The Protective Warrior

by Cami Checketts

  “I’ve got a deal for you, MacKenzie. You stand up and come to me, and your friend can go. I don’t have any issue with him.”

  MacKenzie’s heart leapt. Would Squire really let Isaac go? She could protect Isaac by giving herself up? She’d do that all day, any day. She started to stand. Isaac’s body smothered hers and flattened her to the ground. His hand covered her mouth so she couldn’t talk. He whispered harshly in her ear, “No! Don’t even think about it.”

  “In fact, I can promise you I won’t torture you. I really like the look of you, love. You can choose to stay with me or I’ll kill you quickly. I don’t torture women, but I would like to give you the chance to get to know me and see if you like what I have to offer.” He paused and the silence was broken by crickets chirping and Isaac and MacKenzie’s breath, which seemed much too loud.

  “Isaac,” MacKenzie talked into his hand, hoping he could hear her. He pulled back his hand a little bit. “Please go. It’s our only chance. Come back with help.”

  Isaac shook his head and she felt it against her shoulder. “I won’t leave you.”

  “There’s no other way to escape,” she whispered. “I’ll make a lot of noise so you can get away. You know where you’re going. It’s our only hope.” There really was no hope. Cal and all the others were probably dead. The only solace was Squire might have been in a hurry and not tortured their friends before killing them. Now she could only help Isaac. She’d do anything to protect him.

  “No,” Isaac murmured, clinging to her.

  “Please,” she begged, tears slipping past her eyelashes and running hot down her cheeks. “Go get help. Please.”

  “I’ll get help. Stay hidden.” Isaac pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I love you.” He slid off of her and started crawling through the undergrowth.

  Had he really just said he loved her? Not that it mattered now. She would be dead soon. She was alone and at Solomon Squire’s mercy. MacKenzie knew a moment of fear like she’d never experienced in her life. What could she do? Pretend Squire didn’t make her stomach curdle so he let her live? Or go down fighting? She didn’t really think Isaac could get help before Squire either killed her or took her far away where she’d never see Isaac again.

  14

  Isaac army crawled through the thick brush, his breath coming in fast pants. He’d left MacKenzie, alone. She was right that they had no options, but everything in him ached to rush back to her, cover her body with his, and hope Squire would kill them quickly.

  He couldn’t give in to this despair. He couldn’t quit on MacKenzie. A light flicked on. MacKenzie tripped and went down. For one second, Isaac could see MacKenzie’s beautiful face through the bushes. His stomach turned to ice at the terror in her eyes. He wanted to run to her, but forced himself to be smart and keep moving for a better position.

  Protect MacKenzie was the only thought that tumbled through his mind. He prayed like he’d never prayed in his life then circled around behind Squire’s men. His chances weren’t great. Six armed men against a ranch hand, but he’d fight until they killed him.

  MacKenzie said a quick prayer then jumped to her feet and started stomping toward the direction she’d heard Squire’s voice. Protect Isaac. Protect Isaac, she repeated over and over again. The cause kept the fear at bay. Her fingers burned like they sensed they might be severed soon. She flinched with each step, fully expecting bullets to riddle her body. At least it would be better than a knife. Nausea rushed up her throat. She retched in the grass, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and forced herself to place one foot in front of the other.

  “Where are you?” she called out. Her voice gyrated. Cold sweat puddled in her bra. What was she doing? Had Isaac really left her or would he come back? She wanted Isaac to be safe. She would take the torture and pain to give Isaac a chance to live.

  A light hit her face, blinding her. She tripped over some undergrowth and went down. She gave into the fear at that moment and almost broke down sobbing. Forcing herself to stand, she walked toward the light. As she got closer, the light was lowered and she could see that it was attached to a large gun, held by a man in black clothing. She counted five men plus Squire, standing in the middle of the semi-circle, grinning. They all had goggles on their heads. Infrared or thermal imaging? All she knew was they could see in the dark like she’d feared.

  “You listened,” Squire said. “That’s a good girl. I think we’re going to get along just fine.”

  MacKenzie’s heart was thrumming so hard she felt like it was in her throat. Her mouth burned from the acid of her vomit. Her vision blurred from tears she didn’t want to deal with right now. Her legs were weak like she’d run twenty miles through the mud.

  Squire gestured her forward. “Come now. It’s time to get out of here before the boyfriend actually finds some help.” He gestured with his head to two of his men. They nodded and started in the direction Isaac had disappeared.

  “You said you’d let him go,” MacKenzie squeaked past her dry throat.

  Squire grabbed her arm and pulled her close. His white teeth flashed against perfectly tanned skin and his spicy cologne made her want to gag. He was a good-looking, put-together, completely disgusting man. “Oh, love. What fairy tale are you living in?”

  Isaac. She wanted to scream and cry for him. What would those men do when they caught him? He would fight and they’d hurt him and kill him. Isaac was tough, but no match for trained mercenaries. She glanced at the three remaining men and gasped when she recognized Tureen.

  He tilted up his chin. “Good to see you.”

  “I wish I could say the same.”

  Squire laughed. He traced a hand down her face and she flinched away from his fingers. He tsked. “I told you the deal. You give me a chance and I’ll let you live, or you can choose to die quickly right now.”

  MacKenzie tilted her chin up and glared at him, though her trembling body contradicted the confidence she tried to display. “What fairy tale are you living in?”

  He looked surprised for half a second then he chuckled. “A little spice and bravado is always worth keeping around.” He nodded to his men. “Let’s go. Kill that light.”

  The light went out. Keeping his arm around MacKenzie’s waist, Squire flicked a switch on his goggles and led the way along the mountainside. Away from the cabin, she thought, but she was getting confused in the dark. MacKenzie’s arms and legs were thrashed by branches even through her jeans and she tripped repeatedly on rocks and roots. Squire kept jerking her to her feet. She would’ve rather face-planted than have him touching her.

  She had no clue where they were going. Why wouldn’t they go back down the hill to the cabin? These men had to have vehicles there. Then she heard the steady thrum of a chopper and her stomach tumbled. The small hope she’d clung to shattered. Isaac was never going to get to her in time.

  There was a loud thud behind her. MacKenzie whipped around but couldn’t see anything.

  “Beau?” she heard one of the other men whisper harshly. “Where are—” His question was cut off and then it sounded like he rolled down the mountain.

  Squire whipped around and pinned Mackenzie in front of him. “Beau? Liam? Tureen?”

  MacKenzie blinked in surprise. She couldn’t see anything, but it was obvious Squire’s men were not with them anymore. Did she dare hope? Isaac? She didn’t waste time thinking about it, but jabbed her elbow hard into Squire’s gut. He jerked in surprise and loosened his grip. She jumped down on his instep and he howled in pain, then she thrust her fist into the underside of his jaw before dropping to the ground and rolling away from him. Lights suddenly appeared on several guns and Squire cried out and tore off his goggles.

  He was surrounded by Cal, Isaac, Beck, Tucker, Josh, and Trevor. MacKenzie scurried on the ground toward Isaac. He picked her up and hugged her fiercely. “Good fighting, babe.”

  “You learn a thing or two when you’re a Spartan.” Her trembling voice gave away how shaken up she was. Isaac
held her close and kissed her forehead.

  Squire was looking nervously at the group of them. “How’d you find us?”

  “We have a bit of combat experience.” Cal arched an eyebrow. “You idiots left your Land Rover in a ditch with hardly any covering.”

  Solomon’s eyes darted to his chopper.

  “Thanks again.” Cal lifted a vicious-looking weapon and riddled the chopper with bullets. The pilot took off and within seconds the thrumming of his rotors faded in the distance. Cal smiled. “So, Squire. How do you want to play this?”

  Squire held on to his gun, his eyes darting nervously around the group. MacKenzie clung to Isaac, but she also looked around. These were big, well-armed men, and it was obvious they were ticked off.

  “I don’t like to lose,” Squire said. He lifted his gun. Cal fired before Squire could even pull the trigger. Squire screamed in agony, blood spraying from his forearm. He dropped the gun and continued screaming.

  Cal marched over, kicked the gun aside, and grabbed Squire’s uninjured arm. “Stop whining,” he muttered. “I’ve heard about some of the stunts you’ve pulled and you’re lucky I don’t start cutting off your fingers.”

  He dragged Squire down the mountainside. Josh and Tucker following close behind. Beck glanced over at MacKenzie. “You okay?”

  She nodded. “Yes. Thank you.” Her voice caught. She couldn’t express how grateful she was to all of these men. “Wait! There are two more men. They followed Isaac.”

  Beck chuckled. “They’re out of commission for a little while. Josh put a call in and the county’s sending their entire sheriff’s department to round all of them up. We’ll grab the ones we see as we go down.”

  Beck followed the others. Isaac’s dad squeezed her arm. “You are one tough chick. Remind him never to tick you off.” He pointed at Isaac and laughed.

  She smiled in response. Trevor also took off down the mountainside. MacKenzie started to follow, but Isaac held her against his chest.

  “Thank you,” she said. “You came back. You rescued me.” She shuddered as the fear left her body and gave him a hard kiss on the mouth. “Thank you.”

  Isaac smiled gently at her. “You did a pretty good job of rescuing yourself.” He kissed her again and she melted against him, wishing she could stay in this spot forever.

  Isaac was yanked from her and he skidded down the mountain. She gasped as she stared into the furious eyes of Agent Tureen. Tureen grabbed at her. MacKenzie kicked him in the thigh. His leg buckled. He cursed, but kept coming.

  Isaac thundered up the hill and plowed into Tureen. They slammed to the ground and MacKenzie could hardly see the scuffle in the dark. She prayed Isaac had the upper hand and wished she knew what she could do to help.

  A gunshot rang out and she screamed. Had Tureen shot Isaac? She scrambled on hands and knees toward the men who seemed to have stopped fighting. “Isaac?” she begged. “Be okay, please be okay.”

  “I’m good,” he said. “I choked him out.”

  MacKenzie stood and Isaac was at her side. “What was the shot?”

  “It was below us. Let’s go.” He grabbed Tureen’s arm and dragged him behind them.

  MacKenzie would’ve felt bad for anyone else but Tureen. The corrupt agent wakened and moaned in agony. They both ignored him. They saw lights ahead and reached the group of men, plus some of the Sheriff’s Department. One of the deputies came over and took Tureen from Isaac’s grasp. “Thanks,” Isaac muttered.

  “We’ve almost got them all.”

  “Good luck.” He gestured with his chin. “What happened?”

  “Squire tried to escape.”

  Cal looked up at them with haunted eyes. Solomon Squire was on the ground next to him, not moving. “I didn’t kill him. You saw how I shot his arm earlier instead of taking the kill shot?”

  Isaac nodded. “We all saw that, Cal.”

  Tucker clapped his large hand on his friend’s shoulder. “You didn’t kill him.” He glanced at Isaac and MacKenzie. “Squire grabbed Cal’s gun and Cal was able to fight him off then Squire pulled the trigger.” He shook his head. “Killed himself.”

  MacKenzie shuddered, envisioning the death. She’d had enough death to last her an eternity.

  The group was somber as they climbed on off-road vehicles and horses and made their way down the mountainside. Thankfully, the Sheriff’s department took care of Squire’s men. They all convened at Trevor’s house and answered questions. Then the FBI showed up and the questions started all over again.

  “Well, look who’s alive and kicking,” the familiar voice drawled from the entryway.

  MacKenzie jumped to her feet and rushed to hug him. Klein grunted. “Softly now.”

  “You’re alive!”

  “Barely.”

  “But how?”

  “Tureen took off after you and I guess one of the other agents found me. It’s been pretty touch and go, but I got out of intensive care last week and Tureen was gone before I could turn him in. Glad you’re okay.”

  Isaac was by her side. He reached out his hand. “Isaac Turnbow, sir. MacKenzie said you were the only one she could trust.”

  Klein’s white teeth flashed against his dark skin. “I don’t know about the only one, but I am pretty trustworthy. Nice to meet you.”

  “Something’s bugging me,” Isaac said. “How did Squire find MacKenzie and I at the cabin and avoid Cal and the others?”

  Klein looked him over. “Do you know a Brad Hall?”

  Isaac’s fists clenched. “Too well.”

  “Supposedly he made bail yesterday and was spouting all over town about how he was going to get back at you and MacKenzie. One of Tureen’s men got the layout of your ranch and the information about your hunting cabin from him at a bar last night.” Klein grinned at the furious expression on Isaac’s face. “I know that look. Don’t worry. He’ll be locked up for a long time. Hopefully long enough you won’t still want to thrash him when he gets out.”

  “I doubt that,” Isaac muttered.

  Klein laughed and inclined his head to MacKenzie. “Walk me outside?”

  She walked out into the chilly night with him. So tired that she was barely functioning, she wondered if it was almost morning. Klein stopped next to a black sport utility vehicle. “You did good running. Tureen didn’t leave until a week after you disappeared and he found out I’d been able to talk and tell the director he was the mole. He would’ve given you to Squire if you would’ve stuck around.”

  A cold shiver raced through her. Squire was dead. It was awful to feel relief at another person’s demise, but she still felt it.

  “With Squire gone, you’re welcome to go back to your life.”

  MacKenzie nodded. Back to Chicago. A movement on the porch caught her eye. Isaac stood there, his large frame outlined by the porch light. She could’ve sworn he’d told her he loved her before he’d crawled away back on the mountain, but was it just a reaction? A thing someone says when they’re certain you’re going to die?

  Klein followed her gaze and chuckled. “I see. Well, if you want to fly home, someone will come for you in the morning. Maybe you should at least go visit your parents and tell them you’re thinking about relocating.”

  MacKenzie ignored the insinuation and gave him a quick hug. “Thank you.”

  “It’s been a pleasure.” He nodded and climbed into the car.

  MacKenzie walked toward the porch as Isaac descended the stairs. He took her elbow and led her to Haley’s house. “You look tired.”

  “Such a compliment,” she tried to joke, but inside she was churned up. She was safe now. Such a relief in every way, but safety demanded decisions she didn’t want to make.

  “You look beautiful.” He smiled. “And very tired.” He walked her into Haley’s house and proceeded to check each room.

  “What are you doing? Didn’t the Sheriff’s office get them all?”

  “They did. I just want you to feel safe.” His green eyes focused in on
her and MacKenzie felt safe, and a whole lot of other emotions.

  “Thank you, Isaac.” It was all she could manage as her throat closed off.

  He gave her an all-too-brief hug and peck on the lips then ushered her to the bed. “Get some rest. We can talk tomorrow.”

  MacKenzie sank into the soft mattress and feeling every bit of her exhaustion, though she didn’t want Isaac to leave.

  He removed her shoes, giving her that confident grin of his. The smolder in his eyes warmed her to her core. Placing one hand on each side of her shoulders, he lowered his upper body until his mouth was inches from hers. “Are you doing okay?”

  MacKenzie licked her lips and focused on his handsome face. How like Isaac to worry about her. “How could I not be with you around?”

  He grinned and gently brushed his lips with hers. MacKenzie wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and arched up to meet him. The kiss turned from comfort to passion in milliseconds. Isaac groaned and lowered his upper body onto hers. MacKenzie gasped from the wonderful pressure. The joy of Isaac surrounding her.

  He broke the kiss and quickly stood. Staring at her, his eyes filled with a desire she knew was mirrored in her own. He cleared his throat and backed away a step. Disappointment shot through MacKenzie, but gratitude for Isaac’s self-control slowly overruled the ache to stay in his arms.

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  He nodded. “The next kiss needs to be in a safer spot.”

  MacKenzie gave a chortled laugh. “Good plan.”

  Isaac brushed a hand down her cheek then turned and walked out the door. MacKenzie sighed. Oh, Isaac. He was strong in every way that mattered to her. She was in love with that man and she had to go home in the morning. What was she going to do?

  15