Chapter 16
There wasn’t much in Wyatt’s life that he regretted. Once a decision was made, he stuck by it. But he mourned the life he could’ve had with Callie.
If his mother hadn’t been murdered.
If his father had found the killer.
If he hadn’t joined the military.
If his heart hadn’t turned to stone.
But he’d loved Callie too deeply. Some days, it was easier to push his feelings aside. Other days, it threatened to smother him—like now.
As he held her in his arms, he couldn’t believe he’d gone so many years without her. If only he could freeze time and keep them as they were, but he didn’t have any superpowers. He was but a man who had made enemies, and now, those enemies were coming for him.
Wyatt stared at the ceiling while listening to her breathing even out as she drifted into sleep. Being with her, making love to her, had shown him how lonely he was.
It hadn’t been evident until he returned to Texas. And the more time he spent with Callie, the clearer it became.
He wasn’t whole unless he was with her.
For almost two decades, he had walked through the days only half alive. He’d known it when he left Texas, but that ache had dulled, blunted. Blurred.
Now, it was in crystal clear focus once more.
Maybe that’s why he’d been so damn good at his job, because he hadn’t cared if he lived or died. He readily walked into the toughest of situations, and somehow, always walked—or limped—out.
Many times, he’d been wounded and even spent some time Stateside in a VA hospital to recuperate, but then he returned to his unit, ready to do it all over again.
He took missions that would have otherwise gone to men with families, because no one cared if he died. Those other men had people counting on them. He had . . . nobody.
Now, the only precious thing in his life was in danger. It hadn’t sat well with him when it had just been the Saints, but having Ahmadi and the Reeds closing in put everything into perspective.
He turned on his side to face Callie. It was unfathomable that she was in his arms again. He grazed the back of his knuckles along her cheek and down her jaw.
“Hey, baby girl,” he whispered.
She groaned in annoyance and nuzzled her face against his arm. He smiled, regret twisting his gut. How he wished he could leave her sleeping, perhaps wake her in the early morning hours as the sunlight came through the window and then make love to her again. But it wasn’t meant to be.
As the evening had worn on, a particular feeling had begun nudging him. He knew it well. Danger was fast approaching—and he had to do something.
“Callie.”
She let out a huff and opened her eyes to glare at him. “What?”
“We need to leave.”
Her gaze cleared of sleep with a blink. “Why?”
“A gut feeling.”
Since they agreed to trust each other’s instincts, he wasn’t surprised when she asked, “When?”
“Now.”
Without another word, she sat up and grabbed her clothes to dress. Wyatt did the same, and then put out the fire. In the next half hour, they packed all the food, clothes, weapons, and ammunition they could carry.
He put a hand over hers when Callie grabbed her keys. “Mercy stays here.”
Callie started to open her mouth to argue then nodded. “Are we stealing a car?”
“We’ll be on foot.”
She didn’t bat an eye as she zipped her computer into her backpack and handed him one of the two new burner phones. “I programmed each of the numbers into the other. I also added in Orrin’s number. Just in case.”
Wyatt looked at the cabin now bathed in darkness. “I promised you the night.”
“I’d rather have my life.”
Always practical, he thought with an inward smile. “Ready?”
“Yep.”
He walked to the back door and slowly opened it, peering out. Then he slipped through the opening. Callie was quick to follow. Once the door closed silently behind her, he led her around the traps he’d set, picking up weapons as he went.
She stayed close behind him with a pistol in one hand. So far, he hadn’t seen any evidence of others approaching the cabin, but that didn’t mean anything. His intuition had told him to leave that night, and he wasn’t going to question that—especially if it saved Callie’s life.
The cabin being as secluded as it was, they walked for a couple of miles without encountering any other houses. It wouldn’t be long before they hit a city. Luckily, there were still areas around Austin used exclusively for ranching.
Wyatt didn’t like trespassing on someone else’s land, but the situation certainly called for it. And he would make sure to stay away from any houses to keep from being spotted.
They’d been walking for almost an hour before Callie asked, “Where are we going?”
“I have no idea.”
“Wow. You didn’t even try to lie.”
He slowed so that she came even with him. “There’s no point.”
“Do you have a general direction you’ve pointed us in?”
He shook his head at her, disappointed. “Don’t you remember the lessons I gave you about using the stars as a guide.”
“Obviously, not,” she replied testily. “I knew I should’ve just pulled out the phone.”
“We’re headed north.”
She jerked her head to him. “Why?”
“I had four directions to choose from. I chose north.”
“For a reason,” she pointed out.
He pressed his lips together before sighing. “I’m taking us back to the ranch.”
“Good,” she stated.
He’d expected an argument, but he should’ve known better. “We need to alert Owen and Natalie that we’re headed back.”
“I’ll do that in the morning. What about Orrin and Cullen?”
“What do you think about giving Cullen and Mia the information on Jankovic and letting them track down the scientist since we seem to have our hands full.”
She adjusted her backpack. “I’ve been sending everyone updates on what I find, so I think Cullen is already doing just that.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
“Were you?” she asked with a sidelong look.
Neither had spoken about what had occurred between them, and he had a feeling that she never would. It might be for the best. Besides, his focus was on staying ahead of the Saints, Ahmadi, and the Reeds currently.
For the next three hours, they made their way north, drifting eastwardly as they did and stopping to rest occasionally. When the sky turned a light gray, he spotted Callie yawning.
He was used to going without sleep and hiking through deserts for days at a time, but she wasn’t. Though she was tough, she was untrained.
“How do you feel about stealing a car?” he asked.
She shot him a smile. “I think it’s a fabulous idea.”
The next town is five klicks away. We should get there before dawn. Just enough time for us to find a vehicle and get on the road.”
“If you were alone, would you walk all the way to the ranch?”
“Yes.”
She made a face. “I thought so. You only want to steal a car because of me.”
“Not just because of you. I’d like to get to the ranch in time to prepare for the attacks.”
“How long do you think it’ll take for everyone to figure out we’re no longer at the cabin?”
He shrugged, his thoughts on that very thing. “I’m hoping a few days, but we can’t count on that.”
“With the way these assholes seem to have eyes and ears everywhere, no we can’t. Which means, we shouldn’t be seen anywhere.”
“We’ll fare better away from the city.”
She grunted in response. They fell silent as they made their way to the small town. Just as Wyatt expected, there was little movement before dawn. The few awake were opening shops or were ranchers getting an early start.
He took her to a drug store that was connected to a diner. There were a couple of trucks in front of the building, but it was the old VW Bug parked off to the side of the structure that Wyatt was interested in.
“Stay here,” he whispered as he set down his bag and weapons.
He hunched over and hurried to the car. Luck was on his side when he tried the handle and the door opened. He climbed inside and pulled the door partly closed. Then he reached below the steering column and yanked out the wires.
All he had to do was get the engine started, and then they could be on the road and to the ranch in just a few hours. That would give them plenty of time to get things ready.
He glanced up to check on Callie and stilled when he saw her talking to someone. The man had his back to Wyatt. It wasn’t until she sidestepped, causing the man to turn with her that he saw the gun pointed at her.
It wasn’t fury that filled him, but cold, deadly intent. He quietly pushed open the car door and slipped out, squatting beside the vehicle while pushing the door closed.
The man was talking to Callie, but Wyatt couldn’t make out what was said. As soon as Wyatt moved away from the car, he’d be seen.
He looked around, trying to determine if the man was alone. It was still too dark to see if there were others inside parked vehicles or not.
His gaze landed on his bag with his weapons. The only thing he had on him was a knife. He pulled it from its sheath at the back of his waist and prepared to stand when he heard something behind him.
Wyatt turned and saw the attacker in time to raise his arm and knock the gun away. He stood and thrust his knife upwards, aiming for the man’s gut, but the assailant moved to the side and slammed Wyatt’s hand against the car.
He elbowed his attacker in the side of the face twice before slamming his foot into the side of the man’s knee. There was a grunt, but this foe didn’t go down easily.
The man had skills that were equal to his, and Wyatt had trained in nearly every kind of combat there was. Wyatt slashed with his knife again and again, and each time, the man blocked and evaded him.
A kick came out of nowhere, knocking his knife from his hand. Wyatt didn’t slow his attack. The blows happened quickly from each of them. Wyatt spent half the time using evasive tactics to limit the number of hits from his attacker.
One vicious blow to his cheek had Wyatt tasting blood. He leaned out of the way at the last second, causing the man to smash his fist into the driver’s side window of the car.
Using whatever they could find to fight, the battle turned brutal as both men realized only one of them would walk away.
Wyatt was going to make sure that was him.
He wanted to look over at Callie, but to do so might very well be what cost him his life.
He had to believe she could take care of herself.
Wyatt managed to get behind his assailant and wrap an arm around his neck. The man elbowed him repeatedly, but Wyatt didn’t loosen his hold.
“Who sent you?” Wyatt demanded.
The man laughed in response. When Wyatt was about to question him further, he happened to look up and found Callie gone. Without hesitating, he broke the man’s neck. As the attacker fell to the ground, Wyatt grabbed his knife and ran to the bags Callie had left behind.
He scooped up both by the handles and set out looking for her.