by Susan Stoker, Cristin Harber, Cora Seton, Lynn Raye Harris, Kaylea Cross, Katie Reus, Tessa Layne
“Jesus, we can’t get in an old-fashioned shootout.”
“Too late. We already are.” Lena slammed the door shut and locked it, then crossed to the kitchen window, opened it, batted the screen away and took another potshot, aiming for the truck this time. “The only thing these assholes understand is force.”
“I’m calling Cab. The drugs are gone; we’ve got nothing to worry about now,” Cass said. She didn’t wait for her sister to agree. A moment later she had her phone out and the sheriff on the line.
“We’re taking fire, Cab,” she said when he picked up. “I’ve got five men in a truck taking potshots at my house.”
“What the hell’s going on down there?”
“Come quick!”
“This got anything to do with—”
Cass cut the call, moved to the window at the other end of the room, cracked it open and set the shotgun on the sill. When Scott took another shot at the house, she aimed high, not wanting to hurt anyone if she could help it, and pulled the trigger. “Fuck! That’s got a kick,” she said to Lena, who just laughed.
“You’ve been slacking on your practice.”
That was true. She hadn’t handled a firearm in months.
It wasn’t like you forgot, though.
She racked another cartridge and took aim.
“Maybe I scared them off,” she said when nothing happened for a long moment.
“Don’t get cocky,” Lena said, just as Howie leaned out of the truck’s window.
That wasn’t any shotgun he was holding, Cass realized. “Down! Get Down!” She dropped to the floor.
Lena ducked as the world exploded in gunfire, round after round chewing up the wooden siding of the house. When the windows shattered, they both rolled over and pressed their faces to the ground. Still the firing went on with a rat-a-tat-tat Cass had only ever heard in war movies.
“Where’d they get automatic weapons?” she cried, but she didn’t expect an answer. As the bullets pinged and zipped and thwacked through the windows and buried themselves in the wall across the room, Cass hugged her arms over her head and fought to keep from sliding into panic.
Lena was yelling something she could hardly hear. “…works. Fireworks!”
“They’re in the shed,” she yelled back, then pressed herself back to the ground as another glass pane shattered, sending shards spinning and twisting through the air in a dangerous waterfall.
“No. No!” Lena’s voice was hard to make out over the gunfire. “Right there!” She pointed to the cabinet Cass was huddled up against. Cass couldn’t understand how her fireworks had gotten inside, but when she pulled the door open, there they were—a collection of bigger ones, including a pile of M-80s. Lena must have grabbed them earlier when she rounded up everything that might be handy. “Hold them back,” Lena was yelling. “Scare them! They’re circling around.”
Cass held her breath. If the men came in from both sides of the house at once, she and Lena didn’t stand a chance. She shifted the shotgun to her left hand, grabbed the bag of fireworks in her right and turned back to Lena, who stopped trying to communicate with words and switched to the set of military hand gestures they’d all learned as little girls.
Cass let out a laugh that was nearly a sob as she took in what Lena was saying. She needed to get into the front room and get ready. If… no, when… the men stormed the front door, the M-80s might be a big enough surprise to keep them at bay a little while longer.
She hadn’t army-crawled in years and almost immediately her muscles protested at the strange movements. She inched forward until she reached the end of the wall of cabinets. Looking across the gap made by the back door, she gasped when she saw its thick, wooden expanse had splintered. The kitchen windows had all shattered. She took in the broken dishes, the papers strewn across the floor and glanced back at the door as it buckled under a new round of fire.
“I can’t get past,” she screamed to Lena. She’d have to if she wanted to make it into the front room. But any second that door would give. She pictured a barrage of bullets slamming into her as she scooted across. Rooted in place, she couldn’t make herself go any farther.
“Yes, you can. Now! Hurry!”
Cass shook her head. She couldn’t do it. Couldn’t—
“They’re destroying the house!”
Cass blinked. Lena was right. They were ruining it. Her house.
Cass surged across the gap, slithered right past Lena and bolted for the front room.
“Matches,” Lena screamed and tossed her a box she pulled out of a drawer by the sink.
Cass grabbed them, too, scrambled her way into the front room and shoved the sofa away from the inner wall to make a diagonal barricade facing the front door. Crawling behind it, hoping it would offer a little cover, she set the shotgun aside and pulled the M-80s out of the bag with shaking hands. She set them up in a row and prepared the matches. Now all she could do was wait.
In a sudden silence, she heard Bob shouting orders. “Cass, you’re dead meat!” he yelled.
She prayed that wasn’t true.
Where the hell was Brian? Where was Cab? What was taking so long?
She had no idea if minutes or hours had passed since she’d called the sheriff.
She heard voices circling around the front of the house, considered standing up and looking, but was glad she hadn’t when the windows exploded inward a second later as gunfire filled the air again.
Wait, she told herself, pressing against the couch for safety. Wait for it.
Another lull. More voices.
“Now!” a man yelled. Was that Bob?”
Cass lit a match, dropped it, stamped it out with her bare hand on the floor and lit another one as fast as she could. This time she succeeded in keeping it lit and she held it to each fuse in turn of three M-80s.
There was nothing for it now. She had seconds before she had to throw them or risk blowing off her own hands. Come on, she willed at the front door. Come on!
She heard a scream from the kitchen, and the front door burst open simultaneously. Everything slowed down.
Cass picked up the M-80s one by one and hurled them at the men spilling into the front hall.
Gunfire ricocheted all over and Cass ducked, pressing against the sofa again, covering her head with her hands.
The world exploded, the M-80s deafening in the close quarters. Suddenly Cass felt like she was underwater; sounds and sensations came from every angle, but made no sense. She grabbed for the shotgun, rolled over and waited for the next attack.
“Danger!” Alice yelled, suddenly swerving across the road into the other lane. Brian grabbed the steering wheel and tugged the truck back into line. “Danger! Danger!”
“Alice, calm down. Snap out of it!” There wasn’t time for visions. Brian already knew Cass and Lena were in trouble. “Drive the truck.”
Alice gripped the wheel tighter, her breath coming in harsh pants. She floored the gas and Brian fell back his seat.
“Are they okay? What’s happening?” Sadie shrieked from the backseat.
“No visions! Just drive,” Brian countermanded, keeping a hand ready to grab the wheel again. Thank God they were near the ranch. Just another minute or two.
But minutes were endless during a battle. Brian knew that all too well.
Alice’s head dropped forward, and Brian swore, nearly straddling the console between them as he fought to get control of the wheel. She snapped up again, slapped his hand away and drove, her face white, her mouth in a tight line, an Alice he’d never seen before.
Brian glanced back, took in Sadie’s and Jo’s terrified expressions. They were holding hands as if they’d seen what Alice had.
“No,” he said. “No, we’re not too late.”
“Not yet,” Alice said. “Not yet.”
Who was screaming?
Cass’s hearing came back with a rush and snap that had her rolling over and staggering to her knees. That sound—who? Lena?
A peep over the couch showed a confusion of bodies in the doorway, but male voices yelling told her it was only a matter of time before the shooting began again.
Still, that screaming went on and on. On and—
Cass shut her mouth, doubled over and nearly retched on the floor. She’d been the one screaming. Because she was the one who couldn’t believe what was happening around her.
The living room was destroyed. The couch’s stuffing embedded by bullets into the wall behind it. Bullets that could just have easily hit her.
Where was Lena?
What was she supposed to do now?
She still had the shotgun. Tucking it under one arm, she moved to the end of the couch to peep around and see the path to the kitchen. If she was going to die, she wanted to see Lena one more time.
“God damn it, Cass!”
Cass froze.
Bob.
Still alive. Still coming after her.
“You stupid bitch! Why’d you have to screw it all up? But then that’s what you do, isn’t it? You’re such a screw-up your own father hates you.”
She held her breath. He’s trying to draw you out, she told herself. He was trying to play with her emotions—get her so riled up she went off half-cocked. Well, she wasn’t afraid of her feelings anymore and he couldn’t trip her up that way.
But what did it matter? He was going to get her anyway. Mere feet bridged the distance between them. It would take a single shot to end her life.
This was it.
She’d run out of time.
Her thoughts flew to her mother. Would she be waiting for her if the worst happened?
She remembered her mother’s face the last time she saw her, as she slipped away from this world to the next. She had seemed peaceful when she went—as if the transition to the next world wasn’t so hard after all.
Cass hoped that was true. Hoped if Bob shot her, the end would come quick. At least then she’d be done with all the pain and worry. She’d be with the one person who had ever made her feel safe—
A sound from the kitchen arrested her. A moan.
Lena.
Bob’s low laugh hit her square in the gut. “That’s one of them,” he said quietly to one of the other men. “You go finish Lena off. I’ll take care of Cass.”
No.
No one was going to finish Lena off.
Not on her watch.
She wasn’t done with her job yet. She had four sisters to watch over. A ranch to protect.
A father to keep safe.
Wait for me, Mom; I’m going to be a little longer.
Cass stood up and pulled the trigger.
“There they are!” Sadie yelled from the backseat as Alice swerved around the house and hit the brakes. The truck lurched to a stop, but Brian had already leaped out of it, racing toward the sound of gunfire.
Sean was on the ground, half propped against Bob’s dusty truck. Brian saw the glint of a weapon in his hand and kicked the pistol into a long arc before Sean could use it. It fell somewhere in Sadie’s garden and Sean sagged back, slipping into unconsciousness. He must be hurt bad, but Brian didn’t care.
He kept on going, leaped the back steps and barged into the kitchen to find Scott bent over Lena’s body. He disposed of the man with a sharp kick to the face before Scott could even react, grabbed the man’s semi-automatic and hit him with it—hard. When he was sure Scott was down for the count, he bent over Lena.
“Go… go,” she hissed at him, although her face was covered with blood.
Brian made a game time decision. First he had to secure the premises. Then he could issue first aid. “I’ll be back.”
The blast of a shotgun had him pressing up against the wall, but a man’s shout and a woman’s scream—Cass’s scream—brought him racing into the living room. Coming around the corner, his instincts made him pull the trigger, and he shot the weapon out of Howie’s hand. He brought Sean’s pistol to bear on Bob. The man had sunk to his knees and was swearing up a blue streak, pressing both hands to his forehead, where blood streamed from multiple wounds into his eyes.
Behind him a man raised a gun. With a fluid movement, Brian brought his weapon to bear and shot twice, and the man crumpled.
That was Mark. Brian swept the room with his gaze again. Sean, Scott, Bob, Mark. Where was Howie?
“Cass, behind me.”
She moved as if she was in a dream, shotgun lowered, but still in her hand. He pivoted to cover her, lifting a hand to hold her back as he peeked into the kitchen again. Scott still lay on the floor unarmed, but Lena lifted a hand and pointed.
Howie must be hiding around the corner.
“Stay back,” he murmured to Cass. He whipped around the corner, and took his shot. When Howie crashed to the floor, writhing in pain, Brian disarmed him.
“Get your sister,” he said to Cass, making sure Howie didn’t have another weapon.
Cass bent down with a cry over Lena’s battered body, gathered her into her arms and did her best to raise her up. Once again Brian acted as a shield as they worked their way toward the back door. He pivoted one way, then the other, trying to watch for danger from all sides at once.
Outside, Sadie and Jo had bound Sean’s hands with gardening twine. Alice rushed to help carry Lena. Gunfire erupted behind him as they made it around the tail of Bob’s truck.
“Everyone back. Get down!”
As the women scurried to huddle around him, Brian did his best to take stock of the situation. Cass and Alice bent over Lena. Sadie and Jo pressed close to them.
They were pinned down. Low on ammunition. Bob had staunched his wound and was back on his feet, aiming for them from the back door. There were plenty of weapons left in the house for him to use.
Brian’s mind raced as he tried to come up with a new plan. He should have called Cab. He should have kept Cass and Lena with him the whole time. He—
“Give it up, Lake,” Bob called from the house. “You’re outnumbered and outgunned. Should have shot me when you had the chance! I’m going to kill you. Then I’m going to take great pleasure in killing the rest of those bitches. But not Cass. I’ve got other plans for her.”
Brian didn’t realize he’d broken cover and started toward the house until Cass grabbed him.
“Brian!”
Her voice brought him back to reality. This was what Bob wanted; what he was counting on. But Brian wasn’t some hotheaded kid anymore, rushing in when wisdom called for caution. He was going to marry Cass. Her sisters would be part of his family.
And he’d do whatever it took to protect them—including looking before he leaped. He waved Cass back and held his ground, waiting for Bob to make a mistake. He didn’t have much ammunition. He needed to get it right the first time.
“You call yourself a Navy SEAL? What kind of hero hides among a passel of girls?”
A smart one, Brian decided when Bob opened the door wider and slid the nose of his gun outside. Brian waited patiently until he saw the glint of Bob’s eyes in the moonlight. Bob fired off a round in their direction, but Brian fired, too.
And his shot found its mark. Bob dropped to the ground just as Alice stiffened again.
“Incoming!”
Sirens reached Brian’s ears only moments later and relief washed through him. He let out the breath he’d been holding, and turned. “Who called Cab?”
“Me.” Cass bent low over Lena. “Hang on, honey. Help’s coming. Just hold on,” she pleaded with her sister.
Alice touched Lena’s arm. Sadie and Jo formed a ring around them. Cass leaned down to kiss Lena’s forehead. “That’s it. Stay with us.”
“They mess’d up the house,” Lena slurred.
“Don’t you worry about that,” Cass told her. “I’ve got all the help I need to fix it up again.” She glanced at Brian, gratitude shining in her eyes.
“That’s right.” He had to clear his throat as the sheriff and his deputies pulled in, and spilled out to take command of the scene.
“I’ll be here every step of the way. The house will be good as new before you know it.”
“Marry her,” Lena said, her eyes closing again.
A minute later, medics swarmed around them, and Brian had to step back to give them access to Lena’s bloodied form.
“I will,” he promised her. “I will.”
CHAPTER TEN
“So you don’t have any idea how a truckload of drugs ended up behind the sheriff’s department a half-hour before your ex-overseer and his cronies started shooting up your house?” Cab asked again the following morning.
Cass shook her head tiredly. They were seated at the table in what was left of her kitchen, and she was having a hard time holding back the emotions that kept threatening to swamp her. She and her sisters had made so many wonderful memories in this room. Now the cabinets were splintered, the windows shattered, and even the battered old table she loved so much had gouges and grooves from the bullets.
And Bob was gone. Dead. He’d never bother her anymore.
Cass wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Relieved that he wouldn’t come back for her again. Pained to know someone had died because of her.
They’d never find the thirty grand he’d stolen from her; she was sure of that. She wasn’t sure if she cared. Brian was with her now. They’d all work together to recoup their losses.
Lena was resting comfortably in her room. She’d been treated and released from the hospital, and Cab had already questioned her, but he hadn’t pushed her to answer and Lena had remained closemouthed about most of it. A shot had creased her cheekbone, and she was bruised all over, but apart from a headache and some stitches, she was fine. The same couldn’t be said for the men who’d invaded their home last night. Bob was dead. Mark had two bullets in his thigh. Sean had one in his shoulder, and Howie had been shot in the gut. Scott had gotten off easiest with a broken wrist and bruised testicles. Cass knew it was important to answer Cab’s questions, but she was finding it hard to concentrate. Finding it hard to care much about the injuries sustained by the men who’d tried to kill them, too.
Cab had sent Brian and her other sisters from the room, saying he wanted to talk to her alone. Brian had hesitated, but in the end he’d done what Cab had asked. So had Alice, Sadie and Jo.
