Free to Love (The Colson Brothers Book 8)

by Reese Madison

  When she broke free suddenly and pressed her forehead to mine I felt myself panting. “I love you. I’m sorry for being an asshole. Please show me where this key is. If you promise to do everything I tell you, when and how I tell you, you can come with me. You’re going to have to wear a vest and carry at least seventeen guns.”

  I smiled and started crying at the same time. “Thank you.”

  Cord Colson

  The door opened and both women stepped out looking like white ninjas with spots of bright orange taped strategically in place. That has to be my wife’s doing. She and I played enough war games over the years she knows where to put the reflectors so you can still lay down and hide if you need to. I’m proud of her for that, but bringing Eve?? I’m going to spank the snot out of her for that one.

  Having cleared the area a few minutes ago I whistled and drew them over to the tree line I’m using for cover.

  They ducked down and Myk immediately pointed to Eve. “Blame her.”

  “Never. It’s done now. Can she shoot? I mean for real?”

  “Yeah. Her father taught her well growing up. We’ve been to the range a few times over the years. She can shoot.” She assured me.

  I looked back and forth between my girls then let out a deep breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding in. “Stay close. I’m going to circle around taking the long way back to the base camp we have set up. So far we’ve tracked five sets of footprints in and around the area. It looks like your brother hired some backup. I can’t tell how well armed they are, but judging from the tracks it looks like they’re scouting my valley and mountains for an ambush of some sort. I don’t know how five people are going to take down almost two hundred, but then again I don’t know what they’re armed with.”

  I ran my hand over my face before focusing on Eve. “Just how dangerous is your brother?”

  “I only know what he’s done to me. He was in the Army for a few years, otherwise I don’t really know anything about his tactical experience.” She looked around for him.

  “I’ve got aerial support coming in tomorrow. Zac is going to take a few laps then drop us some real help.” I explained putting my hand on Mykela’s lower back. “Let’s go.”

  “Real help?” she asked tucking Eve between us. “Who?”

  “The club. You might have met Drake, not sure if Zac’s ever been to the club in AJ.”

  “I know Drake, or of him. He rescued some chick and her kids from a movie mongrel or some shit.” She’s always been good at summing things up.

  “Pretty much. Okay, keep your eyes open and mouths shut until we get there. Stay close behind me. I’ll lead so you don’t trip and bust your pretty little asses.”

  Eve backhanded my arm as I slid past to take the lead. “My ass is not little.”

  I laughed, “No baby, it’s perfect. Myk on the other hand needs to eat a cheeseburger or seven.” That got me jabbed in the ass with the business end of my wife’s rifle. “Ouch. Careful wench, you need me alive for this mess you know.”

  “Only because you dragged us up here to the middle of no-fucking-where.”

  I know camping, I know guns, and I know hunting. I can build a house, plow a field and break a wild horse. I never went into the military, and I’ve never shot a human being. I’ve seen Machete kill a handful of people, and I’ve seen Mykela chop them up into precise little pieces for disposable, but I’m not good at tracking humans in the woods. Animals yes, humans? No.

  Enter my brother from Exiles MC. Joe is coordinating as much as he can from Apache Junction. I’m not sure how many Slider is going to approve for this mission after what Mykela did to Goat, but I’ll take all the help I can get.

  Larry arrived at our makeshift base camp shortly after we did. I have four other guys keeping their eyes open around us in shifts. Until Drake gets here with his posse there’s not much else I can do, except pray Peter and his crew hold off on any attacks until we’re better armed.

  The girls are warming up by the fire listening to Larry and Kevin swap stories about their findings out here the last couple days. I was there so I’m only half paying attention.

  Because it’s going to be cold as fuck tonight I’m lining up rocks around our fire to be moved by our tents later. There’s not much else for me to do except wait. Gary is out hunting whatever he can find for a real dinner later. We’ve been living off squirrels, rabbits, dried beef, and stale bread since we left.

  A twig snapped to my left making me pull my gun and aim in that general direction. Hank stepped out of the woods and put his hands up. “Just me boss. The helipad is clear for landing if we absolutely need it, although I wouldn’t recommend using it because it’s so open.”

  I holstered my weapon. “Any idea where the fucktards are?”

  “Yeah, about six clicks west of here. They’re sticking together and leaving breadcrumbs.” He offered me a squirrel. “Hope Gary does better.”

  “Me too.” I took the squirrel and handed it off to my wife. “Work your magic babe.”

  She laughed, “Shit, I forgot my glasses.”

  Eve elbowed her, “Can you at least try not to sound like you like it??”

  “No.” Myk sobered locking eyes with Eve. “You see blood and guts. I see the anatomy of life. I see the immaculate shell that houses souls. My OCD gets off on counting every tiny thing it can in order to make sense of how life works.”

  “All those innocent people Myk.” Eve whispered as I shooed the guys away from where than can hear any more than they already have.

  “I didn’t take their lives, I respected the bodies by memorizing every detail of their composition. The bodies are long gone everywhere except in my head. Whether their souls live on is not up to me, but I can keep their bodies alive in my head.”

  “That’s so… weird. Why would you want that in your head??” Eve doesn’t understand.

  “There’s a certain feeling of power I can’t describe that comes with preserving what can’t be preserved. I can’t put them on ice. I can’t preserve them in any way or my loved ones go to prison.” Myk stood and turned back to face her. “Look, I wasn’t raised like normal kids. Neither were you. That’s part of what draws us to each other. I’ve never been raped, so I’ll never understand your pain completely. You weren’t raised and brainwashed by a serial killer. I don’t expect you to ever understand what goes on inside my head.”

  Myk looked at me before continuing. “Cord tried to protect me. He ended up getting roped into the madness instead. He’s my rock Eve. You’re my salvation. I love you both. I need you both. I never realized how much I needed you both in my life until this last few months.” Myk is more emotional than I’ve ever seen her. It’s kind of disturbing.

  “Did he ever kill someone?”

  “Not that I know of.” My wife looked past Eve to me. “The rest is your story to tell. I need to go for a walk.”

  “Don’t go far, it’s getting dark.” I nodded knowing she’s probably going to go throw up. Myk gets physically ill when she talks about the turmoil only I can understand, and I’m not sure I really understand sometimes.

  Mykela Colson

  I’ll never understand people and their need to know what makes me tick. I don’t fucking know, how the hell am I supposed to explain it to them??

  Fuck it’s getting cold out here. Part of me wants to head out alone, but the smart part knows better. I’m looking forward to killing Peter. For four years he’s been a thorn in my side and a source of fear to my wife. Enough is enough.

  The only question I’ll have for him before I turn him into a delicate stew will be why. Why does he feel the need to torture the one person who ever had a chance at loving him?

  Then again what have I done to Cord all these years? He’s wasted his life trying to save me, and got lost along the way. He seems found now, minus a few hiccups. Eve seems to calm him like she does me. She makes us laugh. Cord and I rarely ever laughed. Our lives were too fucked up, or too far apart.

&n
bsp; Seems I keep fucking up everybody’s life. I don’t like that Eve knows me for who I really am now. Oddly she hasn’t said much about it, until tonight when I made a flippant joke about the squirrel being less than a challenge. I let it slip that I miss the art of disassembling a body.

  I heard and smelled him before I saw him. “I was about to head back.”

  He sat down beside me on the fallen tree. “Gary just brought back a deer. Unfortunately he had to skin and gut it in the field.” He bumped my arm with his.

  I smiled. “Dickhead. How’s Eve?”

  “I’m not sure which of the three of us is more disturbed. She’s more worried about how you are than what you’ve done.”

  “You mean what I am, yeah, I get it. Why doesn’t she look at me like you do though?” I turned looking for his familiar face. I need the man who wasn’t my husband for a few minutes. I need the father figure who was way too young to be a father.

  He draped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me in. “I think Eve sees herself as having done some fucked up shit too. Your stories are completely different, but you were both manipulated into doing things you wouldn’t have done otherwise. I guess she’s relating to you on a different level.”

  “Machete brainwashed you too.”

  “Yeah, but I walked into it. I all but asked for it. If I look at you differently it’s because of the guilt. Maybe I feel a bit sorry for you too. Eve doesn’t feel sorry for you. She needs your strength. If she pity’s you then she losing respect for your strength. You’re her protector, just like I should have been yours.”

  “Will I ever stop craving the power? The morbid OCD fix?”

  “I don’t know sweetheart, but if either of us has a chance at a normal life it lies with that curvy blonde back at camp. She’s exactly what we need to balance the scales, and heal. I think somehow we give her what she needs. We’re going to take care of this Peter freak so she never has to worry about anything but our crazy asses from now on.” He promised kissing the top of my head.

  I stood with him as he pushed off the tree. “You just like having two women at your beckon call.”

  He laughed and shoved me towards camp. “Since when have you been at anyone’s beckon call??”

  12

  Cord smacked my ass hard waking me up. “Zac’s here. Get up.”

  I sat up frantically looking for Eve who is tucked securely beneath me. “Remind me to kill him later.”

  She blinked and stretched trying to find consciousness. “Okay but you have to filet his ass for me, I want to chew on his big sexy rump roast.”

  I laughed a little too hard. “Eve??”

  She blinked slower and focused on my eyes. “What? He has a nice ass. You could set a six pack on it and still eat dinner off it.”

  I kissed her morning breath and all. Maybe Cord is right, she’s just as fucked up as we are.

  What followed was somewhat ordered chaos. Men dropped from the sky getting caught up in trees. One guy misjudged his landing and set his parachute right over a campfire. That’s when the scrambling really began.

  Basically we just sent up a smoke signal to Peter and his crew.

  Drake, the big giant Colson with a long black beard and matching unruly hair found us. “Dismantle and pack up to move. Leave nothing we won’t need in forty-eight. Zac is running heat now, but he’s going to have to refuel before giving us a full report. Follow me. Lay low, and for god’s sake Cord take off the fucking cowboy hat.”

  I snatched it off his head. “Shades his dick.” I pointed to Eve. “She’s what Peter’s after.” I informed Drake stepping forward taking her with me.

  He looked her over then nodded to one of his men. “Notify me when Zac gets back from refueling. Fit a harness on her in the meantime. The rest of you follow me.”

  Cord stepped up to Drake getting in his face. “Eve doesn’t leave this mountain.”

  “She may not. Alive. Unless you do what the fuck I tell you. We’ll deal with this Peter. Once she’s out of play she’s no longer his tool. No tools, no way to fix his shit.”

  “If anything happens to her…”

  “There’s more of a chance of something happening to her the longer she stays here. Don’t like it, leave with her. Leave the real work to the real men. I’ll call you when it’s done.”

  “Fuck you Drake.”

  “Not my type, plus we’re related.” He replied coolly. “When I need a horse broke, or a ranch built off the grid, I’ll take your advice. Right now you need to listen to me. Joe did some digging. This Peter is dangerous. He’s got Army Rangers out there blindly following his lead. Trust your brother. Trust me” He urged.

  Cord stepped back and nodded. “I trust you. These women mean everything to me.”

  Drake clamped his hand on Cord’s shoulder. “Preaching to the choir brother. We got this.”

  Cord seemed to relax then suddenly turned his attention to me. “I’m invoking wedding vow three. Do what Drake tells you.”

  A long lost part of me woke up and stretched feeling aware and… alive. “Anything happens to me, when she cries for no reason, just hold her in a spoon. She likes to be rocked too.”

  His expression was fluid and fleeting. Only I caught the slight nod and slow blink. “Shoot straight wife.”

  I’m a doctor, not a fucking hiker. My exercise comes in the form of a gym, if I’m so inclined. Now I realize I should get out more often. Eve oddly, is in great shape. Her stamina is impressive, if not frustrating. Not being able to keep up with her while she’s wearing a Kevlar vest and toting a harness had me making mental promises to get back in shape.

  She reached back and took my hand to help me up a steep incline. “And here I thought I was the out of shape one.”

  “Remind me to hit the treadmill instead of reading all those goddamned medical journals when this is over.”

  “I don’t know how you can read those things anyway.” She complained as I found my footing next to her.

  Drake turned and came back suddenly. “Cord, take Eve up that ridge there.” He pointed. “There’s a pile of trees that fell creating a good place to hide. We’re almost on them now. If anything happens and they make it past us, just give up and hold on. Do whatever they say. We’ll be back to pull you out. If you exchange gunfire you could both get killed. Zac will be back shortly.”

  “Why can’t Zac just lift us out of here?” I asked finally able to. He’s had us on the move and been out of earshot for hours, and I’m panting.

  “Because he’d see the lift, and we need bait if we’re going to catch him. Otherwise he’ll just run, probably back to town increasing the number of possible casualties when we catch up to him. Right now we’ve got him chasing us around away from town, and Cord’s valley.” He explained then looked me over. “You need to sit down.” He pointed to an area at the base of the ridge he’s sending Cord and Eve. “Hunker down there. You’ll be their last line of defense should we get overrun, so shoot smart. Don’t just pray bullets everywhere.”

  “Got it.” I walked with them as far as I could then went to take up my post and wait.

  And wait.

  And wait some more.

  After what seemed like the longest fifteen minutes on record gunshots were fired. Lots of popping and distant voices. My adrenaline levels spiked making my hands shaky. I’m a surgeon. I don’t shake.

  “Shit.” I tried rubbing my hands together and taking steadying breaths. Nothing is working. I can’t shoot straight if I’m shaking.

  The gunfire is getting closer, I think. Or am I just paranoid? Fuck it. I pulled out the flask I’d stolen from Cord’s collection and took two large sips of whiskey. Better a little buzz and balls than missed targets. I don’t want to die today, and there’s no way I’m letting Peter near my wife.

  Shit. Footsteps. I’m going to kill Drake for letting them get past him and his men. I forced myself to focus and got in position. This is not my kind of fighting. I prefer hand-to-hand combat.

&
nbsp; I keep hearing movement on the ground but can’t see shit. Trying to hide and still be able to see around you isn’t an easy task.

  All of a sudden my collar got really tight around my neck as I was pulled backwards out of my hole and slammed to the ground. I lost my grip on my gun as the butt end of a rifle started towards my face.

  I rolled just in time and shot up as quickly as I could to my feet. “Peter.”

  He pointed the rifle at me. “Where is she?”

  “Go ahead and kill me you sick fuck. You’ll never get your hands on her while I’m still breathing.” I reached for the gun strapped under my arm.

  Peter fired a shot over my head making my ears ring. “Don’t move or the next one goes in your head. I want my sister. Where is she?!” He yelled stepping closer.

  Good. Get closer where I rip your fucking throat out. “Back at the house.” I lied.

  “BULLSHIT!!!” He fired another shot hitting me in the foot.

  I dropped to the ground and grabbed my boot. “OW!! Fuck!!” Oh this shit hurts!! It’s like a hot nail being driven into my foot.

  “We’ve been to the house you lying little bitch! Where is my Eve?!! I know she’s out here with you some fucking where!!” He pressed the business end of the gun to my temple.

  I threw my arm up knocking the gun away and swept his feet out from under him with my good foot.

  He landed hard but with so much gear on it didn’t phase him like it should have. Suddenly everything snapped into focus. Clarity. Power. Strength I didn’t know I had.

  I climbed up on his chest, got rolled once, twice, three times before finally being able to get the advantage. It didn’t last long. Peter’s rage and desperation has turned him into a rabid dog. These heavy coveralls are limiting my agility.

  He shoved me easily to my ass and pointed his gun at my chest. “Fuck you bitch. I’ll find her myself, and you’ll be too dead to stop me. She’s mine!! Not yours!!”