Noah wasn’t alone, and unfortunately, he wasn’t keeping company with other bandits. If that had been the case, Blade would have been excited to take them all out. Instead, he lived with a young woman and a baby.
“What do we do?”
Blade took a deep breath, closing his eyes. Noah had shown no mercy when it came to killing Blade and Dakota’s family, and he didn’t deserve any in return.
Opening his eyes, he focused them on Dakota. “It changes nothing,” he said decidedly. “We won’t harm the woman or the baby, but Noah has to pay for what he did.”
Dakota nodded. “Okay.”
“You don’t have to do this,” Blade reminded her again. “I won’t be mad if you want to wait somewhere or even go back home.”
“We’ve been over this,” Dakota stated, glaring at him. “I’m not backing out.”
He had to give her the choice, even though he knew what she would say. “All right then. Let’s put our masks on and move a little closer. We need to figure out how we’re going to do this.”
Being careful, the two of them snuck closer and peered through one of the windows. Noah was busy adding logs to the fire, and the woman was rocking the baby as she paced the small living space. The cabin wasn’t very big. There was one living area that was visibly being used as a kitchen, diningroom, and living room. There was only one other door, which Blade assumed led to a bedroom.
“I’m going to put him down,” the woman said as she walked toward the door.
Noah mumbled something incomprehensible, causing the woman to frown before heading to the bedroom. Blade watched with quiet anticipation. He was glad that the baby was in the other room and hoped that the woman would stay there, maybe even fall asleep. It would make the whole thing much easier. Unfortunately, she returned to the living room not even a minute later.
Dakota looked at him questioningly. She was waiting for him to decide their next move. With the baby out of the way, there was no point in waiting any longer. They couldn’t risk leaving the kill until the following day since Blade had asked about Noah, and clearly, the woman wasn’t going anywhere.
“It’s time,” Blade whispered, standing up straight. “I’ll take care of Noah.”
Dakota nodded in agreement, and he could feel her presence behind him as he walked to the door. He made no attempt to be quiet, not caring whether Noah or the woman heard him. For a moment, he considered kicking in the door, but then he remembered the innocent woman and baby. He didn’t want to damage their home, so instead, he gripped the handle and pushed it open.
Noah jumped up, letting the fire poker fall, and the woman spun around, her eyes growing wide at the sight of them. There was no mistaking them for visitors. Their masks and weapons made their agenda pretty clear. Noah reached for his pistol, but Blade’s was already aimed at him.
“Don’t even think about it,” Blade stated, taking a step forward.
Noah obviously wasn’t very clever because he didn’t listen. Ignoring Blade’s warning, he drew his gun.
A shot rang out, echoing off the cabin walls. The baby started crying, its screams loud and panicked.
It was a warning shot. Nobody had been hurt, but Noah dropped his gun, letting it fall next to the fire poker.
“We’re not here for you,” Dakota said, pointing her gun at the woman. “Go take care of your baby.”
The woman, who was visibly shaking and crying, nodded and rushed to the bedroom. Dakota followed her to the door and stood watch. Without so much as a word spoken between Blade and Dakota, she knew what to do: get the woman out of the way but keep an eye on her so that she couldn’t run off in search of help.
“What do you want?” Noah asked. “I don’t have much.”
“We want only one thing,” Blade replied, taking another step forward. “Revenge. Now get down on your knees.”
Noah lowered himself to the ground, his eyes darting between Blade and the pistol he had dropped.
“I’ll kill you before you can even grab it,” Blade informed him. “But you can try if you want.”
Noah shook his head. “Revenge for what?”
“Our families.”
“I don’t know—who?” Noah stuttered, confusion and panic clear on his face.
Blade didn’t feel like playing games, but he wanted Noah to know why he had to die. “Millie Cassidy,” he said, allowing the anger he had felt earlier to take over.
The look on Noah’s face changed to one of shock. “How? That happened years ago.”
