by Harley Tate
Tracy watched her daughter. At first, she opened her mouth to protest, but after a moment, she sagged against the wall. “They aren’t organized. It’s a hodgepodge of tents and tarps and I don’t know what else.”
“According to the man who came here, they’re all under the thumb of one woman.”
“They are. She’s old, but tough.”
“Brianna said there are ten.”
Madison nodded. “But a few are kids. One boy was about ten, then there’s two little girls. They’re barely out of diapers.”
Brianna stepped forward. “They won’t be bringing the kids with them to attack. What if two of us scout it out and wait for them to leave? We can capture the kids and hold them hostage.”
Tracy shook her head. “They won’t care.”
“Of course they will!”
Tracy flashed a sad smile at Anne. “They’re drug addicts. Hampton hit me up for oxy. Said their leader Eileen promised they could turn this place into a lab.”
“You can’t be serious.”
Madison agreed. “My mom’s right. I was listening to two of the women when they thought I was unconscious. The leader promised they could get high if they took this place over.”
Anne wrapped her arms around herself. “They’ve got children.”
“Doesn’t stop people.” Tracy glanced at her daughter. She’d never shared her past in any sort of detail with Madison, but she knew all too well the lengths mothers would go if they needed a fix. “Once you’re an addict, you’re always an addict. The addiction owns you forever.”
“Some people beat it. They get sober.”
She nodded. “And some don’t. You have to want to stop. You have to want to change.” She exhaled and focused on Anne. “These people don’t want to do either.”
Anne lapsed into silence, her eyes clouding over as she thought about what Tracy and Madison said. At last, she lifted her head. “Then the goal should be to rescue the kids.”
“What? Mom, that’s insane.”
“Is it?” She turned to Brianna. “If these people dragged their children out into the woods and are living little better than animals, we should help them. If they won’t listen, at least we could help their children.”
“Dad would check you for a concussion right now.”
“Your father isn’t here. I am. And I can’t in good conscience tear these families apart.”
Tracy understood Anne’s reservations, but she knew how bad it could get. She knew what a desperate, addicted woman would do to service her need. “What if they attack?”
“Then we fight back. But we need to save the kids. They’re innocent.”
Tracy didn’t possess the same optimism, but she couldn’t argue. They would try to save the kids. But if it came down to them or the people standing in the cabin, Tracy wouldn’t hesitate. She would protect her daughter, Brianna, and Peyton no matter what.
Tucker’s death would forever haunt her. She refused to lose another member of their little family now. Especially over some stranger’s kid. Those people chose to drag their children into this mess. They were the ones planning to attack. They were the ones who wanted death on their hands, not Tracy.
She would give as good as she got and then some. Her own daughter deserved that and more. With a heavy heart she walked over to the table and picked up the rifle she’d deposited there earlier in the night. “If we’re going to defend this place, we need to get ready.”
Brianna nodded. “I’ll raid the weapons locker. We can set up a perimeter and wait for them to arrive.”
Madison struggled to get up. “I want to help.”
“No, honey. You need to stay here and rest.”
“Mom. I’m awake and strong enough to hold a gun.”
“You blacked out a few hours ago. You have a concussion.”
Madison bit her lower lip in frustration. “Then at least give me a rifle. I can watch from here and give you some backup.”
Tracy exhaled. There would be no talking Madison out of helping. “Fine. But I don’t want you leaving this cabin.”
Madison wrinkled her nose. “Okay.”
Brianna picked up her own weapon as the front door to the cabin opened. Barry Clifton froze at the threshold, his eyes wide as he took in the sight.
“Dad!” Brianna rushed him and wrapped her arms around his middle.
Anne’s whole countenance changed. She walked over to her husband and gave him a sideways hug. “What are you doing here?”
He gave each woman a squeeze and they stepped back. At six foot two with a barrel chest and a full head of hair, Barry looked younger than his forty-eight years.
“Hello to you, too.” He lumbered in, dragging a rolling cooler behind him, and shut the door. “I couldn’t sleep out by the river. Too many owls. Why do those things have to hoot all night long?”
He smiled, but it faded as he took in all the faces around the room. “You can’t all be sitting around waiting for me to come home. What’s going on?”
Tracy waited for Anne. She should be the one to explain.
“There’s a group of people a few miles north that set up a camp.”
Barry eased his pack to the floor. “I’m listening.”
“They aren’t friendly.”
He paused with one hand still on a strap. “What does that mean?”
Brianna spoke up. “They’re coming to ambush us. They want to take the property over.”
“Like hell they will.” Barry stood up and pulled his pistol from a holster on his belt. “We’ll drop them before they step one foot on Clifton land.”
Anne stepped forward. “They have children.”
“Not one of mine.”
“Two of them are toddlers.”
Barry raised an eyebrow. “And why is that factoring into this discussion? If they are a threat, we need to take them out. No one is coming on this property uninvited. You and I have discussed this. I thought we were in agreement.”
“Mom wants to save the kids.”
Barry held up a hand toward Brianna. “Give us a minute, Bri. Okay?”
Brianna crossed her arms and glowered. Tracy suppressed a smile. Brianna might be twenty, but she was still their daughter.
Barry lowered his voice and pulled Anne over to the corner of the room. Tracy couldn’t hear the words, but from the look on Anne’s face and the way she threw up her hands, it didn’t seem to be going her way.
Tracy busied herself checking Madison’s head injury and trying not to fidget. Brianna walked over and sat on the other side. She couldn’t take her eyes off her parents and Tracy couldn’t blame her.
Every minute that ticked by lowered their ability to prepare. Peyton was the only current guard on duty. He wouldn’t be able to hold back a mob. They needed to get on with it.
At last, Barry and Anne pulled away from the wall. The big man stalked over to Tracy, Madison, and Brianna. “I think Bri’s idea has merit. Two of us can hit the camp from the other side and take whoever stays behind hostage.”
Tracy shook her head. “It won’t work. These people don’t care about their kids.”
“I’m not intending to barter with them.”
“Then what’s the point?”
Barry’s lips thinned into a line. “No one is coming to take this place. I plan to shoot to kill.”
“I don’t follow.”
“We need to keep the kids away from what’s going to happen here. If they become orphans, they’ll need a place to stay.”
Tracy blinked as she processed the full import of Barry’s words. “You mean you don’t want them to watch their parents die.”
“Exactly.”
Tracy swallowed. When Barry laid it all out in the open, it sounded horrific. But it was exactly what she’d been advocating. The adults couldn’t be trusted. But the kids…
They had a chance to change.
She hated what she was about to say, but it was the truth. “I’ll go. I can keep the kids safe and if
there are any adults left behind…”
“We can take care of it.” Brianna stepped forward. “Together we can make sure the kids are safe and out of harm’s way.”
“It will be dangerous. You could meet them on the way in. They could catch you out there unaware.”
Brianna glanced at Tracy. “We can handle it.”
Barry nodded. “Good. Then the three of us and Peyton will protect the property.” He glanced around. “No word from Walter?”
“Not yet.”
“It would be nice to have his support.”
“You’re telling me.” Tracy shoved the yearning for her husband aside. It wouldn’t be the first fight he’d missed. She exhaled and settled her nerves. “Let’s get ready. We don’t have time to spare.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
TRACY
Northern California Forest
4:30 a.m.
Tracy and Brianna slowed as they neared the spot where they left Hampton Rhodes a few hours before.
“What should we do with him?”
“Take him with us, I suppose. We can’t leave him for the rest of the group to find.”
Brianna’s curls bounced as she nodded.
So far they hadn’t seen a single glimpse of anyone from the camp headed their way. Their plan was to secure Hampton and then track wide around the camp to attack it from the north. If Eileen and her gang were still there, all the better.
As the area with the rock outcrops came into view, Tracy slowed. “You snake around the east, I’ll come at the tree from the west.”
Tracy waited until Brianna disappeared into the dark pre-dawn light and eased toward the area she left the man. It didn’t take long to find the remains of the rope and wadded-up T-shirt she’d used as a gag.
Brianna joined her moments later. “What the hell?”
Tracy shrugged. “He’s gone.”
“Do you think they’re already on the attack?”
“We have to assume the worst.”
“Then let’s hurry. We can’t waste any more time.” Brianna picked up the pace and Tracy followed. They had to get to the camp and assess the situation.
Anne would never forgive them if the children died in whatever firefight came next. Tracy had to admit a small part of her agreed. The kids wouldn’t understand if they watched their parents die. It would terrify them and change their lives forever, even if getting a chance to grow up out from under the pall of drug addiction would be a better life.
But Tracy wasn’t a judge or a jury. She didn’t want to be the person to make that decision. She glanced at Brianna and leaned close enough to whisper. “Are you okay with bringing the kids home?”
“It’s better than leaving them out here to starve to death.” Brianna hoisted her rifle up a bit higher in her grip. “But I’d rather these people just take their kids and leave.”
“Me, too.”
The first hint of a tent came into view in the dark and the women fell silent. Tracy checked her rifle for the hundredth time. I can do this. Even if the kids were traumatized at the sight of the weapons, it would be better to contain them there. Anne had been right about that.
Brianna angled away to the right and Tracy crept forward, eyes wide for any movement in the dark. She half expected a flurry of activity: young people running about with guns and grenades as they banded together to take everything the Cliftons worked so hard to have.
But there was nothing. No sound. No movement. Not even a child crying.
She stepped into the camp and surveyed the scene. Chaos.
A tent sagged against a tree, torn open and spewing its contents all over the ground. A sheet lay in a tangled mess, trampled with footprints and smears of dirt. She bent to pick up a crushed beer can. Black burn marks and soot coated the underside and a dent in the top told Tracy all she needed to know. Drugs. Again.
Had Eileen given them all something to prepare for battle? Or did Hampton escape and make it back before they took off? Was there a celebration when he arrived a free man?
Tracy stood up and made her way through the wreckage, kicking over empty soda bottles and remains of sleeping bags. Something small and furry caught her eye and she paused. She reached down picked it up. A teddy bear. With one arm torn almost completely off and stuffing bursting from the seam, it wasn’t much to look at. But it reminded her of their mission.
The children. Where were the two little ones Madison said were running around early that night? What about the boy who smiled at her daughter?
Tracy wedged enough of the bear into the back pocket of her jeans that it would stay put. If she found the child it belonged to, it would smooth over the impending catastrophe.
Brianna walked into the middle of the camp, no longer attempting to hide. “They’re gone. Every last one of them.”
Tracy stood up. “Any sign of the kids?”
“Not a one.”
She pulled the bear out of her pocket and showed it to Brianna. “They left in a hurry. No way a little girl wouldn’t bring her teddy bear.”
Brianna swallowed. “You don’t think…”
“I don’t have any idea. Drug addicts can do terrible things.”
“I take it you know from personal experience?”
Tracy nodded. “I know exactly what those kids are going through. My mother—” Tracy looked away. “Let’s just say she wasn’t the best role model.”
“Then we need to get back and warn the others.”
Tracy paused. Something about the whole thing didn’t feel right. Where were they? They should have run into the gang of them in the forest. Did they get lost? Veer off track to the Cliftons’ place? Did Hampton do the right thing and lead them the other way?
There were so many viable scenarios.
She looked up at the sky. The faintest blue hinted at the horizon. Sunrise was still hours away, but the forest anticipated it. Tracy did, too. They would have visibility and vantage points and the ability to defend themselves in the light.
Now they were just targets.
“You’re right.” She turned to Brianna. “Let’s go.”
As Tracy turned south, she froze. Was that an animal? She swore she heard a rustling in the leaves. She motioned for Brianna to get down.
They both sank into a crouch.
“What?”
Tracy brought her finger up to her lips and pointed in the direction of the noise.
Brianna nodded and inched toward the tree line just outside the small clearing occupied by the tents and wrecked fire. Tracy stayed still, listening.
There it was again.
A small, warbled crunching, almost as if someone were rolling their feet through cheerios. She eased closer to Brianna and the cover of the trees.
“Stay where you are!”
The sound of a strange man’s voice sent Tracy into survival mode. She dropped to the ground and rolled in Brianna’s direction as a shot rang out from the tree line.
Brianna was taking pot shots into the dark. She wouldn’t hit the target, but it might keep the man at bay.
A tree loomed in front of Tracy and she scrambled to take cover behind it. Who was out there? Had they taken out the camp? Did one of the men stay behind?
Tracy’s heart pounded. She had to keep Brianna safe. The girl was liable to step out guns blazing and start a war. She eased closer to where Brianna stood, body protected by a thick tree. “Did you get a look at him?”
“No.” Brianna kept her head bent and eye lined up with the sight. “Doesn’t mean I can’t shoot him.”
A firefight was the last thing they needed. “We don’t even know who they are.”
“Drop your weapons.”
The steely male voice came from way too close and the opposite direction. Tracy turned around in slow-motion. A man stood no more than three paces away, pistol aimed straight at her chest. He had that look about him Tracy remembered from her days as a Marine wife.
Hard-ass military. No room for bullshit.
&
nbsp; She lifted her chin. “Give me one reason why we should.”
“How about fifteen?” He lowered his head and took aim.
Tracy held out the rifle.
“What are you doing?” Brianna hissed the question.
“Keeping us alive.”
“He’ll shoot us anyway.”
The man’s lips twitched. “I can hear you.”
“So?” Brianna stood with her rifle still pointed at the man. “It’s the truth. I give you my weapon and I’m a sitting duck.”
“You are anyway, babe.”
“I’m not anyone’s babe.”
“Give me the rifle.”
“Not a chance.”
He reached for the gun Tracy still held out in front of her. She could have extended her reach and made it easier on the man, but she refused. The closer he came, the more of a chance she had to take him out.
The man leaned in and Tracy twisted the rifle at the last minute, attempting to hit him square in the gut. He dodged and sidestepped up to her, closing the distance between them before she could recover.
The barrel of the pistol etched a cold circle on her temple as he pressed it tight to her skin. “I said give it to me, not punch me with it.”
She kept her voice even. “My mistake.”
He took the rifle from her hands and frisked her, removing the handgun lodged in her waistband before stepping back. “Now, you. Hand it all over.”
“No.”
The girl was so damn stubborn. “Brianna. It’s over. You’ll never get a shot off.”
“Listen to your mother.”
“She’s not my mother.”
“Whoever she is, then.” The man’s tone slipped into frustration and Tracy tensed.
If they could distract him enough, maybe she could reach the knife in Brianna’s boot.
“Why did they leave you behind? Didn’t they trust you to do the job?”
The man glanced at Tracy without moving his head. “Excuse me?”
“What did you do, break Eileen’s rules?”
“Lady, I don’t know who or what you’re talking about.”
Oh, no. If he wasn’t with Eileen and her gang, then who the hell was he?
