32. Weston #2
“It doesn’t matter,” Garrison says. “We’ve got your back.” He drops the magazine of his pistol and counts the remaining rounds, then shoves it back in.
“We’re right behind you,” Ryker assures me.
With a hold on the back of Max’s bulletproof vest, I set my weapon aside and start toward the door. I keep him in front of me as I move. That way, if Brenda has any ideas about taking me out here on the porch, she’ll have to kill Max.
We step outside to a scene that might as well belong in a warzone.
There’s a line of armed hostiles all bathed in the headlights from two SUVs.
Sawyer is bloodied and on his knees in front of Brenda, a gun pointed at his head.
Reese is beside him, on her knees, with Ash behind her.
My brother and the love of my life.
Both at the mercy of our enemies.
God, please help me save them both.
Everything begins moving in slow motion as I take stock of the situation, trying to determine exactly how this needs to play out. Because there is no doubt in my mind that Brenda is going to try to kill every single one of us the moment she has what she wants.
There are ten hostiles outside, including Brenda and Ash.
Ten.
Still, even though we are outnumbered, I’m not afraid. They could have me in their sights right now, and it doesn’t even matter.
Because I know I’m not alone.
“You okay, baby?” Ash calls out, her eyes wide and terrified as she looks at the man in front of me.
“Fine,” he snaps.
“Let Reese and Sawyer go.”
Brenda glares at me. “All you had to do was follow my orders one last time, Cowboy, and we could have avoided all this bloodshed. It’s not like your rebellion changed anything.
See, there was never any bigger fish. Caldwell and his team just couldn’t see past their own desire to catch someone far worse than me.
” She laughs. “Except, they didn’t realize I’m as bad as it gets. ”
“So he’s who you were after.” Guess that’s why he’s not answering his phone.
She grins. “All you had to do was put them down, and your girl would have lived. I might have even been inclined to let the rest of your team live, too. So long as they stayed here in this backwater town and left me be.” She yanks Sawyer’s head back by his hair, and he hisses through clenched teeth. “Would you have done that, Sawyer?”
“Not a chance,” he replies. “You put yourself on a kill list the moment you messed with Cowboy and Reese.”
She takes her gun and slides it around to the side of his throat. “Maybe we don’t need to exchange anything. Maybe it’s time to shut you up for good.”
Fear kicks my pulse into overdrive, but I shove it back down. He’s going to be okay. He has to be okay.
“Brenda. No,” Ash says. “Please.”
“Little sister has a crush, how sweet,” Sawyer says. Brenda slams the butt of her gun against Sawyer’s head, and he groans, falling forward.
“When are you going to learn to keep your mouth shut?” I ask.
Sawyer laughs and straightens. “Never. It’s part of my charm.”
“Not for long,” Brenda replies.
“Let them go,” I tell her. “And I’ll release your sister’s boyfriend.”
“First, send us Max,” Brenda counters.
“No. Give me Reese, and then we can exchange Sawyer and Max at the same time.”
Brenda considers. “Counteroffer. Stand up,” she orders Sawyer.
He gets to his feet. There’s blood pouring from a wound in his shoulder—likely where he took a bullet when he’d been on the roof.
His face is bruised, his lip split. I can’t see the other gunshot wound, but he’s alive and on his feet.
Which means it likely wasn’t anywhere vital.
She shoves him forward, then aims her gun at his back.
“Start walking.”
Sawyer doesn’t move. “Let Reese go first.”
“Not a chance,” Brenda snaps. “Now, walk, or Ash will go ahead and kill her now.”
Reese shuts her eyes tightly, and my heart rate kicks up. Lord, please no.
Sawyer looks at me, clearly waiting for permission to leave Reese at their mercy. “It’s okay,” I tell him.
He takes a step. Then another.
I look over at Reese, who is watching me intently. And then…she smiles softly. Her expression turns focused, and before I can even process what she’s planning, she pushes to her feet and throws her body backward into Ash.
The gun goes off.
Ryker, Zane, and Garrison all rush out of the house. Sawyer turns and slams his boot into Brenda’s gut, knocking her backward. I sprint forward, throwing Max to the side as I go.
Eliminate the threat. Deal with the fallout later.
Brenda scrambles for her gun, but I reach it first.
“You don’t have the stones to pull that—” She reaches behind her, and I fire.
Brenda falls backward, sucking in a ragged breath as she hits the ground.
A firearm I hadn’t even seen yet clatters out of the hand she had behind her back.
She stares up at me, eyes going wide as she lies on the ground, blood saturating the front of her shirt.
I close the distance between us and kick the weapon to the side. “You should have stayed in prison, Brenda.”
“No!” Ash screams.
I spin in that direction, just in time to see Reese take advantage of the distraction and slam her forehead into Ash’s face. She stumbles slightly as Ash hits the ground, but Reese recovers quickly and pins her, then slams her fist down into Ash’s face.
Tears are streaming down her face, and I rush over to pull her away from the now unconscious woman.
Reese thrashes in my hold, but I cling to her, pulling her against my chest. “It’s okay, Reese. I’m here. Shhh.”
She stills in my hold and wraps both arms around me. Sirens wail in the distance.
Ryker finishes dragging Max over to where he, Zane, and Garrison have been securing those who managed to survive, then comes back over to zip tie Ash’s wrists together.
“You’re okay.” I run my hand over Reese’s hair.
“They came in through the window. I didn’t even see until—”
“It’s okay, Reese. It’s over.”
She nods against me. “Are you okay? Are the others—” She glances around me, but I cup her face and redirect her attention to me.
“Everyone is okay.”
“Sawyer—”
“Is doing just peachy!” he calls out in response from somewhere behind me.
I can’t help but smile. Leave it to Sawyer to get shot twice, fall off a roof, get hit in the back of the head, and still have a sunny disposition.
“Everyone is fine,” I assure her as I run my hands over her arms, just to show myself that she’s okay.
Her shoulders slump forward as red and blue lights flash, illuminating the night sky.
“Looks like SWAT finally arrived,” Garrison comments as he drops down onto the porch and draws in a deep, steadying breath.
“Just in time to clean up the trash,” Sawyer adds. “How convenient.”