Eva nodded as she yawned. He saw exhaustion washing over her.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you, okay?”
Eva leaned her head against the door window and shut her eyes, giving in to sleep. “I know, Wy. I knew before you came for me.”
“I’ll always come for you,” he said quietly, her hand still in his.
She didn’t respond right away, then whispered, “I know you will. Always.”
It was clear she was somewhere between lucidity and sleep, but he’d take it. He stretched back in his seat, settling in for a long night, and whispered, “Always. And probably forever.”
As Wylie drove through the night, he found himself burning the hours thinking of Eva. He glimpsed at her from time to time, watching her chest rise and fall to ensure she was fine. Sure she seemed okay earlier in the day, despite the marks all over her body, but he couldn’t help but worry.
This woman had always been tough, savage even, and unstoppable. A total badass most wouldn’t stand a chance facing toe-to-toe. He knew she worked hard to build that reputation in her organization. She used it to garner the respect and loyalty of her people through the fear she evoked simply by her fierce presence. But seeing her sleep, soft, fragile vulnerable…covered in the marks of chaos made his jaw ache from clenching it.
She’d been a pain in his ass for some time, but when she was gone, his heart told him it wasn’t by choice. His gut said to find her. And here she was—hurt, broken, damaged. Likely by the very people who once feared her. She’d been stripped of her authority in a sense and knocked from the proverbial pedestal she once commanded.
That bruise to her person, psychologically and not just physically, was more than he could stand to ponder. It enraged him—for her and because of her. As much as he didn’t want to care so deeply about her and what had happened to her, it paralyzed him. His world went from one of his own where she rented space and drove him mad to a place where all he could see was her in every corner. Wylie didn’t understand what that was or how it could change so abruptly, but he was present for it and ready to explore it.
Though he spent the bulk of their relationship in denial and refused to see her for who she was to him, he was starting to see things more clearly. Someone was going to pay for what they did to her. And as he looked once more at her battered face under the moonlit sky on roads less traveled as they ran from some kind of evil, he knew two things…
Justice would be for her, but vengeance would be all his…
12
“Eva.” Wylie put a hand on Eva’s shoulder and gently jostled her. “Wake up, honey.”
Wiping her eyes, she pushed herself up in her seat and looked around. “Where are we? Why are we parked in the…woods?”
“Just a quick pit stop. We’re just pulled off the side of the road, not in the woods,” he explained.
“It feels like we’re in the woods because…trees. Everywhere.” Eva’s remarks were snarky, more like herself or how she was with him, anyway.
“We aren’t in the woods, Eva. We’re hiding a bit, but…Jesus, does it matter?” Wylie caught himself playing right into the role he tended to play with her. It confused him, given all they’d been through in the past twenty-four hours or so.
He shook it off. “See that house up ahead on the right with the porch light on? It’s our target.”
“Target? What exactly are we targeting? Were you going to let me in on some tactical shit?”
Wylie paused, his stare locked with hers as he tried to figure out what had happened between them and why the sudden shift. “Well, Princess…while you were sleeping, I was driving most of the night to get away from the bad guys. You know, the ones who followed you and wanted to kill you?”
“Aren’t those same guys coming for you and your brothers? I mean, I didn’t ask you to come get me. I totally had things under control, so the valiant white knight thing isn’t really working for me.”
“Pfft. I’m going to assume you just woke up on the wrong side of the bed, err, Cadillac and say, you’re welcome.”
“Um, thank you? What is this, Wylie? What the hell are we doing here?”
“Jesus, what got into you? Did I piss you off while you were sleeping or something?”
Eva rolled her eyes. “Story of my life. Can we get back to why we’re in the woods and staring at a house in the distance?”
Wylie disengaged his seat belt and sat back in his seat. How they went from whatever it was they discovered when he found her at her aunt’s back to their typical banter and angst was beyond him. Maybe she felt less vulnerable with the distance they’d put between them and New Mexico. Or maybe, it was showing that vulnerability that had her riled and retreating back into that place where they typically stood with each other.
“Look. It’s a safe house. I don’t know if it’s safe anymore or been compromised.”
“Oh. Makes sense. So let’s sit outside and find out. If the bad guys come out in the next couple of minutes, we’ll know it’s compromised…”
“Shut up, Eva. Seriously. I don’t know what all this is…” He waved a hand in front of her. “But I have zero patience for it. I’m a little fucking tired from driving all night. Oh, and driving all night the day before because…looking for you.”
Eva paused. He saw his words affected her. “Fine. What’s the play, Wylie?”
“The plan is you stay here. I’m going to follow the tree line in and see if the place is safe. If it is, I’ll flash the porch light, and you can pull the car around. We’ll park it in the garage and swap it for the one in the one staged here, grab some necessities, and get back on the road.”
“And if you don’t flash the porch light?”
“If I don’t flash the porch light within ten minutes, you get the hell out of here and get to Wyatt Ranch with my brothers—only stop for gas when you absolutely need to. Directions and routes have been sent to this phone.” He handed her a burner phone that matched his own. “You hear me? You fucking run.”
“Without…you?”
“Without me. You run like hell.”
Eva stared out her window. He could see her pulse quicken in her neck. The idea frightened her, even if she wasn’t showing it in any other way. It confused him, given her current behavior. They’d have to sort that out later, however, because they were either walking into a trap or a moment of rest.
“Eva…”
“I got it. Go. Just…go.”
So he did. After checking his weapon one last time, he checked a second one and handed it to her. “Slide over here when I get out. Be ready for anything.”
She nodded in understanding, and he hopped out of the car, looking over his shoulder one last time before disappearing into the trees. The house looked still and quiet, but that was the point. It was too still. Perhaps, it was as intended because it was supposed to be vacant—or it was a trap.
He made his way closer after securing the exterior perimeter. With his back against the siding, he peered in one window just as the light went off. Wylie pulled back, ducking in the shadows, and took a deep breath. Was there someone in there, or was it the light cycle they had set on all of their safe houses?
Lights intermittently went on and off through the night to give the illusion the house was occupied. He would typically appreciate that safety feature but not tonight. Not while on the run from a source of evil that tended to be in step or a step ahead at every turn.
Wylie ducked and moved under the rear windows, making his way to the kitchen windows and sliding glass door. Nobody in the kitchen, he noted and moved to the sliding glass door. The entire back of the house was lit up inside. It made sense if it was the light cycle, but just when he was feeling confident—too confident—he saw movement.
A shadow. Someone was moving inside, near the front of the house, but he couldn’t see just where. Then the living room lights went out.
“Fuck,” he whispered to himself.
Needing a better vantage poin
t, he moved to the front of the house, checking windows along his way. He noted the shadow just once more. Had they seen him? Were they following him from the inside? When Wylie reached the front of the house, he scanned the area around them in search of a vehicle or anything that would let him know just how many people were inside.
The lights inside flipped on and off again, leaving him unnerved. Was there a single person in there or several? There was no telling. He had a decision to make. Go in and neutralize the potential threat or head back to the car and get Eva the hell out of there.
If he breached the house and found himself a victim, that would leave Eva exposed because his presence would alert them to her potential presence. On the other hand, the ten-minute timeframe he’d given her was about to expire. If she ran, she’d be alone and equally at risk.
Wylie stood with gun drawn and upright against his body as he leaned against the house. He looked at the heavens as he weighed his options.
“Shit,” he whispered in frustration. “Shit, shit, shit…”
There was only one real solution, which was really the lesser of several evils: he needed to get back to the car and get Eva out of there. The house had been compromised and wasn’t worth securing. They’d move on to the next until they found a safer place to recharge. Wylie ducked into the nearby hedges, hiding in the shadows they created as he found his way back to the woods and then the car.
He only had the moonlight to guide him, but even so, something seemed off when he returned to the car. The car door was open. His pulse quickened, and his heart pinched when he couldn’t see her. Though only a few feet away, it seemed like miles. He couldn’t get to the vehicle and Eva fast enough.
When he approached, he found the car empty. Nothing was out of place, all right where it was when he’d left for the house…except Eva. He searched the immediate area. Perhaps she’d been spooked and took cover nearby. Hell, what if she needed to use the restroom? Wylie ducked and covered through the immediate area, quietly calling out her name. Nothing.
When it was clear she wasn’t out there, he immediately assumed the worst. He’d driven them right into a trap. How could he be so stupid? He’d taken a risk that he knew better than to gamble on, and now she was missing again.
13
There were people in that house. He’d seen at least one—or the shadow of one. His watch vibrated, indicating it’d been ten minutes since he’d left her, and in that short amount of time, he’d lost her. Sure, he could hop in the car and get the hell out of there and come back for her later with reinforcements for a real rescue effort, but time wasn’t on his side. Someone had already tried to kill her once, and he was certain they wouldn’t hesitate if they had another chance.
Tracing his way back to the house, he followed the same route as before, ducking and covering in the shadows, watching for light patterns. Whoever was inside knew he was there because the lights went out—all of them. He’d been careful. He was good at this. They didn’t see him coming—they just knew he was coming. Because of her. Of course he’d come for Eva.
There was no easy way about it now. He could go in guns blazing and hope for the best. Or he could rely on his primal instincts—sight, sound, smells—and find her in the dark, sans proper gear. He’d left that in the car.
Testing the back door, he found it unlocked. Too easy. A trap. So he moved around the house, searching the shadows inside, trying to find the best vantage point. There wasn’t one. All the doors were unlocked. Too convenient.
It would be best to find another way in. Maybe he could climb through the smaller bedroom window on the side of the house. It would be easier to get in undetected and obvious if someone was inside. So he did just that. The house was older, as were the windows with their brittle plastic locks that pushed down into the window frame. With his fingers gripping the edge, he pulled at the window, gaining little progress as he could only slightly rock the window, but it held in place otherwise.
He searched his surroundings and found a small garden spade on a planting table behind him and used it as a makeshift crowbar. With every push and pull, the brittle lock gave a little more but not enough to breach the window. When the metal head of the garden tool had bent back and forth once too many times, it snapped. He was making leeway, but any more effort and he would give away his location, and it could be over for both him and Eva.
A shovel. It was bigger, bulkier, and sure to do the trick, though maybe a little too loud. Carefully, he placed it in the gap he’d created thus far and did just as he did before. The damn lock gave more and more, but it was only bending. That window was going to fly open if he wasn’t careful. With one final push, he felt the window began to give, and just when he thought it was ready to fly open, the plastic simply popped.
Wylie let out a deep sigh and dropped his head with relief. Slowly sliding the window open, he kept his eye on the closed door and closet as he carefully climbed through the opening. With his weapon drawn and at the ready, he quietly opened the bedroom door and peered down a dead-end hallway one way and an open end at the other. With his back against the wall, he crept to the end of the hall one step at a time, stopping just before it opened to the rest of the house.
Fine hairs on the back of Wylie’s neck stood at attention. He didn’t have to look around the corner to know someone was there. It was like a heaviness in the air, maybe a subtle change of odor as adrenaline coursed through them. It was like he could hear their pulse quicken and the air move simultaneously and feel the pressure around him tighten. Then the floor creaked. It was hardly audible, but it was there.
Wylie had one chance to do this right and get the upper hand. One. Chance. A vibration in the air hit him like a silent fervor alerting him it was now or never. Awareness high, tension higher, apprehension…zero, he rounded the corner, his weapon ready, and he found his target equally primed with a bullet fated for him.
“Jesus, Eva,” Wylie hissed, looking behind her. “What happened?”
“I don’t know, you tell me,” she snarled as he tucked her behind him and led them down the hall, clearing each room along the way with a bob of his head.
“Where are they?”
“I don’t know, you tell me,” she said once more, clearing the spaces opposite him.
“You didn’t see what direction they went?”
“Who are they?” she asked.
Wylie paused, glancing over his shoulder with a bewildered look. “I don’t know. Now, you tell me?”
“I don’t know. You saw them?”
“Yeah, I saw them. I was outside. Just shadows.” He slowed as they reached the end of the space, and it opened into a large living area.
“How many?”
“Too dark to tell. Just saw movement.” Wylie quickly turned, gun out in front of him as he cleared the kitchen on his right.
“So there could one or a dozen?”
As they approached the other side of the open living space, only a small bathroom was left to clear. “Well, I’m going to say there were three or less.”
“That’s random.”
Wylie nodded as they flanked the bathroom door. “It’s a really small bathroom.”
On that note, they each flipped around as Wylie kicked open the door to reveal an empty space.
Eva let her arm drop to her side, gun in hand. “Where are they? Do we double back? Are they outside?”
“No clue,” Wylie blurted. “We have two options. Double back to the Cadillac, get the hell out of here, and possibly give up our location and cover, or we get to the barn and take the car staged in there. Go bags are already in it. That’s how we set up all the houses.”
“They could be out there, anticipating that move,” Eva reminded.
“Or they can be ducked behind trees waiting by the Cadillac.”
“Okay, okay…” Eva began to pace. “Which is the lesser of two evils? We sort of have limited resources to shoot our way out of here.”
“You didn’t get any kind of
look at these guys? Are they from your organization? I get you may not have gotten an exact count but give me a guess…less than five?” Wylie had his focus trained on the large picture window, glaring at anyone who may be staring back.
Eva cocked her head and gave him a cocked brow. “I didn’t see anyone.”
“Blindfold? Bag over the head? I mean, it’s dark but not that dark.”
“No. I mean, I literally haven’t seen anyone but you.”
It was Wylie’s turn to return the expression. “Then how did you get in here?”
“Uh, I walked.”
“You walked, Eva?”
“Yeah… I. Walked. Did I stutter, O’Reilly?”
“You were supposed to wait in the car for the porch light to flash or leave if it didn’t.”
She rolled her eyes. “Right, but when I didn’t see it flash and you hadn’t come back, I got nervous and thought maybe you’d been infiltrated.”
“Dammit, Eva. I got back to the car in less than ten minutes. That means you went in after less than ten minutes. You didn’t give me a chance to flash the porchlight.”
“I didn’t know. It felt like it had been much longer, and I thought you might need backup.”
“You have the time on your phone and the watch on your wrist. What do you mean you didn’t know how much time had passed?”
“Just that…I didn’t know. I forgot what time it was when you disappeared into the trees, or maybe I just didn’t look…” She tried to justify her actions despite realizing the mistake she’d made and the risk she’d created. She knew better. “I panicked, okay? It was really fucking creepy out there, and I thought… I thought that…”
Wylie noted the emotion welling in her stare. She panicked because she was worried about him. Despite the unnerving abrasiveness just before he left her at the car, he realized it wasn’t distaste or dislike. It was simply her keeping her guard up with him. Interesting.
Brother's Keeper V: Wylie (the complete series BOX SET): NEW RELEASE + Series Box SET included! Page 124