He was large. Heavy. His weight immobilized her, no matter how much she bucked against him. She couldn’t draw in a breath. She was utterly trapped.

He spoke in her ear, his accent heavy. “You’re my ticket out of here. The boss wants you alive.”

She tried to buck him off again, her journey to panic nearly complete.

When that failed, she managed to elbow him in the side. He grunted and shifted slightly. She used the opportunity to draw in a deep breath and scream for all she was worth, then head-butted him in the nose.

He grunted in pain. “Just because he wants you alive doesn’t mean I can’t hurt you first.” An arm snaked around her neck, and fingers gripped her throat. “I can do whatever the fuck I want. No one is coming. They’re all inside getting shot. Burned.”

Explosive bangs interspersed with bursts of automatic weapon fire underscored his words.

“Your SEALs are all dying. They’re no match for us.”

“If that’s true, then why are you here and not inside the lodge?” Her voice was a low rasp as he controlled her airflow.

“You. Our commander put a bounty on you. You are money.”

She gathered breath for one more scream, drawing it in slowly through her compressed airway, but before she could release it, his fingers closed tight on her neck, preventing the release.

She bucked again, trying to dislodge him as she scratched at the hand on her throat.

She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t make a sound. His weight crushed her, prevented her from fighting.

No one would save her. They were facing their own nightmare in the lodge.

She’d been left behind because she was a liability. The stakes they faced were far bigger than a single woman’s life.

She felt hands at the waist of the hiking pants she’d stolen from Danielle Baldwin. She was near blacking out from lack of oxygen when she felt chill air on her bare butt. He was going to rape her as he strangled her.

Her vision tunneled to a pinpoint. Unconsciousness would be a relief of sorts.

All at once, she heard a roar, and the man at her back was lifted from her. She curled up in a ball, pulling her knees to her chest as she choked and cried, taking in painful, wheezing breaths.

“Run, Audrey!”

The sharp command from Xavier had her scrambling to her feet and yanking up her pants as she lunged forward, moving deeper into the woods before she could turn and see what was happening behind her.

Xavier and the merc rolled on the ground, exchanging blows. Her attacker was bleeding from a slash on his arm, and she spotted Xavier’s knife on the ground several feet away.

He’d gotten one good cut before being disarmed. Now they fought barehanded, with Xavier’s injured shoulder putting him at a disadvantage.

“I said, run!”