Chapter 29 Colton
Colton
The dog had gone out, the coffee was brewing, and Colton rooted through the fridge to figure out breakfast. He couldn’t speak for Zach, but he’d worked up a helluva appetite last night.
Good Lord, that boy was a tornado in bed. If a man could die from too much fucking, Colton might end up with that on his tombstone. As much fun as it would be killing himself, he’d always hoped for something more heroic than ‘fucked himself to death with the hottest little ass in Montana.’
He was still laughing at his joke when Zach walked into the kitchen in just his boxers. Lord help him, if Zach wanted to do it again, Colton might have to raise the white flag and admit Zach had worn him out.
“Hey, handsome,” Zach winked and sat gingerly on the folding chair. “I might have been a bit overambitious last night.”
Colton liked the way Zach called him handsome, and he didn’t sound too upset. “Well, I’m not too proud to admit you wore me out good. I’m gonna need a day off to recover from that night.” They laughed, and an easy silence filled the kitchen.
The chair creaked as Zach pushed himself up. “I’m going to shower, but I came down to thank you for the most amazing night of my life.” He threw his arms around Colton’s neck, leaned up and kissed him gently on the lips.
This wasn’t a prelude to getting it on again, it was a soft, beautiful moment between two people who cared about each other. “The first of many,” Colton said.
“God I hope so,” Zach said with so much conviction. He smiled, nicked a last peck, and moved that amazing ass off to get a shower.
Lord have mercy, Colton was hooked but good.
He ended up admitting defeat on the breakfast front and making a PB and J, leaving the ingredients out for Zach to do the same, and then he went to sit out on his front porch and watch Barley hunt grasshoppers.
There was precious little that was funnier than watching that beast pounce and bite, chomping down and getting wings stuck in his teeth.
He plopped his butt down on the rickety chair, shaking his head. Lord, he was going to get him one of them fancy-assed cushioned seat things. He grinned. Well, he’d have to get it for Zach’s poor butt.
He checked his phone, sent Ted and Greg an all-is-well text, and then peeked at the weather. Looked like a decent day—hot, humid, and sunny. Must be summertime.
Damn.
A plume of dust, too close to be actually in the distance made him frown. What the actual fuck? It wasn’t that dry, so someone was moving fast and with purpose.
He stood up, frowning as the dust devil came closer and closer. His gut told him something was up. Colton trusted his gut.
He grabbed his coffee cup and headed inside, locking the door and sprinting upstairs for a better vantage point. Peering down from the big window at the top of the stairs, he could tell it was mechanical, fast, and heading for them. Dammit.
“Get your shit together, man. Now.” He grabbed the rifle from the corner and got a bead on the side-by-sides, and the armed assholes coming at them.
Fuck, that big bay window cost him a fortune. He went into the second bedroom, grabbed the nine millimeter he’d put in the room and set it beside him. Cracking the window, he lined up a shot and laid down a line of warning fire where the assholes would see it.
Then his damn phone started ringing. “Dammit, Zach! Come on!” He slapped at his phone. “What?”
“You got company coming, Scrap!” Greg said, sounding almost as scared as Colton felt. “You need to get the hell out of Dodge.”
Like he didn’t fucking know it. He went with a second warning spray, and the little fuckers didn’t care. Dammit, he didn’t want to shoot them, but this was his home, his land, and he would defend it. “Too late. Already shooting. Get your ass over here with the guys, would you?”
“I’m coming, Scrap. Don’t get your ass shot, you hear?” The rev of a motorcycle drowned out the rest of Greg’s words.
The cavalry was coming, but it wasn’t going to make it in time. “Don’t plan on getting any part of me shot.”
The line went dead, and Zach burst in the room. “Colton?”
Colton picked up the pistol and held it out. “I need you to take this and hide in the other small bedroom.”
“No way. This is my fight too.”
Oh, no. Don’t go getting stubborn on me.
“Honey, I love you, I truly do, but you can’t help me.
I got this, and I got help on the way.” All he needed to do was hold them off long enough for them to arrive.
No small ask. “You keep your head down and wait for me to say all clear. If you hear me say anything else, it means trouble is coming and you need to be ready.”
“What?”
“Trust me. It’s code. All clear and nothing else, you got it?”
Zach nodded. He looked about to crap himself, but the guy was trying.
“Go.”
He followed Zach until he went into an empty room, then ran downstairs. After shrugging into his tactical vest, he grabbed two Glock 19s along with two spare magazines, and the rifle. He had enough firepower to shoot them little fuckers ten times over.
The phone vibrated again. “Fuck me.” He’d have ignored it but it was Uncle Ted.
He set up by the window they’d reinforced the night before and opened it enough that he could fire. “Sheriff, I’m a might busy.”
“I know, son.” He’d never heard his uncle scared, but there was a first time for everything. “I got everyone I can heading your way.”
That didn’t sound like help was close. “I appreciate it.” The two vehicles slowed and turned but kept on course for the house. “They’re here. How’d they find us?”
“Violin case. One of the five turned himself in. Told us Stephen bugged the case in case Zach ran off. Seems one of them knew how to track you.”
Four instead of five. That made the odds poor instead of really poor. “Listen, Uncle Ted. Thank you for everything. You’ve been a better father than I had a right to expect.”
“We don’t need to go there, Colton.”
Actually they did. “These aren’t the best odds on earth.” They weren’t the worst either, but he sure could use some backup.
“Hang on, son. Help is on its way.”
“They’re almost here. I got to go.” He hung up, took aim, and took out a tire, sending one vehicle spinning for a second before it came to rest facing him.
The second side-by-side kept moving, and he went for another shot, but it went wide.
The driver sped up and moved to the right of the house. Dammit.
The last thing he fucking needed was to fight a battle on two fronts. Still, that back door was barred up some, and Barley was already losing his shit from the gunshots, so he’d know when they breached the goddamn door.
Asshole one, the youngest of the four as he remembered, started firing into his house, and he didn’t want to think about the damage it was causing.
He took a deep breath and hollered in his best cop voice, “Y’all are trespassing on private land.
It’s marked. You’re armed and unwelcome.
My backup is on the way. This is your only warning. ”
Then he returned a suppressing spray that had them diving behind the vehicle.
“Just send Zach out!” the tall ugly one said.
Right, like that shit was going to happen. He’d pick his teeth with the assholes’ bones first. “Zach who?”
“We know he’s in there! Give him over and we’ll leave. Do you have a death wish?”
Colton didn’t bother answering. He heard rattling in the back, got a nice shot on Tall Ugly’s gun hand and fired. The scream he got in return satisfied his soul a little. He’d pray on that later.
“Lay your gun down, boy,” he ordered the youngest. “I’m not playing with you fuckers anymore.”
“I—” The kid was about to crack; he could smell it.
“Shoot him!” Tall and Ugly yelled through his pain. “Shoot him so Rocky and Peter can get that little bastard!”
Colton really needed this one to shit or get off the pot. The back door was letting loose, and every fucking crack and groan of wood just pissed him right the hell off.
When the kid lifted the pistol, Colton took his next shot, going for the shoulder. He didn’t get to see where his bullet hit, because Barley went nuts. The kid let out an agonized yell, so that was all he needed to hear.
Another shot rang out from the back of the house.
“You hurt my dog, you piece of shit, and I will make y’all sorry you were ever born.”
He moved to where he could control access to the stairs. If he could buy himself a bit more time, he might survive. He could feel the vibration from Greg’s motorcycle in the back of his neck.
He fired a few shots to keep the two in the house busy. Staying low and as out of the way as possible, he waited. Those assholes would find it hard to hide behind furniture when there wasn’t any.
Barley was barking like there were armed men in the house, but goddamn the dog didn’t get that bullets weren’t scared of the sound. Colton gave two short whistles, and Barley came running. Just the idea the dog was around was going to slow those boys down, and that was all Colton needed.
Taking the four steps with a jump, he took a position on the first landing. He pointed to the side and Barley went as he’d been told. God help him, but that dog was too smart sometimes.
The time for being nice was gone. He’d been decent and hadn’t shot to kill, but they were in his home. Swapping the rifle for the shotgun, he set his service weapon on the floor where he could grab it easily.
“You two should wise up and leave while you can. I already shot your brothers. You two are next if you don’t get the fuck out of my house.”
Hardwood floors were a bitch if you didn’t cover them, but they creaked enough that he could hear them creeping toward him.
Those stupid shits also didn’t know the house the way Colton did. Hell, he’d built half of it himself. The windows across the room gave him all the information he needed to see where they were and how low they crouched.
Much as he hated what he was about to do next, Colton lowered the barrel and shot through the drywall. A semiautomatic weapon skidded across the floor, and a second later a scream filled the house.
It was scared and angry and didn’t belong to the one whose face had probably been mangled by the blast.
Colton pumped and before he could react, the fourth brother ran into the open, firing wildly as he moved. Tracking him, Colton took a second shot and hit him flush, sending him flying across the room.
A burning on his right side under the vest told Colton he’d been a lick too slow. He didn’t need to see it to know he’d been shot.
“Colton?” Zach’s voice was close, meaning he’d left his room.
Sound from the kitchen told him it wasn’t over.
“Stay put, honey.” He was proud his voice didn’t shake.
He tried to raise the shotgun, but his arm didn’t respond. Reaching across with his left hand, his fingers touched the cool metal when he saw the shadow.
“Don’t!” The big one he shot in the hand was holding a pistol in his left hand and pointing it at Colton. “Should have killed me when you could. Now, tell Zach to get down here if he doesn’t want me to kill you.”
“No way I’m going to make it easy for you. My money’s on Zach shooting you when you try to find him.” He tilted his head toward the door. “If the sheriff and my family don’t kill you first.”
The man fired, and it just missed Colton’s shoulder. “Next one goes in your head.”
A snarl caused him to turn an instant before Barley leaped at the intruder. Colton reached for his gun, but that shifted something inside him, and the zing of pain sent him crumpling to his side.
The guy was screaming when Zach thundered down the stairs, held the gun in both hands, and shot Tall Ugly in the chest.
“Colton!” Zach dropped the gun and knelt beside him.
Goddamn it, no. “Pick it up,” Colton whispered. “I only injured the fourth one.
“Colton!” Greg cried out.
“He’s been shot!” Zach screamed, one notch below hysterical.
Everyone was acting stupid. “Tell him to watch it. The last brother.” He said it so low he wasn’t sure Zach heard him.
“Colton said one might be alive.”
“He’s still down,” Greg said. “I’m coming in. Don’t no one shoot me.”
He needed to check on his dog. “There’s one still moving.”
“Where’d he get you?” Greg asked.
Don’t scare Zach, man. He’s having a bad goddamn day. “I’m fine. Is Barley okay?”
“He’s right here, bud. He’s just fine.” Greg grinned at him, and Colton smiled back, or he was pretty sure he did. Greg put something up to his face. “Dad! Call an ambulance. Scrappy took one to the chest.”
“Don’t worry, Zach. It’s nothing. I swear.”
It was a white lie because it felt a little bigger than nothing, but…that was okay. That was good.
Zach smiled at him all the way down the tunnel, as Colton fell through.