Chapter 41
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Dean
I flanked the house to go to the back door. Garrett’s men, assuming Garrett was behind this, would soon come looking for their friends out here.
I planned to be waiting.
I crept up to the back door and peered through a window into the cabin’s small kitchen. The place looked like it was rarely used, more of a hideout than a home. A man stood inside, armed with a shotgun, casually watching the back door. He shifted his weight, the weapon resting against his shoulder.
He wore a ring with a blue stone on his hand.
I picked up a handful of pebbles from the ground and tossed them against the side of the house, away from where I stood. The clatter was small but distinct.
The man’s head snapped toward the sound.
“Come on,” I whispered as heady adrenaline flooded my veins again. “Come out and play.”
The guard moved to the door, shotgun raised. The hinges creaked as he stepped outside. The barrel of his gun swept across the darkness, searching. He didn’t see me.
But I was waiting right beside the door in the shadows.
As soon as he was within reach, I grabbed the shotgun with my left hand, shoving the barrel skyward.
He tried to pull the trigger, but I’d already twisted the weapon from his grip.
He opened his mouth to yell. My knife slashed across his throat before he could make a sound.
He gurgled, clutching at the wound, and I lowered him to the ground as quietly as I could.
That was three down. But how many others were there?
A ringleader, possibly Garrett, would be inside with Keira. That meant at least one more guarding Stephie if she was really here. A third man if they were smart. But the cabin wasn’t huge. Probably no more than one bedroom, that small kitchen, a bathroom, and a main living area.
None of the other guards had raised any alarms yet. The others had no idea their friends were dead, which bought me a little time.
I needed a better view of the inside, so I continued around the house to peer in the windows. The music still thumped, the volume slightly lower now. There were voices coming from inside.
Keira’s voice.
Cold ran through me. Pure rage, so powerful I felt like it could rip me apart. The sensation burned through my chest. Turning my blood to ice and fire at once.
Maybe emotion made people careless, but when it came to Keira, I was nothing but emotion.
I had to turn that outward. Use it.
At the side of the house, I found a window into a bedroom. There was a light on here, but the curtain was only drawn partway. I carefully glanced in and didn’t see anyone. The bedroom door, leading to the rest of the cabin, was almost entirely closed.
I wondered if I could risk breaking the window to get inside. But then I just tried pushing it open, and it slid.
Bingo.
Nobody had bothered to check if this window was locked. Or maybe the lock was simply broken. I carefully climbed inside and landed on the wooden floor in my socks. I’d slipped my boots off outside so I wouldn’t make noise.
The sound of voices drifted through the door. A man talking loudly. Then Keira again.
With my gun drawn, I checked the room. A narrow bed with a sagging mattress sat against one wall. But as I inched forward, I saw a pair of legs lying horizontal in cowboy boots and jeans.
Someone was lying on the floor on the far side of the narrow bed. His ankles were bound with zip ties.
His wrists were bound too, and a gag filled his mouth. The guy was maybe twenty years old. A kid.
His eyes went wide and terrified when he saw me.
Holding my finger to my lips, I kneeled and yanked the gag away from the kid’s mouth. He started coughing and shoved his arm against his face to muffle the sound. I pulled out my knife and cut through the zip ties on his wrists, then his ankles.
“Are you Stephie’s guy?” I whispered.
“Yeah. Colby.”
“Did you bring Stephie here?”
He shook his head vigorously. “Never. She snuck out of her house, but just to see me. We never thought somebody could be watching. They grabbed us. Drove us out here. What the hell is going on? Do you know what they want?”
There was no time for a full debrief with the kid. “This is about Stephie’s sister. Keira.”
“Are you Dean? Keira’s boyfriend?”
I nodded. “I’m going to get Stephie and Keira out of there. You should go. Climb out the window and get in the old pickup outside. I’ll meet you there when I’ve got them.”
“No way. I’m not leaving Stephie in there. Let me help.”
A man’s voice rose in the living room. Someone screamed.
I looked at the kid. He was scared but determined. “If you’re willing to help, here’s what you need to do. But you’ll have to move fast.”