Chapter 27
Wyatt slowly chewed a piece of jerky as he stared into the night. Dawn was less than an hour away. The Saints were out there, watching. None had made a move toward the house or barns yet.
It was a waiting game. Each side was seeing who would make the first move. And it wouldn’t be Wyatt’s side.
The lights were off inside the house with the porch lamp the only one remaining on. Natalie was upstairs in the house with a rifle.
Owen was inside the barn where he’d placed weapons in various places throughout the structure in case he needed them.
Maks had taken the left side of the property. Wyatt had no idea exactly where the CIA agent was, but he had no doubt Maks would be there to help.
Wyatt had chosen the dense underbrush on the right side of the barn and house. He’d lain on his stomach for hours, waiting for the Saints. The slightest movement made his wound pull, but the pain wouldn’t stop him.
He wondered how Callie was faring. It had been difficult not to go see her, but he hadn’t wanted to give up his location.
So far, the Saints had no idea where any of them were.
That was to their benefit, and with the numbers on the Saints’ side, Wyatt knew they needed every advantage they could get.
The stillness of the early morning hours was deceptive. The horses were staring in the direction of the Saints, their tails swishing. Even the cattle that were in one of the front pastures were restless as they gathered together.
Tension kept building. The birds were silent. The wind was still.
Wyatt looked through his scope. His rifle was trained on a Saint who thought he was hidden among the trees. Wyatt could take him out now, and he knew Owen and Maks had their sights on someone as well.
But each waited.
Let the Saints think they had the element of surprise. Let them believe that all of them were in the comfort of their beds. Let the Saints assume all of that and more.
Wyatt tossed away the remaining piece of jerky when he saw three of the Saints walk from their hiding spot. They were bent low, rifles up. They had gone about twenty feet before they suddenly stopped and looked over their shoulder to the others. Then the three turned and hurried back to cover.
Concerned, Wyatt looked through his scope. All he could see was the back of a Saint. The group wasn’t moving, so they hadn’t decided on another approach point.
That meant something else made them retreat.
Or someone.
Wyatt looked to the barn. A churning started in his gut. The troubles of Austin had most likely found their way north. If Ahmadi’s men and the Reeds joined up with the Saints, then they were in big trouble.
There was a soft hiss through the COM in Wyatt’s ear before Maks’s voice said, “We have a problem.”
“What do you see?” Owen whispered.
“They’re retreating,” Wyatt said as he saw the Saints move off.
Natalie then asked, “Why is that a problem?”
“Reinforcements,” the three men said in unison.
And Wyatt knew just who was coming. He waited until the last of them were gone, and the horses went back to grazing. Then he jumped up and walked to the barn. He glanced upward to see the pink and yellow streaks of the sunrise in the partially cloudy sky.
He waited with Owen at the barn entrance for Maks. Wyatt didn’t want to tell Callie about her family, but there would be no use keeping it a secret.
Callie needed to rest, not be anxious about her kin. Because Wyatt wasn’t going let them anywhere near her. Ever. He’d told them what he would do if they ever bothered her again. Now, he would show them.
And Ahmadi. Those men would kill everything—man or beast.
He blinked and looked over to find Owen silently regarding him. Wyatt spotted Maks jump the fence and cross the yard toward the barn.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that look.”
Wyatt frowned and looked at his brother. “What look?”
“That one,” Owen said with a nod of his head. “The one that gives the impression you’re detached from a situation when really it’s the opposite.”
Maks halted before them and looked from Wyatt to Owen and back again. “You know why the Saints left.”
It wasn’t a question. Wyatt nodded and took out his ear COM. The two men did the same. Then he said, “I thought we’d have a day or two before the troubles in Austin found us.”
“Ahmadi,” Maks said.
Owen’s eyes went hard. “And the Reeds.”
Wyatt nodded. “We’ll soon be fighting all three groups.”
“We’re going to need more guns,” Owen said.
Maks slipped the strap of his rifle over his arm. “That means trusting others.”
“I’m not sure we can,” Wyatt pointed out.
Owen ran a hand over his jaw. “Four against twenty was one thing. Four against forty, fifty, or sixty, is another.”
“I say we call Orrin and Yuri,” Maks said. “They’re already aware of your injury and that the Saints were coming to attack.”
Wyatt glared at him. “You called Orrin?”
“I called Yuri. Orrin just happens to be with him,” Maks pointed out.
Wyatt met Owen’s dark eyes. “What do you want to do?”
“We tell the girls and get their opinion,” Owen said. “This involves them. Especially Callie.”
Wyatt moved his eyes to the entrance of the base as Owen walked off to get Natalie.
“You could always give up the life,” Maks said. “Stay here herding cattle or whatever it is you do on a ranch.”
The idea took root in Wyatt, but it was swiftly killed. “I’m not suited to ranch life anymore.”
“It was just a suggestion.”
“Yeah.” Wyatt walked to the hidden button that would slide back the portion of the floor that kept the stairs down to the base hidden, but he didn’t touch it.
Maks raised a brow. “Do you want me to push the button?”
“I’ve got it.”
“Do you? Because you look more twisted up than earlier.”
Wyatt met Maks’s blue eyes. “I swore to Callie’s family that I would kill them if they didn’t leave her alone.”
“Seems like they didn’t take your threat seriously.”
“They did until the Saints backed them.”
Maks nodded at that. “And you’re having a problem putting an end to these evil bastards why?”
“Blood is blood. They’re her kin.”
“Have they ever hurt her?”
Wyatt thought back to finding her bloodied and unconscious. “They beat her.”
“Then think of how she looked after they hit her when you see them.”
“That won’t be a problem.”
Maks smiled. “Family or not, no one should be treated like that.”
“No.”
“You found her, didn’t you?”
Wyatt frowned at him. “Why do you ask that?”
“Because whenever the Reeds are mentioned, there is anger in Owen’s eyes, but when you talk about them, there is murder in yours.”
Wyatt hit the button, cutting off anything else Maks might say. As if knowing what he was about, Maks simply smiled and followed Wyatt down the steps.
Maks went to the armory while Wyatt made his way to the sleeping quarters. When he looked inside, Callie was sleeping. He was just about to close the door and let her rest more, but Natalie and Owen came down to the base, talking loudly enough that it woke her.
Her gaze met his. How he loved the color of her eyes. He’d told her that once after their first kiss, and her smile had lit up her face.
“What happened?” she asked.
Owen brushed past Wyatt. “Oh, good. You’re awake. We need to talk.”
Wyatt shifted to the side so that Natalie could enter. He was going to remain in the doorway until Maks walked up and lifted a brow. Wyatt then strode into the room and stood against the wall while Maks remained by the door.
“Someone better tell me what’s going on,” Callie said.
Natalie grabbed some extra pillows as Callie struggled to sit up. Wyatt set his rifle against the wall while Callie got propped up. When he lifted his gaze, she was staring at him.
It was like a punch to his gut. It had been the same the first time he’d seen her looking at him. She’d been timid, but in her eyes, he saw someone who was willing to break free of the cage she was in, someone who was wild at heart.
Someone who hungered for the wide open spaces just as he did.
Their connection had been instant, even if he had tried to ignore it for another week. But there was no disregarding a girl like Callie. Her presence pulled him to her like an unseen force. It wasn’t until he’d quit fighting it that he realized how good it felt.
She deserved the life that she wanted, the life that she’d worked so hard for. She deserved happiness and laughter.
And he was damned determined to see that she got it.
“They’re here,” he said.
There was no clarification needed. Callie understood that he referred to her family. She let out a breath, her shoulders slumping. “They’re not fighters. Beating them should be easy enough.”
He nodded, knowing she was right. As much as he hated the Reeds, he didn’t want her to look at him differently when he had to kill them—and he feared she would.
The frown deepened on Callie’s brow. “Ahmadi’s men coming, as well. Aren’t they?”
“Yes.”
Natalie asked, “Who is Ahmadi?”
“A man who leads a terrorists group,” Maks explained.
Wyatt bent his knee and propped one sole against the wall behind him. “My team has been after them for years. They’ve had a bounty on my head for some time.”
“And now the Saints have given Wyatt to them,” Callie said.
Owen sighed loudly. “No doubt the Saints will come back with more numbers. So we’re looking at fifty or more attacking.”
“We need more men,” Callie said.
Natalie looked around the room. “But can we trust anyone to help?”
“That’s why we’re talking about this,” Owen said. “Everyone gets a vote.”
Callie scoffed at him. “This isn’t the time for democracy. This is war.”
Wyatt hid his smile and saw Maks doing the same.
“Callie, this is your blood,” Owen said.
She shook her head as he spoke. “No. My family is in this room. My family was murdered by the Saints in that house a few weeks ago. My family was kidnapped and run off the road. I may carry the last name of Reed, but I stopped thinking of them as my kin a long time ago. The Loughmans are my family.”
Wyatt stopped breathing when her gaze turned to him.
“They aren’t my family,” she repeated.
It was her way of telling him to do whatever he had to in order to remain alive. And he wouldn’t hesitate. The Reeds had had their chances with Callie over the years, but they continued to blow it.
Natalie threw up her hands in frustration. “So, what are we doing?”
Callie smiled at her. “You’re going to help me to my desk where I’m going to start monitoring the cameras on the perimeter. While I’m doing that, Wyatt, Owen, and Maks will determine who they think we can trust and call them in.”
“Are you in charge now?” Owen asked with a grin.
Callie shrugged, her gaze meeting Wyatt’s again. “That duty falls to someone else. Take it. It’s yours.”
Wyatt straightened and grabbed his rifle. She was all but daring him to assume command, and he found he was more than willing. “I’m bringing in my team,” he stated.