Skinny had one arm locked around the younger boy’s chest, hauling him off his feet. The kid kicked uselessly in the air. The man’s gun was jammed hard against the side of his head, barrel pressed into soft skin above his ear.
The older boy stood frozen a few feet away, eyes wide, hands half lifted, not sure whether to run or fight.
As the captor grinned, I fired once.
The round took the man clean between the eyes. His head snapped back. Blood and bone sprayed the wall behind him in a wet arc. His grip went slack instantly.
The younger boy dropped hard to his knees, screaming, hands clamped over his ears. The man’s body hit the floor a second later.
The older kid lunged forward, scrambling to reach the other kid, dragging him back, shielding him with his own body while the echoes of the shot died in the space.
Their eyes tracked the weapon in my hand before they registered anything else.
Caleb stepped forward before I could speak, moving into their line of sight without blocking mine, between them and the body. “We’re here to help,” he said, his voice steady and friendly. “We need to leave.”
“No,” the older one said.
“We’re not withthemorhim,” Caleb continued and gestured behind us. He even went to a crouch. “Come on, guys, let’s get out of here.”
“You wanna hurt us!” the youngest whimpered into his brother’s chest.
Fuck this pussyfooting around. “Walk out, kids, or we’ll drag you. Move.”
“Jesus, Novak,” Caleb muttered. Then to the boys. “It’ll be okay.”
The older boy’s jaw clenched. He held my stare for a long second before the metal dipped an inch.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“We’re here to help you, you can trust us?—”
“Thirty seconds and this house is burning, and you’re both in it,” I said to the boys. “Decide.”
Caleb shot me a horrified glance. Now wasn’t the right time to tell him that I’d lied, and we had at least a minute. Okay,maybe less. The first boy kept his body positioned between me and the other.
I inclined my head toward the open wall. “Move.”
They scurried past me, but they weren’t moving fast enough, so I scooped up the bigger one and Caleb the other, and the four of us ran to the front door and out into open air as the first of Jamie’s devices ignited and the building began to burn. I needed to go back and get Ball-Cap, but the conflagration was instant.
Well fuck. After leaving him alive and all. Caleb would be pissed.
The van was already running. Levi had the two younger girls secured in the back, blankets around their shoulders, Doc climbing in beside them to monitor vitals. There was no space left once the older boy was eased in, his arm braced and secured.
The boys from the hidden room hesitated, gaze flicking between the flames and the cars.
“In your truck,” Caleb said, guiding them away from the burning house and to where my truck was at a fast pace.
I unlocked the rear doors. They climbed in without argument, sitting side by side but not touching, shoulders squared, scanning everything.
Caleb retrieved bottled water and protein bars from a backpack and handed them to the person. “Small sips,” he instructed. “Slow.”
They took the water. The food remained unopened in their hands.
“I’m Caleb, this is Novak, you wanna tell us your names and how old you are?” Caleb asked.
Neither answered. The older of the two held his gaze for a moment, then stared past him toward me instead.
“Names,” I snapped, and the older one winced.
