Page 23

Slowly, he pulled the tire iron out from the back of the Jeep.
This would do.
He wrapped his hands around the cold metal and tested his grip.
Going up against two men wasn’t great odds, but if he got the drop on them this might just work out okay.
Since the two figures were situated to the right side of the Jeep, Samuel circled around on the left.
He would only get one shot at using surprise to his benefit.
This had to work.
He paused at the front fender and took a deep breath.
One shot.
Their lives depended on this right now.
“Heard anything?” one of the two men asked.
“Nah, but you know how it goes.”
The rest of the man’s words were washed away by the storm.
Samuel moved with the peel of thunder. He stepped out and used the momentum as he swung the tire iron with both hands like a bat. The knobby end cracked against the side of the closest man’s jaw sending his head whipping to the side before he crashed down, face-first, onto the Jeep then the ground.
“What the—?”
The other man jumped back, but his feet slid on gravel. He went down hard, but at the same time brought up a gun. But Samuel was already swinging. He put everything into his downward blow because these people did not deserve mercy. They would have killed him and Jessica had they been given the chance. At the last moment, he closed his eyes. But nothing would ever make him forget the sick crunch of flesh and bone as the tire iron connected with the man.
The first man stirred from where he’d fallen onto the pavement while the second was stunned.
Samuel grabbed the sidearm off the first man and clicked the safety.
In his entire law enforcement career, he’d only had to discharge his sidearm a handful of times. He could look back and know without a doubt that he’d shot as a matter of last resort. But not this time. The clear and present danger was already there. This was about survival. He’d deal with the guilt later.
“No. Please, no,” the second man said, his words slurred no doubt as a result of the blow.
Samuel dropped to a knee next to the man and stared him in the eyes. “Don’t follow us.”
“Okay. Okay,” the blubbering man said.
“Keys?”
“In the ignition.”
“Gun.” The man gestured at his side. Samuel took the weapon off him then rose. “Don’t get up or move. If you do, I will shoot to kill. Understood?”
The man’s hands remained up. “Yeah. Yes.”
There were no hysterics. This guy had seen combat before and knew he was the lucky one.
Samuel kept the firearm aimed at the ground as he backed up and around the vehicle.
Now he had to get Jessica. Damn it. That shot would no doubt bring people straight here.
A bit of movement in the trees caught his eye.