I tightened my lips. “I thought I heard something.”
“A bear?” Rue was at my side, and she stared up at me, her eyes wide with fear.
I shook my head. “I’m not sure. Maybe it was just the forest falling back into place as we’ve walked through.”
We all stood, frozen in place, our ears straining for any other sounds. There was plenty of wildlife in these forests. I’d probably just heard the movement of a deer or another creature. But then why did my instincts tell me otherwise? My heart raced, my blood pounding through my ears. The hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stood on end. I felt like the vulnerable prey being stalked by something in the forest, and I didn’t like it.
I was plunged back into memories of being in the Army. This was exactly what that felt like, sensing the enemy tailing us. But we were a long way from the enemy out here.
“Wait here,” Kodee said. “I’ll go back and check.”
Rue stepped forward, blocking his path. “No way. We’re not splitting up. Bad things happen to people when they split up.”
Dillon nodded in agreement. “She has a point.”
“Fine.” Kodee sucked air in over his teeth. “Let’s keep going, but listen out. The border patrol guards may be closer than we think.”
If someone was there, I was sure they’d have made themselves known by now. “Don’t worry, I’m sure it was nothing.”
We kept going. Dusk was almost upon us, and with it came clouds of insects, swarming around our faces, and landing on our arms, attracted by our salty sweat. I waved my arm in front of my face, slapping at tickles as bugs landed on my hairline at the back of my neck, and ducked to avoid the whine of incoming mosquitos beside my ear. It had definitely been a mistake not bringing the bug spray.
Kodee glanced over his shoulder at me, but I wasn’t quick enough to alter my features into resembling anything that didn’t look like someone in pain. He stopped walking and frowned.
“Maybe we should take a break,” he suggested. “I could do with refueling.”
I was grateful to him for not mentioning the real reason for stopping. We’d been walking for a couple of hours now, so taking a moment to rest made sense.
“Yeah, my thigh is hurting like a bitch,” Dillon said, and then shot me a look that said ‘sorry, buddy’ as though he knew he shouldn’t complain since he had a leg to start with.
“It’s okay, you were shot. You’re allowed to say when it hurts.” I unstrapped my bag and let it drop to the ground. “How about you, Rue? How are you doing?”
She gave me a tight smile and nodded. “I’m doing okay.”
I knew she was more worried about me than she was herself, and I loved her for that. Despite everything I’d put her through, she didn’t resent me.
We positioned our mats on the ground to give us somewhere dry and comfortable to sit, then dropped down onto them, creating a small circle. We each had our own packets of ready to eat camping meals we’d brought along, and I opened one. I used a plastic fork to scoop out some of the contents and put it in my mouth.
“Mmm. Cold meatballs and pasta. Nice.” I jerked my chin at Dillon. “What you got?”
He grimaced at the contents of his own packet. “Steak and vegetables, I think, though there’s a possibility it’s just dog food.”
“Eww,” Rue exclaimed, elbowing him in the side. “Don’t say that! I won’t be able to eat mine if I keep thinking of dog food.”
He peered into the packet she was holding. “Why? What have you got?”
She grinned back at him. “Chocolate pudding.”
“What? Why do I have dog food and you have chocolate pudding?”
Rue burst into laughter. “Stop it, you do not have dog food!”
I caught Kodee’s eye, and we shared a smile. It was these little moments that made it all seem worth it. The sex and the passion, and all those intense times made me feel like I was alive, but it was these exchanges where my soul finally felt at peace.
Despite the horrible food, we all finished up what we were eating and stashed our trash back into our bags. There was no need for us to leave litter around, not only because that would make us crappy human beings, but also because we didn’t want to leave any signs that we’d been here.
Kodee got to his feet then offered me a hand, pulling me up as well. I tried not to wince as my stump took my weight. I used the large stick I’d found to lean on, easing up some of the pressure. The enormity of what we were attempting threatened to overwhelm me, but I reminded myself that even though this was incredibly difficult, maybe even impossible, if we pulled it off, it would all be worth it.
“Let me take your bag,” Kodee offered.
But I shook my head. “Nah, I’ve got it.”
“Remember what we discussed about asking for help before you need it. It won’t help any of us if you’re incapacitated. You know there’s no way we’re leaving you behind.”
“What about if you just take the camping mat and sleeping bag off the top,” I suggested, wanting to reach a compromise. I didn’t want him carrying everything for me. He needed to stay strong, too. Though we’d never said so out loud, Kodee was our leader. He was holding us all together, and if he fell, the rest of us probably would as well.
He looked like he was thinking about arguing with me for a moment but then relented. “Sure. I can do that.”
We bent to the bag, unclipping the mat and sleeping bag off the top of mine, and strapped it onto the top of Kodee’s. It definitely made his rucksack bulkier, but when I hoisted mine onto my shoulders and clipped the straps around my chest, it did feel lighter.
“Thanks,” I told him.
“Of course.”
We didn’t have much daylight left. I shouldn’t be someone who was afraid of the dark, but I didn’t like the idea of traipsing through these forests in the pitch black. We were in luck that the clouds had stayed away, and we’d at least have the light of the moon to guide us.
We kept going, picking our way through the undergrowth. The bush grew thicker, the ground rockier beneath foot. Kodee acted like a bulldozer in front of us, pushing back foliage and breaking branches, clearing the way for the rest of us.
“I can’t believe some people do this for the pleasure of it,” Dillon muttered.
I had to agree.
“It looks clearer up ahead,” Kodee called back to us. “Let’s hope we’re not going to hit water. I didn’t see any signs of a lake on the map, but I might be looking at it wrong.”
Even a small lake could add miles to our journey and there were lakes everywhere around here.
The trees grew fewer in number and, instead of a lake, we stepped into a clearing.
I sucked in a breath.
“Oh!” Rue’s cry was breathy with wonder, keeping her voice low so not to disturb them.
In the clearing, a doe and a fawn stood side by side. The doe’s brown back was dappled in white spots, and the fawn’s little tail wagged like a happy dog. The fawn’s legs were long and bowed, and the young creature seemed almost unsteady on them. The mother’s graceful neck was bent as she nibbled on tender shoots from the ground, and the fawn nudged and gently butted her mother’s teats, searching for milk. The doe’s satellite ears twisted toward us, and she clearly noticed our arrival, but she made no attempt to run.
It was a good thing none of us were hunters. I’d have hated to see these beautiful creatures harmed.
I smiled down at Rue, who beamed up at me. Having lived in the city her whole life, mostly hidden away from nature, I doubted she’d ever seen deer this close up, or even at all.
We were all motionless, none of us wanting to ruin the moment.
Suddenly, cold metal pressed against the back of my skull, followed by a male voice. “Get on your knees. All of you.”
The deer startled at the brusque voice, the doe and fawn both skittering and running into the forest on the other side of the clearing.
Fuck.
Chapter Twenty
-one
Rue
THERE WAS NO MISTAKING we were in deep shit.
Four men had stepped into the clearing behind us while we’d been distracted by the deer, and now each man pressed a gun against the backs of our heads.
Something hit me between my shoulder blades, sending me staggering forward.
“I said get on your knees,” one of the men who’d followed us demanded.
I swallowed a whelp of dismay and dropped to my knees on the ground. How had we not heard them coming? Wait, we had. When Ryan had heard something, it must have been them following us. I had no idea how they’d found the car, but they must have tracked us from there. Not that it mattered now.
The damage was done.
I turned my head slightly, trying to get an idea of who had followed us. I didn’t recognize any of their faces, but there were four of them. One for each of us.
“All of you, slowly take out your weapons and throw them out of reach,” the man who had a gun pressed to my head ordered. “Do it now. And don’t try anything. If I see you even breathe the wrong way, I will shoot your pretty little girlfriend.”
“He’s going to shoot me anyway,” I blurted.
I wanted the guys to do whatever it took to get free, even if it meant me dying. I cursed myself for not keeping hold of the gun Ryan had used to teach me to shoot. What had been the point in me learning if I didn’t have a gun? Not that it mattered. Each of the guys was armed, but there was no way they could risk attempting to shoot now. One of us would end up dead if they did.
“Shut your mouth!” the man spat.
Something struck me across the back of my skull—the handle of his weapon, perhaps. Pain exploded through my head, and I gasped and fell forward, my hands in the dirt.
“Don’t touch her,” Dillon snarled.
Infuriatingly, the man chuckled. “What are you going to do about it, Paddy? Now throw those weapons away.”
I blinked back tears as Kodee, Ryan, and Dillon each took out their guns and tossed them to the forest floor, out of reach. We were completely defenseless now.
I sensed the rage building in Dillon. I didn’t want him or any of the others to end up getting shot. I couldn’t see a way out of this. There were four of them and four of us, but we were the ones with the guns pointed at us. I wished we could step back in time, if only for a few minutes, and paid attention to what was happening behind us instead of focusing on the deer. I had been filled with such joy at the sight, it had almost felt like a blessing, but then I’d been dragged down to hell.
The man who held a gun to Dillon’s head spat, “You shot our guys, all because of this little bitch. You think we’re going to let you get away with that?”
So, these were Joe Nettie’s men. Not that it really mattered now. We were going to die out here, in the middle of nowhere. Perhaps we were close enough to the border that the guards would hear the gunshots and come looking. They might find our bodies, but the men who’d shot us would be long gone by then. It would mean Joe Nettie would most likely walk away from his trial, but I was long past caring about that. It had never been my fight. I’d only ever promised to give evidence because I’d thought it would keep me alive. Maybe I’d been completely selfish, and I should have just let them kill me. The guys would at least have still been safe then.
The guy behind Ryan shoved him in the back. “Who else were you working with in the city?”
“No one,” Ryan snapped. “It’s just us.”
“Bullshit.”
He kicked Ryan in the back, and Ryan folded over, a deep groan of pain emitting from his throat.
My heart lurched. “Hey! Leave him alone.”
“You have a gun to your head,” he said, amusement lacing his voice. “Don’t worry about him getting a kick.”
“I say we shoot one of them first, just to make sure they’re telling the truth and they worked alone,” his friend suggested. “I bet they’ll start talking once they realize they’re going to end up dead.”
“If we know you’re going to kill us,” Kodee growled, “don’t you think that’s going to make us even less likely to talk?”
The guy glared at Kodee. “You can shut up, too.”
“They can’t tell us anything more.” One of the other guys spat onto the ground beside Dillon. “I say we just shoot them all together.”
“Yeah, I wanna get out of here,” agreed the one who had a gun to Dillon’s head. “These fucking insects are driving me nuts.”
The sun was going down, and the midges and mosquitos were out in clouds. Good. It was a small thing, but I hoped they’d bite the shit out of these bastards. Make them suffer.
I looked to my right, to where Dillon was on his knees, the gun jammed against the back of his head. He caught my eye.
I’m sorry. I mouthed at him. I love you.
He shook his head, a barely perceptible movement, but enough to tell me I didn’t need to be sorry.
I love you, too, he mouthed back.
I wished I could reach out and take his hand, anything for those small moments of human comfort before our deaths, but I couldn’t risk it. Even though I knew we were going to die at any moment, I still strived for those few extra seconds and minutes of life, of time together. Of being with the men I loved, and inhaling fresh air into my lungs, and feeling the thump of my heartbeat pushing blood through my veins. I wished I could tell the guys how grateful I was for our time together. I hoped they knew how much they’d given to me, and how happy I’d been for the first time in my life. Those last few weeks of happiness meant more to me than a whole lifetime of misery.
I turned my head toward Kodee and Ryan. They were both looking our way as well.
I love you both, I told them.
Hard metal pressed against the back of my head. “Look forward, all of you.”
Out of the corners of my eyes, I could see Nettie’s men doing the same to each of the guys, so we were all on our knees with a gun jammed against our skulls, ready to blow our brains out.
We were going to be executed, like prisoners of war.
“No, no, no,” I begged. “Please don’t do this. You don’t have to do this.”
It was stupid to still have that tiny strand of hope that they might change their minds and let us live. Perhaps it was only human, but deep down, I knew it wasn’t going to happen.
Tears filled my eyes, blurring the ground in front of me. I wished I could do something. Should I turn around and fight, even if it did get me killed? We were going to die anyway.
“One, two—”
Gunshots shattered the silence of the forest.
The bullet hit me in the back like a punch of weight, throwing me forward. A scream of agony and fear burst from my lungs as I hit the ground facedown. Blood splattered my skin, hot and wet.
But how was I conscious? How was that even possible? Death was a deadweight smothering me.
No, I was wrong. I was still very much alive. What the hell had happened? The weight on top of me was a body. I experienced a fresh spurt of panic. Please don’t let it be one of the guys. It had been impossible to tell how many shots had been fired. The bangs had echoed through the forest, and my ears were still ringing from the sounds.
I was alive, but what about the others? That was all that mattered to me.
I pushed off the body of the man who’d been about to shoot me and looked for the guys. They were all still alive, like me. All confused, with dead men at their sides.
A cry of disbelief and utter joy peeled from my throat, and I crawled across the ground to reach them. Kodee wrapped his arms around me, pulling me to his chest, and he let go with one arm to pull Ryan in as well. Dillon folded himself around me from behind, his hands clutching the backs of Kodee and Ryan’s necks. We clung to each other, arms around backs, faces pressed to necks and chests. I wasn’t ashamed to cry, so grateful we were all still alive.
I almost didn’t care about who it was who had saved us, but, of course, I knew I couldn
’t ignore that small factor for much longer. They were still standing over us, armed, having just shot four men. I didn’t think they were going to kill us, considering they’d just saved our lives, but there was always that possibility.
I wiped away my tears and forced myself to look up.
Frankie Capello and his younger brother, Manuel, stood over us. They had two other men with them as well, men I recognized from my time with them. Frankie’s graying hair appeared like silver streaks in the burgeoning light, and he looked like he’d struggled more with the hike to get here, his cheeks red, the extra weight he was carrying probably not making it easier. They’d removed suit jackets, but both wore shirts rolled up at the sleeves, and dress shoes that were definitely not appropriate for the forest. This told me that they hadn’t known where they’d be coming when they’d set out.
“How... how did you find us?” I dared to ask.
Frankie grunted. “That car you stole had a tracker on it. It belonged to Joe Nettie’s contacts, and after they didn’t hear back from a couple of their guys and then discovered the two bodies at a cabin back in Michigan, they were able to follow you.”
I didn’t get it. I understood about the car having a tracker in order for Nettie’s men to have found us, but how did the Capellos know about it?
He must have predicted my next question. “We have a rat in Nettie’s gang, someone who told us what was going on. We had to stay back to make sure they didn’t find out we were on to them, or we would have made it here sooner.”
Manuel Capello jabbed his brother in the side. “That gut of yours didn’t help on the speed front either, Frankie.”
“Ah, shut your mouth,” he said, but there was no malice in his voice. He looked down disapprovingly at Dillon, his lips pursed. “Well, you certainly know how to get yourself in trouble, don’t you?”
Dillon gave an awkward shrug. “I do my best.”
“I think we should have just paid you that ten grand at the start and kept Rue for ourselves,” Frankie said. “It’s not often I admit to making a mistake, but here I am.”
“She’s worth far more than ten grand,” Dillon snapped.
Guarded by Them (Dirty Twisted Love, #2) Page 14
