Kimball’s face dripped with sweat, and his huge belly lifted and fell with each heavy breath. His feet shuffled side to side on the gravel and kicked up dust as he tried to keep an eye on all three of them.
“Yeah, Vinny, you really should listen to Nosebleed over there.” Hawk’s hands were steady, his heart rate nice and slow.
Killing the guy would be so easy and immensely satisfying, but they needed him alive.
Vincent Kimball swore under his breath and, finally grasping the severity of his situation, tossed his gun away. It scraped over the gravel and came to a stop at Cole’s feet.
“Wise choice.” Hawk slowly lowered the bow, removed the arrow, and reached over his shoulder to slide it back into the quiver. He grabbed some zip ties from his vest and moved over to the men on the ground.
Eddie covered him and Cole.
Thezipof the plastic ties being tightened around their wrists was barely audible over their heavy breathing. Viking had taken out one guy, and Toby, the guy with the mangled arm, had passed out. Hawk secured him anyway. He would live, but he’d never have use of that arm again.
Cole gathered up their weapons while Hawk patted them all down. He found a pocketknife, two combs, a few lighters, and three packs of cigarettes.
“These things will kill ya.” He held the cigarettes up in front of them, then tossed them aside and confiscated all of their wallets and cell phones.
He palmed Kimball’s bald head like a basketball, jerked it up, and held his phone up to his face. The home screen opened right up.
“Tsk tsk tsk, Vincent.” Hawk tapped the screen to scroll through the recent calls. “Using face recognition to secure your phone is a pretty bush-league move.”
“Fuck you. Ahhh!” Kimball cried out in pain.
Hawk may or may not have ground his face into the gravel before releasing him.
“We have some questions for you.” Cole strolled over and stopped with his boots next to Kimball’s head. “And it’s in your best interests to cooperate.”
“Who the fuck are you guys, anyway?” Kimball craned his neck back to look up at them.
Hawk squatted down next to him. “We’re the people who go after scumbags who hurt kids.”
Charlotte heard a soft whine and glanced down at Remy where he was curled up in his bed. He lifted his head, looked up at her with concern in his eyes, and gave another soft whine.
“I know, baby.” She sat down next to him, stretched her legs out and leaned back against the wall where she could still watch the monitors and comfort Remy at the same time. “I’m worried about him, too.”
She set her phone in her lap and let her head drop back against the wall with a softthunk. She stroked her hand from the top of Remy’s head and down his back, reassuring him—and herself—that everything would be fine, that they had nothing to worry about.
Remy set his chin on her thigh and huffed out a long breath.
She rested her hand on his head and stared up at the monitors, sometimes forgetting to blink until her eyes burned. Her neck was starting to get sore from holding her chin up so long, but Remy was finally asleep, and she didn’t want to disturb him by standing up.
Time seemed to stand still, as if all of the world’s clocks stopped ticking simultaneously.
She’d watched the fiasco of four men trying to get over the gate. It had taken some effort, but they’d finally managed. Unfortunately, they’d walked away and out of range of the camera.
Charlotte heard the sound of a helicopter approaching, and a minute later, a sleek black helicopter appeared on one of the monitors. It kicked up dirt and grass as it set down in front of the building, then its long blades began to slow.
Both front doors swung open, and Lucas and Cole hopped out. Another door on the side rolled open, and Eddie and Viking jumped out. They were all decked out like Hawk was, but they were carrying rifles instead of a bow. Viking had a rifle slung over his back, but it was different—longer and scarier-looking than the others.
Lucas took up a position next to the helicopter, dropped to one knee, and pointed his rifle in the general direction of where Kimball and his men were.
Her burner phone rang on her lap.
“Ack!” Her hand flew to her heart, and she snatched it up. “Hello?”
“It’s Cole.” He got right to it. “Lucas will remain with the helo and watch the house from there. The rest of us will head out to back up Hawk.”
Thank goodness.
