Moving slowly, he handed me the ultrasound baton and then stretched out on the ground beside the pit, pillowing his head on his arm. “Hi, Daniel,” he said in his deep calming cop voice. “My name is John. I see you’ve got a soldier for a friend. Does he have a name?”
Big grey eyes blinked fearfully, tears still sliding down Daniel’s cheeks, but he didn’t try to burrow away again. Kane said nothing else, just lay quietly waiting.
After a long moment, Daniel whispered, “John.”
“Yes, I’m John,” Kane confirmed patiently. “What’s your soldier’s name?”
Daniel straightened just a bit. “John. His name is John.”
A quiver of tension zipped through Kane’s body, quickly banished. He managed a chuckle that sounded genuine. “Well, that’s funny, because I’m a soldier and my name’s John, too.”
“A soldier?” The big grey eyes got wider and Daniel wiped a grubby hand across his cheeks, smearing away the tears. “I wasn’t crying,” he said defiantly.
“I can tell you’re a very brave boy,” Kane assured him. “But it’s okay to cry.”
Daniel sniffled and stood up straight, clutching his soldier to his chest. “Men don’t cry. Only girly-boys cry.”
“No, Daniel,” Kane said huskily, his voice the sound of a heart breaking. “That’s not true. Even soldiers cry sometimes.”
Daniel advanced a couple of paces, peering inquisitively up at Kane. “Are you crying?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought something bad had happened to you and I was scared.”
“Why?”
“Because…” Kane swallowed. “I always wanted a son like you.”
“Really?” Daniel was standing on tiptoe at the edge of the pit now, gazing up at Kane. “My daddy was a soldier. But he died…” His voice quavered, tears puddling in his eyes again. “And the mean man that hit Uncle Buck, he said Mommy and Uncle Buck died, too, so he’s my daddy now, but he’s m-mean…” Sudden terror froze his face and he backed away, his chest heaving with hiccupping sobs that he tried to muffle with a grubby hand over his mouth. “He t-told me to s-stay in the c-cabin b-but the b-bad man pushed m-me in here and s-said to b-be quiet, he’s g-going to b-be so m-mad…”
“No, he’s not,” Kane said firmly. “I won’t let anybody hurt you. The mean man isn’t your daddy, and your mommy isn’t dead. That was a lie. Your mommy is fine and she’s very worried about you. Will you let me take you to her now?”
“B-But…” Daniel darted a frightened glance at me. “That lady’s mean, too.”
“No, she’s not mean, I promise.” Kane reached out. “She and that other big man are soldiers, too. Here, take my hand, and I’ll introduce you.”
“She’s not a soldier.” Daniel’s chin came up with the certainty possessed only by six-year-olds and misogynistic assholes. “Ladies can’t be soldiers.”
“Yes, they can,” Kane countered. “This lady is a brave soldier and that’s why she has a gun. But…” He lowered his voice to a confidential whisper. “Can I trust you to keep a very, very big secret?”
Daniel nodded, his eyes wide.
“This lady is a secret soldier so nobody can know she carries a gun. Can you be a secret soldier, too, and never tell anybody no matter what?”
Daniel nodded vigorously, staring up at me. “Can I look at your gun?” he whispered.
“Maybe later,” Kane said. “Will you be brave enough to come with us now?”
Nodding again, Daniel stretched his arms up, trust shining in his eyes.
“You’re a brave boy,” Kane complimented him. “I need you to follow my orders just like a soldier. Can you do that?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Okay, when I lift you up I want you to wrap your arms and legs around me and hang on tight no matter what, and put your face right here…” Kane patted his shoulder. “…and don’t look around, don’t even peek until I say it’s okay. Will you do that?”
“Uh-huh!”
Kane knelt and lifted Daniel effortlessly out of the pit, tucking him close as he gently guided the boy’s face into the crook of his neck. For a moment he stood still with his cheek on Daniel’s dusty hair, a father cradling his most precious burden.
“Let’s go,” he said.
I had been so absorbed in their exchange that I hadn’t realized Hellhound had been hard at work. When I turned, all the bodies were gone and he was hesitating by the shed door, visibly bracing himself to face the hellish sight within.
I hurried over just as he swung the door open, and whimpers rose from the women who were still capable of reacting. Pressing into a knot against the far wall, they regarded him with terror-filled eyes.
“It’s okay, I ain’t gonna hurt ya,” he said softly, but they were far beyond the point where they’d ever believe that again.
Laying a hand on his arm, I tugged him gently away from the door. “Go and cover John while he gets Daniel out.”
He frowned down at me. “Are ya fuckin’ nuts? I ain’t leavin’ ya. More a’ those assholes might show up.”
“Let me try.” I stepped back to the doorway, generating a fresh wave of whimpers before they realized it wasn’t Hellhound returning. “Hey,” I said quietly. “Let’s get out of here.”
They only bunched together tighter.
“The gate’s open. All the guys are gone. Come on, hurry up, let’s go,” I urged.
One of the women detached herself a pace from the group, daring to look me in the eye. “No. They’ll kill us.”
Her speech was distorted by missing teeth, but her fear came through loud and clear.
“They won’t. They’re gone.”
“It’s a trick. They’re just waiting to see who tries it, and then…” She shuddered. “Go if you want. We’re staying here where it’s safe.”
“Safe?” I stared, words failing me.
“Come on, darlin’,” Hellhound muttered from outside the door. “Leave ‘em. We gotta go.”
I jerked back to face him. “I’m not leaving them! What if more guys come? They’ll take it out on them-”
Hellhound laid a finger on my lips, silencing me. “Aydan, ya gotta trust me on this. I’ll explain later. Lock ‘em in an’ let’s go.”
“Goddammit, I won’t-”
“Please.” From inside the shed, the woman’s voice vibrated with terror. “Please lock us in.”
Gently detaching my grip on the door, Hellhound swung it shut and slid the bolt home. “Come on, darlin’, the sooner we get outta here an’ call the cops, the sooner they’ll be safe.”
He turned me toward the gate, where Kane waited with Daniel in his arms.
I dug in my heels with a furious whisper. “If any of those guys come back and find out what’s happened before the police get here, they will make those women suffer in ways I can’t even think about without puking! There’s no way it’s safer for them-”
“Aydan,” Hellhound interrupted. “These assholes’ve been feedin’ the bears to keep ‘em around. I counted seven fuckin’ bears so far. An’ if one a’ the ladies pisses ‘em off, they feed her to the bears, too. Ya don’t wanna know what I found in the woods. They really are safer here for now.”
When I stared at him, my stomach churning, he added, “Come on, let’s get outta here before the bears finish chowin’ down on Murphy an’ his asshole buddies an’ start lookin’ for their next meal.”
“You threw them to the bears?” I whispered.
The Killer stared down at me from Arnie’s eyes. “Just takin’ out the trash. Come on.”
While we talked, Kane had slid onto the seat of one of the quads that still had keys dangling from the ignition. Daniel perched on his knee, his arms and legs wrapped around Kane and his face still obediently buried in Kane’s shoulder.
Hellhound gave an approving nod. “Good plan. Come on, let’s see if there are a couple more with keys. If we stick together an’ move fast we oughta get by the bear
s okay.”
We each selected one, and after a wary peek through the iron door, we fired up the quads and drove outside. I got off to close the door and hesitated.
Hellhound swung off his quad and strode over to mutter in my ear, “Hurry up, darlin’. I dunno how many more bears there are, but Kane’s got Murphy’s puke on him, an’ I got some on me, too. We’re walkin’ bear bait.”
His urgency made my pounding heart hammer even harder, but every fibre of my being rebelled at the thought of leaving those women to be brutalized again if more men showed up before the police arrived.
“Come on, Aydan, move it!” Hellhound growled.
Inspiration struck. “Hang on, I have an idea. Here, hold this and give me my backpack.”
He accepted the ultrasound baton and swung the backpack down off his shoulder, anxiously eyeing the woods around us.
“Go!” I waved a shooing gesture at him and Kane. “Get to the SUV. I’ll be right behind you.”
Kane shook his head. “No, we stick together. Hurry up! What are you waiting for?”
Rummaging through the backpack, I drew a breath of relief when my fingers closed around the laser flashlight. Making sure the gate latch was fully engaged, I trained the laser on it and tried not to flinch with the fear that it would reflect at me.
“What’re ya doin’?” Hellhound demanded, frowning at the flashlight. “It ain’t lightin’ up. Your batteries are dead.”
I grinned as the latch took on a dark cherry hue. “No, they aren’t.”
“What the…” His mouth dropped open. “Okay, I gotta start suckin’ up to Chow. I want one a’ those.”
A few seconds later the latch was glowing bright orange and I stepped back from the scorching heat. In a moment the metal sagged, and I flicked off the flashlight and stowed it away again.
“Okay, now they’re safe,” I said, and shouldered the backpack. Hellhound handed back the ultrasound baton, and I added with satisfaction, “Nobody’s getting in here without a cutting torch-”
A volley of gunshots from the woods slammed icy adrenaline into my veins. Hellhound seized my arm and practically flung me onto my quad.
“Ride!” he bellowed, and we all goosed our throttles.
Chapter 45
Our quads sprang forward, roaring and kicking up dust. Ahead of us, Kane drove one-handed with his other arm holding Daniel tightly to him. Hellhound half-stood on his quad beside me, his head snapping right and left in search of the source of the gunshots. I struggled to control my handlebars with one hand, but I wasn’t about to stop and stow the ultrasound baton I still clutched in my left-handed deathgrip.
Just past the bend in the path, a flicker of movement caught my eye. A man burst out of the woods and sprinted across in front of my quad, his expensive dress shoes sliding on the gravel.
A shock of recognition jolted me but I didn’t have time to dwell on it. Everything clicked into slow motion when I spotted the grizzly bear charging after him, teeth bared.
Charging directly at us.
I saw everything as if in a chaotic freeze-frame. Flinging up the ultrasound baton and punching the trigger, I felt the bulletproof jacket resisting me and wondered crazily if it would protect me from bear teeth.
Labelle ran directly into Hellhound’s path. Hellhound swerved too late and two bodies tumbled through the air. His quad snarled to a rocking halt.
The bear was nearly on us when its muzzle dipped, its stride faltering. A moment later its snout plowed into the ground and the momentum of the huge furry body carried it into an ungainly somersault. Its hind claws sliced the air only inches away and I cracked the quad’s throttle, launching myself forward several feet before slamming on the brakes again.
Hellhound was rolling to his feet, thank God. Labelle was scrambling up, too, and I let out a mindless shout.
“Stop him!”
Hellhound whipped out the trank pistol and fired. Labelle dropped with a moan.
No, that wasn’t Labelle moaning.
Another groan yanked my attention back to the bear. Bleeding from several bullet wounds, the animal rocked halfway up onto its front paws only to vomit and collapse back to the ground. It emitted another anguished groan and pressed both front paws over its face, a gesture so human that my heart wrenched.
“Ya okay, darlin’?” Hellhound barked.
“Yeah, you?”
“Fine.” He absently brushed some gravel out of a bloody abrasion on his arm, staring at the downed and bleeding bear. “Poor damn thing. Put it outta its misery an’ let’s haul ass. Ya want me to load up Dumbfuck?” He cocked a thumb at Labelle’s unconscious body.
“Yes, please.”
A few yards ahead, Kane held Daniel’s face clamped to his shoulder, both arms wrapped around him as if his embrace alone could stave off all the bears in the world. Kane looked shell-shocked, white and wild-eyed.
How much longer could he hold it together?
I dismounted and walked a few paces closer to the bear. Afraid to relinquish the ultrasound baton, I tucked it between my knees so I could use both shaking hands to steady my Glock. My tremors increased when I noticed something that looked very much like a human hand in the pile of vomit in front of the bear.
Taking careful aim, I put a bullet in its brain before holstering my gun and retrieving the ultrasound baton. Hellhound had already searched Labelle for weapons and dumped him across the back of his quad before mounting up, and I clambered gracelessly onto the seat of my quad, too, my rubbery legs barely cooperating.
The remaining half-mile drive to the parking area was an exercise in nervous tension. Every time the breeze ruffled the leaves beside the trail my heart lurched up into my throat until I was sure it wasn’t another bear.
And what if more club members arrived?
I shook myself and concentrated on the trail. Keep your head in the game. They’d be expecting the sound of quad traffic so they wouldn’t have any reason to arm themselves until they spotted us, and by then it would be too late. There were no innocent men here. My Glock would deal whatever justice was necessary.
To my surprise, we encountered no more threats. Hellhound’s SUV still waited unscathed in the parking area, and he wasted no time in clicking the electric door locks open and motioning Kane into the back seat.
Driving around to the rear of the SUV, he dismounted and opened the hatch to stow Labelle’s unconscious body, but I stopped him with a hand on his arm.
“I’m not putting that sack of shit anywhere near us,” I muttered.
Hellhound scowled down at me, tension vibrating in his shoulders. “Well, what the hell d’ya wanna do with him?”
I only had to think about that for a second. “Strap him to the roof rack.”
Hellhound barked out a laugh. “Ya got it, darlin’. Gimme a hand.”
Even with Hellhound’s considerable strength, hoisting Labelle’s flaccid body on top of the SUV left us both sweating. Whipping out my brand-new steel reinforced hand restraints, I cinched his wrists and ankles to the roof rack, then tottered around to the passenger’s side. A moment later Hellhound slid behind the wheel and we were on our way.
Kane had at last released his hold on Daniel and belted him into the centre seat, and the child was taking in everything with wide eyes while chattering ceaselessly to Kane.
Hellhound lowered his voice and muttered, “So who’s your guy up top?”
“Remember the gunrunner I was meeting for ice cream?” I replied quietly, and nodded toward the roof.
“That’s him?” Hellhound shot me an incredulous glance. “What the hell’s he doin’ out here?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.”
By the time thumping from the SUV’s roof indicated Labelle’s return to consciousness about fifteen minutes later, I had almost stopped trembling. Daniel gaped up at the roof while Kane attempted to distract him with a story.
“Pull in at this next crossing,” I instructed Hellhound, and he compl
ied. Thanking my lucky stars that we were still well off the main roads and hadn’t spotted another vehicle yet, I turned to face Kane. “It’s time for you two to play a game.”
Kane gave a nod of understanding and turned to Daniel. “Game time, Daniel. I want you to cover your eyes up tight…”
Daniel obeyed, grinning with anticipation.
“…and let’s see what you remember about where you are,” Kane went on as Hellhound and I slid out of the SUV. “Without peeking, can you tell me what colour the seats are?”
I permitted myself a small smile. Daniel would soon be as good at instantly cataloguing his surroundings as Kane.
Handing Hellhound the cutter for the hand restraints, I stood back while he freed Labelle. When Labelle sat up shakily, I trained my Glock on him.
“Get down.”
“What the…”
“Get down before I put you down permanently.”
Labelle slid awkwardly off the roof, landing with a wince behind the vehicle.
“Move.” I jutted my chin in the direction of the woods beside the road. “Over the fence and into the woods.”
“Wait, we can talk about this-”
“Or I could just shoot you now,” I suggested.
“Don’t kill me! I’ve got…” he eyed Hellhound nervously. “…something to tell you…”
“Then step into my office and tell me,” I grated, inclining my head toward the woods again. “You’ve been a giant pain in my ass for far too long.”
Sweat glistening on his forehead, Labelle stood in silence for a moment before limping toward the fence. Hellhound leaned down to mutter, “Want me to come with ya?”
“No. Stay in the SUV and get ready to drive.”
He pressed his lips together as though he was about to argue, but stepped back reluctantly and let me pass.
Labelle hesitated at the barbed-wire fence and I snarled, “Hurry up, asshole.”
He stooped and tried to step through the strands, succeeding in snagging his expensive-looking pants on the lower strand and his nice shirt on the upper one. Caught by his clothes, he gave me an imploring look.
Hellhound strode over and planted a foot on Labelle’s hip, shoving him through the fence. Labelle’s clothing tore loose and he tumbled onto the ground on the other side. Handing my Glock to Hellhound, I stepped up onto the middle strand next to a fencepost and swung my leg over, then reversed my feet and swung down on the other side while he kept Labelle covered. Retrieving my gun from him, I turned back to Labelle.
The Spies That Bind Page 36