Chapter 43
Isabelle had no idea what was going on, but she was exceptionally grateful to the man who had come to rescue her. After Quincy had taken Sarah away, the men had gotten much more violent with her, and she was pretty sure that she would be dead soon.
She followed the stranger. He had promised her answers, but he also said he had a surprise waiting for her. She wasn’t sure if she liked the idea of a surprise, but so far, she got the feeling that he was one of the good guys. She really hoped that he was.
“What’s your name?” she asked as they made their way out of the cave.
“You can call me Deadshot,” he replied.
That was an awfully strange name, one that belonged to an outlaw or a bounty hunter, not a normal man. “Deadshot,” she repeated. She liked the way it sounded on her tongue.
Isabelle could see the front door as they approached it.
She hadn’t been out of that small room in months, and she was finally going to be free.
She had thought that she would die in that room, but now maybe she got to live.
She wasn’t so sure whether life would be worth living anymore, though.
She had no idea where Sarah was. She had no idea whether Rider was even still alive, and her husband had been murdered.
How would she even carry on with her life?
“Come on, I’ll keep you safe,” Deadshot said as he stepped outside and waited for her.
He was being very caring, and it felt so different from how the men who had kept her hostage had treated her.
Isabelle stepped out of the cave and into the fresh night air.
She inhaled deeply as tears stung her eyes.
These weren’t tears of sadness but tears of happiness.
She had never thought that fresh air would be so precious to her.
Deadshot continued walking, leading her away from the mountain. “It’s not far,” he said.
Isabelle didn’t really care how far she had to walk; as long as it was away from that cave and those men, she would walk. Even if she never had to see or hear any of them again.
Deadshot led her to a few boulders, and when they got close enough, he spoke a name that brought her to a sudden stop, her heart nearly ripping right out of her chest.
“Rider,” he called. “Come on out and see who I found.”
Stepping out from behind the boulder was none other than her son. Isabelle couldn’t believe her eyes. She had honestly thought that she would never see her son again.
“Ma!” he cried as he ran to her and threw his arms around her.
“Oh, baby,” she whispered as she hugged him tightly to her.
Isabelle couldn’t believe that it was really Rider, but it was. Her son was alive and with her.
“How did you know I was here?” she asked, taking a step back and holding his face between her hands.
Rider was crying too. It wasn’t something she had seen often in her life, and it warmed her heart even more. “I didn’t,” he replied. “Deadshot helped me find you.”
Isabelle looked at the big man standing beside her. She had no idea who he was or how Rider had gotten him to help him, but she had never been so thankful before in her life. “Thank you,” she said. “Thank you for saving me and for taking care of my son.”
“You are most welcome,” Deadshot replied with a smile that warmed her heart.
She was still so incredibly confused about what was actually going on. “What now?” she asked, looking between Deadshot and Rider.
“I don’t know,” Rider replied, focusing his attention on Deadshot. “Where’s Sarah, and what happened to Quincy?”
Deadshot shook his head and placed his hand on Rider’s shoulder. “Sorry, kid, but we don’t know where your sister is.”
“Quincy took her away,” Isabelle explained. “But she was here with me.”
Isabelle could see the worry on Rider’s face, and she wished there was something she could do to ease his mind.
She and Sarah had been gone for such a long time, and she could only imagine what he had been through.
He must have thought they were dead. How did he even know that Quincy had taken them, and how had he found Deadshot?
She had so many questions, but they would have to wait for later.
“We should probably get out of here,” she said, turning to Deadshot.
“Definitely,” he agreed. “The further we get away from the cave, the better. But first, I need to go back in there and make sure that I killed all of those bastards.”
“I’ll help,” Rider offered, and Isabelle noticed him reaching for the pistol on his hip.
That was something completely new for her son, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it.
“No. You stay here with your mother and keep her safe. I won’t be long. Once I’ve made sure that the cave is safe, the two of you can help me gather supplies, and then we’ll be on our way.”
“Okay, just be quick,” Rider agreed.
***
Seeing the kid reunited with his mother warmed Deadshot’s heart in a way he didn’t know was possible.
He wanted to stay right there with them, but he had to make sure that nobody was going to follow them.
So he headed back into the cave. Now that he knew the layout, it didn’t take long for him to inspect the entirety of it.
While he was busy checking it, he also looked for clues to see if he could figure out where Quincy had taken Sarah.
Much to his frustration, he did not find anything.
Maybe some of the men knew, but they were all dead.
Since there was nothing left to do, he headed back outside and told Isabelle and the kid that they could join him inside to gather some supplies.
Traveling back home shouldn’t take half as long as it did to find the cave, but now there were three of them, and Deadshot wanted to make sure that they did not run out of food or water.
The kid and Isabelle had been through enough without needing to worry about dehydration and starvation.
None of them wanted to be in the cave, so they collected everything they needed as fast as possible and then got on their way.
They only had two horses, so they took two more from the herd of horses in the corral behind the cave.
Deadshot did not want to leave the horses; they would surely starve, so he opened the gate and let the rest of them go free.
Moving as quickly as they could, they packed their horses and then got on their way. Each of them had their own horse, and they had one extra horse to carry some of their supplies. They should have taken some blankets so that Isabelle could be more comfortable on their travels.
Deadshot did not want to camp anywhere close to the caves, and since he had a pretty good idea of how to travel back home, he led them through the desert.
They traveled for hours and deep into the night.
Once Deadshot thought that they were far enough away from the cave, he found some boulders to camp behind for the night.
He wasn’t sure whether he would actually be able to sleep. His mind was overwhelmed, and his body was aching. He would probably stay awake and keep watch while Isabelle and the kid slept. He didn’t mind doing that if it meant keeping them safe.
The kid took it upon himself to start a small fire, and soon enough, they were sitting around it, drinking coffee and eating tinned food. Deadshot could see how tired the kid was, and it didn’t surprise him when he dozed off. The kid needed his rest after everything he’d been through.
Deadshot didn’t even try to sleep, and Isabelle seemed too tense to even try.
So they started talking. Before, Deadshot wouldn’t have been able to talk so openly and honestly, but the kid had helped him with that, and he and Isabelle spent the entire night talking.
She was full of questions, and he explained to her how he and the kid met.
He also told her about their journey to find her and Sarah.
Isabelle listened intently, looking surprised and horrified at some of the stories.
She couldn’t believe that her son had done all of those things to find her, and she made sure to tell Deadshot how grateful she was.
She then explained to him what had happened to her and Sarah.
She told him that Sarah was carrying Quincy’s child and that Quincy had told her he was taking Sarah away and that she would never see her daughter again.
Deadshot couldn’t believe everything he was hearing. Quincy was even more of a monster than he had originally thought. Isabelle then went on to tell him what the men had done to her and that Quincy had given them instructions to kill her and get rid of her body once they were done with her.
Deadshot was horrified. He couldn’t believe that men could truly be that cruel, and he was glad that he had killed all of them. Now only Quincy remained, and Deadshot was going to find him and make him pay for what he had done.