Free Run to Me by Christy Reece Page B

to walk faster. His shoulders and back were so tense, she could almost feel the anger bouncing from them.
    Despair and panic mingled. She used to be so much better than this. He must have drugged the water to disorient her. Also, her inability to attain her daily vitamin shot weakened her.
    Since it would do no good to protest her innocence, she instead looked around. She had to escape. Now that he’d realized she’d been acting, he would give her no opportunity. If he took her to the United States, she might never be able to come back here. She had to get away from him before they reached the village.
    “I can feel your mind working.” He turned and glared. “Understand this: you
are
going back with me. I don’t give a damn if you think you’re Cleopatra, Attila the Hun, or Bluebeard’s Ghost. You are Shea Monroe, and you will fucking be Shea Monroe again. Do you fucking hear me?”
    “I’d say the entire world fucking heard you.”
    They both jerked around. A tall, dark-haired man stood on a small rise, only a few feet away from them.
    Ethan blew out a long sigh. “Damn, Gabe. How the hell did you find us?”
    “Tracked your cellphone signal.”
    “Sure hope that means you’ve got transportation.”
    “Got a bird a few yards down that way.” He nodded toward what looked to be a clearing beyond a copse of trees.
    “Good.”
    The woman beside him tugged on her bindings, evidently realizing that her hope for escape had just become impossible. Ethan pulled her closer. “Shea, this is Gabe Maddox. Gabe, you remember Shea. Unfortunately, Shea won’t remember you.”
    “What do you mean?”
    Holding tight to Shea’s bound hands, he headed toward his friend. “I’ll tell you on the way. The sooner we get in the air, the sooner I can relax.”
    Behind him, Shea made small whimpers as she continued to twist and jerk, no doubt looking for an escape route. Forcing himself to ignore her sounds of desperation, he brought Gabe up-to-date on what he knew and what he suspected.
    Gabe shot a glance back at Shea. “So you’re telling me she doesn’t remember who she is and what she’s done?”
    “Doesn’t remember a thing. We need to get her some medical care. I don’t know what they’ve been giving her.”
    “Noah wants her in Florida.”
    Ethan couldn’t argue. Having Shea at his home, where he could keep an eye on her and help her, was one thing. Having a woman who had no idea who she was and thought he was the enemy was something altogether different.
    They came within sight of the helicopter, and Ethan knew he’d never seen a more welcome sight. Tightening his grip on Shea, he headed to it.
    Using his arm as leverage, Shea kicked her feet out, knocking Gabe to the ground. She then whirled and shoved her knee toward Ethan’s groin.
    Ethan swerved just in time. “Dammit, Shea. Last time you did that you almost killed me.”
    Her eyes hard with determination and panic, a long, lethal leg shot toward him. Ethan jumped out of the way of a gut kick. Just when he knew he was going to have to do something drastic to restrain her, Gabe came up behind her and put a choke hold around her neck.
    “Settle down or I’ll choke you for real,” Gabe said.
    Shea clawed at his arms, shifting her body to throw him off. Gabe tightened his forearm against her throat.
    “You’re hurting her, Gabe.”
    “All she has to do is stop struggling.”
    Shea’s face was red from exertion and lack of oxygen. “Shea, he’s not kidding.”
    She went still, and Gabe loosened his hold. Shea immediately swung her foot back, kicking Gabe in the shin.
    Not bothering with another warning, Gabe thumped her on the side of her head. Ethan caught her before she fell to the ground.
    Gabe frowned down at the unconscious woman in Ethan’s arms. “Doesn’t seem like she’s changed that much to me. If I’m not mistaken, last time she saw you, she knocked the hell out of you.”
    Ethan carried Shea to the helicopter and placed her on a mat