Hard Wired Trilogy DeAnna Pearce (if you give a mouse a cookie read aloud txt) 📖

were careful to only touch what was necessary in the bathroom. Once back out, Ari wrapped her coat a little tighter around her. The dim orange lights guided them back to the car.

Turning a corner, Ari and Tessa stopped short, almost running into a large man dressed in dark clothing

“Hey, do you girls have a minute? I lost the charge on my car.” He approached with one hand in his pocket.

“No, we don’t,” Tessa continued forward.

Knowing something was off, Ari reached for her but was too slow. The man pulled some sort of device from his pocket and struck out at Tessa. She fell instantly, twitching on the floor. Ari tried to help her friend, but the large man seized her arm, dragging her towards him. Tessa looked so helpless, alone on the damp sidewalk.

“Tessa!” Ari yelled for her friend.

The man covered Ari’s mouth with a gloved hand and yanked her in close. His dank, smoky smell encompassed Ari as she struggled to free herself. He tightened his hold to the point of pain, and Ari cried into his thick hand.

He leaned down next to her ear, his voice sharp and serious. “Sorry, honey, but you are the one we want. You can come calmly, or I can hit your friend again with a voltage that may be permanent.”

Ari’s heart pounded as she stared at her friend on the ground. Ari wanted to fight, but she wouldn’t. She couldn’t let him hurt Tessa.

“Don’t hurt her.” Ari pressed down the fury building inside of her. She might be forced to go along now, but she wouldn’t stop fighting once her friends were out of harm’s way.

“Okay, then. Let’s go.” He pushed a device into her side, presumably the same one that knocked out Tessa. His free arm wrapped around her, keeping her close as he guided her back to the parking lot.

She kept her steps heavy and slow as she searched the parking lot for Reed or any other people.

“Don’t try it,” the man warned her in quiet tones.

A gunshot exploded nearby. Ari flinched, the loud noise ringing in her ears. Thoughts of her friends unarmed and alone flashed in her mind. She strained to find them, but couldn’t see much in the dark, as her captor, apparently uninjured, tightened his grasp. He hurried his pace, pushing Ari along.

She continued, as if numb, along towards a dark van. Tessa and Reed—they couldn’t be dead. If they were hurt, all bets were off. She had to know they were safe. Doing the only thing she could think of, she bit down on her captor’s hand. He swore, but through the glove it wasn’t enough to make him loosen his hold. She kicked and scratched and fought harder than she ever had before, adrenaline pounding through her body. It couldn’t end this way.

Then a shock bit into her side, and Ari crumbled to the ground. Just like that, the fight was sucked out of her. It felt like an elephant had stepped on her chest as she struggled to suck in air. She stared at the tire of the van and wondered if she was going to die there.

The man dragged her upright. Her legs felt rubbery, unsteady. His rough hands pulled her close. “Stupid girl, guess we have to do this the hard way. Just so you know, that was only the low setting.”

“Stop.” Reed spoke from somewhere in the darkness. “I just shot your friend and I won’t hesitate to do the same to you.”

Her captor turned them both around, keeping her in front of him as a shield. “You don’t want to play with me, kid.”

One glimpse at Reed, and Ari could tell something was wrong. He was leaning to one side as he kept a gun firmly trained on them.

Reed focused his cold anger at her captor. “Not playing.”

“As I see it, you’re not such a good aim with a gun, and you won’t chance shooting me if it means killing her.”

With obvious effort, Reed took two steps closer. In the low neon lights, blood trailed down Reed’s face from a cut on his brow. “You have no clue how many hours I’ve plugged.”

The man behind her relaxed his stance a bit but kept his hold tight. “She’s worth too much to stay with you, bud. That is reality.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Ari glimpsed Tessa quietly walking towards them. Her feet shaky. Ari bit her lip, praying her friend was okay.

Ari pulled against her captor’s grasp, to no avail. Thoughts flashed through her mind, but she worried any action she might take had consequences. “Careful, Reed.”

“Listen to your girlfriend.” The man pulled her back against the corner of the van, and someone swore behind them.

Without warning, a jolt of electricity raced through her body, stronger, deadlier than before. Her jaw clenched, and her arms and legs involuntarily contracted. Her face pressed into a cold, wet puddle, and she closed her eyes, wanting for it to all be over. Without giving her a chance to collect her thoughts, hands lifted her off the ground. She attempted to swat at them, pushing them back and squirming against their tight hold.

“Ari, it’s me,” Reed said in a hurried voice. “Come on. We’ve got to get out of here.”

Confusion swarmed around Ari’s already muddled brain. But it was Reed. His touch was sure and familiar. And if nothing else made sense, he always did.

Reed laid her down in the back seat of the car and sped out of the rest stop. He was talking, though most of the words flowed over Ari at first. She picked them out one at a time as if her brain was filled with alphabet soup.

“Ari, come on talk to me.”

She struggled to respond. She turned her head, but it was a slow process. Forming words appeared to be just as difficult.

“Tessa, are you sure you didn’t hit her?” His voice was heavy with worry.

“I hit him straight in the back. Hope that bastard wet