Page 6 of Her Wicked Hero

She hit the ground hard and didn’t get up. It took a moment for Marcia to realize her head had hit a rock.

“Fuck me,” Kyle said disgustedly. He yanked her up by her arm and shook her. “Lilith, are you with me?” She moaned.

“Well, at least you’re not dead. Now, speak English.”

She looked up at him helplessly. “Where are we going?”

“There are some nice people in Tehran who want to talk to your husband about his banking practices.”

“Can’t you let her go? I’ll tell them anything they want to know. Can’t she be set free?” Mr. Hoff begged.

“Franz, you’re a big boy. You know everyone likes to have a bit of influence when negotiating with someone. She’s their way of influencing you.”

Marcia watched as Mr. Hoff started to cry. Then like magic, Mrs. Hoff stopped. “It’s going to be okay Franz. I’ll be fine. We’ll both be fine. You’ll see.”

Raymond stomped back and shoved the roll into Marcia’s chest. “I’m going to get you for this.” He grabbed her and pulled so hard, she hit her knees. “Get up.”

Debbie looked at Marcia, her fright obvious. Marcia gave her the best smile she could and got off the ground. Raymond damn near sprinted to the lean-to, and the girls did their best to keep up. Marcia handed the roll of toilet paper to Debbie and stood in front of the opening to give her privacy from Raymond. She also didn’t want Debbie to be able to see anything happening with the Hoff’s.

“Bull, you’re going to go with Kevin, I want you back tomorrow. Duane isn’t answering at the boat. He’s probably drinking again. If he is, you know what to do,” Kyle said.

Marcia saw the man named Bull nod his head. What the heck that meant, she had no idea. At least, he seemed kind the way he helped Mrs. Hoff to her feet. God, what was going to happen to them when they got to Tehran? Were they really going to torture Mrs. Hoff? Surely Mr. Hoff would just tell them everything he knew. She knew Mr. Brockman would because he wouldn’t want anything to happen to Christie or Debbie.

What happened if they didn’t believe him? What happened if they thought he wasn’t telling them everything? She covered her mouth, sure she was going to throw up.

“Marcia, are you all right?” Debbie asked as she came out of the outhouse.

“Who’s Marcia?” Raymond demanded.

“That’s my middle name,” Marcia quickly lied. “Lesley Marcia Brockman.”

Raymond stared at her for a moment, then looked back at the spectacle in the clearing where the Hoff’s were being led away. Mrs. Hoff was trying to comfort her husband.

“Look at how weak he is,” Raymond said. “You can totally see he doesn’t wear the pants in that family,” he laughed. “Same damn thing with the professor and her husband. Damn, all these pussy-whipped men, it’s pathetic.”

Debbie handed the roll of toilet paper to Marcia. “It’s your turn. I’ll stand guard.”

Raymond laughed again. “What are you going to guard against, little girly?”

“Debbie, just stay close, okay?” Marcia said quietly. She waited until the girl nodded, then went into the lean-to. Marcia finished quickly and was zipping up her jeans when three loud blasts sounded right outside.

“Debbie,” she screamed, sure the girl had been shot even though she could see she had just ducked down. Marcia lunged out of the opening and tackled her to the ground, covering her with her body.

“Fuck,” Raymond yelled. Marcia looked up and saw he had pulled his huge pistol out of its holster and had it aimed into the clearing. She looked over to see what he was aiming at. The two men who had been holding the Hoff’s were now lying in a pool of blood. Mrs. Hoff was screaming again. She saw two of Kyle’s men behind the hut where Christie and Harold were, and they were shooting into the jungle. Where was Kyle? Were they about to be rescued?

More shots were fired. Another one of the mercenaries ran over to the Hoff’s and grabbed Mr. Hoff, putting a gun to his head.

“Stop shooting, or I’ll kill him,” he shouted to the unknown assailants in the jungle.

The shooting stopped, and Marcia breathed a sigh of relief. At least there wouldn’t be any more holes shot into the hut with Mr. B. and Christie. Then she saw blood spray at the same time as she heard the crack of a rifle. The head of the man holding Mr. Hoff just disintegrated. Marcia stared in disbelief as Mr. Hoff and the dead man both fell to the ground.

“Franz,” Mrs. Hoff screamed at the top of her lungs. She crawled over to her husband. She screamed again as her leg spurted blood. Oh God, she’d been shot. Marcia tried to cover Debbie even more, not wanting the precious girl to be hurt.

So many shots rang out through the clearing, Marcia felt dizzy. She tried to see what was going on, wanting to know if they were going to live or not. She prayed all the bad guys would die, and they would be rescued.

She shrieked as her hair was wrenched almost out of her head. She was on her knees. She desperately tried to pull out of Raymond’s grasp, so she could protect Debbie.

“Stop it. You’re coming with me.”