Chapter 19 #2
That tightness in my spine relaxes slightly.
Only for a split-second, though.
A flash of movement draws my attention to the far side of the road that leads to our cabin, near the barn Liam uses as a workshop and for random storage on the homestead.
And that isn’t Liam.
By now, I know him and the way he moves. The confident way he carries himself as he stalks across the property. And this is different.
Someone dressed in all black…
Attempting to blend into the shadows of the night…
The threat that Giz sensed.
The one that Liam just walked out to face.
Alone.
* * *
LIAM
They move like the shadows they try to blend in with, creeping in and out of the darkest places on the homestead, avoiding any open spaces where the moonlight might give them away.
And they’re good.
They know what they’re doing and came prepared for a stealth mission in one of the most remote places imaginable.
But I know the homestead, I know the land and every rock in this place, better than they do their own faces.
Even in the dark, I can see them.
At least three I’ve spotted so far—men dressed in all black and carrying semi-automatic rifles. Who look more than prepared to use them. The way they move seems almost military. Precise and deliberate.
These are the men who robbed the bank.
Somehow, they’ve found us.
They’ve discovered McBride Mountain and come for her, to tie up the loose end and destroy the only evidence of their crime.
My stomach pitches violently, my hands tightening around my shotgun as I inch along the exterior logs of the cabin to where I can peek around the corner and get a better view of the barn.
One of the men pulls open the main door, the sound of the metal rollers moving across the track loud in the unnatural stillness, and pauses, waiting for any sort of response to the sudden noise.
I hold my breath until he disappears inside, releasing it slowly as I scan the surrounding area to try to locate the other men. They must be clearing the homestead, checking to ensure there aren’t any surprises before they hit the cabins and take us all out.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
If Giz hadn’t woken Lucky, we might have been fast asleep when they finally barged in shooting.
We would have been defenseless, and I wouldn’t have had any way to protect Lucky like I promised her I would.
There isn’t any way to warn Killian and Connor or call the sheriff since our cell phones don’t work up here and the only sat phone is in the main cabin.
Killian, Willow, Niall, and Connor are sitting ducks—or sleeping as it may be.
I have to get to them before these guys do…
But the only way to do that is go right past the barn, completely exposed under the moonlight, or to go through it, where I might stand a chance of coming out on the other side, and sticking to the shadows to pick my way back down the ridge.
It’s really the only option.
And it isn’t good.
These men are trained killers. They work for the Lorells, and that family has no qualms about removing people in their way.
I’ve never had to use this gun on anything but bears and other wildlife up here, never even considered having to before Lucky told me the truth about who Brad was and I realized the depth of the danger she was in.
Which means the only chance I stand of beating them is by using the thing that they’re lacking—my knowledge of this mountain and everything on it—to my advantage.
I scan both directions, searching the trees I know so well for any shadows that don’t belong, then quickly bolt across the small open space toward the small back door of the barn.
Pressing my back against the worn boards, I hold my breath, waiting and listening for any sounds that would suggest anyone might have seen or heard my approach.
But an eerie silence that feels completely wrong hangs over the mountain.
Almost as if the animals can sense intruders and know something is wrong and have gone quiet to allow me to hear better, to give me a fighting chance.
I slowly ease open the door, cringing at the creak the old metal hinges make.
Freezing again, I wait for a response or any sound that might tell me where the man who slipped in here might have gone.
My gaze flicks back to the cabin one final time, wishing I didn’t have to leave Lucky like that, wishing there were any other way…but one thing I have learned about her in our short time together is that she’s stronger than I gave her credit for.
She would have shot Connor that day if he were a threat.
She would have stood her ground and done what was necessary even if she regretted it afterward.
I just have to remember that as I force myself to look away and slip inside, allowing my eyes to adjust.
It’s even darker in here, without any hint of the light the stars and the moon provide outside now that the rain has passed. To anyone who doesn’t know the building, it would almost be impassible.
Tools and equipment scattered across the main open space.
Stalls filled with other various other items lining the sides.
Plenty of obstacles for whoever snuck inside before me.
But I quickly and silently move around each item in my way, making my way deep inside and toward the open main door where I can sneak out and move down to warn Connor and Killian and get their help.
My feet move almost silently on the familiar old floorboards, and I sidestep the ones that creak without even thinking about it. Moving stealthily, like one of the mountain predators in the night.
Only, I’ve never considered myself one.
At least, not until I learned about my father…
Now those same feelings simmer in my blood, the agony of discovering who he was and what he had done, not only to Willow but to the woman who risked her life to give me this one.
The heat of it spreads through me, threatening to consume me with the shame and fear that what runs through my veins matches what does in the man who shares my face.
He took my mother’s life so easily.
Holding this gun in my hands, I hope it won’t be easy for me, that if I have to pull the trigger, it will only be because I don’t have any other option in order to protect what I love—this place and the people in it.
A hint of moonlight filtering in through the open main door starts to lighten the way ahead.
Almost there.
Once I’m out on the other side, I can go to Connor’s quickly through the trees and send him to warn Killian.
Then I can get back to Lucky…
She’ll be okay…
Those words echo in my head as a heavy boot falls on the hardwood somewhere to my left.
I whirl toward it, leveling the shotgun in that direction, but the blow doesn’t come from there.
Something hits me from behind, knocking me forward and causing my only weapon to fly from my hands.
Pain shoots through my head, warm blood spilling down my neck, and my chest slams into the floorboards, knocking the air from my lungs in an agonizing rush. Despite being disoriented and struggling to breathe, I turn my head to the side, gasping for air and try to push up, to regain my feet.
A boot presses against my back between my shoulder blades, forcing me down, and the barrel of a rifle presses into my face.
“Where is she?”
Lucky…
Her face flashes before my eyes. The way she looked at me tonight when she told me she loved me.
When she said the words I wasn’t sure I would ever hear.
Ones I didn’t know I needed so badly until I heard them and absorbed them into my heart like a balm that soothed all the wounds I’ve carried for almost a year.
I struggle against the hold, throwing all my weight back, but he hits me with the butt of the gun again, sending me sprawling at his feet with bright flashes in my vision as pain explodes through my head.
“Where the fuck is she? Which cabin?”
He doesn’t know…
A flicker of hope ignites in my aching chest, and I clench my jaw to keep myself from showing him just how badly he hurt me while I swallow the blood in my mouth.
“There’s no way in fucking Hell I would tell you that.”
The man dips his head lower, his hard eyes close enough for me to see them, even in the darkness. “We’ll find her with or without you. She was stupid to think she could ever hide from me.”
From me.
Me.
The word flashes through my head.
This isn’t just some nameless, faceless goon working for the Lorells. This is “Brad.” Brent fucking Lorell.
In the weeks since she told me all of this, Killian, Connor, and I have done our own digging into the family. Even Raven got involved after Willow and the rest of us swore her to secrecy.
And what we found would have stopped anyone else from looking further.
These are not the people you want to fuck with.
Anyone who does isn’t around long enough to regret it.
Yet, Brent is the one who fucked up by leaving Lucky alive. He underestimated her the same way everyone in her life had until she came to McBride Mountain. And that mistake is going to be what assures his failure now.
I crane my head back to look at him more fully, to gauge his size and what he might be capable of physically while I buy myself a moment for my head to stop spinning and to gather my strength. “You shouldn’t have underestimated her.”
He recoils slightly at my comment.
“That was your first mistake.”
His dark laugh fills the barn. “Believe me, I’m regretting it more and more every day. I let myself get sentimental for a split-second, but it won’t happen again, believe me.”
“It won’t matter. Because you fucked up even worse than leaving her alive. It’s the second mistake that’s going to end you.”
Lorell sneers. “Oh, yeah.” He tilts his head, leaning in closer, pushing the barrel to my cheek. “What was my second?”
“Fucking with the McBrides.”
The moment the words are out of my mouth, I spin my left arm back against his rifle, knocking him slightly off balance as he tries to maintain his grip on it.
Get up.
My body protests the rapid movement, the damage to my head making my thoughts sluggish and cloudy.
Acid roils in my stomach, the pain threatening to make me gag as I manage to push myself up onto my knees before he regains control, but the barn spins around me, my already narrow vision in the dark blurring, making it impossible to focus.
Fuck…
I press my left hand against the blood pulsing from my temple, hoping it might help me get my bearings, but he drives the butt of the gun into my ribs to get more space between us so he can use it.
It doubles me over, the searing pain and loss of all the air in my lungs enough to make everything go black, but I refuse to go down again, kicking out blindly toward him.
My boot connects with his leg, and I hear him stumble as I force myself to my unsteady feet.
Everything spins, a cascade of agony and terror combining into a volatile mix that has my body battling between giving up and going under and digging to find the last few shreds of strength I have left.
Lucky…
Giving in to the darkness isn’t an option.
I have to stop him.
My unsteady legs wobble as I prepare to lunge for him to try to disarm him before he regains his footing, but rushed footsteps sound behind me.
I roll toward the sound, but it’s too late.
Searing-hot pain hits me, knocking me backward at the same time the sound of the gunshot shatters the ominous quiet of the night.