Cameron
“Yoo-hoo!” Ace called out once again, standing a few feet away from the partially open barn doors, trying to get the men inside’s attention.
“Helloooo? Is anyone home?” Ace called out again, wrapping his hands around his lips as he put on the performance of a lifetime.
The ratty old doors before them slid open slowly, spilling light from inside the barn out onto the dirt around them.
The night hung heavy and humid, the heat from earlier in the day leaving the air slick and oppressive. Somewhere out in the darkness, beyond the fences and fields, the scent of cattle drifted lazily across the property.
It was the perfect place to dispose of a body.
Cameron hated to think about what these men had planned for Basher.
The thought put knots in his stomach. Cameron wasn't the violent type, and he hated the idea of hurting anyone. But love changed people. And when it came to protecting Basher, there wasn't much he wouldn't do.
Taking a deep breath, Cameron glanced down at the gun in his hand. Marcus had given him a quick crash course on how to use it, though he prayed he wouldn’t have to.
But if using it meant saving Basher’s life, there would be no hesitation.
No second thoughts.
“Ah! There you are!” Ace continued. “I was about to send up a flare, just in case you boys were hard of hearing or something.”
A man dressed in a fancy suit stepped out of the barn, surrounded by at least twenty men.
Okay. So the scary bad guys outnumbered them, but that’s why they had Lucas… their apparent secret weapon.
“And who might you be?” the man in the suit asked, stepping forward and raising his gun.
“Oh, I’m Ace! I’ll be your negotiator here tonight.”
The man in the suit looked at the men standing around him. “My negotiator?”
The crew all laughed, clearly amused by Ace’s last statement.
“Yes. I’ll be the man negotiating things tonight. It appears that you took someone who doesn’t belong to you, and we are here to ask for him back.”
“We?” the man in the suit asked. He looked around the wide-open space, no doubt wondering where all the people were who had come to negotiate Basher’s release.
Ace nodded. “Yes, me and my crew.” He gestured around him, knowing full well that the man in the suit couldn’t see Marcus or any of the other guys from the crew. Everyone was hiding.
“Look, I don’t know who you are or what you think you are doing here, but I’m Tony. Tony Caplan, son of the head of the Caplan crime family. So I suggest you go back to your freak-show cave and continue to live out the rest of your life as some toothless Joe’s fuck toy.”
Without warning, a streak of silver sliced through the night, missing Caplan’s face by inches.
The mobster froze as the object struck the side of the barn with brutal force, driving itself deep into the old wood.
It quivered there, embedded less than a foot away—a silent reminder of just how easily it could have found flesh instead.
“I can assure you that I have all my teeth,” Blade’s voice snarled from the darkness.
“And just so you know, that’s my husband you are talking to, so I would choose your words very carefully the next time you speak.
Oh, and in case you didn’t realize, I’m a wicked shot when it comes to throwing blades. ”
Before anyone could react, another flash of silver sliced through the darkness.
One of Caplan’s men suddenly froze, his eyes widening in shock. The weapon had struck true, and he swayed unsteadily on his feet as the color drained from his face.
For a split second, the entire ranch fell silent.
Then the man collapsed to the ground.
A second later, Caplan’s team quickly moved into action. They raised their guns, aiming in all directions—some at Ace, others scanning the darkness for an unseen threat.
Ace shook his head.
“You boys really aren’t understanding how things are going here. This isn’t something that you will survive. I’m just stalling so my buddies can get set up and into position.”
A wicked smile spread across Ace’s face.
Behind him, several headlights came to life, temporarily blinding the men in front of them.
Gunfire erupted as the first of Caplan’s men panicked, shooting aimlessly into the darkness. The men began shooting in every direction, some bullets hitting ranch equipment, others flying into empty fields. None of them managed to hit any of Marcus’s men.
Ace chuckled.
“You guys really are shite at killing people. Not one of those bullets hit any of our men.”
The man in the suit rubbed his eyes as he signaled for his men to stop shooting.
“Who the fuck are you?” the man shouted, blinking repeatedly as he tried to regain his sight.
“Like I said, you took our friend Basher, and we’re here to get him back. Now, I’ll give you one last warning before unleashing all of hell on you,” Ace threatened.
The man in the suit began to laugh.
“You’ve got to be kidding. Do you know who the fuck I am?”
“Judging by the van’s rental agreement, the ranch’s land title, and your own words, you would be part of the Caplan crew. Sadly, not a very smart part of the crew, considering how bad you are at kidnapping and apparently killing things,” Ace taunted.
The man let out a growl as his eyes focused on Ace.
It was almost time.
From somewhere far overhead, a faint buzzing grew louder and louder.
The man in the suit looked up, trying to identify the source of the buzzing sound.
“Last chance,” Ace warned.
“Fuck you, asshole,” Caplan shouted, raising his gun and pointing it at Ace.
The man cried out in pain as another dagger streaked through the air, stabbing him in the center of his hand, causing Caplan to drop his gun.
“I told you to speak respectfully to my husband,” Blade’s voice snarled from somewhere in the darkness.
“Thanks, babe! Love you!” Ace shouted, blowing a kiss into the darkness behind him. “Isn’t my man just the greatest?” he asked, spinning back around, completely unbothered by the chaos around them.
“Kill them!” Caplan shouted, gripping his bleeding hand with the blade still sticking out of it.
The buzzing sound got louder before descending quickly, then stopping just ten feet above their heads.
“Are those…?” one of Caplan’s men asked, staring up at four metal objects that were currently hovering over the bad men with guns.
“Drones?” Ace asked, nodding his head in agreement. “Yup! My best friend has been tinkering with the mechanisms and has made a few… alterations. They are a lot more fun now, I’m told.”
Just as Ace completed his explanation, one of the drones began shooting at the bad guy’s feet, while a second one fired what could only be described as a mini-missile.
The missile shot past the two men and exploded when it hit one of the minivans, most likely used in the abduction or transportation of materials and goods.
Caplan’s men all dove for cover. Some dove behind boulders before opening fire, and some aimed at the drones overhead, while others aimed at the headlights in front of them.
Cameron watched as the scene in front of him erupted into chaos.
Marcus and his guys jumped out of hiding and began shooting at Caplan’s men as well.
A high-pitched laugh sounded as Caden and Lucas rolled up on Caden’s motorcycle—Lucas holding two drone controllers and looking like the Madhatter about to start a civil war.
Caden pulled the bike to a stop, angling it so his man had a perfect view of the drones he commanded.
“Die, motherfuckers!” Lucas shouted, eyes going wild as he commanded the drones to do his bidding.
Cameron was now convinced that Lucas had a dual personality—one being the sweet and lovable twink who sang showtunes at children’s events, the other a psychotic, violent fiend who got off on death and destruction. The bigger the bang, the higher the dopamine.
“God, I love you,” Caden gushed, pulling out a semiautomatic of his own and joining his brothers in shooting at the bad men.
“These drones were genius!” Gavin shouted, his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth as he attempted to navigate the third drone from where he hid, two feet away from Cameron.
“Stay down, or next time you won’t be coming,” Marcus barked from the other side of the driveway.
“Tell me what to do again, and you won’t be coming for a week,” Gavin bit back.
Cameron couldn’t help but chuckle.
Marcus glared at them both. He stood up and began shooting at Caplan’s men.
Blood exploded everywhere as Lucas’s “mini-missiles” hit two men, resulting in a waterfall of body parts falling from the sky.
“Your boy has issues,” Nikolai mumbled to Caden as he grabbed a man by the throat and began pummeling his face with his brass knuckles.
“Yeah, my babe is so hot when he’s killing things,” Caden responded between shots of his own.
The only one who wasn’t shooting or killing people was Ace. He sat with his back pressed against a pile of lumber, arms crossed over his knees, watching his friends kill bad men.
It was time for Cameron to make his move.
Checking to see that the coast was clear and all of Caplan’s men were distracted, Cameron slinked around the side of the barn and climbed in through a broken window.