Chapter 11
TARRON
I hated to be the one to put fear in her eyes. She was strong enough to handle it, and she deserved to know the truth. That didn’t make it easy.
I pulled her close, cradling her head to my chest.
God, but I could do that all day every day, and never grow tired of the way her arms wound around my waist as she held on like I meant something to her. “We’ll get you out. One way or another.”
They’d been discussing it since Maverick woke earlier and dragged them out of bed.
His instincts were better than ever, and they’d spotted the approaching mercenaries the minute they darted along the tree line.
Reed punched a fist into his open palm. “Bunch of motherfucking assholes. Not going to pull one over on us. No, sir.” He bounced on the balls of his feet, that feral side of him rising to the surface.
Payton eyed him with open curiosity.
Questions danced over her face, but she kept quiet as we peered through the thick glass.
A shadow separated from the rest, a lone man easing into the fractured light cast by the rising sun.
He raised a bullhorn to his lips. “We have the place surrounded.” He waited a beat, then continued. “I’m willing to make a deal. Your men can go. I’ll let all three of you walk away. All you have to do is give me the girl.”
My arms locked around Payton. I knew the instant she made up her mind that she wasn’t worth saving, and the demons I kept locked away broke free with a rush of howling nonsense that filled my head.
“Over my dead body.” It was a warning to her, Maverick, and Reed, though I knew they didn’t need to hear my vehement denial as they’d already filled the air with their own.
Payton shook her head. “It’s a good offer.” The sound of her raspy voice going watery with tears tamed me faster than anything else dared. “You should take the deal.”
“The fuck we will.” Reed’s lips peeled back from his teeth. The man looked more fearsome than a rabid wolf.
“Reed.” Payton tried to reason with him.
It was pointless, but I respected that she had tried. She grabbed his sleeve and pulled him closer.
To my surprise, he let her. “I’ve seen them, Reed. I know how many men they have, how many guns you’re up against.” She shuddered in my arms. “I don’t want to be responsible for your deaths.”
“You’re not responsible for this.” Reed shushed her with a kiss.
As soon as he stepped back, she continued. “It’s my fault you’re in this spot. If I’d kept my mouth shut…”
Maverick spun to face her. “Stop, Payton.” He stood straight and proud, the commander in him coming out with the threat we faced.
Her lips compressed into a flat line, the obvious desire to continue tightening her eyes.
“You have five minutes.” The grating monotone rolled across the snowy yard.
Payton stiffened in my arms and hugged her arms over her stomach, gripping her elbows tight.
“Any ideas?” Reed shifted to Maverick. “Other than getting Payton out of here.”
He tapped his fingers along the pistol strapped to his waist. “Brought a few goodies along for the inevitable shit show I figured we’d face.”
Maverick nodded and rasped a hand over his jaw. “Show me what you brought.” He spun to face me and Payton. “You two are going to run.”
My mouth opened to protest but snapped shut when Maverick jabbed me in the shoulder. “I need a plan. When and where do we go?”
“You can’t seriously think I’d leave.” Payton’s grip on her elbows tightened, but her chin came up, the fight in her roaring to the surface.
Reed grinned even as he retreated to our bags on the far side of the room. “They gave us five minutes. If they hold to their word, they’ll come for us and all bets are off. You’re safe with Tarron. Safer than you’d be staying behind with us.”
“He’s right.” I rested a hand in the small of her back. “I don’t like it either, but we need you out of harm’s way.”
Her jaw worked side to side, but she didn’t argue.
Maverick thrust a hand through his hair and nodded. “Meet up with us at the snowmobiles. If we get separated, do not wait for us if we fall too far behind.”
Mav closed the distance, walking right into my space and holding my gaze. “Swear to me you’ll obey and get her out of here.”
“Fuck, Mav.” I tried to stop the rising anger, but it swept across my face with a blistering heat. “Payton’s safety is my number one concern.” It was what he wanted to hear, and I would abide by his orders.
“Good.” He slapped me on the back. “Reed, how do we get them out of here?”
“Second floor.” Reed pointed at the staircase leading up to the balcony we’d barely explored. “There’s a second skylight low enough you can climb out and drop to the ground. The snow should cushion your fall and muffle the sound.”
“Wait for them to clear out.”
Maverick’s wry grin appeared, the one that lifted one side of his mouth with hints of contempt as he looked toward the front windows. “Then you two run like hell.”
I guided Payton to the side and reached for my bag.
She watched me, her eyes wide and fearful, as I strapped two handguns to my waist, added a knife to the holster at my thigh, and tucked another into my left boot.
A hidden holster on my right ankle held a smaller pistol, and I dropped a fourth and fifth into the shoulder rig.
“Guess this is what they mean when they say ‘armed to the teeth’ in the movies.” Payton tried to smile, but it trembled at the edges.
I shook out a heavy coat with a winter camo design and held it out for her. “You need to bundle up. It’s freezing out there, and it’s a long walk to the snowmobiles.”
She shrugged into the coat and worked on the buttons while I eased her hair into a loose knot that wouldn’t interfere with the hood and tugged a knit cap over her head.
By the time I finished bundling her up and checked my weapons one last time, Mav was tapping his watch in warning. “One more minute.”
“Come on.” I hustled Payton up the stairs, jumping over every other one in my hurry.
The window Reed mentioned cut into the wall halfway down, the opening wide enough we shouldn’t have any trouble.
I peered through the thick glass before cranking it open and sticking my head through.
Two men at the corner of the ranger station faced away from us, their stances rigid and hands locked around assault rifles.
They eyed each other, then rushed around to the front of the house as an explosion rocked the entire structure.
Payton slapped a hand over her mouth and grabbed hold of my arm. “What was that?”
I chuckled and helped her out the window and onto the narrow stretch of rooftop.
The rough shingles held several inches of thick snow, making walking treacherous. “That would be one of Reed’s welcoming presents.”
A second, lower boom shook snow from the upper roof and sent it spiraling around us. “And that would be our friends breaching the front door. Hold onto me,” I instructed Payton as I slid out the window and made my way to the corner furthest away from the commotion.
Payton hugged my ribs as we sidled our way across the roof.
Her breaths came in shallow puffs, and when I released her to jump to the ground, she made a sound of protest and grasped my belt.
“It’s okay. I’m going to help you down.” I kissed her cheek and jumped, then spun and held out my arms. “Come on down.”
She eyed me, then the snow, and chewed her lip.
“I got you, Payton.” I motioned her forward. “Bend your knees and jump. Close your eyes if you need to.”
She sucked in a sharp breath and closed her eyes.
One second.
Two.
She jumped on the third, and I snagged her from the air before she hit the snowdrift beside me.
Shouts and curses mingled with a rash of gunfire. Payton flinched and shot a look over her shoulder.
“This way.” I took her hand and plunged into the woods, moving as quickly as I could with her stumbling behind me.
Once we broke through the tree line, I slowed to a walk.
Payton looked back, then stopped dead in her tracks. “We’re almost out of sight.”
“We have to keep going.” My heart pinched even before I took in her desperate expression. “They’ll be okay.”
“You can’t know that. What if they need you? We should stay here, out of sight, in case things go wrong and you need to go back and help them.” She sounded so certain of my abilities.
I knew my strengths. I could save them if I had to, but would I risk Payton for them?
My best option was for that question to never need an answer.
“Payton, I promised Maverick I would keep you safe. That means following the plan. Mav and Reed are counting on us to make it to the snowmobiles. You’re my responsibility.”
I needed her to see that my brothers-in-arms were capable of taking care of themselves.
Was I worried about them? Of course. But a promise was a promise.
“Mav would never forgive me if I let something happen to you because I came back to help them.” I reeled her toward me one slow step at a time. “The best thing we can do is get to the rendezvous point. That’s our mission.”
She chewed on her bottom lip, causing blood to well up on the split when she worried it. “Promise me you’re telling the truth.”
She’d heard Maverick, but I understood her need for reassurance.
I led her a step deeper into the woods, then another. “Maverick and Reed are two of the best Rangers in the world. They know what they’re up against, and we came prepared. There’s nothing we can do to help them from out here. If anything, we’d be in the way.”
If it was me alone, I’d have never left, but that was not the case.
Payton’s gloved hand tightened around mine, and I almost expected another protest. Instead, she nodded once, the move firm and decisive. “Fine. We’ll keep going. I don’t like it, though.”
Neither did I.
Mav and Reed could take care of themselves.
I’d seen them handle worse odds than this, but that didn’t mean I had to like it.
What if I’d spoken too soon?
The question hounded me with every step.
Payton jumped at every footfall and strange sound that met us during our long trek through the woods.
I kept my attention focused on the route ahead, making sure we didn’t tumble into a snowdrift or venture too far off course.
The Alaskan night kept me busy, forcing me to rely on years of training to distinguish the sounds of wildlife from the chaos we’d left behind.
Snow dropped from tree limbs, landing with loud splats that resembled footfalls.
I stopped with each one and double-checked that no one was attempting to sneak up behind us.
We’d made a clean getaway, and as long as Mav and Reed kept the mercenaries focused on the front of the house, they’d never notice the trail Payton and I had made after we jumped off the roof.
There’d been no choice, no way to sneak off without leaving some kind of trail behind.
My chest squeezed tighter and tighter.
I wouldn’t be able to breathe properly until they caught up.
Until then, I had no choice but to follow Maverick’s orders and ensure Payton’s safety.