Page 87 of The Quiet Witness

“Leave her alone!” A figure flashed before her, throwing herself at the second man attacking Kate.

Emily.

She grappled with the man, fists flying, while she kept roaring at him to leave them alone.

Kate pushed up, only to receive another blow from the third man, straight to the liver. She sagged to the concrete floor, spitting out blood.

Up, she needed to get up, help Emily.

But he wouldn’t let her, the eyes below his greasy hair reddened like a madman, he shot off another kick. Whooping and jumping up like a winner at a football game.

Kate lowered her elbows, desperately trying to save her organs from the kicks to her abdomen.

A rough voice tore through the heartbeat pumping in her ears. The tall one was back on his feet, blood running from his mouth. “That right there is what all the women here deserve. I’ll give it to each and every one of you.” He spat on the floor next to her, blood spraying into her face.

She could faintly make out Isabel’s screaming through the haze of pain, saw how the man grappling with Emily struck her against the temple, the girl fell to the snow, out cold.

Then the two men hovering above herself, wearing the masks of a devil she didn’t believe in. She groaned, curling in on herself from the pain.

“Self-defense teacher, huh?” The husband bent down, “How about I teach you a lesson for meddling, eh girl?” He drew his leg back to deliver another bone-crushing kick, but this time Kate was ready, she turned to face it, ignored the concrete digging into her back.

And grabbed hold of his foot, taking the brunt of the hit before it fully landed, using the momentum she swung him to the ground beside her. His shout of surprise was cut off by the fall. Kate didn’t let a second go to waste, she swung her legs over him, straddling into mount position.

She took a punch to the chin, allowing her body to fall sideways. Sweeping her legs over his arm she trapped him in an arm bar. He stiffened against her, but Kate showed him no mercy. She popped her hips up and his elbow snapped, dislocating right between her quivering legs.

An ear-splitting yelp tore across the parking lot. The man kept roaring, sobbing against her.

Kate couldn’t help it, it was like music to her ears.

However, the relief of having one down was short-lived.

The second guy reached for Kate, rage warring in him at the sight of his friend mewling on the floor. She kicked at him with her heels, trying to keep him at bay.

But he evaded the strikes, dipping down to grab a hold of her ponytail. He pulled it hard, the harsh yank making her cry out in pain, tears blurring her sight.

She closed her hands around his, trying to relieve the pressure as he dragged her away from his injured friend, her knees rasping over the floor. She gasped, fighting his grip with everything she had, gathering her legs below to get up but he kicked them out from under her. Kate hit the floor again.

“Leave her alone!” Isabel screamed wildly. Through the blur, she saw her friend barrel into the man holding her down. Saw the other one, the one who had knocked out Emily, come up behind her, saw the knife he ripped free from his side. The black handle. The long, shining blade.

A strangled cry escaped Kate. “Behind you!”

But it was too late.

She witnessed how he jammed the knife through her back, how Isabel arched, the knife protruding from her abdomen.

He yanked it free, pushing her face down to the snow.

Red stained white, pooling out around Isabel.

Kate reached out a hand toward her, sobs wracking through her entire body.

The hands around her hair released and pushed her down.

She heard the two men’s garbled voices above her as she crawled to Isabel, staining the snow below her.

Closer. “Job’s done. Let’s get out of here.”

Closer still. “What about him?”