Chapter 22
TWENTY-TWO
Levi
“Here.” I hand Zephyrine my walkie after I silence it.
“Get under here and stay here. Be as silent as a church mouse. Don’t come out for any reason.
I don’t care what you hear or think you hear.
You don’t come out until I tell you or there’re hours of silence, you got it?
If you need to call for someone, I’ve set it so those comms go to the entire security team.
They’re already on their way. Someone will come for you. ”
“Yes, okay. But what about you? There’s room!” She looks absolutely petrified, and it only steels my nerves.
“No. I have to take care of this. I’ve got a plan. Don’t worry.” I do my best to reassure her. I trust my team. I trust the perimeter. I just have to go through with the plan we put in place. I kiss her forehead, but her worried look doesn’t fade.
There’s a loud warning shot in the distance, and then another round of open gunfire. It’s enough to get me moving.
“Get down, and whatever you do, stay quiet,” I urge her. I put the false floor back in place over the top of her, taking her in one last time while I work to keep her safe. Her blue eyes hold mine until the darkness covers them.
I kick the carpet back into place and grab my gun, tucking it into the back of my jeans.
I skirt the perimeter of the cabin, looking out the windows to see where anyone might be, but all I see is the wide expanse of forest and the lakefront.
I take a deep, steadying breath. I'm not a stranger to this kind of situation.
I've lived it before. Planned for it now. But there’s always this moment where I wonder if this is it. The last one I get.
I close my eyes and breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth as I hear an explosion in the distance.
I armed all the trip wires and explosives remotely just as soon as we arrived here.
They’re doing their job as promised, and I sit down at the table to take a sip of my coffee and pull open the drone feed.
They’re swarming now, even as Corey's guys take shots at them. The drones follow their path through the woods, and I start counting. One, three, five. I count my way through them as they cross into the second zone. Two men are already down. One’s limping, another clearly fallen behind as he tends to a wound.
I zoom in. Seven of them and her husband, I presume, pulling up the rear.
He’s not interested in being cannon fodder for my defensive bulwark.
He’s brought expendables with him for exactly that reason.
Hoping that he can use them to get into this cabin.
Unfortunately, it’ll probably work. I didn't expect someone to come from the top of the mountain down. A helicopter is clever. I’ll give him that much.
Zephyrine warned me I’d underestimate him, and she was right.
I just hope Jack and the rest of the team are watching the drone footage too, using it to make the best of their positions until backup arrives.
We’re deep in the woods, but their response time was near-perfect when Zephyrine made a run for it.
I’m hoping they have the same timing today. We’ll need it.
Another round of fire comes that sounds closer than before. An explosion follows. More gunfire. It echoes against the mountainside, and there’s shouting in the distance as another man falls within the drone's frame.
More screams echo through the forest, and the din of male voices gets louder and louder as they move closer. My heart rate kicks up a notch when I hear the footsteps on the gravel path below the cabin.
I grab my coffee and take one last swig before I stand, walking my way toward the door and putting my hand on my gun.
I close my eyes, trying to take in every sound around me.
Another round of gunfire, the sound of a body hitting the ground, and I hold my position in front of the door.
I’m her last line of defense, and I don’t want to fail her.
Footsteps fly up the gravel and pound their way over the front porch of the cabin. There’s someone breathing heavily at the door, out of breath and heart racing. Someone rattled. Panicked. I could use that to my advantage.
I aim my gun and fire a round through the wall.
“Fuck!” He cries out, and I hear him crumple outside the door. For a moment, I move forward, thinking this was all easier than I thought. But he stands again, and I watch the door handle rattle and turn. The attempt grows more erratic as he loses his patience. I keep the barrel aimed on the entry.
The door bursts open, and I see the man I’ve baited out here. I know his face too well from previous experience. Corey’s bleeding from his left leg and slightly hobbled, but very, very fucking pissed off as we aim our guns at one another. Mountaineering’s not his thing, I guess.
“Didn’t enjoy the hike?” I smirk at the sweat dripping down his brow. His shaggy blond hair is mussed, and his ruddy cheeks, along with the scowl that frames them, make him look even more unkempt.
“I’ve got this cabin surrounded. Give me my wife,” he demands, spittle flying loose from his lips.
“Afraid you’ve got the wrong cabin.” I give him a pitying once over.
“Give her to me now, Stockton, or I’ll blow your fucking skull off the back of your head.” He takes another step forward, blood leaking down from his leg onto the floorboards.
“What you’ve got isn’t a high enough caliber for that. You’re just gonna do enough to piss me off.”
“Piss your pants, more like. Thought I wouldn’t find you, huh? All alone in the wilderness. Your family name won’t protect you now.”
I roll my eyes and shake my head, amused by his attempts to intimidate me.
“I have a whole army coming up this mountain, and last I checked, you have one helicopter full of men who are scattered in pieces out in the woods. I suppose math never was your strong suit. So believe me when I say the odds aren’t in your favor.
It's your last chance to run.” I pause, knowing full well he won’t budge.
“But if you plan on staying, I’m going to have to ask you to put that gun down.
I can’t have you breaking any of my sister-in-law’s porcelain. ”
He fires his gun and shatters my coffee cup on the table. Impulsive when he’s pissed. One less bullet to go. His reaction time is slower than mine. All good information to have.
“Now see, that’s not very polite when you come into someone’s home.”
“Give me my fucking wife.”
“I'm surprised you have a wife with that attitude. She let you break shit in her house like that?”
“I do what I want in my fucking house.” He sneers. “I know you have her. Wherever she is, give her to me, or I will fucking kill you.”
“What does she look like?” I’m trying to buy time, give my guys precious minutes to get up here and clear the woods so we can take him alive.
I don’t want to kill him outright. I need information from him, and this is my best chance yet to get it from someone who’s close to the governor.
But I don’t want to die trying and give Zephyrine up to him in the process.
“Stop being a smart-ass, Stockton. Believe me when I say you’re a fucking dead man!” His patience is waning.
“I don't suppose you’ll ever find her then.” I glance out the window. If he had backup still alive, I would have seen or heard them by now. It’s just us up here. That at least gives me some solace.
“What the fuck are you looking at? My guys will be in here any minute. Then I’ll have them start cutting you into pieces until you tell me where she is. I suggest you start talking now if you want to die easy.” Corey crosses the space between us and waves his gun dangerously close to me.
“Easy there,” I warn him, my finger warming to my trigger. I’m fairly certain I could get a shot off before him, but if I don’t shoot to kill, he’ll definitely kill me. “I think we need to slow down with the threats.”
He answers me by firing off a round that goes whizzing by my head and shatters something else behind me.
I take a deep breath. I might have to make a choice I don’t want to make.
At least I think I will, until I see the floorboards start to rise in the corner of my vision.
Zephyrine’s crawling out from under them, her eyes fixed on her husband and fury written all over her face.
My stomach bottoms out. If she’s out here, I have a whole new set of math I have to do, and quickly.
I can’t even yell at her to stop or subtly try to warn her off.
She creeps across the floor, and I have to chant silently in my head for them not to squeak under her bare feet.
Any motion I make will have him following my line of sight and reveal her.
So instead, I keep my eyes trained on him, staring back into his dark-blue, beady abyss.
If they ever need a poster child for dead eyes, he’s a prime candidate.
I imagine that’s what happens after years and years of the vapid pursuit of wealth and power.
Eventually, the corruption leaks out into the body.
The governor has a matching vacant stare.
“I won’t ask again.” He gives me an ultimatum just as Zephyrine lines up behind him and raises the gun in her hands. I hope she knows how to fire it.
“Drop the gun, you fucking prick,” Zephyrine demands as she places the gun to the back of his skull, and his eyes meet mine as he tries to process what’s happening. The look on his face is priceless.
“I’d listen to her. That caliber at that range.” I draw a breath through my teeth. “Will definitely shatter your skull.”
“You fucking bitch.” Her husband curses her, recognizing her voice.
Zephyrine’s eyes narrow, and I see her finger massage the trigger. I need him whole, and I beg her to look at me, but she’s too angry, too ready to end this man for everything he’s ever done and said to her. But her eyes close for a moment and then reopen with newfound clarity.
“Drop the gun,” she repeats calmly, the nun coming through before the ruthless man’s daughter returns. “Or I will happily use you to test the theory.”
Fuck, I like this woman.
He does as she asks, realizing that she’ll kill him if he continues.
She kicks the gun to me, and I take it, kicking it far behind me and then moving to put Corey face down on the ground.
I pin him with my body weight as he curses my existence and hers.
Before I can speak to give her instructions, she’s on the move.
Zephyrine works like she’s done this a million times, grabbing the handcuffs still sitting on the nightstand in her room and helping me cuff him.
We both hear the sound of feet on gravel, racing toward the cabin, and our attention moves to the door while I keep Corey on the ground with my knee between his shoulder blades.
She walks backward slowly, lining up next to me as we each keep our gun on the door.
The footsteps slow, moving cautiously, as they reach the porch and then turn into the cabin.
All of us startling when they come into view.
“Fuck! Sorry!” Jack apologizes, lowering his weapon when he sees it’s us.
“Took you long enough.”
“I’m sorry. We ran as fast as we could once we cleared it, but his guys kept us in the woods longer than we thought they would.” Jack’s head dips with regret.
“They’re all accounted for.” Jack’s second-in-command lets me know when he reaches the doorway.
“Minus this fuck.” I nod to the man beneath me. “Let’s get him out of here.”
“Where do you want to take him?” Jack asks.
“The cellblock for now,” I answer, and they both nod their understanding, hauling him up and out of the cabin as soon as I step back. “The rest of our guys are on their way. Make sure if you pass them out there, you get them sorted.”
“What about the helicopter?” Zephyrine looks at me, worry dancing behind the blue.
“They’re long gone. There’s a drop-off point up there, but nowhere to use as an exfil. My best guess is that they have another vehicle waiting at the bottom of the mountain that my guys already destroyed.” I try to assuage her concerns.
“You’re sure?” I hear the adrenaline in her tone. She’s still shaken, and I just want to comfort her.
“Positive. But I’ll check in with them in a minute. First, I want to make sure you’re okay.” I look over Zephyrine as she watches her husband get dragged down the gravel path.
“I’m… It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him.” She blinks rapidly like she’s holding back tears and then turns to look at me. “I thought he might kill you. I didn’t trust him not to, and I saw an opportunity, so I took it. You’re not mad, are you?”
“I’m not mad. No. It was brave. So fucking brave.” I run my hand down her arm. “But dangerous too. You fucking scared me.” I look up at her, studying the way her face contorts as she tries not to cry and manages to swallow it back.
“I couldn’t let him take someone else. Not again.” She leans into me, and I wrap my arms around her, sweeping her up in a tight hug.
“You did good. It’s okay. You took care of him,” I reassure her softly as I rub the backs of her arms. “Look at me. He’s gone now, okay? You got him. He’s never going to bother you or anyone else again. We’ll make sure of it.”
She nods, but the tears fall from the corners of her eyes silently. I pull her close to me again, letting her bury her face in my shoulder. A sob racks through her chest and vibrates through my own until it echoes like a conviction.
I’d take all the hell this man put her through and erase it for her if I could.
I might not have the power to do that, no matter how much I wish I did.
But I can certainly make him pay for it, slowly, painfully, while I work to get the information I need about her father.
I'll make him regret the day he laid eyes on her with his last fucking breath.