Free Vengeance (SSU Trilogy Book 1) by Vanessa Kier Page B

psychologists said guilt stopped her from being able to use her voice in traumatic situations, but this wasn’t traumatic. It was triumphant. She’d found Kai. Why couldn’t she use her voice now?
    She started to follow Kai, but he abruptly changed direction and headed back toward her, chased by shouts echoing from the end of the alley. Jenna reached out her hand as Kai dashed past, but he didn’t even look her way.
    She ran after him. No way was he getting away from her.
    He threw a quick glance over his shoulder as he ran.
    That’s right. I’m coming after you, you bastard! You’re going to pay for what you did.
    But his focus was on something behind her. Jenna peeked back. Four bulky men wearing black jeans and windbreakers were chasing them.
    No. Chasing Kai. She was just in the way.
    Well, tough. Kai was hers.
    Jenna put on a burst of speed and almost managed to grab Kai’s jacket just as he reached the end of the alley. At the last second, Kai skirted to the left and her hand met only air.
    No!
    Her eyes were on Kai so she didn’t see the broken wooden crate until her feet had already collided with it. The impact pitched her forward.
    As she fell, she tucked and rolled, landing on her back in the middle of a garbage-strewn puddle.
    She immediately jumped up.
    A fist collided with the side of her head, knocking off her hat and sending her back to the ground. She swept out her feet, knocking her attacker down. As he fell, she grabbed a broken board from the shattered crate and slammed it into his head.
    She rolled and once again pushed to her feet. And barely dodged the charge of another man. She stepped quickly to the side and grabbed his arm.
    A quick twist and he too, was on the ground. She spun around, checking for the location of the other two men she’d seen in the alley.
    One was on the ground. As she watched, the other thug grappled with a man with frizzy blond hair.
    The newcomer was fast. He ducked a blow that would have dislocated his jaw, drove his shoulder into the man’s sternum, and followed his opponent to the ground.
    She didn’t wait to see who won. She raced to the end of the alley and onto the busy street. Dammit, which way had Kai gone?
    Picking randomly, she chose left. She hadn’t gone more than a few paces when a taxi pulled over to the curb a block ahead. A man stepped forward, quickly opened the door and slid inside. For just an instant, Jenna saw his face.
    Kai!
    She tore after him, but the taxi pulled away before she could get its license plate number, leaving Jenna standing in the street, her jaw slack with disappointment, her hands clenched into impotent fists.
    God, she’d been so close!
    Jenna fought back tears. This was only a temporary setback. Now that she had proof Kai was here, she could find him again.
    She glanced back toward the alley to see if anyone had followed her. Nope, all clear. She started in the direction the taxi had been taking. Not because she thought she’d see it again, but because there looked to be a busy intersection up ahead. She had a piece of note paper in her pocket with the address for Niko’s hotel. She’d flag down a taxi and head back.
    A few steps later, some sixth sense had her looking back over her shoulder.
    Two pale blond men in black suits were closing in on her. They weren’t anyone she’d seen in the alley, but the cold way they focused on her let her know she didn’t want them to get any closer.
    Ahead of her, at the end of the block a black town car idled at a red light. Such cars were common on the streets, but this one sat a little too close to the side of the road.
    Uh-oh. The men were herding her toward the car.
    Jenna checked her options. On her right was the long, unbroken expanse of a building. By the time the building ended at the streetlight the men would have caught up with her.
    If she ran and they chased her, they’d grab her before the corner. Her legs weren’t long enough to make her head start last.
    So that left