Chapter Thirteen #2
Rueben stood over him, panting to catch his breath, with the skillet raised and ready to strike again if necessary.
He needed to get his phone from the truck, but he didn’t want to leave before securing the prone man.
Rueben couldn’t risk the stranger regaining consciousness and ambushing him when he returned to the cabin.
Leaving without securing the guy first was out of the question.
Rueben dropped the skillet and backed away a few steps before he remembered to turn off the stove.
He’d just been through every inch of the cabin and couldn’t figure out how to bind his prisoner with what he had on hand.
Then he recalled fighting with the cords when cleaning the blinds.
The guy was still an unconscious, unmoving mass on the kitchen floor when Rueben cut off enough cord to immobilize his prisoner.
He started off by tying his hands behind his back before moving to secure the ankles.
Then he took the leftover cord and tied the individual bindings together, making it harder for the man to escape if he woke up.
The wind picked up again, and the trees creaked as Rueben stood back and studied his handiwork.
As he calmed, he noted the man’s build and platinum-blond hair.
He had to be the same guy Rueben tried to follow after the town hall meeting.
Was this Brother Cain? Fuck, he should’ve listened to his instincts and told Seth about the potential sightings, but Keegan had been adamant he was probably wrong.
The lights flickered once, twice, and went completely out, leaving Rueben alone in a dark house with the stranger who’d wanted to kill him.
Had he acted alone? Surely, a partner would’ve come to his aid when he saw Rueben take him down with the hot oil and skillet.
No, it was likely this was a solo attack.
The urge to kick the felled man rose swift and hard, but Rueben resisted the temptation.
The only illumination in the room came from the intermittent lightning flashes, but Rueben used it to help guide his way to the junk drawer to retrieve the flashlight.
He needed to get to his phone and find a better weapon just in case this was the first attack, not the last. Rueben recalled a baseball bat in the hallway closet with the games and DVDs.
He preferred something that would put more space between himself and danger, but it was better than nothing.
He’d just taken a few steps to retrace his path down the hallway when he heard loud footsteps on the front porch.
The front door was wide open and hung crooked from its hinges from where big, bad, and burned kicked it in.
Rueben hadn’t stopped to do damage control during his mad dash to the hallway for a weapon.
He turned off his flashlight, tucked it in his back pocket, and crept forward as quietly as possible.
Rueben positioned himself near the end of the hallway and raised his bat, prepared to swing for the fences as soon as the next asshole stepped into the strike zone.
From the sounds of it, more than one goon had arrived to assist his fallen brethren.
“This is silly,” a familiar masculine voice said. Cash. “Just call out his name, Nick. We’ll either scare him to death, or we’ll end up hurt.”
Rueben’s shoulders relaxed, and he nearly dropped the bat in relief. “I’m right here.”
Rapid movement came from the living room, followed by a bright light piercing his skull. Rueben lifted his hands to shield his eyes. “Bad guy is down in the kitchen.”
“Rueben!” Cash cried out. “Seth called when he couldn’t get a hold of you. He said you could be in danger.”
Still blinded, Rueben couldn’t see his mentor move, but he could hear him.
Between one heartbeat and the next, powerful arms wrapped him in a bruising hug.
Cash’s familiar scent washed over him, and Rueben buried his nose in the older man’s chest and breathed deep, chasing away the foul stench of scorched flesh.
“Thank you for coming for me.” Now that he was safe, Rueben was on the verge of losing his shit.
“Always.”
And there went the dam on his emotions. Rueben heard Nick talking in the kitchen, but between his sobs and Cash’s soothing assurances, he couldn’t make out what the former FBI agent said.
Nick rejoined them a few moments later. “Help is on the way.”
“S-S-Seth?” Rueben stammered.
“He’s leading the charge, buddy,” Nick said. “I’m pretty sure you took down the mastermind behind one Carson’s murder and the other’s jailbreak.”
Rueben couldn’t believe his ears. “Jailbreak?”
“Well, technically, Quinton escaped when his transportation got ambushed.”
“I didn’t know any of that,” Rueben said.
“You would if someone could’ve reached you by phone,” Cash admonished.
The electric came back on, flooding the cabin with light.
Rueben blinked a few times to bring familiar faces into focus.
He hated how distraught Cash looked and figured he’d obsess much longer on that than the damage he’d caused to the man in the kitchen.
Sirens wailed in the distance, and the promise of seeing Seth went a long way to soothing his frazzled nerves.
“Let’s go look at your handiwork,” Nick said.
Cash hooked his arm around Rueben’s shoulders, and they followed Nick to the kitchen. “Whoa, dude,” Cash said when he got a good look at the man’s disfigured face. The skin was red and blistered and looked quite monstrous. “Acid?”
“Hot oil,” Rueben said. “He might have a concussion too. I hit him with the skillet twice afterward.”
Nick turned and looked at him with a raised brow. Was Rueben’s reaction overkill?
“The oil only slowed him down. He said he was going to kill me, and I wasn’t giving up without a fight.”
The sirens went from a distant wail to a deafening scream as the cavalry arrived.
Rueben pulled free of Cash and waited in the living room.
Seth was the first one through the door, but he wasn’t alone.
Lyndhurst and the agent who’d originally worked the Salvation Anew case entered behind him.
The look of relief on Seth’s face made Rueben’s knees weak.
Strong arms wrapped around him again, but this time, they belonged to the man he loved.
“I’m so glad to see you,” Rueben said.
Seth murmured assurances for several moments before he pulled back enough to cup Rueben’s face and hold his gaze. A throat cleared behind them, and Seth smiled. They couldn’t deny a deeper connection between them now. As if Seth read his mind, he lowered his head and kissed Rueben.
“What are you doing?” Rueben whispered when he pulled back.
“Announcing to everyone that you’re the keeper.”