Devastate Me novel Chapter 10

There was a shout on the other side of the door, and suddenly it was flung wide as one of them crashed into it, sending her sprawling on her back. Her head hit the floor, and she groaned as she tried to roll over onto her hands and knees.

One of the men grabbed her head and slammed it down on the floor. "Fucking bitch!" White dots flashed in the blackness behind her eyes.

"Grab what you can and load it in the car!" the man snapped. "I'll take care of her."

Pain flowed through her as she became aware of hands gripping her wrists and dragging her along the floor into the living room. She cried out as a boot sank hard into her side. The man was kicking her, though the realization came to her through a dark, frightening tunnel that left her stunned. Why was this happening?

"Pl-please stop!" she begged.

"Shut the fuck up!" A blow smacked her face to the side, and blood filled her mouth from her split lip.

"Stop fucking around, asshole!" the other man said. "I need you to help carry the TV. It's too big."

Ophelia tried to breathe. She was being robbed. The men were using the storm to cover it up. While they were busy with the TV, she had only a minute at most to move, to get to her phone or hide. Her fuzzy mind struggled to make a decision.

Phone. Get the phone.

She crawled around the back of her couch toward the kitchen. The sounds of crashing and cursing grew distant behind her. She was going to make it. She-

"Hey, where's the bitch?"

"I don't know."

"Fucking find her!"

She heard footsteps, and suddenly strong hands grabbed her ankles.

She screamed just as a fist knocked her into terrifying nothingness.

Noah was sitting on the couch that backed up to Colt's living room window. His tail wagged as he saw Ophelia's car pull into the driveway. Colt scratched the dog behind the ears.

"She must have made a run to the store," Colt explained to the German shepherd. The rain outside was coming down hard enough that visibility was poor. He had seen only Ophelia's car lights, but it was enough to know it was her.

Lightning flashed a moment later as an old sedan with no lights on pulled into Ophelia's driveway. Noah whined and shifted restlessly before he suddenly growled low at the back of his throat. Colt waited for the next flash of lightning, wondering who Ophelia had over. Then he saw two men run into her open garage. Every instinct warned him that Ophelia was in danger. He ran to the front door, opened it, and shouted a command at Noah.