“I tried to call,” Cannon yelled. “As soon as I saw you, I ran to catch up.” He sucked in a deep breath. “Two men—”
“Keep it down.” Rowdy opened the car door and lifted his cell. “My sister is on the line.” And so that Cannon would understand, he added, “She’s at my place. With Avery. I think she’s hidden. She called so I could hear it all, so I’d know what was going down.”
Cannon clenched his jaw. “The two men?”
“Avery’s stepfather and her bastard ex.” Rowdy opened the glove box and got out a tactical knife in a sheath. He shoved it into the waistband at the small of his back. “Anyone else?”
“I only saw those two go in.” Cannon watched as Rowdy pulled his shirt over the knife. “You have a gun?”
“Yeah.” He left his car and started down the back alleys, going one alley up from the apartment building. “It’s in my apartment.”
“Fuck.” Cannon kept pace beside him. “Now I know why I couldn’t reach you.”
Rowdy put the phone to his ear to listen a moment. Some arguing, but still nothing from Pepper. “Long as I keep the call open, I can gauge the best time to move in.”
“I called your buddy, the cop.”
“Reese?”
“Yeah.”
Rowdy nodded. “If he gets here, let him know what’s going on.”
“Jesus, Rowdy. Shouldn’t you wait?”
“They’re going to rape Avery.”
Cannon shoved a hand through his hair. “Motherfuckers...”
Rowdy looked at the windows of his apartment. The angle would make it tough for anyone to see him now. He peeled off his jacket and tossed it toward Cannon. “Mostly they want to kill me.” He met Cannon’s appalled stare. “When I show up, that’ll buy Avery some time.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“No. You stay here and watch for Reese.” Done discussing it, Rowdy jogged across the street and, praying he’d be in time, he went into the building and up the stairs.
He found the door unlocked and quietly slipped it open enough to slip in when the time was right. Flattened on the wall outside the door, he listened in, and he prepared himself.
One way or another, he would get both women out of there safe. If it meant killing Fisher and Meyer, he was fine with that.
And if it meant dying himself, it was a price he was willing to pay.
Just please, God, let Avery and Pepper be okay.
* * *
AVERY REFUSED TO give Fisher the satisfaction of cowering, or flinching in pain, even when she thought he might break her arm. She just glared her hatred at him, infuriating him.
“You think you’re a little toughie now, is that it?”
“No. I’m still me, Fisher, still a woman who is utterly repulsed by you.”
“Yes, you’re a woman.” He cupped her chin, forced her face up. “And I’m the man who will tame you.”
She gave him a twisted smile. “Poor, pathetic Fisher. I’ve had a real man, and I know the difference. You’re nothing.”
He drew back to slap her again and a noise sounded by Rowdy’s bed.
Meyer said, “Wait.” Leaving the table, gun held out, he moved to investigate.
Hide, Pepper. Avery held her breath. Please, please, hide.
Fisher caught her hair and turned her toward him, jerking her face up close to his. Through stiff lips, he hissed, “He is insane, you stupid bitch.”
“You both are,” Avery told him just as quietly, “if you think you’re going to get away with this.”
“Of course we won’t, so stop trying to goad me so I can figure out how to get us out of here.”
Right. He wanted her to believe he’d help her? Avery knew Fisher was not the heroic type. Meyer wouldn’t let her leave, and she didn’t care if Fisher got out alive. She cared about Pepper, about Rowdy.
Somehow she had to save them both.
Fisher pulled her head back farther, then glanced at Meyer. While he was distracted, she tensed—and brought her knee up hard into his groin.
For a split second, he looked merely stunned that she would do such a thing. Then his eyes widened, his mouth went slack and his hand loosened from her hair.
He wheezed, “Goddamn you, Avery—” and collapsed to his knees.
Avery tried to rush Meyer, but he said, oh-so-calmly, “Do it and I’ll kill her.”
He had his gun trained on Pepper, who had hunkered down on the other side of the bed. Avery froze.
“Come out, then,” Meyer said, gesturing with the gun. “Hurry it up before I lose my patience.”
Avery clenched her hands into fists. “Don’t you dare hurt her, you bastard.”
Pepper curled her lip, flipped her hair back and stood straight and tall as if she hadn’t been hiding from a madman and a pervert. She walked past Meyer with no regard for the gun aimed at her.
Meyer laughed, but the laugh held no real humor. He followed Pepper toward the table. “Who are you?”
“I’m Rowdy’s sister.”
“The devil has a relative? Interesting.” He pulled out a chair for her. “Sit down. Both of you.”
“So you can shoot us?” Pepper narrowed her eyes and walked to the other side of the table. “No, thanks.”
She had her back to the kitchen, facing the bedroom area. The door to leave was to their right.