Protective Shadows (The Protective Series, Book 2)

Chapter Seven

Picture is Izzy!

[Asko's P.O.V]

Black. Everything was black.

My shoulders collided with compact metal, aching with soreness and agony. My body was free falling, sliding around across the slippery, dirty, cold floor of the truck, slamming me from wall to wall.

All I could think was, I hope Jed is okay. I hope he isn't hurt from that prick. And lastly, I hope I make it out of this alive, so I could see his vibrant, smiling face again.

I remembered blonde buzz cut from last year, when Jed, Janne, Jarmo and I had tracked him and mohawk down to a local pub in the Bunbury area, after they had fatally stabbed a teenage boy, but I was shellshocked to know that he had traced us all the way to Connecticut in order to exact his revenge.

The vehicle lurched to a halt. My head slammed directly into the handle of the shutter, burning with searing, endless agony. I thought I felt blood seeping through my hair, but I wasn't one hundred percent certain if this was the case.

"... him into the building," a voice faded into hearing range, amongst the pitter patter of runners scraping against the concrete. Just then, the shutter door was pulled up, revealing my blonde captive to my over sensitive eyes, blinking hard against the harsh rays of sunlight blinding me, spilling into the small dark space.

"Well hello, officer," he sneered, releasing the handle from his grasp. "Did you enjoy the bumpy ride?"

My throat was too dry to get out an intelligent response. I had intended to say what do you want from me, but what my lips formed were "...hat do you.... ant...."

"Tie him up," blonde grunted to his accomplice, whom I couldn't see from this angle. "I'll be back."

He turned and walked away, leaving me in the hands of his black haired friend, who revealed his overly pimpled face when he peeked around the side of the truck and inside, to where I lay on my side, attempting to devise a quick, flawless plan.

I leapt into attack mode, throwing my entire weight into him in a side tackle, effectively knocking him to the ground. I quickly closed my hand around the barrel of my handgun, drawing it from the side of my weapons belt, and lined up a shot.

A great, big mass crashed into my side, full force, sending me staggering back into the side of the truck. I ducked his fist, low sweeping his ankles out from under him, and sprinted into a run.

Being in a foreign country with no idea of where to go wasn't a big help. The United States was one of the largest countries in the world, much bigger than Australia and even Finland. I had little idea of which way we had come from, but I wasn't going to stop now. Even if I ended up in Vernon or somewhere else, it would be substantially better than being held captive by those criminals.

I came to a dead end. Cussing under my breath, I whirled around just in time to observe blonde, black and another well-built man running at me. I held up my gun, and pulled the trigger.

Brunette groaned, falling to the grimy concrete clutching his stomach. I went to line up another shot on black, when blonde lunged at me, tackling me to the ground. My chin scraped against the rough concrete, peeling skin off. I wriggled around in an attempt to escape, but blonde was heavier than me, having a greater advantage.

"Now you're going to see exactly what Jack went through." he snarled, his hot breath radiating off my neck.

He dragged me effortlessly to my feet, shoving the side of my face inexorably into the brick wall, pulling my wrists into one hand against my behind. They fastened rope tight around my sockets, pulling firmly to the point where I was clenching my teeth against the pain.