Free A Rip in Time (Out of Time #7) by Monique Martin

out as it crashed into his hand, knocking the gun to the ground.
    The other man scrambled to pick it up.
    Simon clutched at his hand and one of the men twisted him around and punched him square on the jaw. Elizabeth winced as the she heard his knuckles connect with bone.
    “Simon!”
    The blow left him wobbly and the man wasted no time. He delivered two swift, powerful blows to Simon’s midsection making him crumple to his knees.
    Elizabeth struggled against the man that held her and called out to him.
    Simon hunched forward, gasping for breath. One of the men rifled through his pockets and pulled out the watch. He whistled, impressed, and held it up to show the boss.
    He stood and gave it to the leader, who practically purred. “Now what do we have here?”
    “And this,” the one with the gun said, as he gave it to the leader.
    The leader admired them both and walked casually over to Simon who was still bent forward, his head hanging down.  
    “Hmm?” the man said.
    Simon didn’t respond and the man lifted his foot to shove him to the ground with it. It was an unfortunate miscalculation on his part as Simon quickly reached out and grabbed the man’s leg and twisted. The man flipped up in the air and to the ground with a thud. Simon was on top of him before he or the others knew what had happened.  
    One quick punch to man’s jaw and then Simon struggled to find the gun. By some miracle, he did. He cocked it and pushed it against the leader’s throat just before his men could react.
    The leader lifted up one hand to stop his men.
    “Let my wife go,” Simon said, as he knelt on the man’s chest, holding the gun, pushing even further into his skin.
    The leader, his lip split and blood trickling out from the cut, smiled. “Maybe I’ll just have Len gut her first.”
    Elizabeth felt the tip of a knife press against her ribs. Worse yet, she felt the momentary panic of knowing their one chance had just gone up in smoke.
    Simon turned and his face, wild with anger, fell. His eyes caught hers and the pain and apology in them was almost too much.
    He looked down, defeated, and moved the gun away from the man’s throat. One of the thugs grabbed it from him and another lifted him off the leader, who stood and brushed off his pant’s legs and straightened his jacket. He looked at Simon once then back to Elizabeth.
    “Do it.”
    Elizabeth struggled in the man’s grip, desperate to twist out of it.
    “No!” Simon lunged forward, but one of the men hit him hard in the stomach again with one of the clubs. He doubled over and the man lifted his club to bring it down against Simon’s skull when Elizabeth heard a dull thud.  
    The man stopped in mid-swing, seemingly frozen, until his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to the ground unconscious. Behind him stood Victor, a scarf covering his face and a lead pipe in his hand.
    Another of the men charged him, but it was a man against boys. Victor dodged the man’s awkward attack and swung his pipe against the man’s back. He grunted in pain. Victor spun around and swept the pipe at knee level. The sound of bones cracking rang out in the small street. The man cried out in agony and fell to the ground.  
    The leader took out his knife and started toward Victor.
    Elizabeth called out to warn him.
    Victor spun around and in the same movement, reached into his jacket and pulled out a knife. It flew across the alley and embedded itself in the leader’s chest.
    The man looked down at it, stunned. Victor strode over to him. He pulled the knife out and the man gasped. He finished him off with one, sharp punch.  
    The man who held Elizabeth didn’t dare let go to help his friends, and pressed the knife harder against her ribs. “Hey!” he called out. “I’ll gut her.”
    Victor turned slowly and wiped his knife off on his leg. Slowly, he shook his head.
    Elizabeth could hear the man’s breath coming hard and fast. “I will.”
    “No,” Simon said, from behind them