“Yeah, man. We’re in. No one comes at us and lives to make that mistake again. Guns are nearby. Maybe not quite the stock you had, but it’ll get the job done. We can all shoot. We can all fight. And we all know what’s at stake. Bottom line, you need us.” Cotton is clinical in his delivery. The man oozes intelligence and an air of confidence that belies his age.
“You have weapons?”
This is the first chink in Cotton’s armor I’ve seen. He pauses, flexing the fingers of his right hand three times. He doesn’t want to explain why they have a sufficient amount of weaponry nearby.
“A story for a different day. I suppose it’ll be necessary to get into all that at the end of this, but, for now, Adam’s dad is sending some guys and with them...plenty of weapons. He came and got Ada this morning. He tried to take Eve, actually, but I can imagine you already know how that went.”
Eve is family.There’s no way she would leave me to get Vaughn back on my own. There’s no way she wouldn’t want to exact her own brand of revenge on the people who took the sister she chose for herself.If I’m being honest, I need her. I need all of them and any help they can provide. I’d love to say that I’m not going to drag them into my problems. Chances are, someone is going to get hurt. Someone could die.The thing is, there is nothing I wouldn’t do to get my wife back.No life I wouldn’t risk. No world I wouldn’t burn to ash.
“Yeah. I can imagine.”
When I look over to Eve, she’s rising from her seat and heading straight for me. We wrap each other up in another one of the hugs we can’t seem to stop giving each other since I’ve been back without Vaughn. We’re both just doing our best to hold it together. We know there are a million different ways this thing could go sideways. We’re outnumbered. Outgunned. Fortunately, it’s starting to look like my ragtag group of vigilantes isn’t quite as unskilled as I had originally feared.
“Hey. They’re here.” Jax is looking out the front window, watching the front yard.
Three Yukon XLs pull up out front just after Adam reemerges from upstairs. His hair is wet, and his blood-speckled clothes have been changed. The hostage stopped making noise about forty-five minutes after I left them alone in the room. Adam didn’t come out for another hour.
Eve’s house is secluded. It’s located on a private drive, and no other homes are visible from anywhere on the property. They have at least ten acres here with their house situated dead center. It’s the ideal location to game plan. If they’re trying to keep eyes on us, they can’t do it while we’re here. I can’t help but wonder if battle planning had anything to do with Adam choosing this place. Although I know he let Eve pick whatever home she wanted.
Either way, this privacy is crucial to our plan. If they’re watching, we don’t want them to know how many we are or when we come and go.
“We’ll meet you guys in the den.” Adam strides to the front door to greet the newcomers as the rest of us walk toward the den to wait for them.
“Wow. Incredible man.” Marshall claps Cal on the back while looking wide eyes at the on-screen images.
Cal has projected his findings onto the large television in the den so that the industrial park is visible to everyone in the room.
“Here.” My finger lands on an entry point in the back of the park.
“And here. We can’t forget about these spaces between structures either. Like this one and here.” Cotton points exactly where I was going next.
Cotton and I continue to point out areas of vulnerability and gauge for the rest of the group where long-range shooters will likely be set up. The thing here is that we didn’t go over this together. I know this information from experience in the field and looking at the layout of the park.Cotton knows too, but why?
“Our advantage is that they don’t know we already have the meeting spot. It’s also reasonable to assume that they think I will either be alone or that I’m bringing untrained bodies meant as nothing more than distractions. They’ll likely reach out and demand I come alone. I’m the target. We’re going to let them think I’m turning myself over. This is the moment when everyone will be in the most danger. They do not intend to let anyone go. We believe they have already sold me for a substantial amount of money. This means they will want to take me alive but, there’s no guarantee they won’t kill the hostages once they have me.”
“You’re not going in there alone, BB. That can’t be the plan.”
“Evie. It’s the only way. If we go in there guns blazing, the hostages could get shot in the crossfire. We still aren’t sure how many they even have. Little Abel could be in there.”
Eve’s eyes clench tightly shut at the very real possibility that they’ve had my toddler nephew all this time. Eventually, her chin dips in acquiescence. She knows this is the only way.
Adam’s men stoically study the images laid out before them. Guns click, and the unmistakable sound of bullets being chambered comes from Jax and Marshall’s weapons. Eve’s hand absently goes to one of the many knives at her waist, and a look of determination is shared between Cotton, Cal, and Adam.The stakes were always high, but a child changes everything.
There’s no clever ruse that I can employ that will rile these men up and have them making mistakes. There’s no one on the inside ready to help me save the day. Theplan is shit. The choices are shit. Everything is shit, but my wife and my family are getting out of this alive. There is no other option.I’ve just got to stay alive long enough to make sure that happens.
The next half hour is spent giving individual jobs to each member of the team. The only hitch is when Eve is positioned too far away from Adam.
“That won’t be happening. She’s with me.” He quickly lets the group know they won’t be separated at any time.
Fine by me.I’m actually astonished that he isn’t throwing a fit about her coming on this mission in the first place.She’s an asset, and he knows it.He must also know that there is no keeping her out of this one.
Eve isn’t as good a shot as Vaughn, but she can shoot well enough.Hand to hand, I’d put her against any man in here.She’s lightning fast and has the survival instincts of someone who spent every day of their life fighting to be the last one standing.
“Everyone clear on their position?”
Murmurs in the affirmative go up around the room. The men Adam’s dad sent have that look.Organized crime.They look as though this is a day at their nine to five. Things are coming together in my mind.Adam tortures. They all shoot and fight. I’m not quite sure if all three of them grew up in the life or if it’s just Adam’s family. Either way it’s clear these three are brothers, so...in for a penny, in for a pound.
“This is it. Last chance to change your mind. We could all be heading to our deaths on this one. Even still, I ask this favor of you. Every eye and every pair of hands count. I need each one of you, but I WILL understand if you decide not to join me. This isn’t your fight, but if you choose to take it, I’ll be in your debt.”
