Protecting Cheyenne (SEAL of Protection Book 5) Read Free Page B

snarled, “Today’s a good day to die.”
    This, of course, got the cashiers even more hysterical than they already were. He laughed with a cruel low grunt. Cheyenne knew he was enjoying making them scared. She just sat there dry eyed and tried to tamp down her terror.
    “Here’s the deal, ladies,” the scary man sneered. “We can’t get out of here until those cops get out of the way, and they aren’t going to do that unless we make them, that’s where you come in.”
    Cheyenne sucked in a deep breath, knowing whatever he had in store for them wasn’t going to be good.
    “Since I’m in a good mood today…” Cheyenne couldn’t help but snort under her breath. She apparently hadn’t been quiet enough with her scorn because the man glared at her nastily before continuing. “I’ll let you all decide who gets to deliver my message to the cops outside.”
    Cheyenne could practically feel the nervous energy coming off of the cashiers. She knew they were dying to be the ones to take the message out of the building. But Cheyenne wanted to know what the catch was. There was no way this evil man was just going to let one of them walk outside and go free. They were their ticket out of there and Cheyenne knew it.
    The gunman walked away, but called back to them, “Stay put bitches, I’ll be right back with the message.”
    As soon as the man was out of earshot, the cashiers started arguing with each other.
    “I need to get out of here,” the blonde said.
    “No way, I should be the one to deliver the message, you aren’t married, no matter what you told him,” the other woman argued back.
    Their voices got louder and bitchier as they argued with each other.
    “Yeah, but I have to be here to take care of my mom, you know she’s not doing well,” the blonde shot right back.
    Cheyenne sighed. She didn’t bother joining in their argument. She was glad the two women hadn’t turned on her yet, they weren’t even considering her to be the one to get out of there with the message. She was basically invisible to the women. But that was okay, Cheyenne was single, had no husband or kids…essentially she was expendable.
    The women stopped their arguing as the man came back toward them holding a box. Cheyenne shuddered, knowing that whatever was in that box wasn’t good. They’d all assumed he’d come back with a piece of paper with the gunmen’s demands written on it. No one had expected a box.
    The man carefully put the package on the floor and turned toward them, with his hands on his hips as if daring them to defy him. “Here’s the message…it’s a bomb.”
    Cheyenne gasped and shrunk back from the innocuous looking box on the floor, just as the two cashiers did the same thing.
    “The message is, that if they don’t let us out of here, we’ll blow up this bomb and everyone in the store. Shrapnel will blow for fucking miles…anyone in the vicinity of the building will die…holes punched throughout their body,” his voice trailed off as he laughed. Then he glared at them all again and said, “You have three minutes to choose who will take the message outside. I’m sure it won’t be hard to decide. After all, whoever gets to take it, will be free.” He again laughed, but Cheyenne couldn’t hear any humor in the laugh. He stalked off to converse with his fellow gunmen, leaving them there to figure out who would be the one to carry the deadly bomb outside to the cops.
    Cheyenne turned to the two women; they all just looked at each other. Predictably, the cashiers started to cry. Cheyenne wasn’t very far from crying herself, although she willed the tears away. If she was going to die, she wasn’t going to do it sniveling.
    Whispering, Cheyenne turned to the two women. “It sucks, but he’s right, whoever takes this outside will be free.”
    “But, it’s a bomb,” the blonde woman croaked, not able to tear her horrified eyes away from the box sitting in front of them.
    “What if it’s not?”