Viper: A Hitman Romance Read Online Free PDF Page B

myself for letting her shut the door.
    I bang on it. 
    "Open up."
    No answer.
    One more time, even though I know it's wasted effort.  I do it because I really don't want to have to trash my bathroom door. 
    "Open up."
    No answer.
    I kick that door down.
    Just like I knew would happen, the room's empty, the window's open, and my hostage has a minute's head start on me.  Oh, and there's a thick wad of toilet paper plugging the drain in my sink, with water flooding out of it and onto the floor.
    Fucking great .
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FOUR
    JESSICA
     
     
    I hit the ground and do my best to keep my knees bent and I think I stick the landing, but it still hurts like hell.  Being barefoot, handcuffed, and jumping from a second story window is not my idea of a good Friday night.  Maybe it was back in college, but I've gown up a bit since then.
    The grass helps cushion my fall.  Just a bit, but it's better than nothing.
    I start running.  I don't know which direction I'm going or where I'm heading, but I know that anywhere is better than here.  And if I can get somewhere public, maybe I can make it out of this alive.
    I'm scared out of my mind, but doing my best to stay calm and focused.
    Right now, I'm grateful that the Bureau gives basic training to everyone.  Even lab techs like me.
    I'm two blocks away and it is still dead quiet.  Doors are locked, lights are out, everyone's asleep and I am totally alone.  Ahead, maybe a half mile, I can see the lights to a small strip of nightlife. 
    There's a bar, maybe two, and I think I can even see a couple people milling about.  It's got to be at least 2 AM and most everything else is closed.  I just hope that whoever these guys are, they're not the type to try and take advantage of a woman who's all alone and wearing nothing but a pair of cuffs and a little black dress.
    Either way, I have to take the risk.
    In the quiet night air, I hear the sound of tires squealing.
    Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck .
    There goes my sense of calm.  He's after me.
    My feet are pounding the pavement, but it's hard to run fast with bare feet and cuffed hands.
    He's pulling up behind me now, and I know I'm not going to make it.  There's no way.  I'm not fast enough.
    I scream. 
    "Help".
    Once.  Twice.  I scream so loud my throat hurts.
    Then I dart into an alley.  Still screaming.
    I'm loud when I want to be and the night is dead quiet.
    My voice has to be carrying a long way.
    Someone has to hear me.
    I hear a car door slam.  Footsteps come up behind me.
    I stumble over a trashcan.  It hurts. I think I broke a toe.  But I keep running.  And I keep screaming.
    Those footsteps are right behind me.
    A hand clamps over my mouth.
    "Shut.  Up."
    No nonsense.  His voice is deadly serious.
    Even more serious is the gun I feel pressing against the side of my head.
    It's cold like death.  It shocks me to alertness. 
    It's fight or flight time, and, since I can't flee with him holding me, that just leaves fight.
    I scream into his hand and then I stomp down on a foot.  Hard.
    He needs me alive.  But I don't need him.  At all.
    He swears something filthy, a rolling growl of profanity that makes me blush, but doesn't let me go.
    His grip on my mouth hurts.  It's like he's trying to break my jaw or something.
    "Calm down," he whispers.
    But I'm not hearing it.
    Adrenaline courses through my body.  I'm seeing in tunnel vision, and I feel like some cornered animal.  All I can think about is getting away from here.
    I go limp for a second — it's a trick they taught us in basic training, it makes the target think you've given up, so they relax — then, I introduce my elbow to his crotch.
    That does it. 
    The air leaves his chest in one quick 'oomf' and he lets go.
    I gasp.  Air fills my lungs, energy surges in my body.
    Free again, I run back towards the entrance to the alley.  I scream again, too.
    A shout in the distance answers me.  Did they