Wordz Press

2:30 a.m. 
The door opened without warning.

Ray and Sarah rolled apart, Sarah gasping, Ray coming up with his hands fisted. He didn't know what was going on but he wanted to be prepared.

"Entertaining yourselves?"

The man with the green eyes stood in the doorway. Despite his mocking words, he wore an unmistakable aura of tension. His expression was tight and so were his hands, wrapped about his weapon. Ray shifted his gaze from the gun back to the man's face.

The robber didn't let them answer, he simply turned and nodded to one of the men behind him. It was the big guy, Ray saw, as he pushed his way into the tiny supply room. Without a word, he walked up next to Ray and put a gun to his head.

Ray watched as Sarah started forward automatically, her hands fisted, her whole body ready to do battle. But Green Eyes swung toward her, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward him. "Not so fast," he said as he thrust a cell phone in her face. "Your buddies are back on the line. I want you to give them a message for me."

Ray struggled to contain himself. All he could think about was elbowing the creep with the gun, then leaping across the room to smash the other man's face in. He could even see the action in his mind. Sarah had always been important to him, but the past few hours had confirmed what he'd reluctantly suspected. He loved her and he wanted to save her.

His body must have telegraphed his intent. The man at his side reached out with a beefy hand and touched his arm. "Don't even think about it," he warned softly. "You'll regret it."

Despite the gun at his head, Ray shook off his touch and sent him a cold glance. Green Eyes spoke again, pinching Sarah's arm until the flesh went white.

"It's time to wrap this up. You're going to confirm what I've told your negotiator, then you're going to tell him they've got two hours to bring a helicopter to the parking lot. When it gets here, we're going to leave — with all our money and one of you. We'll tell the pilot where we're going once we're inside."

He held out the cell phone and Sarah took it, her hand steady. She brought it to her ear, then paused as the robber spoke again, his voice almost conversational.

"By the way, there's one more thing you might want to mention to your friends out there...."

She looked at the man with a neutral expression. Ray couldn't believe how cool she was, how unruffled. A few seconds before her heart had been pounding beneath his, her skin hot with desire. No one, including Ray, would have thought her anything but capable as she glared at the man beside her.

"What might that be?" she asked coolly.

He tilted his head in Ray's direction. "If our directions aren't followed and our hand is forced, we're going to start with your boyfriend. We'll shoot him one leg at a time and work our way up."