Page 58

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

T he thug was five feet away, looking toward the cave. It was Bryce, built as solidly as the oaks that towered all around. This was no skinny Niles. Bryce would be a challenge.

His gaze was too high, and he didn’t notice Forbes, who was just enough above the dark bracken-covered ground to survey the surroundings.

Forbes could shoot the guard, but then all his cohorts would come running.

He needed the man to get distracted long enough for Forbes to climb out and attack.

Okay, God. You’ve gotten us this far. A cracking branch would be really helpful about now.

When had Forbes started praying as if God listened?

But God must’ve listened. They were still alive, weren’t they? It was him and Brooklynn against a gang of killers.

Obviously, God was on Brooklynn’s side. That had been clear from that very first day, the way He’d brought Forbes to rescue her.

He’d thought that was all about Brooklynn, that God was using Forbes for her sake.

What an idiot he’d been.

As if Brooklynn wasn’t the greatest gift God had ever given him.

He knew now that God was on his side, too, and had been all his life.

Forbes had survived that terrible night. He’d never wanted for anything. He hadn’t been sent to foster care but instead had been raised by a loving and devoted grandmother.

Now he had a woman he loved, a woman he thought that he could build a life with. If God granted it and smiled on him. If God loved him.

Which…which of course He did.

He’d proved it in a million ways. It was only Forbes’s foolishness that had convinced him otherwise. His bitterness and anger and quest for vengeance.

God had been there all along.

A snap had Bryce’s head turning.

Forbes launched himself out of the cave and barreled into the larger man, aiming for his back.

They both went down.

But Forbes had the element of surprise. He braced himself with his knees and one hand, wrapped his other arm around Bryce’s neck, and squeezed.

The man tried to buck him off, but Forbes hooked his foot around Bryce’s ankle, keeping them connected, never letting up pressure against his carotid artery.

Bryce’s strength seeped away. He went limp.

But Forbes stayed on top of him, to be sure.

The man’s breathing evened out. He’d wake up soon, though he’d be woozy.

Forbes scrambled off him, found his weapon and pocketed it, then brought his own gun down—hard—on Bryce’s head.

He wasn’t sorry for the headache the man would suffer. At least he’d still be breathing when this was over.

Forbes returned to the mouth of the cave and peeked down.

Brooklynn’s eyes were wide with fear. Seeing him, she climbed the first few steps, and then Forbes gripped her wrist and pulled her out.

They paused for a few seconds, both catching their breath, both peering into the woods.

No more enemies that he could see. Where was everybody?

Hopefully, the rest of them had climbed down the rocky slope to the cove to wait for Forbes and Brooklynn to emerge. But he wouldn’t count on it.

“Stay low,” he said. “Move as fast as you can. I’ll provide cover. When you get the door open, go inside and leave it cracked.” He handed her Bryce’s gun. “You know how to use that?”

She checked the safety, ensured it wasn’t engaged, then gripped it like a pro.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Let’s move.”

They stepped carefully along the path, then paused at the edge of the lawn.

Still, nobody stopped them.

Not that he’d wanted to run into enemies, but where were they? What were they doing?

He had a very bad feeling about this.

So many things could go wrong. Somebody could be watching the yard from a window—he checked, though, and saw none opened or cracked. Somebody could be watching from the forest.

He peered both ways between the trees and saw nothing worrisome. His truck bed stuck out over the edge of the weedy lawn, the cab hidden behind the trees.

Leo and his fellow thugs had likely found all the evidence.

Forbes couldn’t worry about that. Right now, they just needed to survive.

Forbes gripped Brooklynn’s hand and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Straight to the door. You remember the code?”

She repeated it.

“Good. Go inside. If I don’t come right behind you, close it, and?—”

“I’m not closing you out.”

Of course she wouldn’t. “Go in and hide where you were the other day.”

Her eyes widened, and he couldn’t help his smile. “Spiders won’t kill you. These people will.”

She swallowed, nodded.

He held her against his chest, prayed for her safety, and said, “Go.”

She stepped out of the cover of trees, then hurried as quickly as she could on her injured ankle to the door.

No gunshots rang out. No shouts.

She pressed the code and slipped inside, leaving the door cracked for him.

Movement at the front of the house caught Forbes’s attention. He peered toward the driveway, where the dark sedan that had blocked the exit earlier was now parked, its trunk open. A man walked toward it from the direction of the front door, carrying…something.

Forbes focused on that object. From the shape of it, it was…

A gas can.

And by the way the man swung it, it was empty.

Fear choked out his breath.

The man put the gas can in the trunk, then pulled out something else. A lighter flamed in his hand. Then something else lit, even brighter

He hurled the burning object at the house. As it flew, Forbes had a sickening feeling he knew what it was.

The Molotov cocktail shattered a window and then exploded.

Yellow flames spread so fast inside that he saw the glow of them through the window. They flared higher and hotter, igniting the room from floor to ceiling.

Brooklynn!

He sprinted across the grass, not caring if anyone saw him. She was in there. She could be trapped.

He barreled through the open door, flicked on the light, and hurried down the stairs. “Brooklynn!”

“Here!” She was standing beside the compartment where she’d hidden days before. Her eyes were wide. “What was that?”

“Fire! The house is on fire. We have to?—”

A loud crack, and the ceiling between them collapsed.

Brooklynn screamed.

The room filled with smoke and flames. How much gasoline had been poured? How fast would the place be reduced to ashes?

“Where are you?” He had to shout over the roar.

“Here!” Her voice was faint.

“Are you hurt?”

“No. I just…I can’t…get…”

“What? What is it?”

“I’m… I’m stuck!” Her tone pitched high and panicked. “I can’t get out!”

“Okay. It’s okay. I’m coming.”

Her back had been to the concrete wall. Beside her, the basement stretched the length of the house, but there was no escape that way, even if she weren’t stuck. The only way out was behind him.

Soon, the entire first floor would come down. She’d die of smoke inhalation long before the flames took her.

Small favors.

He bent low, assuming she knew to do the same, and looked at the obstacles between himself and her. A rafter, and above it, furniture aflame.

But the rafter was at an angle. If he could get beneath it, maybe…

He searched for something, something…

The laundry.

He turned on the washer, filling the tub, then grabbed all the dirty linens he’d dropped down the chute from the second floor.

He dipped them in the water and squeezed them out over his clothes, then wet them again.

He covered his head and shoulders with a wet sheet, tucking another in his waistband.

“Hang on,” he shouted. “I’m coming.”

The rafter smoldered, thick black smoke wafting off it. He covered his mouth with one of the wet garments and climbed over the rubble until he reached it. He ducked low and passed under it, brushing his hand on the burning wood.

He ignored the pain.

On the other side, he caught sight of an expanse of fiery, smoky…junk. An upholstered chair. A table angled onto its side. The whole living room had slid between them.

Brooklynn was on the floor on the far side, a thick piece of wood over her.

She was trapped, her back to the wall, the board over her lap.

He moved toward her, smacking at flames that licked his ankles.

It was so hot. Sweat dripped in his eyes, making it nearly impossible to see past the smoke.

Finally, he reached her, though she was hard to make out past the haze. He bent to lift the board. Its heat scorched his skin. He pulled layers of the wet sheet over his hands and tried again.

He could barely budge it.

It was wedged into the concrete corner, its weight held down by more stuff from above.

“You’re going to have to slide out.”

“There’s nowhere to go.” She was yelling over the flames, but to her credit, her panic had passed. She seemed perfectly in control.

“If I lift it enough, can you stand?”

Her eyes widened. “I-I don’t know. Maybe.”

It was their only option. “Try. You ready?”

She nodded, and he gripped the board tightly. He took a breath. “Now.” He lifted with all his might.

She tried. He could see how hard she tried. But she couldn’t get enough room to move.

Another rafter fell from above, filling the space with sparks and smoke.

He dropped the board to cover her. This wasn’t going to work.

“You need to go.” Brooklynn’s words were strong, resigned. “Forbes, you need to get out.”

“Don’t do that.”

“I don’t want you to die here. Go. Go!”

“Stop talking.” His voice was rough and low. Everything was growing darker. He needed air. He needed oxygen.

Once again, he’d failed to protect his loved one.

But this time…this time he wouldn’t save himself. This time, if someone he loved was going to die, he’d die with her.

He climbed over the board.

“What are you doing?” Her eyes were wide. Tears tracked down her soot-covered cheeks. “Go! Please, go!” Her voice broke. “You have to, Forbes. You have to leave.”

He settled beside her. He couldn’t stretch out in the tiny space, so he lowered to a crouch, his knees against the hot wood. “I’m not leaving you.”

“Please.” She tilted into him. “I can’t…I can’t let you die here. I can’t stand it.”

“I know.” He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. “I know.”

“If the situation were reversed?—”

“Then you’d leave, and that would be right. But I can’t.”

They would die here. They would die together.

Lord…

He didn’t know what to ask.

Take us home.

That was it. That was all there was left. He wished, oh how he wished he’d left Brooklynn in the cave. Maybe she could’ve waited it out. Stayed hidden until help arrived.

Better yet, he should never have brought her back here in the first place. His quest for vengeance came down to this. All the evidence would be destroyed. Nobody would pay for his family’s murders. Nobody would pay for Brooklynn’s.

Everything he’d lived for, and he’d failed.

They were going to die, and there was nothing he could do about it.