Page 55

It seemed as if it had been days since the militia hit the house, but in actuality, it had been a few hours.

We’d kept our word after we convinced Carpenter to place the call since we couldn’t trust Glover not to blow it.

We killed the helpful one quickly and painlessly.

He never saw it coming. Hollis rammed a knife into the base of his skull, severing his spinal cord.

As for the other three, we didn’t torture them, but their deaths were slow and painful.

They watched as their lifeblood ran out, killing them as they gasped for air.

I tried to get Gianna into the bedroom while we eliminated them, but she refused. She said she wasn’t squeamish.

There had been a moment when we thought Tobias wouldn’t go for it when Carpenter called. I ran that conversation through my head as we waited for him to arrive. We didn’t know how he’d come: by road or through the Glades. Glover had denied that they had access to a helicopter.

“Is it done?” a man’s voice asked when the call was answered.

We’d made Carpenter put it on speaker so we could hear both ends of the conversation. We’d moved to another room where the muffled screams of his buddies weren’t audible.

“Hey, this is Carpenter. Is this Tobias?” he asked.

“Where’s Glover? How did you get this number?” I could hear the anger and suspicion in Tobias’s voice.

“I’m sorry, but Glover didn’t make it. We were met with some resistance. We had to fight our way in. He took a bullet to the chest. I tried to save him, but it was no use. Before he died, he gave me his phone and told me which number to call. We’re done with the other job we were supposed to do.”

“And did she suffer?” he asked.

“Yes, but I’ve got to say, a few of the guys were extra rough. She’s in bad shape. I’m not sure how long she’ll last.” He’d glanced over at Gianna.

Gianna was making low moaning and whimpering sounds. It was so realistic that it tore at my heart and made me sick at the same time. I didn’t want to imagine this happening to her or any woman, but her sound effects were realistic. I noticed that the others were affected as well.

“If you don’t want to join her and Glover, you’d better keep her alive until I arrive. I’ll see you in an hour. Don’t disappoint me, Carpenter,” Tobias growled, then hung up.

“You heard him. We have less than an hour. Let’s get ready to catch a psycho,” Alistair commanded. I went to wrap my arms around Gianna.

The hour was almost up. Gianna was secured in the house, but not in the bathroom.

We didn’t know if Tobias would come alone or bring more militia, but we were ready for either.

Since we knew he was coming, she was set up in the living room, the most central spot in the house.

She had a rifle equipped with a powerful scope.

Rocco had brought it. When he gave it to her, I discovered it was her rifle, and she’d asked for it.

I worked to remain as relaxed as possible, keeping in mind that this would soon be over. This time, I was outside, but Gianna, Reign, and Rocco were inside. My phone vibrated. After slipping it out of my jeans, I glanced down at it and read the message.

Hollis: Movement in the trees, southeast corner in the rear.

Not wanting to alert Tobias with movement, we remained frozen.

I strained my eyes to see that area. I wasn’t far from it.

I should be able to see him. Thirty seconds later, I saw a dark figure slipping toward the house.

It was hunched over and moving cautiously.

I scanned the area around him to see if I could see others, but there was nothing.

It was hard to wait for him to come to us.

Finally, he carefully crept into the backyard.

He was swinging his head from side to side.

In his hands, he held a rifle. I couldn’t make out much else since it was dark and he was dressed in black.

Unexpectedly, two figures rose out of what appeared to be nowhere on either side of Tobias. They grabbed him and disarmed him despite his fighting back. A third figure joined them. The rest of us remained in position until we received the all-clear whistle. As soon as I heard it, I was on the move.

I met them halfway between the back of the house and the trees. I took in the sight of Tobias Beecham. I’d seen photos of him and his brother. They did look alike. He was struggling despite the fact that he was zip-tied at the wrists, and three people had guns pointed at him.

“Get him in the house,” I snapped.

Riley, Hollis, and Quin marched Tobias inside through the broken window. When he did the remodel, I thought the owner should consider making that a door as I trailed behind them. The rest of the team stayed outside to keep an eye open, just in case others were with him.

They shoved Tobias down on the couch. He was surveying the room. I knew the instant his gaze landed on Gianna. His face twisted up in a snarl. “You fucking whore,” he snapped.

“Hello to you, too, Tobias. It’s been a long time. I wish I could say it was too long, but I can’t lie. Mind telling us why you’re sending a damn kill team after me and mine. Then commanded them to gang rape me but keep me alive to turn over to you?” she asked calmly.

“You know why. Don’t play innocent with me. And if you think these men will be enough to protect you, you’re wrong. You can kill me if you dare, but if you do, the militia will never stop until you’re dead,” he said triumphantly.

“No, I genuinely don’t know why. Why don’t you explain it to me? I mean, if I’m going to die soon when your friends catch me, I want to know what I earned a death sentence for. I haven’t seen you in four years.”

“Because you killed my brother, you fucking bitch! Jericho is dead because of you!” he yelled.

“She didn’t kill him. He killed himself when he botched his prison break,” I snarled.

“If she hadn’t sicced her family on us four years ago, we would’ve gotten away, and he wouldn’t have been in prison in the first place. The goddamn woman doesn’t know her place,” he sneered.

“And where is my place, Tobias? Let me guess—the gospel, according to Jericho and Tobias, says women are nothing. They have no rights and are treated lower than animals. You can kidnap them, force them to care for your home, rape them day after day and then expect them to bear your children. Because after all, women are here to serve men. We’re nothing but chattel, and if you kill one of us, just go find another,” Gianna snarled.

She had her fists clenched, and her face was twisted with rage.

She was so furious that her body was shaking.

“Gianna, leanbh , maybe you…” I shut up when her hand came up in a stop motion.

Riley moved to stand off to the side of Gianna. She was scowling and staring at Tobias in outrage. “He actually thinks like that? We, women, are nothing but disposable trash?” Riley asked Gianna.

“Go ahead, Tobias, you have a roomful of men. You should preach your gospel. The one that your sick, twisted brother quoted during his trial. See if they believe it any more than his jury did,” my woman taunted.

“The jury was nothing but a bunch of spineless men who’ve been brainwashed to believe women are equals.

The rest were women who wanted to be men so badly they’d abandoned their sacred duty, which was to follow men and repopulate the earth.

Women aren’t smart enough to run anything.

They need to be told what to do and think,” Tobias spewed.

“Yet, you blame a woman for your brother being caught. It was a brainless female who tracked and researched until she discovered you and Jericho spent most of your summers here with your uncles when you were kids and teens. It was a woman who found a local guide willing to take us into the thick of the Glades to find your cabin.” Gianna kept talking in a sarcastic, smug tone.

He looked at the guys. “Don’t listen to her.

That’s how they get you. They spin their tales, and then they use sex and their bodies to lure you into doing what they want.

They emasculate you, and you welcome it.

Come to the right side in this war. Men must band together and take back the lives they deserve.

“It’s in the Bible that women were chattel, and if they weren’t traded for, they were stolen.

It’s your right as a man to have any woman you want, as many as you want.

The Almighty commands us to populate the world with God’s people.

Everything is going to hell, and it’s because men and women aren’t adhering to their roles.

” Tobias lectured as he stared at us men.

“According to you and Jericho, the fact he kidnapped, held hostage, raped Amelia Stone probably daily for a year and a half, and impregnated her was what God wants? It was merely fulfilling your duty as men,” Gianna said.

She was no longer clenching her fists, and her face was calm.

I didn’t know why, but that worried me far more than her prior reaction.

“That’s right. Get on your knees. You’re my servant,” he said gleefully.

Gianna turned her head. She and Riley made eye contact and stared for several seconds, and then Riley nodded.

“Rian, Miele , I’m sorry. I know you and maybe the guys expected to take care of this one, but he’s ours. I believe it’s only right that Riley and I, two women, get justice for Amelia Stone and her dead baby girl.”

She was right. I did want to do it, but the way she watched him, I knew she needed it. If I denied her this, she would feel that she had let down Amelia in some way. She’d formed a bond with that poor, dead woman.

“ A stór mo chroí , you do whatever it is you want. Just know we have until right before sunrise. The cleanup crew will arrive soon to help us dispose of the garbage. He has to go out with the rest. If you want us to do anything, just tell us.”

“See! See, she’s made you into a pussy!” Tobias shrieked.