Chapter Fifty-Five
Adam
We crept along the wood line until we reached the location pin Alan had dropped. I heard a whistle I was familiar with and looked in the direction it came from to find my brother crouched behind a bush with binoculars around his neck.
“What’s the status?”
“Well, bad news. Earl is working with someone. Judging by his age, height, and family resemblance, my guess is it’s his son.”
Brian looked at Alan with furrowed brows. “I don’t think so. I’ve never known him to have a son.”
“Maybe a nephew then? There’s definitely some shared DNA somewhere.”
“How long have they been in the barn?”
“Earl has been back and forth from the house a few times, but Junior has stayed put, with the exception of occasionally pacing the floor, in what appears to be an apartment on the second floor. It looks like they maybe converted the hayloft and added a few windows. I think something’s up though because Earl just hustled back. ”
Brian winced. “Earl hustling anywhere is not a good sign.”
My brother’s expression was solemn when he said, “I agree. We need to get inside and get a better look.”
Brian asked him, “Are you armed?”
Alan cocked his head, and gestured to his Kevlar vest and binos around his neck and replied, “What do you think?”
“Just making sure. How are you with a rifle?”
I laughed out loud. “He’s a better shot with a rifle than I am with a handgun.”
Brian’s eyebrows went to his hairline.
“Okay, then. We’ll leave the rifle with you. What do you think are our best points of entry?”
Alan pointed out what he’d observed while Earl had been coming and going.
Brian’s leadership skills were on display when he took charge and directed, “Alan, because you’re a civilian and I hate paperwork, I need you to hang back and cover us only if absolutely necessary.”
Alan saluted him. “Cover you only if absolutely necessary. Got it,” then he took two flashbangs from where they hung on his vest and handed one to each of us. “These might come in handy.”
Brian looked dumbfounded as he took the light/sound distraction device.
“How do you have thes—you know what? I don’t wanna know.”
Alan nodded. “Yeah, it’s probably better that way. For all of us.”
We quickly devised a plan where I’d deploy the flashbangs so Brian passed his to me. He’d be the lead going in, and I’d follow right behind while Alan stayed on the fringe.
Lainey’s screams of, “No! Get off of me!” set the plan in motion.
We sprinted toward the barn and Brian slipped inside the door. Alan signaled to me that Brian was in position and I tossed the flashbangs through the windows while Brian breached the apartment door.
There was an exchange of gunfire as I sprinted toward the stairs, and I saw Brian go down.
Taking cover, I fumbled with my radio and called, “Shots fired! Shots fired! Officer down!”
I quietly climbed the stairs and reached Brian. He was shot in the upper thigh, and I was worried his femoral artery had been hit.
In case “Officer down,” hadn’t been clear enough, I said into the radio, “Start meds. Officer shot in the upper thigh.”
Dispatch asked if there were any additional injuries, and Brian nodded. “I got him at least twice.”
I confirmed with dispatch there were more injuries, then jumped when I noticed my brother next to me, wrapping his belt around Brian’s thigh.
“Fuck!” I whisper-yelled. “That’s a good way to get yourself shot.”
Alan chuckled. “Like you’d get a shot off before me. We need to get in there.”
I heard Lainey’s voice call, “Adam?”
I yelled back, “Yeah, baby?”
“Can you come unlock me please?”
With my gun drawn, I stepped inside and saw Earl on the ground with an obvious gunshot wound to his head. Still, I knelt and felt for a pulse and found none so I moved further inside the room.
The skinny dude that fit the description perfectly of the guy who’d jumped me was lying on the floor, next to the bed.
He had a pulse and was breathing, he just seemed unconscious. Still, I rolled him over in the prone position and handcuffed him, then rolled him onto his back.
Then I saw her.
She was naked from the waist up and crouched in the corner behind the bed with chains around her wrists and ankles. Rage coursed through my body at the site of her ripped shirt and sliced bra on the floor, but I had to shove the anger down and focus on helping her.
“Are you okay, baby girl?” I asked softly as I looked around for a key or some way to free her from her bonds so I could get her the hell out of there.
“I am now.”
She realized our dilemma.
Well, part of it. The other part was finding a shirt or blanket to cover her bare breasts before anyone else came bursting through the door.
“Try your handcuff key,” she suggested as she pointed to the handcuff case on my utility belt.
I did and the moment she was free, she practically leapt into my arms.
I kissed her hair and whispered, “You’re safe now, princess.”
With her front pressed against me, I called to my brother.
He asked, “All clear?”
I confirmed, “All clear.”
He stepped inside and noticed Earl, then said, “What happened to him?” as he gestured to who we’d been referring to as Junior.
There was disgust laced with anger in Lainey’s tone when she replied, “I knocked his ass out.”
I pulled back to look down at her. “ You knocked him out ?”
“Yeah. Those heavy chains they had on me are even heavier when swung with some force. I’ve basically been doing deadlifts fifty times a day for the last two months. I guess it paid off.”
“I guess so. Damn, baby.”
Alan said, “I’ve got to get back to Brian. What do you need?”
Lainey gasped, “Is he okay?”
“He will be as long as we get him to a hospital soon.”
I caught his eye, then purposefully looked down at my half-naked girl.
“I need your shirt.”
“Oh, yeah. No problem.”
He reached behind his neck and pulled it off, then quipped as he handed it to me, “My belt, my shirt, pretty soon I’m going to be down to just my skivvies and my boots.”
He disappeared out the door and the sound of sirens grew louder.
“Put this on.”
She quickly slid it over her head.
“Did they hurt you, baby?”
“No, you guys got here before they could do anything more than cut my shirt and bra off.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. Be thankful you got here in time.”
“I am thankful. For a lot of things. But mostly for Shawn bringing you and Conor into my life.”
I kissed her hair again and put my arm back around her waist.
Her expression was confused when she looked up at me, so I continued, “I know this isn’t the best time, but I need to say this now; I was so scared I’d never be able to tell you.
” I stared into her hazel eyes when I declared, “I love you, Lainey, and I love your son. I need you both in my life like I need air.”
Tears threatened to spill down her cheeks when she whispered back, “I love you, too. But I thought—?”
“No more secrets, baby. Everyone in Haven Springs is going to know you’re my girl.”
“What about Shawn?”
“Shawn brought us together for a reason, princess.”
She nodded. “I think so, too.”
There was a lot of commotion outside the room, and I smirked.
“I think the calvary has arrived. Let’s get you out of here.”
Lainey looked around like she’d smelled something bad. “Yes, let’s.”
We took a step forward, but I stopped her. “Wait. I have to do something for my brother.”
“What?”
“This.”
I scooped her up in a bridal carry and grinned as I walked out the door and past my brother with her in my arms.
“Way to go, Adam!” He clapped, parodying the movie I was emulating. “Way to go!”