With one eye closed, she focused along the barrel of the gun at the smaller of the two men who’d accosted her and Stephanie as they’d approached the outskirts of the village. Even though Monica’s pulse thundered in her ears and her entire body trembled, she would not falter, would not take her eye from the animal in her sights. Stephanie’s cries as she fought to free herself from her captor battled with the roar of Monica’s heartbeat. The man clutched her beloved friend against his barreled chest with one thick arm, his free hand fondling her breast. What were they to do? The animal molesting Stephanie had been aboard the phaeton before either of them could react, grabbing Stephanie by the hair and dragging her to the ground. Now, it was them against two men. The minuscule opportunity to gain the upper hand had been stolen in the moments of shock and terror as the men had initiated their assault. “Take the gun from her, for Christ’s sake. What are you waiting for?” the man holding Stephanie yelled at his partner.
