Page 24

TWENTY-FOUR

F irst stuck in a pantry and now this. Waiting outside doing nothing was torture. Bryce about broke down the wall as he watched a big bulky body approach the room where the kids were on the TIC screen, especially when he saw how close Penny’s outline was to what had to be a man’s body. Bryce could hear the heavy footsteps from the bathroom window.

Please Lord, protect them. Don’t let them be seen.

From the open bathroom window, he listened. It sounded like the man opened and then quickly closed a door. A deep voice sounded right outside the bathroom. “I told you the brats are fine. They’re asleep. You’re hearing things.” The footsteps faded as Bryce watched the blob on the screen move away from Penny and the kids and back to the other side of the trailer where Libby was.

He breathed easier. Soon Penny and two little outlines moved toward him. She hoisted Harry up through the window first. Then Hazel. Bryce grabbed them and helped them down to the ground, a finger to his lips reminding them to stay silent. Once Penny was back outside, they each grabbed a kid and ran for Izan in the tree line.

In the shadows of the tree trunks, Penny looked each child over. “Are you guys okay? Did they hurt you?”

He’d never heard such tenderness, such raw emotion in her voice.

Harry sniffed but held his chin high. So much like his aunt. “I told Hazel that you would come save us.”

“Nuh-uh! I told you?—”

Penny cut her niece’s argument off with a swift hug. “It doesn’t matter because you were both right. I’m here and we’re going to keep you safe. No one will ever hurt you again!”

Harry held tight to Bryce’s neck. “And you came too, Coach?”

“I told you I was here for ya.” Bryce gave the kid a big grin. They had to have been scared out of their minds. “You guys are so brave.”

Hazel’s lip trembled. “But what about Mommy? Those bad men have her. They hit her. And they said if she didn’t do what they said, they would hurt us.”

“We’re going to get your mom, but first we need to make sure you two are safe. We’re going to bring you to Bryce’s truck, okay? And you’re going to have to be really brave and wait there while we get your mom.”

“You can’t leave us!” Hazel squeezed Penny’s neck tight.

Penny looked at Bryce, raising her eyebrows as if asking him for help.

“You guys already did the really hard part,” Bryce told the kids. “But you want Penny to be there to rescue your mom so she’ll be safe too.”

He felt a shudder go through Harry’s little body. “I don’t want to be alone.”

Izan sneaked up to them. “I can stay with the kids.”

Good idea. “Remember Izan? He helped coach.” Bryce pointed at his buddy.

Harry lifted his head. “And he came to school with you. He’s a fireman too.”

Penny smiled at her nephew. “Right. So he knows how to keep you both safe. Can you wait with him in Bryce’s truck?”

Both kids finally nodded. The five of them wound their way around the trees and ditches and came back to the truck. Penny hugged each kid and set them together in the passenger seat. “I need you two to duck down and stay out of sight. Izan is going to watch over you so nothing happens, okay?”

The children still looked scared, but they both agreed. Tears slid down Hazel’s cheeks. Bryce let Penny talk to them while he walked over to the driver’s side with Izan. He handed him the keys to the truck. “If anything happens, you get these kids out of here. Take them to fire hall. Keep them safe.”

“You know I will.”

Yeah. He did. So maybe his brother wasn’t around anymore, but Bryce had his crew, friends that were quickly becoming a lot like family. Once the kids were somewhat settled, Bryce and Penny jogged back toward the trailer. They met up with Zack in the front yard.

“I think now would be a good time for a distraction. There’s only two men guarding Libby. If we can draw one away, we’ll have a better chance at securing her,” Penny whispered.

“So I get to pull out my acting skills after all?” Zack wagged his eyebrows.

“No, we need a ruckus outside, something that won’t alert them that we’re here but that they’ll still want to check on.” Penny looked back at the trailer as if studying it for any weakness.

“Or we could smoke them out,” Bryce said.

“What?”

“If we start a fire in the bedroom where the kids were, they’ll be forced outside.”

“A fire would be obvious that we’re onto them. They might retaliate and hurt Libby. Or she could be trapped in the fire.” Penny counted on her fingers all the reasons his plan wouldn’t work.

But Bryce wasn’t ready to back down quite yet. “They want her for a reason. I don’t think they’ll kill their bargaining chip.”

“We’re not going to risk it. And remember, we have a secondary motive here. We need these guys alive so we can figure out what Sosa’s endgame is.” Penny stared him down.

“What if we start the fire outside?” Zack asked.

Bryce looked at all the dry grass in the yard and the field next to it. “It’s too dry. We can’t risk starting a wildfire. It would be out of control so fast.”

“All right. Drunk neighbor it is.” Zack nodded as if it were a done deal.

Penny’s brows furrowed. “It’s too dangerous.”

“Yeah, but this guy knows you and Bryce. So who else is left?”

Her shoulders sank. “Guess that’s our best option.” She looked behind her. “I’ll go inside through the bathroom again and text you when I’m ready. When you get my text, go knock on the door. Bryce, you cover him. See if you can lure him outside. You two subdue that guy, and I’ll get the one with Libby.”

“Who’s going to cover you?” Bryce demanded.

“I’m used to working alone. Don’t worry.” She brushed off his concern like it was no big deal.

“But—”

“We don’t have time to argue.” Penny walked toward the bathroom window again.

Zack’s eyes went wide. “You’ve met your match there, buddy. Let’s go.”

She’d at least need a boost. Bryce jogged quietly up to her. “Penny!” he hissed. She whipped her head around, finger to her lips. They reached the straw bale under the bathroom window again.

“I don’t like this,” he said.

“It’s the best we’ve got. Are you going to help or not?”

That stubborn streak in her was going to be the death of him.

“Fine.” He boosted her up and waited until she was back through the window. He ran around to the front of the trailer.

Zack waited in the shadows, watching his phone. Bryce gave him a thumbs-up. He held the shotgun, but how could he actually use it? If this guy got close to Stephens, there was too much of a chance his friend would be hurt. He kept the barrel pointed to the ground and crouched behind a bush at the corner of the trailer. At least here he had a clear view of the front door as Zack approached it.

Penny’s text came through. Bryce was poised, ready for action. Zack sang loudly and obnoxiously as he approached the door.

“Hello? Helloooooo?” He laughed and pounded on the door. “Anybody home?”

Bryce checked the TIC screen. One of the men left the area Libby was in and moved closer but didn’t open the door. Bryce made a circular motion with his pointer finger at Zack, indicating he should keep going.

“Yo! I need some help. Hello?” Stephens pounded on the door again and then leaned against it.

After more seconds of silence, the man inside finally opened the door.

“What do you want?” The man cracked the door open but didn’t come out.

“Hola, amigo!” Zack laughed. “I uh…I kinda ran out of gas. Could you?—”

“Get out of here.” He tried shutting the door, but Zack’s work boot was in the way.

“No, really, I will. I just need a leeeeetle gas-o-line.” He held up his thumb and forefinger close together. Bryce crept closer.

The man must’ve heard him. He opened the door wider.

“Who else is out there?”

“No one but me. Well, and a little Jimmy Walker.” Zack snickered. He did make a good drunk guy.

“I’m giving you one—” The door opened wider. Wide enough for Zack to grab the front of the man’s shirt and yank him outside.

“Hey!”

Bryce sprang from his spot. Stephens had the man down on the grass. They rolled in the lawn. Bryce couldn’t risk using the shotgun, so he set it down and was about to jump in when a glint of metal flashed in the moonlight.

“He’s got a knife!” Bryce yelled.

Zack grunted. He rolled and popped up onto his feet, just beyond the other man’s grasp.

Bryce moved behind the stranger. He tried to approach from the right while Zack covered the left. The man between them swung a deadly arc with his blade when either of them got close. One of them was going to have to grab him to get that knife away.

Bryce waited. Watched. As soon as the man looked at Zack and his focus diverted for a split second, Bryce grabbed the arm with the knife. But the bulky man was faster than he looked. His arm slipped out of Bryce’s reach, and in a split second, the blade sliced into Bryce’s thigh.

Pain seared. Bryce groaned. But it was the distraction Zack needed. He lunged at the man, and they both fell to the ground. Bryce grabbed his thigh and moved closer, ready to jump in. In the dark, he couldn’t tell who was who as the two men wrestled. Warm moisture seeped between his fingers. Suddenly the two men stopped.

“Stephens!” Bryce yelled.

The shadowed clump separated, one man slowly moving to his feet. “It’s okay, boss. I’m fine.” Zack’s voice was strained, but the other man didn’t move. Bryce stepped closer, his eyes glued to the man in the grass with a knife sticking out of his chest. He wasn’t going anywhere.

“Go get the girls!” Zack said as he bent over.

Bryce didn’t need to be told twice. He ran to the front door and paused. Anything could be on the other side of it. He opened it cautiously. A scuffle sounded from another room, grunts and groans, and from the sound of it, punches being thrown.

A particularly feminine voice screamed.

Penny! Bryce ran in, the toe of his boot catching on the pistol lying in the middle of the hall. He scooped it up and rushed in.

Libby lay on the floor, but the man with dark hair had Penny in a choke hold. He also held a gun and was in the process of bringing it up to her head. Bryce didn’t hesitate when he saw the clear shot. He pulled the trigger once.

The man’s grip around Penny’s neck loosened. He fell to the linoleum.

Bryce leaped over to catch Penny. “Are you okay?”

She pushed him away and instead grabbed the man by the lapels of his jacket. “What is the plan? What are you doing here?” her voice screamed. Libby roused.

But the man’s stare went from panicked to vacant as the life drained out of him. A pool of blood spread below his body.

Penny lowered him and looked up at Bryce.

“We needed him alive!”

Seriously? She was mad at him? “He had a gun. He was about to kill you.”

“I had it handled.” She stood up and glared at him.

She hadn’t had it handled. She probably knew she hadn’t. But if he’d learned anything tonight, it was that Penny desperately needed to feel a sense of control. So he’d bite his tongue for now. Saying anything would only push her away.

“Penny?” Libby’s weak voice sounded. She sat up.

Penny ignored Bryce and knelt next to her sister. “Are you o?—”

Her words were cut off as Libby grabbed her in a tight hug. Bryce didn’t want to intrude on the sisters’ private moment. He moved and stood over the man he’d shot.

It wasn’t Alonzo Sosa.

Obviously this wasn’t over.