by Payne, T. L.
She eyed the corner of the old farmhouse. It was a straight shot, but they’d have to cover about fifty feet of open ground. She hoped that all the other men had remained on the driveway along the north side of the house. “We have to run as fast as we can and make our way around to the back. We are going to make sure they don’t get in the back door,” Lucy said. “Whatever it takes.”
“Let’s go,” Sheena said impatiently.
Antonio stepped out from behind the tree and fired. Sheena took off running. Bullets tore up the dirt as the man turned his attention away from Antonio and onto the fleeing women. Lucy tried to run in a zigzag pattern to avoid being hit, but terror took over and she set her sights on the direct route to the corner of the house. Five feet from her destination, Lucy tripped. She fell face-first on outstretched hands and rolled. The rifle bounced and landed under a nearby shrub. Sheena turned and started toward Lucy.
“No. Get to the back. Guard that back door,” Lucy yelled as she scrambled to her knees.
Lucy quickly crawled behind a short evergreen shrub and felt around for her weapon, retrieved it, and rose into a crouch. She looked back to Antonio’s position. He was now in the open, advancing on the man who was still firing on her. Antonio continued firing as Lucy moved around the side of the house out of the man’s sight. Running toward the back of the house, Lucy listened for more gunfire, trying to determine who was firing. She hoped Antonio made it back to cover before he ran out of ammunition.
Lucy turned the corner at the back of the house and froze. Sheena knelt on the ground by the back door, her head lowered, staring at a body on the ground. Lucy scanned the area between the house and the barn. She saw no one. She placed her back to the house and scanned the pasture all the way to the tree line. No sign of the intruders.
"Sheena,” Lucy called as she quickly made her way over to her.
“It’s Gage. He’s gone,” Sheena said.
Lucy sucked in a breath and fought back tears. She hadn’t known him all that long, but it hit her hard to see one of their own fall. Fear gripped her. She scanned area between the house and barn for movement.
“Did you see anyone?” Lucy asked as she came alongside Sheena.
“No,” Sheena said as she wrenched open the back door.
Lucy grabbed her arm.“Sheena. Wait. They could be inside.”
“I have to get to DeAndre.”
Lucy stared at the blood on Sheena’s hand. “Okay.” She pushed past Sheena and stepped into the kitchen. Chairs were knocked over. Broken dishes littered the floor.
“Let’s try to be really quiet to not alert the bad guys we’re here,” Lucy said. She stepped around the chairs and over the glass, quietly making her way out of the kitchen. In the doorway that separated the kitchen and family room, Lucy stopped to listen but heard nothing.
Somewhere down the hall, someone yelled, “Drop the rifle!”
Sheena took a step into the doorway. Lucy grabbed the back of her coat. “Wait. Sheena. We have to sneak up on them. We don’t know how many of them there are.”
“But Dee,” Sheena whined.
“I know. We can’t help him if we get ourselves shot.”
“I said drop it,” the male voice said.
“Is that Nick?” Sheena asked.
“Maybe. Let’s ease down the hall and see,” Lucy said.
Lucy stepped into the hall and pivoted to her right to inspect the stairs going up to the attic. She saw no one. She listened a moment.
“Where are the others?” the male voice asked behind a bedroom door.
“They’re in the master bedroom,” Sheena said, pointing to the room on her left.
Lucy and Sheena pressed themselves against the wall and slowly approached the room. The door was open. A man stood just inside the room at the foot of the bed.
Sheena rushed forward. Lucy reached out, but only caught air as Sheena lunged for the man. A sickening thud sounded as the stock of Sheena’s rifle connected with the back of the man’s head. He fell forward, his forehead striking the bedpost. He hit the floor and rolled onto his back. DeAndre flew across the room, flung himself into his mother’s arms, and burst into tears.
“Is he dead?” Nick asked.
Lucy kicked the man’s rifle and it skidded across the floor toward the closet.
Nick approached the man and nudged him with the toe of his boot. The man’s eyes remained fixed on the ceiling. A dark red pool spread from beneath the man’s head.
“Where’s the others?” Lucy said, scanning the small bedroom.
“In the basement. The kid refused to go and came and hid under the bed,” Nick said, clutching his abdomen.
“You’re bleeding,” Lucy said, pointing to the red stain blooming across shirt. His wound had opened and started bleeding again.
Nick glanced down and shrugged.
“We need to guard the doors,” he said, pushing past her. He sidestepped the body and left the room.
“Sheena. You should take Dee and go down into the basement with the others. I’m going to…”
“Hell no. I’m going to stop those men. We have to get Antonio,” Sheena said.
Sheena grabbed DeAndre’s hand and led him to the stairs to the basement.
“No, Momma. I want to stay with you,” DeAndre cried.
Sheena knelt on one knee and hugged the boy. “I have to go save Mr. Antonio. He stayed out there fighting the bad guys so I could get to you. Now, you be a good boy and go downstairs and protect the others. Okay?”
DeAndre just nodded. He turned toward the basement stairs, shoulders slumped and head lowered. He opened the door and turned to look over his shoulder. “Kick butt, Momma.”
“I will,” Sheena said.
Brandon opened the door. “Let’s go, little man.”
Chapter 15
Sheena took a position at the back door while Nick covered the front. Lucy returned to the bedroom and retrieved the dead man’s rifle.
“We need to go help Antonio. He can’t have much ammunition left,” Lucy said as she peeked through the living room curtains.
“We don’t know where those other two men you saw went,” Nick said.
“That’s even more reason to get Antonio inside,” Lucy said. “If we both step out and fire at the same time, maybe Antonio can slip around to the back?”
Nick appeared to mull it over. He peeled the curtain back and scanned the front of the house, then nodded. “We can try that.”
“Sheena, Nick, and I are going to open the door and fire at the man that has Antonio pinned down. Keep an eye out for Antonio to come running around the back.”
“Yell if you see anyone else,” Nick said. He turned to Lucy. “You ready?”
Lucy nodded.
Nick slowly opened the door, scanned the driveway and front yard, then stepped onto the porch. Lucy rushed out behind him.
“Antonio. We’re covering you. Run,” Nick said a second before he squeezed off rounds toward the driveway.
Lucy concentrated her rounds on where she’d last seen the man along the fence line toward the road. In the corner of her eye, she caught sight of movement and hoped it was Antonio making his move and beating feet out of there. A round struck the sidewalk in front of the porch. Lucy dove behind the shrubs along the foundation of the house. Nick stepped off the porch and continued firing.
“Nick. Get down!” Lucy yelled over the gunfire. A round hit the large bay window to the left of the front door. The glass shattered, sending shards raining down on top of Lucy. Lucy stuck the barrel of her rifle above the shrub and squeezed the trigger, sending several rounds toward the shooter. She eased herself up to see where Nick was. He’d moved back behind a six-foot-tall spruce tree and was firing toward the road.
“Get back inside, Lucy,” Nick yelled.
“Did Antonio make it to the side of the house?” she yelled back.
“Yeah. Hurry. I’m about out of ammo,” Nick said, taking a step to his left and firing toward the driveway.
; Lucy crawled to the porch, jumped up, and grabbed the handle to the storm door. “You come with me,” she yelled over her shoulder.
“Right behind you.”
She yanked on the door and flung herself inside as rounds pounded the side of the house, shredding what was left of the window. She turned and held the door open. Nick turned and stepped onto the porch. Lucy held the door open with her right knee as she fired back at the shooters. She leaned forward and fired. Nothing happened. She was out of ammunition.
“I’m out, Nick. Hurry! Get inside.” Just as the words left her mouth, the shooter emerged from behind the large oak tree by the gate, his rifle raised and pointed at Nick. The man fired. Lucy lunged for Nick, but it was too late. The round struck him in the back. His eyes widened and his mouth formed an “O.” Nick dropped to one knee, then tried to get up. Another round pounded into him, and then another. Lucy heard screaming and realized it was her. She grabbed Nick’s arm and attempted to pull him to the door. The shooter adjusted his aim, and a round struck her in the left arm. Lucy dove to her right behind the spruce tree and flattened herself to the ground. The firing continued a few more seconds. When it stopped, Lucy rolled and sat up, pulling her rifle to her shoulder before remembering she was out of ammo.
She cursed under her breath.
Lucy swept black locks of hair off her face and tried to think. She was surprised that the wound in her arm didn’t hurt. She looked down at the blood dripping off her fingers. With her right hand, she probed the hole in her coat. She felt lightheaded.
“Lucy.” Someone was calling her name. “Lucy. Crawl to the southeast corner. Antonio is waiting for you there.” It was Sheena, calling to her through the shattered window. Lucy turned her head, looking for her.
Crawl?
“I can’t.”
“Hurry. Lucy. We have movement near the barn. You have to hurry.”
Lucy got to her knees but found it difficult to crawl with only one arm. It felt like it took an eternity to reach Antonio. His arms wrapped around her, and he pulled her to her feet. They ran around to the back and the door flew open. Sheena stepped outside just as a man rounded the corner of the house.
“Sheena!” Lucy screamed.
Dean Cartwright lowered his rifle and took a step back. “Get inside. Hurry,” he said. “There is still one shooter out front.”
“Where are the other men that I saw?” Antonio asked.
“Dead. Hurry. I don’t have many rounds left.” He held up his rifle.
“Who are these people and why are they doing this to us?” Sheena asked, tears glistening her brown eyes.
“That’s not important right now. What is important is that we stop them from killing any more people,” Dean said, taking a step back and looking toward the road.
“I’m out of ammunition too, but the rifle I took off the dead man is on the sofa,” Lucy said.
Antonio sidestepped Gage’s body. “Here, Sheena, hold her,” he said, pushing Lucy toward the other woman. Sheena grabbed her around her waist as Antonio bent down and rolled Gage over. After grabbing the rifle underneath Gage, Antonio motioned for the women to go inside.
“I have to go see if Nick is still alive,” he said, handing his empty rifle to Sheena.
“No, Antonio. Not by yourself,” Sheena said.
“I’ll go with him,” Dean said.
Lucy glanced from Sheena to Antonio. “Do we trust this man?”
“I’m here, ain’t I?” Dean shot back.
“He could be with them. How do we know for sure?” Lucy asked.
Sheena shifted Lucy and braced her against the side of the house. Lucy glanced down at her arm. Blood now covered her hand. She couldn’t hold a rifle or pull the trigger. Not one-handed. She lifted her head and studied the man. “Did Raine and Scott leave? Did they go to find JJ?”
“Yes,” Dean said. “They took my truck.”
Lucy nodded. “I hope they find her.” Lucy’s head bobbed up and down. She was beginning to feel the pain now. Her thoughts felt muddled. The shooters—how many were still out there? She looked up and locked eyes with the man. “Are we going to make it?”
The man nodded. “Yeah.”
“We’ve got this, Lucy. Take her inside, Sheena. Lock the doors,” Antonio said.
Lucy watched Antonio as he walked toward Dean. He was dragging his injured leg. There is no way he could run if he needed to. All that was left at the farm now were injured people. Except for Sheena, and she had a kid to protect. How could they hold off their attackers now?
“Come on, Lucy. Let’s get inside and look at that arm,” Sheena said, placing her arm around Lucy’s waist.
“When we get inside, grab the rifle off the sofa. We need to see how many rounds we have left. I can still shoot. If you prop the rifle on the sofa, I can aim at the door. Anyone opens it and I’ll blow their asses away.”
“Let’s just get you bandaged up first, okay?” Sheena asked.
As Sheena let Lucy drop onto the bed in the guest room, gunfire erupted at the front of the house.
“Go see, Sheena. Go see if they got that SOB,” Lucy said as she pulled her legs onto the bed.
Lucy struggled to sit up and pull her arm from her sleeve. She needed to get the bleeding stopped. She needed to get out there and fight off the people trying to kill them. After finally wiggling out of her coat, she raised her sweater and ripped a strip of fabric from the bottom of her T-shirt. Lucy wrapped it around the wound and pulled the knot tight with her teeth. She stood, felt lightheaded, and sat back down. With her head between her knees, Lucy could hear multiple weapons being fired.
I have to get back out there.
Lucy rose, took two steps, and braced herself against the closet door. She eased herself to the doorway and scanned the hall before heading for the family room. The cold air from the shattered window hit her in the face. It felt surprisingly refreshing. Her nausea was easing.
“Sheena, where are you?”
Sheena didn’t answer.
“Sheena!” Lucy yelled.
Flattening herself against the wall between the window and the door, Lucy leaned to her right to peek through the tattered curtains.
She saw nothing. The gunfire now sounded like it had moved to the north side of the house toward the barn. Lucy crouched and crossed the room to the window facing the barn. She saw no one. Everyone was well concealed.
“Where the hell are you, Sheena.”
Lucy bent over and went under the window. When she reached the kitchen, the back door stood open. Through the glass in the storm door, Lucy could see Sheena and Antonio moving from the woodpile toward the well house. She felt totally helpless without a weapon.
The front door flew open, and Lucy jumped. Bile rose into her throat as panic gripped her gut.
Hide!
That was all she could think to do. Lucy looked around. There was nowhere to go. To reach the pantry, she’d have to cross the kitchen.
Think!
Lucy slid into the space between the open door and a floor-to-ceiling cabinet. She grabbed the knob and held on to it. This was one of those times she was glad she’d given up her Pepsi habit and laid off the carbs. If she was lucky, the person wouldn’t look behind the door. If they did, she was screwed.
She waited and listened. When she heard the squeak of the door to the basement, her heart leaped into her throat. She flung back the door and ran.
Chapter 16
“Stop right there!” Lucy yelled. The red-haired woman in her mid-forties slowly removed her hand from the basement’s doorknob and raised her hands into the air.
“I came to help.”
“Help whom?” Lucy asked.
“I’m your neighbor, Melanie Cartwright. My husband, Dean and I…”
“You’re Dean’s wife?”
“Yes. I came to help you,” the woman said, her back still to Lucy.
“What are you doing in here?”
“Sheena said you were injured and with
out a weapon and that her son was here.”
Lucy stared at the rifle hanging by its sling around the woman’s neck.
“Slowly lower that rifle to the floor,” Lucy demanded. She hoped the woman wouldn’t turn and see that Lucy had no weapon.
“My husband and son are out there fighting to protect you and your group. I’m no threat.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t take a chance that you aren’t who you say you are. Just lower that rifle and kick it behind you.”
“What’s going on up there?” Tom called up from the basement.
“It’s okay. I got this. Stay hidden,” Lucy yelled down.
The woman did as instructed and raised the sling over her head, then lowered the rifle to the floor. With her right foot, she slid the weapon behind her. Lucy wasted no time scooping it up and shoving it into the woman’s back.
“Close that door and step back. Slowly,” Lucy said.
The woman complied.
Lucy stepped back into the family room, putting distance between herself and the woman. For a moment, she’d been unaware of the gunfire outside. Now it reverberated in her ears. She could feel it.
“Now, turn around.”
The woman slowly turned. Tears streaked her freckled face. Red hair poked out from a knit hat. She stared at the woman’s battered face. Lucy wrinkled her forehead.
“Who did that to you?”
The woman dropped her gaze to the floor. In a low voice, she said, “The cartel.”
“The cartel? Why?”
“They wanted us to give them your friend’s location. She’s very important to them. We didn’t know where she went. They’ve terrorized the whole community. That’s why they want you all gone.”
“Gone? They want us dead. Is that who is out there now? Is that your community shooting to kill us?”
The woman looked up and nodded. Tears dripped from her chin.
“Why are you and your family helping us then? Aren’t you afraid of the cartel?”
“My husband tried to stop them. He tried to reason with them. Your friends got away and Jeb’s men freaked. It’s not right. It’s not who we are. They are just scared. We thought we could reason with them—buy you some time.”
