed, which only made the pain intensify, causing darkness to crowd my vision.

“Zion Sisk,” he said. “Talon sent me.”

“My sister,” I demanded, fighting the blackness that threatened to take me under again.

“She’s safe, Ransom. She’s with Talon.”

Those were the last words I heard before I stopped fighting.

*

ZION SISK

“Hey. Tell Talon I got him. He’s in bad shape, though,” I explained when Tiegan answered the phone.

“How’d you find him?”

“GPS on his phone.”

Note to self: make sure he doesn’t have that damn phone.

“Oh.” She sounded surprised. “What happened?”

“Couple of guys were chasing him. Ransom’s car went off the road, kissed a tree.”

“Where are you now?”

I had to admit, it was odd yet reassuring to hear the concern in Tiegan’s tone. Not that I could let her know that. It would only piss her off. Everything I did seemed to piss her off.

“Gonna load him into my truck. Meet you at the airstrip.”

“How long until you get here?”

“Are you worried about me?”

“Not even a little,” she countered hotly. “Talon’ll want to know.”

Of course he would.

“Half an hour. Three quarters, tops.” I smiled to myself when she sighed. “Ransom’s in bad shape, but he’ll live. Got some bumps and bruises, definitely a concussion, maybe a broken bone or three.”

Another sigh. “You’re just trying to get on Talon’s shit list.”

“Yes, yes I am.” I rolled my eyes, staring up the embankment to where my truck sat waiting. “That’s what I live for, love.”

“Don’t call me that,” Tiegan hissed. “Is Micah with you?”

“He is,” I confirmed, referring to my male possession who went wherever I went. “Is Memphis with you?”

“Screw you, Zion,” she bit out before disconnecting the call, something she seemed to like doing to me.

Speaking of Micah…

“You stay right there for a sec,” I told an unconscious Ransom. “Don’t go anywhere.”

I made the trek up the embankment, slipping a few times before reaching the top.

Opening the driver’s door, I spoke directly to Micah. “Need your help.”

Without hesitation, he was out of the truck and at my side.

Returning to where Ransom was lying, I glanced around, wondered what the hell I could use as a brace so as not to jar him too much. We were royally fucked if he had a neck injury, because I’d already manhandled him in an effort to get him out of what was quickly becoming an inferno. Damn good thing it had snowed recently and the ground was still wet or we’d be fucked.

A groan sounded, and then Ransom was rolling to his side, attempting to get to his knees. I noticed his shoulder buckled, and he cursed loudly before retching.

I gave him a minute, but only a minute.

“Let us help you,” I told him. “It’ll hurt like hell, but it’s better than the alternative. Think your legs are broken?”

“No.” He grunted. “I can walk.”

“Good. You haven’t got much of a choice.”

Nodding for Micah to get on Ransom’s other side, the two of us managed to get him vertical, learning some interesting and rather creative curse words from Ransom while doing so.

He took a hesitant step forward, then another.

“You got your phone on you?”

Ransom frowned over at me like it was the stupidest question he’d ever heard. “It’s in the car. Why?”

“Good. Let’s get the hell outta here before they send backup.”

I’d already killed two men tonight. Didn’t need to add any more