As the man entered, Wyatt came from behind the man and twisted his arm across the man’s throat in a chokehold. The man’s hands came up fast, and he drove an elbow back into Wyatt’s ribs.
Pain flared, but Wyatt didn’t let go.
He tightened his grip on the man’s neck and kept the pressure steady across the man’s airway.
The man grabbed Wyatt’s arms and tried to throw him forward.
Wyatt held on.
Their boots scuffled on the barn floor. The man backed up, slamming Wyatt into the old wood of the stall.
Wyatt didn’t loosen his grip.
This was one battle he couldn’t lose.
Finally, the man went heavy.
Wyatt lowered him to the ground inside the stall and drew in a deep breath.
That had been close.
He turned to check the barn door for anyone else.
It was still closed.
He exhaled.
He turned back to Mackenzie and Pete. “You two okay?”
They nodded.
“Okay, we need to move before anyone else shows up.”
They nodded again. Mackenzie helped Pete to his feet and held onto him as they followed Wyatt into the next stall.
Just as he suspected, Herb and Billie were tied up there.
Wyatt cut their bindings and scanned them both. They appeared shaken but okay.
“Can you both move?” he whispered.
They nodded.
He looked at the barn door and then at the four people around him.
They only had minutes at most before someone came looking for the man now unconscious in the stall. Wyatt had no confirmed backup, a storm accelerating outside, and an unknown number of armed people between him and safety.
He needed to get these people out before things turned violent.
Getting them off the property was only the first step. Then he needed to get them off this mountain.
