It had to be the Japanese. She looked at her family and realized that she’d let them down. Had she found the man who had been trying to kill them, they wouldn’t be under fire. Donna could feel the heat of her sister's glare, even before she looked at her.
“Cut it the fuck out!” Bella ordered through gritted teeth. No doubt, her twin had read her mind.
Donna shook it off and turned to Andrew. “Can they see in here?”
He shook his head. “No. They have reflective window coverings.”
The darkness of a November night partnered with the boom of a rowdy Fourth of July created a contradiction that made Donna uneasy. The Creed Compound was just too big to secure.
“Bella, we gotta get out there.”
“What?” her mother questioned through a harsh breath.
“Mama, get down!” Bella scolded before turning to Donna. “Yeah, I know. You got a secondary weapon?”
Donna nodded and hurried over to her purse. She fished out a .38 caliber snub nose revolver and handed it to her dad.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” her father questioned.
“Daddy, we can’t sit in this room and wait for them to come kill us,” Donna explained. “We gotta try to stop ‘em before they get inside.”
“Who are they, baby girl?”
“Daddy, it-” Her words were clipped by Lucas’ return. He dropped a duffle bag on the floor. “I got your rifle, Dad.”
Lucas handed the rifle to Senator Creed and reached back in the bag and pulled out an AR-15.
Donna tucked her handgun back into her waistband. She grabbed the rifle and a magazine and peered into the hall. “Where is Lincoln?”
“He’s out there with his team.”
Donna’s heart nearly stopped. She tore ass out of the theater and followed the echo of gunfire. Without looking back, she somehow knew Bella was behind her. She could just feel her.
“We should get up high,” Bella suggested.
“I gotta get to Lincoln.”
“Lincoln can take care of himself. And you’ll be able to cover him from a higher vantage point.”
Bella was right, so Donna found a set of stairs and took them two at a time until they were on higher ground. Donna looked back to see what type of weapon her sister was using. The B-14 HMR she was carrying gave her a little boost of confidence. Bella was an excellent shot. She’d be able to pick off unfriendlies before they could get anywhere near the house.
Donna grabbed Bella’s wrist and looked her in the eye. “Kill ‘em all,” she encouraged. “Every last one of them.”
Bella nodded. “All of ‘em,” she vowed.
Donna split right and went through the first door she came across. It was a bedroom. And judging by the sheets on the furniture, it was safe to assume the room hadn’t been occupied for some time.
Donna ran over to the window and scanned the area below. All she could see was muzzle flashes in the distance. So far, Lincoln and his team had been keeping them back. She raised the window, kneeled against the windowsill, and pointed the rifle toward the flashes in the darkness. Through the scope, she got a better look at what was going on beyond her natural line of sight.
In the distance, Donna could see three dark SUVs with no headlights advancing toward the house. The vehicles were taking fire from somewhere unknown. It must’ve been Lincoln and his small platoon of soldiers shooting at them. Donna aimed, but they weren't close enough.
Thankfully, Bella had picked a rifle with some reach. From the scope of Donna AR-15, she could see their adversaries, one by one, getting knocked off the board. No doubt, it was Bella. With Lincoln and his team already fighting invaders on foot, they needed all the help they could get.
LINCOLN
“Fall back!” Lincoln shouted.
They were doing their best to hold the trespassers back, but there were just too many of them. Some were fighting on foot, and others had arrived by vehicle. The Creeds and their crew were gravely outnumbered. And the best they could hope for at that point was to secure the house and keep everyone alive until law enforcement arrived.
