Free Sinful Deception (Covert Affairs Book 3) by Skye Jordan Page A

down for- ever . Get me? Grim reaper by lethal injection, mother fucker .”
    Realization swamped the attacker’s expression. Then fear. He lunged for Tova and hauled her to her feet by the arm. She cried out and struggled—until the guy pushed the gun against her head. Then she went still. Her hands curled into fists. And she whimpered a helpless “Marcus…”
    Before the guy shoved her through the door and her room went quiet.
    * * * * *
    Tova’s vision blurred as the man hauled her across the grass, toward the street. She would have broken away and run, but he had her gun. And the only thing that kept screaming in her head was that damned statistic of how many people were killed with their own guns.
    Then he pushed her into a car at the curb, and the other man’s hand closed over her arm. “Hold on to her, idiot.”
    As soon as the gun disappeared from her head, Tova groped for the door handle. Her fingers slid over the metal, and she pulled, long before she’d decided what she’d do if it opened. The gun statistics had vanished and only a shrill get away remained.
    Get away.
    Get away.
    Get away.
    The door opened, and the car started moving all at the same time. She dove for the opening.
    “What the fuck?” the driver yelled, then swerved, and the car door slammed in her face. The passenger jerked her back, and her head hit his shoulder, shooting pain through her temple.
    “You fucking bitch,” the guy next to her yelled. “I’m gonna kill you.” To the driver, he said, “I’m bleedin’, man. I’m bleedin ’.”
    “Shut the fuck up,” the driver yelled. “Tie her hands with something.”
    Her mind pinged everywhere—Marcus, her brother, her parents, her own imminent death, who these men were, what they wanted. Panic swirled in the background, but somehow, Tova kept it caged.
    “I don’t know where Cedro is,” she said.
    “Then maybe you’ll just have to come up with the money he owes us.”
    She watched the neighborhood flash past her windows, trying to keep track of her location, but her brain was clouded with fear.
    “Stay tough.” She heard Cedro’s voice in her head, words he’d told her as a girl when he’d taught her how to fight. “Always stay tough.”
    “I don’t know what money you’re talking about,” Tova told them. “I sure as hell don’t have any. And if you don’t stop, I’m going to throw up.”
    The car skidded around a corner and turned onto the main boulevard. Sirens sounded in the distance, and her mind shot back to Marcus.
    Marcus. God. She wanted him.
    The man beside her shoved her forward with a hand on her back and jerked her arms together, wrapping something around her wrists. Then he pushed her down on the seat. “Now hold still and just shut the fuck up. You’re lucky I don’t kill you, bitch.”
    Her head throbbed, and the pain stretched down into her neck. Her shoulders. Her spine. Would they rape her? Torture her? Kill her? Her mind cut off the unthinkable and turned back to Marcus. Either he’d called the cops or the gunshot had brought them. She had no idea if her emergency call had gone through before the guy had knocked her phone out of her hand. But there were no sirens behind her now, and hopelessness sucked at her heart.
    She fought it back. She could get through this. Her parents needed her. Cedro needed her.
    Stay tough.
    The car squealed around another corner, slowed, bumped over a curve, and jerked to a stop. How long had they been driving? Ten minutes? Fifteen? She couldn’t be far from home.
    “Yo, bro,” the guy beside her said. “I need a hospital.” The driver’s door slammed, and he swore. “You fucking bitch. I can’t believe you shot me. I swear to God—”
    Her door opened, and a meaty hand grabbed her arm and hauled her out of the car.
    Tova squinted into the darkness. They were in an open space with low brush and trees, and she scoured her mind for their location. There were several parks near her house…but she