A Tiger's Bounty by Terry Bolryder Page A

the bar… Josie set me up?” Amber asked, the betrayal sinking in. If her friend wasn’t already out cold, she’d slap her herself.
    He didn’t answer her question, but turned to a shorter, scruffy-looking man that had come in with them. “Freddie, this is the one, right?”
    “Yes, sir,” Freddie said with deference.
    As the scruffy, brown-haired man spoke, Amber finally recognized where she’d seen him. The other night, in the bar. He’d been there with Brenner before she’d been drugged, then saved by Jace.
    Finally, everything was starting to make sense. A dreadful, terrifying kind of sense.
    “Are you Billy—”
    “Egan. Yes, in the flesh,” he said, cutting her off. “And that little friend of yours, the one with the leather who thinks he’s such a badass, cost me a dear pal of mine. So I’m glad we finally found you so we can at least get our money’s worth out of you,” he said with a leer, eyeing her uncomfortably.
    Billy didn’t have to go into further detail to explain what he meant. Jace had told her he had a hand in lots of illegal doings, including human trafficking. And as much as Amber wanted to think she was safe from that kind of horror, she was in fact a perfect target. Young, few friends, and even less family. Aside from the university where she was enrolled and the teachers she was close to, nobody else would miss her when she was gone.
    And everything had been a setup. Amber hadn’t been a random target. She’d been sold out from the start. Her body for Josie’s debt.
    The thought was sickening.
    “So given that we’re in a hurry and I have a client already waiting to… examine the goods, try not to make this too hard on yourself,” he said, then turned to two men at his side. “Pack her up. We’re heading out.”
    The two men next to him came toward her while another furnished an oversized rolling case that Amber had failed to see when they first walked in. From what she could guess, they were probably going to put her inside it so the apartment building cameras wouldn’t film her leaving.
    The old Amber would have just given up and not put up a fight. The Amber from high school who just stayed quiet and let people bully her. But after these past few days, being around Jace and getting to know herself better and being around a guy who didn’t take any crap from anyone, Amber had a little more confidence. Enough to fight.
    As soon as the two men reached her, she bolted up from the couch and ran for the door. One man caught her around the waist while the other tried to restrain her hands, but she lashed out at them with everything she had, clawing and kicking and screaming for help. One of them tried to cover her mouth, but she bit down on the man’s hand hard, and he pulled back with a yelp.
    “C’mon, guys. She’s a human for crying out loud,” Billy said, exasperated.
    A third man joined the tussle as the confused thugs tried to restrain her. She saw one of them pull out a zip tie as they held her hands down, and she struggled with all her might to break free. But it was fast becoming clear that one chubby girl against three huge men was a losing battle.
    Sorry, Jace. I tried.

Chapter Ten
    J ust as Amber heard the clicking of the zip tie and felt it tighten around her wrists, the room was interrupted by the sound of the front door being smashed open. Everyone turned, and Amber looked up to see Jace standing in the doorway, fists clenched. He was wearing his leather jacket, and his face instantly turned from cool appraisal to furious anger as he deduced what was going on.
    At first, Amber’s heart leapt that he was here. Had he come for her? It was like a heroic rescue from a movie or something.
    But upon a second look, it dawned on Amber that there was only one Jace, and there were at least six or more men here in the apartment with her. Sure, he’d been able to deal with a few drunk delinquents the other night, and somehow he’d taken care of Brenner. But this