Chapter 30
Before she could react, Veronica was grabbed on either side by one of the leader’s men.
He quickly barked out orders for her to be taken upstairs and held until he returned.
Veronica didn’t like the sound of the man’s plan.
It was obvious he wasn’t going to let her go until he’d gotten what he wanted.
She felt like she was going to be sick as she fought against the men’s grip.
Hopefully, whatever had exploded, would keep the man distracted long enough for her to get away.
While she didn’t stand a chance against the large group of men, she liked her odds when it was only two against one.
Veronica had so much more worth fighting for than they did.
She wasn’t going to go down without taking a few of them with her.
All she had to do was bide her time until the rest of the militia had left the house.
The men let go of her, shoving her into a small bedroom before closing the door behind them.
Immediately, she darted across the room to the window, but quickly, she discovered it was screwed shut.
There was no question in her mind that the men would come in after her the second they heard the glass breaking if she tried to flee that way.
After several minutes, the commotion downstairs died down as she watched the dark plume of smoke grow in the distance.
She knew it was time to act. Going to the door, she grabbed hold of the knob and jerked it open, smiling at the two surprised men on the other side.
“You better get your ass back in the room. I would think twice before opening that door again. Next time you do it, I promise you’re going to regret it.”
Veronica smiled. “I have to tell you that I have never been much of a fan of taking orders from anyone. I’ve never done it before, and I don’t plan on doing it anytime soon.”
“That’s going to be a mistake you’re going to regret. Now, get back in that room before you see just how serious I really am.”
“Listen, there’s absolutely no need to be an asshole about it. I was just sitting in here, wondering what the hell the lot of you have done wrong in order to be left behind babysitting while all the others get to go out and have fun.”
“Why don’t you just shut the hell up?” another man said. “We don’t have to sit here and listen to you, but the others aren’t going to have as much fun as we are if you keep running your mouth. I’ll be more than happy to shut that trap for you.”
Veronica grinned. “You might think you’re in charge now, but I don’t really think you know what’s best for yourself. If you did, you probably let me go without any more fuss. I would actually recommend it if I were you.”
Neither of the men took her as seriously as they both started to laugh.
Veronica only smiled at them as she shrugged and grabbed the door.
With one quick motion, she was slamming it on them and grabbing hold of the dresser next to it.
By the time they realized she was blocking the door, she already had the heavy piece shoved beneath the knob.
Jogging to the other side of the room, she picked up the Bible sitting on the nightstand and chucked it through the window.
The sound of shattering glass only made the men on the other side of the door work harder to get it open.
She crouched down, grabbing the blade from her boot as she did so, lying in wait just on the other side of the door for the men to come through.
The guards made short work of getting through the bedroom door.
Veronica already knew they would, but she was standing in wait for them.
Though she knew she was going to be outnumbered, her mind hadn’t processed the idea was, in fact, a handicap.
The first man who came through the door had a look of surprise on his face when she thrust the knife into his neck.
As soon as she pulled the knife back from the wound, blood spattered everywhere.
She didn’t take the time to panic, though her heart was already racing faster than she had ever felt it before.
By the time the second man came through the door, he already had his gun out and started to point it in her direction.
Before he could pull the trigger, she quickly thrust the knife into the second man’s neck.
This time, though, the shot caused the man to squeeze his finger on the trigger, and several shots rang out before he fell to the ground.
Not wanting to waste any time and certainly not wanting to stick around to see who would come running from the sounds of the gunfire, Veronica quickly grabbed both of their weapons after tucking the knife back into her boot.
She raced down the steps as fast as she could.
The only thing that stopped her from proceeding was the sound of the front door opening. She halted, trying not to make a sound.
Her heart was pounding as she listened to the approaching footsteps, one of the guns at the ready to start firing as soon as the threat rounded the corner.
Seconds later, when the man appeared, Veronica gasped in surprised relief.
Instantly, she lowered her weapon and threw her arms around her brother.
She had never been so happy to see him before in her life.
As quickly as the joy had come, though, it was fleeting again.
She saw two men standing behind him with their weapons drawn.
She let go of Nick, reaching again for her gun before he stopped her.
“They’re with me, a few buddies from back in my trade school days. I’ll explain it all on the road, but for now, we need to get out of here,” Nick said.
Once again, she was flooded with relief as she nodded and quickly followed the trio out of one of the side doors of the house.
It was obvious the pair knew where they were going as they ducked down one back alley after another.
Finally, the four emerged in the forest not far from where she had left the horses.
When they finally reached the animals, she was surprised to see two more horses tied off with their own.
Whoever the men were with her brother, they obviously knew what they were doing.
As they mounted up and put some distance between themselves and the city, Veronica’s heart started to return to a normal beat.
“I know we don’t have a lot of time for proper introductions,” Conner said. “But I wanted to introduce you to Darrell and Kevin Frederick. They are the two I was trying to find when I told you I had friends nearby.”
“It’s great to meet the two of you, though I wish it was under better circumstances.”
After a quick round of greetings, Nick spoke up again. “They have a small home on the outskirts of town with horses. Their parents live in the city, but unfortunately, their farm was torched by Carl Markwood and the men he’s running around with when they refused to join the group.”
“Those men are a bunch of bastards if they think they’re going to continue to get away with things like that. I’m sorry to hear that something like that happened to you.”
“That son of a bitch is a cutthroat bastard who should be rotting in hell,” Conner said. “I never thought we would have to run into people like that. I know you warned me it was getting bad out here, but I never could have imagined it was like this.”
“We’re not going to have any idea how bad it is, but I think that’s just a small portion of the type of people we’re going to run into.”
Darrell chuckled and then grinned at her. “I’m sure there are far worse people than that out there, but it doesn’t make any difference to us. We ended up getting our revenge on them, and now they know better than to screw with people like us.”
“You mean…you guys set that fire?” Veronica asked.
Darrell nodded, lifting the flap of his saddlebag to reveal a few dozen bottles of top-shelf booze.
“We sure did, but not before making a pit stop at the liquor store next to it. Like your brother said, Markwood and his men can rot in hell,” Darrell said.
Instantly, Veronica knew she was going to like the brothers. They had helped Conner save her life, and as far as she was concerned, that was a debt she’d always be grateful to owe.