They all listened as Karri gushed over the meeting and her plans for the space. But then the conversation turned to Karri and Peter and Skye and Trent. The knitting club decided they needed to give out relationship advice.
“What’s that sound?” Miss Ruby asked out of the blue.
Skye listened but didn’t hear anything.
“I swear, I hear something like thwump, thwump, thwump,” Miss Ruby said to the group who all just shrugged.
“Maybe it’s all this sex talk. Like maybe you’re hearing phantom sex noises,” Miss Winnie told her, causing Skye to bite her lip hard to stop from laughing out loud. But then she heard it too.
“Wait, I think I hear it too. It’s coming from out back,” Skye said, now curious about the noise.
As one, the group rose and carried their knitting outside to the patio to watch a helicopter began to land.
“I wonder where Ryker is going now?” Skye asked. “I thought they were having guys’ night.”
“That’s not his helicopter. He keeps his at the main house,” Edie said slowly as they all watched the doors open. Men in masks vaulted out and ran straight for them. “Inside, now!”
Edie grabbed a shocked Skye and propelled her inside. Doors were slammed shut. Locks were turned and then there was silence except for the sound of the helicopter rotor.
“It’s my dream,” Karri whispered to herself but Skye heard it too. It sent shivers down her spine as they tried to see the men from inside the house.
“Where did all those men go?” Miss Mitzy asked as the lights in the backyard went dark.
“We’re under attack, ladies. Get your weapons in hand.” Miss Ruby sounded like a drill sergeant as knitting was dropped and blades or metal knitting needles were brandished.
27
Trent, Wade, Ryker, Gavin, Ridge, Granger, Kord, and Peter were all enjoying Ryker’s very expensive and expansive alcohol collection when Ryker’s phone went crazy. They’d been having a great time up until then. Trent had even seen glimmers of the old Ryker until that damn phone went off.
“Shit!” Ryker was up and out of the room in a heartbeat. “We’re under attack. Get the ladies safe.”
“What?” Ridge asked with a little laugh. “We’re right here. Our wives are at Harper’s helping Harper visualize what this new venture could be.”
“Not them. The knitting club. Skye’s tracking unit just sent out an alarm and my backyard sensors also went off.” Ryker threw open the French doors and stepped onto the deck where the sound of a helicopter could be heard. Lights around the guesthouse were being taken out as shadowy figures moved around the perimeter of the house. “Let’s go.”
Trent didn’t need to hear more. He was already running for the back door.
Skye and the knitting club formed a tight circle in the living room. They had eyes on every door and window they could see. “Don’t worry, the doors are steel,” Skye told the old ladies who looked more excited than scared.
Skye was about to see if anyone had called 911 when an explosion rocked the house. Skye and the group huddled down, some of them toppling over from the shock of the explosion.
Skye couldn’t believe it. Was this a movie set? She’d heard special effects before and this was what it reminded her of, but who would bomb a freaking guesthouse?
Through the smoke, men holding rifles with lights on the end stormed into the house through the shattered sliding doors.
“En garde, ladies!” Miss Winnie yelled above the noise.
“Bless your heart,” Miss Mitzy said, shoving a knitting needle into Skye’s hand. “You need to learn to defend yourself. Here’s a ten-inch number eight needle, it’ll do just fine. Now, stab anyone you don’t know. Neck is always good as bone doesn’t get in the way.”
Skye felt as if she were having an out of body experience and that this had to be a stunt or a very bad dream. She even looked around for the camera because this couldn’t be real life, but the men running toward them were very real.
Skye tried to take a deep breath but the smoke made her cough as someone reached for her. Edie screamed a war cry that shook Skye from disbelief into reality. Edie slashed out at a man. The dagger she had pulled from her purse cut into his arm and Mitzy jabbed a knitting needle into his thigh as he reached for Skye.
Okay, this was real. Very, very real and she was clearly the target.
Peter took the lead and they were quickly broken up into three groups. One was led by Peter, one by Granger, and one by Kord. Trent stuck close to Granger as they moved through the topiaries toward the guesthouse. They were quickly approaching the front door when men appeared from around the side of the house. They were carrying rifles and were in full tactical gear.
“Sheriff’s Department. Drop your weapons!” Granger shouted.
The two men looked at each other but didn’t drop their weapons. Instead, they advanced on them. Granger shot one in the thigh and he went down screaming. Granger was on him in a second. He’d flipped him onto his stomach and had grabbed the man’s own zip ties from his tactical vest.
The other man looked surprised and Trent made his move. He charged and took the man down with a tackle that would make any professional football player proud. Trent drove the man into the ground and the air whooshed from his lungs as Trent landed hard on top of him. Trent didn’t stop, though. Two punches to the man’s chin and he was out.
“Take his weapons and tie him up,” Granger ordered as he picked up the rifle and slung it over his shoulder. Trent was doing just that when he heard the screams from inside.
Skye clenched her hand on the narrow, smooth metal knitting needle as four more men charged inside. They shared a look and then charged the group of women. One went to push Mitzy out of the way to get to Skye. The women had formed a tight circle around her to protect her, but she felt as if she, Karri, and Edie should be the ones protecting these sweet old grandmothers.
Skye held the knitting needle like a knife and raised it up high. She leaned around Mitzy and closed her eyes briefly as she slammed it down on the base of man’s neck who was trying to shove Mitzy to the ground. She felt the resistance as the needle went through the shirt, but then she felt it sink into the muscle. Skye groaned in an effort to stave off vomiting as she pulled the needle back out.
But it was too much. The men were attacking at once and Edie’s dagger had been knocked out of her hand. Karri was swinging a decorative boat paddle that had been hanging on the wall. The grandmas were lashing out with various old-looking knives or their knitting needles. Men were reaching for her and Edie was kicking and punching. She wasn’t going down without a fight.
“No!” Skye screamed when the fist connected to Edie’s face. Tears sprang to Edie’s eyes, but she didn’t go down.
Mitzy was grabbed by the arm and yanked to the ground. Miss Ruby and Miss Winnie were facing off against another man. They were going to be hurt or killed all because of Skye. She couldn’t let that happen.
Skye slid her knitting needle up the long sleeve of her shirt to hold it and then screamed so loudly she knew everyone would hear her over the chaos. The second she had their attention, she moved. She leapt over Mitzy and shouldered past the man who had taken Mitzy to the ground.
Then she ran. She powered through the throng, straight to the blown-out door with all her strength. It wasn’t much of a plan, but she had to draw the men away from her friends. She had to protect them. If she could make it outside, it was a straight shot down to the dock and then she’d jump into the river. She could lose them in the shadows of the river grass and that would give her friends time to escape.
Trent and Granger tied the men to each other and then made the move to get inside the front door. Trent had just entered the code to unlock it when the sports car raced down the drive straight toward them.
“Who the hell is that?” Granger asked.
“Don’t know, don’t care.” Trent shoved the door open into utter destruction.
“Skye, no!
” Edie yelled as she leapt on the back of a man trying to run out the back door.
Trent saw the older knitting club members helping Mitzy up from the ground among the rubble and smoke of what had been the living room. Edie was hanging on the back of the man and had locked her arms around his neck into a perfect headlock.
“Skye!” Trent yelled into the chaos.
“She ran out the back and they’re all following her!” Miss Winnie yelled.
“Save our baby girl!” Miss Ruby ordered and Trent took off with Granger on his heels.
Edie had taken her man down and was leveling a hard kick to the balls when Trent raced by her and into the yard. Ryker, Wade, and Kord were coming in from the left. Peter, Gavin, and Ridge were converging from the right. Trent, Granger, and the knitting club were coming at them from straight down the middle.
Trent saw Skye running. She was trying to go wide around the helicopter, but the men were faster than she was. She wasn’t going to make it.
The lights from the sports car appeared as it drove through a hedgerow and slid to a stop near the group of men grabbing hold of Skye.
“Is that Mason Hemming?” Edie yelled out as they ran toward the fight. “Damn, that man is hot.”
Sure enough, Mason was out of the car and yanking men away from Skye, but it was too little too late. One man had her from behind and was carrying her into the helicopter as the others took on Mason and Peter’s group as they reached them first.
Trent didn’t think. He had to get to Skye and nothing was going to get in his way, even the men who were falling back from Mason’s attack on them. He might be an action star, but he wasn’t taking the men down like Peter, Gavin, and Ridge were. Their men weren’t standing back up and running away.
“I got these guys! Trent, get Skye!” Ryker yelled from the left. Trent cast a quick glance and saw Ryker, Kord, and Wade slamming their fists and the butts of their guns into men’s heads. The whole backyard seemed to be swarming with men. Where had they all come from?
“Skye, I’m coming! I won’t let them take you!” Mason yelled as he and Trent merged together on their race to get to the helicopter.
Skye was screaming, kicking, and cursing. Two men tried to block his and Mason’s path. Trent took one down with a haymaker. Mason tossed his to the ground. The man was probably up and chasing them, but at least they were through.
They were going to make it. Trent saw them all converging on the helicopter from every angle, but the pilot began pulling up. Two men leaned over and grabbed for Skye. They had her and were dragging her into the helicopter as it lifted into the air.
“I’ll find you, Skye! Hang on, I’ll find you if it’s the last thing I do!” Mason yelled as the man he’d tossed to the ground tackled him from behind.
Screw that! Trent was going to save her now or die trying.
28
Skye felt herself being grabbed from behind. Two strong arms locked around her waist and pulled her off the ground. She fought with everything she had. She kicked, she screamed, she almost pulled her needle out from her sleeve, but then she saw Mason appear out nowhere. He wasn’t alone either. Peter, Gavin, and Ridge were fighting their way toward her.
Then she heard Edie and Trent. She glanced their way to see them racing toward her. The look in Trent’s eyes said everything. He would move heaven and earth to get to her. Hope surged upward and Skye gave the guy holding her hell. She clawed at his hands. She slammed her heel against his legs as hard as she could and felt satisfaction when he grunted in pain.
But she hadn’t counted on what was behind her. Two more men grabbed her under each arm and she was being hauled into the helicopter. Mason was tackled from behind and screamed for her, but it was Trent’s face she couldn’t look away from. His eyes never left hers as he ran full-out to the helicopter. He’d never make it. They were already pulling up. Skye had to do this herself.
She let the knitting needle drop from her sleeve even as she watched Trent race toward her. With her needle in hand, she was ready to take this whole helicopter down. Skye took a deep breath, clutched the needle tightly in her hand, and jabbed it into the man’s thigh.
“Shit! She stabbed me!” he cried in surprise. Skye reached over her shoulder with her free hand, grabbed his vest, then yanked forward as she rolled to the metal floor of the helicopter. Her shoulder hit hard, but the move she used to send stuntmen flying over her shoulder in movies worked. The man flew over her body, bounced on the floor, and fell out the door.
Skye cast one last look at Trent as the other man screamed at the pilot to get them out of here. Time seemed to pass in slow motion. Trent ran at full speed, one foot stepped up onto the padded seat of a wrought iron chair, the other foot landing hard on top of the wrought iron outdoor dining table, and then Trent was flying.
His arms were pinwheeling in the air but then Skye lost sight of him. “Trent!”
Arms were around her again. The man was cursing at her to hold still or he’d hurt her. But then the helicopter dipped slightly. The pilot readjusted but her time was over. They were rising to more than twenty feet in the air and her arms were pinned. The knitting needle was useless as she struggled to free herself.
Skye looked out the open door as they began to climb higher in the air. She heard shouts from below, but it was the small slapping sound of a hand on metal that drew her attention. Fingers appeared at the floor by the door. Then another set of fingers. And then there was Trent pulling himself up to standing on the landing rail before stepping into the helicopter.
Rage and relief filled his face and Skye caught her second wind. She’d never stop fighting to get to Trent. Never.
“Trent!” Skye yelled as she used her very limited range of motion to toss the knitting needle toward him.
“What the hell?” the man holding her muttered, but her eyes were on the knitting needle that had dropped about a foot in front of her. She pushed out with her foot and sent it rolling.
Trent bent down and scooped it up.
“Let her go.” Trent’s words were made of ice as he stalked forward in the small confines of the helicopter. His shoulders were hunched over, just as Skye and her kidnapper were, but it didn’t stop his menacing, deadly prowl.
“This isn’t how it’s supposed to go!” the man shouted as he glanced around.
“Let her go, or I’ll kill you with a knitting needle,” Trent threatened as the man dragged Skye back against the far wall of the military-like helicopter.
“We’re supposed to take her!” the pilot yelled back at them. That seemed to make up his mind that he was going to fight.
Skye felt herself being shoved to the side. Her shoulder slammed into the side of the helicopter as she tripped over the small utility bench. Trent was already moving as he held the knitting needle as if it were a knife. Trent blocked a punch and jabbed the needle into the man’s upper arm. The man screamed in pain and Trent followed up with a powerful punch to the man’s face. Skye saw the man’s head snap back toward her and then his eyes roll back as he dropped to the floor.
“Come on!” Trent yelled, holding out his hand for her.
Skye scrambled to her feet, and the second she placed her hand in his, she knew they’d make it. The pilot was yelling at them to stop, but all Skye could focus on was Trent as he glanced out the door.
Skye followed his gaze and looked down at the river. “Let’s jump,” she yelled over the sound of the helicopter engine and blades.
“It’s a good forty feet. Jump with your legs together and head up high. Before you hit the water, draw your arms to your side like a pencil,” Trent instructed.
Skye squeezed his hand. No fear. No hesitation. They looked at each other and jumped from the open door. There was a moment when they were jumping straight out, but then the plummet began. She held on tightly to Trent’s hand as her stomach rose to her throat, but the scream she was letting loose stopped it from coming all the way out. Suddenly Trent’s hand was pulled from hers and sh
e remembered to pin her hands to her side.
Her feet hit the water, what little air was left in her lungs was pushed out, and the darkness of the water overtook her. She clawed for the surface as her lungs burned. Panic almost took over, but then she felt Trent’s hand grabbing her shirt and pulling her upward.
Trent hit the water hard, but he was used to it. With a brother in the Coast Guard, Trent had made these jumps a million times with Wade. Not from a helicopter, but from the cliffs over the rivers along the Appalachian Trail or off the top of boats into the ocean.
The second he stopped the downward plunge, he was using both arms to swim toward the surface. He made sure he entered the water near Skye and felt her almost kick him underwater. He reached out with his right hand and grabbed for her. He got a fistful of shirt and kept swimming with his left arm and kicking hard as he propelled them to the surface.
His nose broke through the surface first and then the rest of his head. He took in a deep breath of air as he yanked Skye up. When she broke the surface, she dragged in a ragged breath as she tried to get her bearings.
“I got you. Take some deep breaths,” Trent ordered her. Her arms grabbed him and as she inhaled over and over again, the panic started to fade and she began to tread water.
Voices were yelling for them, lights shone in the distance, and then the light on the deck was turned on and the whole river was lit up.
“Trent! Skye!” he heard Ryker’s booming voice and then Edie and Karri’s terrified screaming.
“Over here!” Trent yelled back as he raised an arm out of the water and waved. “Look, it’s a boat,” he said, dropping his voice back down as he talked to Skye. “That must be how the others arrived.”
“We’re coming!” Ryker yelled and then Trent saw a life ring being flung out downriver from them. Ryker let out the slack and let the river take the life ring farther out into the middle of the river.
Broken Shadows: Shadows Landing #5 Page 21
