Chapter Seventeen #2
“But…?”
“It’s bulletproof,” he said, hoisting me up against his chest. “And this stable isn’t.”
And then he was running with me, racing past another stable and a wheelbarrow and then around the corner of the whitewashed wall into the shadows. Distant shouts rang out. Something was going on in the main farmhouse.
A large black minivan with dark windows sat facing the yard. The side door was open.
“Quick, scoot in.” Cillian sat me on a seat, and over his shoulder, he checked out the yard. He withdrew a handgun.
“Don’t leave me.”
“I…I’ll lock you in. I have to give Finn backup. Just lie down, I won’t be long, I promise.”
“You promise?”
“Yeah, we’ve got to get these scumbags, all of them.”
I couldn’t agree more.
He slammed the door, and a beep told me I was locked in. I hoped to hell it was bulletproof as I closed my eyes and curled into a ball.
* * * *
Finn
“What’s going down, Jamie?” I slammed my shoulder into the wall next to him and pulled up my mask.
He had his weapon poised on a closed door.
“Some asshole just fired at me and ran in there.”
“Just one guy?”
“Yeah, but there’s at least one more.” Dalton and Phil went after a big motherfucker.”
“Which way did he go?”
“Around the back, toward the barn.” He scoped the yard again. “You find her?”
“Yeah.”
“She okay?”
“She will be.”
“Good.” He jerked his head. “Let’s go.”
We stepped forward, guns aimed at the door.
My heart was beating unusually fast for this kind of situation.
I guessed it was from pure fury. These people had thought it was okay to take Rebecca—our beautiful, pure, delicate Rebecca who would never hurt anyone.
I was incandescent with rage and I hadn’t had enough revenge yet.
“What shitty business do they get up to here?” I asked.
“Nothing good,” Jamie said.
I huffed. We stood either side of the door. “You sure it’s just one bloke in there?” I asked.
“Yep, tall, in a peaked cap, orange trousers, and a Barbour jacket.”
“On a day like today? Bit hot for that.”
“It’s not hot in here.”
Jamie was right. The farmhouse had thick stone walls and little windows. There was a coolness in the air.
“How do you want to do this?” I asked.
“You kick, I go in first.”
“Suits me.”
Jamie knew I had a good technique with kicking through doors, he’d seen me do it enough times.
Adrenaline was surging, and I harnessed it, stepped back, and then did a forward kick with the flat of my foot and shot the old slatted door from its frame.
It clattered to the ground, and while I landed from the kick, Jamie, sleek and tall and dressed head to toe in black, Union Jack bandana covering his nose, mouth and chin, rushed in.
“Don’t even think about it, bastard,” he shouted.
It took a split second for me to follow him. My stomach clenched, and a fresh wave of anger gripped me. Peaked Cap Guy was holding the barrel of his gun to the temple of a terrified young woman with long dark hair.
She had wide brown eyes. Her Rolling Stones t-shirt was grubby and her jeans torn. Her bottom lip was visibly trembling.
“One more step and she’s toast,” asshole said.
“What do we care? We don’t know her,” I answered with a nonchalant shrug.
Jamie stiffened, but he didn’t say anything.
I looked beyond the guy. There were two more women huddled in the corner. One was crying and shaking in the other’s arms.
“Fuck off. You’re trespassing.” Asshole upped his grip on his hostage’s slender upper arm, his fingers denting her flesh and making her wince.
“What do you do here?” I asked.
“None of your goddamn business.”
“Who are these girls?” Jamie said, gesturing at the two in the corner.
“They’re mine, mine to do what the fuck I want with, now get out of here or you’re dead.
“We’re going to need more information than that before we leave,” I said. “You know, make sure this business is legit.”
“You’re not the fucking police, so what’s it to you?”
“Let’s just say we don’t like seeing vulnerable women preyed upon, and it sure as hell seems that’s what’s going on here.” Jamie’s finger tensed on his trigger.
“I mean it, I’m going to kill her, I’ve killed before, doesn’t fucking bother me, don’t think I won’t do it. I will. I’ll blow her fucking brains out.”
That was enough for me. I aimed my gun at his right kneecap—it was a safer option than his head which was pressed to the girl’s—and fired.
The center of his right leg exploded in a gush of blood, bone, and tendon. He yelled out and doubled over.
Jamie took the first shot at his head.
I followed up with another one just to be sure.
He slumped forward, the life gone from him by the time he hit the deck.
The girl screamed, her hands trembling beside her blood-splattered face.
“Hey, hey.” Jamie rushed to her, his weapon at his side. “It’s okay, it’s okay. We won’t hurt you.”
She spoke to the other girls. A language I didn’t recognize. She was shaking violently and sobbing.
“Where are you from?” Jamie asked, putting his hand on her shoulder. “Do you speak English?”
“Romania.” Her quivering voice was heavily accented. “And I do, but not them, they don’t speak a word.”
“Okay, well, can you tell them to get up, you’re coming with us, we’ll get you to safety,” Jamie said.
She spoke rapidly and went to them, held out her hands.
One of them replied, eyeing us suspiciously. Her cheeks were wet with tears.
“She says how can we trust you?”
I dropped my mask. Did my best to smile. “We just saved you from this asshole, didn’t we?”
She didn’t answer.
“What’s your name?” Jamie asked.
“Sorenna.”
“Sorenna, we’re the good guys, I promise.” Jamie managed a much better smile than mine, all expensive teeth and A-list charm.
“You promise?” she said.
“Promise, we’ve got a van outside, a doctor, too. We’ll get you checked out. Take you to a safe house, in the city. Then you can make plans to get home.”
This seemed to persuade her, and she relayed the information to the other girls.
“Come on.” I glanced at the door. “Let’s go.”
Jamie bent over the dead body on the floor. He patted his clothing and pulled out an iPhone. Quickly, he unlocked it using the dead man’s face then tapped the screen. “Just changing the passcode,” he said with a quick glance at me. “This could be useful.”
“Yeah, I agree.”
Another shot rang out. “Come on.” I gestured to the girls. “And stay close behind me.”
I went back the way I’d come, retracing my steps through the low-ceilinged farmhouse. A cat shot out in front of me and raced up a set of narrow stairs.
“Phil and Dalton must be behind us, out back,” Jamie said.
“That’s good, means we have a clear run to the van.”
I looked across the square cobbled yard. Cillian appeared, running my way, gun held ready.
“Who is that?” Sorenna asked with a frown.
“My twin, another good guy.” There was no other movement, not from the stables or shed-like stores.
“Where’s Rebecca?” I demanded when Cillian reached us.
“In the van, safest place.”
“Good.”
“Who are your guests?” Cillian looked at the three girls huddled around Jamie.
“They were being held captive,” I said. “Some asshole thought they were his to do whatever he wanted with.”
“It was Bateman,” Cillian said. “We’ve already got him on our watch-list.”
“Yes. Yes. Bateman.” Sorenna nodded. “That’s what they called him.”
“How do you know?” I asked Cillian.
“Rebecca heard the name. Where is he now?”
“Busy leaking his brains onto the floor.”
“Good.”
“We should get the girls into the van,” Jamie said, “then go and help the guys. Sounds like World War Three back there.”
I turned to them. “Stay close, okay?”
A stealthy masked herd, we raced across the yard with the girls. Every step I took without a bullet coming our way gave me more hope.
Cillian reached the van first and opened the door. “Rebecca. These woman have also been held here.”
“Oh my goodness.” She held out her hands. “Get them in.”
The three Romanian women piled in.
I reached forward and cupped Rebecca’s cheek. “You’re being so brave, I’m so proud of you.”
“I’m just glad you found me.” Her eyes sparkled with emotion.
“We’d find you where ever you were, anywhere in the world.” I pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “Stay here, no matter what happens.”
“Yes.” She looked from me to Cillian. “Be careful, these guys are nasty.”
“Don’t worry, we can play dirty, too.” Cillian drew up the door. “Real fucking dirty.”