I was sure my eyes were round with shock. We’d not been together since the morning before she was attacked. I wasn’t going to push her, so I’d just been biding my time. “You don’t have to ask me twice.” She giggled. Turning around, I called towards her back, “You’re not hogging the water again this time, just so you know.”
Her laughter was music to my ears. I didn’t want to keep her waiting long so I quickly made work of the deadbolts on the front door, then made my way to the back door to make sure those were secured as well. Taking the steps two at a time, I went to her apartment, growing more excited as I heard the water running in the shower. I was just about to strip my shirt off when I stopped cold in my tracks. Standing by the dresser was Adam, holding Kat to his front with his arm over her chest and pointing a gun at her head.
“Hello, friend.” Adam’s calm voice was like pouring a cold bucket of ice on my already burning blood.
My eyes were on Kat, making sure he hadn’t hurt her any further than holding her the way that he was. She was looking at me, gauging my reaction to this new predicament.
“How the fuck did you get in here?” I clipped.
“Fire escape. Seems Katherine here is too stupid to put locks on her windows. I’m starting to think she wanted me to come inside.”
She whimpered and I growled at his insinuation. “You do know that you are a dead man.”
He chuckled. “That’s funny, considering I’m the one with the gun.”
I looked at him. His brown eyes were nearly black. Any bruising he’d had from before was now gone, and he looked absolutely deranged. Feeling the panic rise in me, I asked, “What are you planning on doing?”
“Ah, I’m so glad you asked.” If he hadn’t been holding a gun to my girl right now, I would have laughed at his snooty tone. “I’m thinking I’m going to kill you for putting me in the hospital, and then I’m going to take Katherine, load her in my car, and disappear.”
My hands clenched and unclenched into fists. “You’re not taking her anywhere.”
“Oh, I’m not? I’d like to see you stop me.”
Kat’s eyes were darting from me to the door. She was silently begging me to leave. I gave my head a slight shake, telling her no. Her perfect hazel eyes were brimming with tears.
Raising my voice, I said, “The only way you are leaving this room is in a body bag, Adam.”
The smirk on his face lowered. “You know, I thought we were friends. We grew up together. I gave you a job and a raise that would keep you content for the rest of your pathetic life. And now you are threatening me?”
“You can take your fucking job and shove it. We both know that I would have never worked for someone that abuses women, let alone my girl.”
I was goading him. I wracked my brain for anything, any of my military training that could possibly help. If I could just get him to point his gun somewhere else, even for just a second, I could charge him and give Kat enough time to run. I wasn’t positive, but I figured that if I got him to the ground, I could overpower him and get the gun away from him. If I did, he was dead. In fact, we both knew that one of us wasn’t walking out of here alive. I was just hoping to catch a break for a change and turn the odds in my favor. Either way, I was going to have to try. I’d never let him leave here with her. She’d never survive him. He’d rape her and kill her the first chance he got. Just thinking about it made me tense up.
He bastard took the bait. He shouted, “She’s MINE! You fucking took her from me and you’re going to pay for it.” He pressed the gun into her temple and she cried out. “You stupid bitch. You’re lucky I still even want you. You’ve let this piece of trash into your pussy when you belonged to me!”
Adam was losing control. I couldn’t let this go on too much longer or he’d completely snap and kill her anyway. Kat’s wide terrified eyes saw me take a step forward, then another. She was pleading with me to go, even without words.
Refusing to look at him, I continued to stare at her. “It’s going to be okay, baby.”
“Don’t you fucking talk to her!”
“He’s not going to hurt us anymore.”
She barely was able to speak but pleaded with me again, this time aloud. “Timber, don’t.”
Just before I made my move, I said, “I love you.”
That’s all it took. Adam turned the gun to me just as I knew he would. I dove towards him, and Kat screamed my name. A shot went off. I had no idea where it went. All I knew was that I was on top of him, wrestling for control of the gun. He tried to flip me over to my side, but my arm came down and stopped him from getting the upper hand. Or at least I thought I did. The gun was raised above both of our heads. Each of us had a hand on it, fighting to get a better grasp. It went off again, this time shooting through the window.