Chapter 29

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Cisco made his way deliberately across the room to the stovepipe, and began working the thick rope that bound his hands behind him, against the sharpest edge he could find. He wasn't having much luck, and time was ticking. Not that he was going to give up. This was clearly a life-or-death situation for him, and he wasn't going to let the asshole, Cottins, win.

He continued to saw, inadvertently and repeatedly slicing at his wrists, but what choice did he have? He had to work his way loose. Not just for his survival, but for Hilly's, as well.

The timing on this whole thing, sucked.

He'd just found the one woman who could fill all the empty holes in his life, then the shit had hit the fan before he'd managed to tell her. He'd been moving slowly, deliberately—at least with the feelings part of things—knowing that Hilly would have a hard time believing him if he said he'd fallen in love so fast. But there was no lying to himself. That was exactly what had happened.

It hadn't been a conscious plan; it had hit him out of nowhere within a few days of their first meeting. Previous to that, Cisco thought he'd been completely satisfied leading a solitary life—having fun with a variety of consenting women—but then he'd met one feisty redhead with an attitude, and she had challenged everything inside him.

Their physical explosiveness earlier tonight had simply cemented things for Cisco. It had been epic. There was no way he could picture himself with any other female, ever again. Hilly was the total package for him, and if…no, when he got out of this, he was letting her know exactly how far gone he was for her, and they'd have endless repeats of what had occurred between them in her cabin

Cisco gritted his teeth and sawed the rope harder. Sweat was beading up, dripping into his eyes and everyplace else on his pensive body. The salt was aggravating his cuts, but he wasn't slowing down.

He shifted his hips, trying to get into a better position. If he could just?—

Footsteps sounded from outside.

Cisco cursed. Fuck.

It hadn't taken Cottins long to get to his truck and back, which meant, what? There was a fire road nearby, where he'd hidden his vehicle?

Cisco upped his game and frantically sliced at his bindings until?—

Nel ran through the door, her tongue hanging out and her tail wagging a mile a minute.

"Nel?" Cisco didn't know whether to be happy to see the dog, or worried that now she was here, Cottins might do something to her, too.

He called out loudly. "Stay back." He hoped to put a scare into the developer.

"Cisco?"

The voice outside wasn't who he'd expected.

"Hilly?" His heart jumped. "In here. Quick. Cottins is going to come back any minute, and I'm tied up."

The beam from Hilly's flashlight preceded her, and when she stepped in, she looked like an angel in the diffused halo.

"Cisco," she cried, hurrying to his side, and kneeling down. "I was so worried." She put aside her light, and looked at his wrists. "Oh, my God. You're bleeding."

"Yeah. I've been trying to get out of these ropes," he told her. "Do you think you can help me?"

Hilly went right to it, working the tight knots while trying to give him reassurances. "Don't worry. If Cottins comes back, he's not going to win. Your entire SWAT team is on the way. He won't have time to do anything to either of us before they show up."

Cisco found himself slightly amused. Which was fucked up, considering their highly volatile circumstances.

"You called SWAT?" he asked, unable to hide the humor in his voice.

Hilly gave him a grunt while she continued toiling. "No. I called Mason, and he was the one who activated the bat-signal."

Cisco chuckled at that picture.

"You did good, Hilly," he praised. "I was worried you and Nel came to the rescue on your own." One thing did puzzle him, however. "But Hill, why didn't you bring Crash?"

Hilly dipped her head, and even in the subdued light, Cisco could see her cheeks redden. "I, um, needed someone to wait for Mason and your team, and I already knew from Mason's attitude, that he wouldn't be happy I wanted to join in the search. So I kind of made up a lame excuse about using the bathroom, and snuck away."

Cisco smirked. "Crash is not going to like that."

"Tough patooties," she said with attitude. "If I'd waited, I might not have run into Carter and found out where you were."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Cisco replied. "Nel knew. I woke up with her licking my face earlier. Didn't I girl?" he crooned to the pup.

Nel whined, and came over to lay down right next to him.

"Right," Hilly agreed. "But she couldn't tell me how badly you were hurt, or that Cottins was behind everything."

"True. That man's a total asshole," Cisco muttered.

"Agreed." Hilly's brow creased. "Shit. These knots are tight." She huffed, still working. "They're starting to come loose…"

Snapping twigs outside had both their heads coming up. Nel stood, and growled deeply in her throat.

"That's not your team," Hilly whispered.

"It's not," Cisco agreed. "Go, Hilly. Run," he ordered. "I'll be fine."

The last thing he wanted was for Cottins to get his hands on her.

"I'm not leaving you," she said, stubbornly.

"Hilly, please?—"

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the fat bitch who thinks she can keep me from getting what I want."

Too late .

Cottins' large body loomed in the doorway.

He leered. "Isn't that sweet. Trying to help your boyfriend. It's not going to do you any good. His remaining minutes are numbered."

The bastard strode forward, reached down, and grabbed a handful of Hilly's hair, yanking her to her feet.

"Ah!" Hilly cried out.

Cisco saw red and snarled. "Get your filthy hands off her right now, or I'll fucking kill you, Cottins."

"Oh yeah?" he sneered. "I don't think you're in any position to be making threats, officer ," Cottins rejoindered sarcastically. "And I'll do what I please. I'm a little upset right now because she's complicated my plans."

Hilly struggled in the man's grasp, but he cuffed her in the face, sending her spinning across the room to stop a few feet away.

Clearly, Nel had seen enough.

She leaped at the man, teeth snapping. Cottins yelped in pain as she tore into his bicep, but when she wouldn't let go, he punched her with his free hand, and she went sprawling with a pained whine.

"Nel!" Hilly screamed.

"Call your dog off, Hilly, or I'll end her, I swear it," Cottins spat.

Hilly knew by now that Cottins meant business.

Trembling, she addressed her best girl. "Go home, Nel. Home."

The dog clearly understood the command, but sat down stubbornly. She didn't want to obey.

Hilly, like Cisco, fully realized what was at stake if her pup didn't follow orders.

"Bad dog, Nel." A sob escaped Hilly with the lie. "Go home."

Nel gazed at Hilly with sorrowful eyes, but Hilly purposely set her features to stern. Finally, Nel turned, and with one last growl at Cottins, she slunk from the shack

Cisco clenched his teeth and spat. "You've just signed your death warrant, old man."

Cottins fingered his bleeding bite, then angrily grabbed Hilly up by the collar of her shirt and shook her like a ragdoll.

"You've caused me too much fucking grief, cunt, and now you'll pay."

Cisco saw a spark of fire enter Hilly's eyes at Cottins' rough treatment, and taking what she'd previously learned, as well as what she'd taken away from Cisco's self-defense courses, she immediately went into action. She stomped hard on Cottins' foot before jamming her elbow back into the out-of-shape man's soft belly.

Cottins "oofed" and lost his grip. Which was all Hilly needed. She spun and went at his face with clawed hands.

She raked his eyes.

He bellowed.

She brought one knee up sharply toward his groin, but the asshole managed to move at the last minute, and the blow struck him mid-thigh, instead.

He roared, and backhanded Hilly so hard, her body staggered across the room and collapsed in a heap in the far corner.

"Hilly!" Cisco howled, beyond furious, but his girl remained stunned for only a second before sitting up to give him a short nod. She was clearly hurting, which angered Cisco no end, but so far, Cottins hadn't taken all the fight out of her. Anger practically radiated off Cisco's tough lady, and he could see her bunching her feet underneath her to launch another attack.

An oblivious Cottins, bleeding from the grooves Hilly had dug into his face, and the bite Nel had inflicted, sneered down at Cisco, still gloating.

"You've given me a setback, I'll admit. But it only means I'll have to take care of both of you instead of just one. And now that I think of it," his face took on an even more evil cast, "this new situation might work out to my advantage."

"Give it up, Cottins," Cisco growled. "Before Hilly got here, she called in SWAT. My entire team will be here, momentarily."

He saw Cottins blanch, then out of the corner of his eye, he watched Hilly hurl herself forward, tackling Cottins around the knees.

The man went down like a load of slag, but he was tougher than he appeared, recovering fast, kicking Hilly and striking a devastating blow to her shoulder.

She cried out, bent, and clutched her arm. It was clear to Cisco that she was done.

Frustration ate at him as he struggled with his restraints. Hilly was taking the brunt of Cottins' anger, and he wanted it directed at him.

"Fight someone your own size, Cottins," he taunted irately. "You're such a big man you can only take on someone half your weight? What a tough asshole you must be," Cisco mocked desperately.

While he ranted, one knot came undone. Hilly had loosened it up, but it still wasn't enough. There were more to go.

Cisco thundered at Cottins as the man managed to regain his feet. "Touch her again, and you're a dead man."

Cottins ignored him, sneering at Hilly, instead.

"Fucking cunt. I've had enough of you," their aggressor snapped. "You're coming with me." He grabbed her by the back of her shirt, and roughly dragged her from the shack.

"Nooo!" Cisco worked frantically at his restraints. What was Cottins going to do to her? Cisco needed to free himself before whatever plans the man was making, came to fruition.

From outside he heard Cottins give a stark order…

"Touch it, bitch."

"I won't," Hilly's voice, although weak, still held defiance.

"You will." Another smack to flesh rang out.

Cisco couldn't fathom what he was hearing. His blood boiled. What new damage had the asshole done to Hilly, and what was she supposed to touch? If Cottins so much as dared assault her in another way, he'd kill the prick, twice.

Cisco wrestled even harder with the ropes.

He was almost there.

Another minute…

"Cottins has a gas can, Cisco," Hilly's called out, her tone feeble yet determined. "He put my fingerprints on it. He's going to set the shack on fire!"

"Shut up, bitch," Cottins yelled, and Hilly grunted. Cisco could only imagine that the dead-man-walking had pummeled her again.

Cisco howled, smelling gasoline as he fought with the last of his wrist bindings. His feet remained tied, but that would only take him seconds…

A whoosh sounded from just outside, and a burst of fire immediately leapt high, visible though the open door.

Fuck. It was spreading, fast.

Cisco needed to get out. He needed to get to Hilly.

"Ciscooo!"

His woman's voice echoed in the night, fading off into the distance as the last of his ropes fell away.