to help.”
“Get down, Danielle!” her father shouted.
“Get back,” Lily yelled at the same time.
She could tell she’d surprised him. He expected her to use his daughter against him.
On impulse, Lily lowered her bow, releasing the tension until the arrow clattered to the ground. It slid down a couple of steps before the fletching caught on the step.
“What game are you playing, missy?”
“My name is Lily,” she called back. “I’m not playing a game. I don’t want anyone to get hurt. Danielle, go down to your father.”
Lily looked back at the girl. Her eyes were wide and panicked. How much violence had she seen in her short life? No child should be so afraid. Lily handed her the bow, hoping that her father would understand what that meant. She was defenseless now.
“Go on,” she urged. “Take this to your daddy.”
“You said you were here to help.”
“I was. I still am, if your Daddy lets me.” More promises she probably couldn’t keep. She looked back up at him. “Let my friend go. Please.”
She imagined she could see the hesitation on his face. The flickering of doubt. She thought his muscles loosened and he started to let Jacks go.
Then a savage cry came from somewhere off near the kitchen. The cavalry had arrived after all.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Carter
I crept across the side porch of the house, my heart pounding from my flat-out run from the truck. And, yeah, my terror. What would I do if I was too late? If something had already happened to her?
During the crazy drive down the mountain, I tried to tell myself that I was overreacting. Okay, so Lily had left on a supply raid without telling me. Yeah, I was pissed. But just because I was paranoid, that didn’t mean she was in immediate danger. But then I’d called Stu a second time. And no one answered. Not Stu, not Jacks, not Lily. On a three-person team, someone should be able to answer the damn phone. Unless they were in serious trouble.
Using two hands, I held my Glock extended out in front of me as I moved down the porch, constantly scanning the yard and the interior of the house for signs of movement. The house looked innocent enough. A white farmhouse with a deep porch wrapped around the first floor. An open yard with a detached garage a hundred feet away. The grass in the yard had gone wild and long even though it was only early spring. The grass shifting in the breeze was the lone sign of movement.
In this crazy world, there was one thing—one goddamned thing—that actually mattered to me. Keeping Lily safe. Why the hell couldn’t I do that one thing?
I rounded the corner onto the west side of the house and saw Stu laying in a crumpled hump on the porch. Swallowing a curse, I crossed to Stu’s side, crouched, and pressed a couple of fingers to his neck, searching for a pulse without ever lowering my weapon or diverting my gaze. I found his pulse, which was weak but steady. A quick glance and pat-down assured me that Stu had been knocked out but not stabbed or shot. The absence of a gaping hole in his chest meant we weren’t dealing with Ticks.
A flicker of movement caught my attention when I stood. Someone, a huge guy, had Jacks in a stranglehold and was dragging him through the kitchen. But where the hell was Lily?
Rage coursed through my veins, along with a healthy dose of panic as my instincts warred with my training. I knew what Sebastian would say. I had to assess the situation. Before I acted. Before I charged in there and made things worse.
But if this guy had laid so much as a finger on Lily, I was going to kill him.
I sucked in a deep breath and blew it out slowly, trying to calm down enough to think. I didn’t have a clear shot. I needed to get in the house and sneak up on the guy.
He was standing at the foot of the stairs, yelling up the stairs at someone. Probably Lily.
Who else could it be, right? He’d already taken out Stu. It must be Lily.
I sucked in another deep breath and weighed my
“Get down, Danielle!” her father shouted.
“Get back,” Lily yelled at the same time.
She could tell she’d surprised him. He expected her to use his daughter against him.
On impulse, Lily lowered her bow, releasing the tension until the arrow clattered to the ground. It slid down a couple of steps before the fletching caught on the step.
“What game are you playing, missy?”
“My name is Lily,” she called back. “I’m not playing a game. I don’t want anyone to get hurt. Danielle, go down to your father.”
Lily looked back at the girl. Her eyes were wide and panicked. How much violence had she seen in her short life? No child should be so afraid. Lily handed her the bow, hoping that her father would understand what that meant. She was defenseless now.
“Go on,” she urged. “Take this to your daddy.”
“You said you were here to help.”
“I was. I still am, if your Daddy lets me.” More promises she probably couldn’t keep. She looked back up at him. “Let my friend go. Please.”
She imagined she could see the hesitation on his face. The flickering of doubt. She thought his muscles loosened and he started to let Jacks go.
Then a savage cry came from somewhere off near the kitchen. The cavalry had arrived after all.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Carter
I crept across the side porch of the house, my heart pounding from my flat-out run from the truck. And, yeah, my terror. What would I do if I was too late? If something had already happened to her?
During the crazy drive down the mountain, I tried to tell myself that I was overreacting. Okay, so Lily had left on a supply raid without telling me. Yeah, I was pissed. But just because I was paranoid, that didn’t mean she was in immediate danger. But then I’d called Stu a second time. And no one answered. Not Stu, not Jacks, not Lily. On a three-person team, someone should be able to answer the damn phone. Unless they were in serious trouble.
Using two hands, I held my Glock extended out in front of me as I moved down the porch, constantly scanning the yard and the interior of the house for signs of movement. The house looked innocent enough. A white farmhouse with a deep porch wrapped around the first floor. An open yard with a detached garage a hundred feet away. The grass in the yard had gone wild and long even though it was only early spring. The grass shifting in the breeze was the lone sign of movement.
In this crazy world, there was one thing—one goddamned thing—that actually mattered to me. Keeping Lily safe. Why the hell couldn’t I do that one thing?
I rounded the corner onto the west side of the house and saw Stu laying in a crumpled hump on the porch. Swallowing a curse, I crossed to Stu’s side, crouched, and pressed a couple of fingers to his neck, searching for a pulse without ever lowering my weapon or diverting my gaze. I found his pulse, which was weak but steady. A quick glance and pat-down assured me that Stu had been knocked out but not stabbed or shot. The absence of a gaping hole in his chest meant we weren’t dealing with Ticks.
A flicker of movement caught my attention when I stood. Someone, a huge guy, had Jacks in a stranglehold and was dragging him through the kitchen. But where the hell was Lily?
Rage coursed through my veins, along with a healthy dose of panic as my instincts warred with my training. I knew what Sebastian would say. I had to assess the situation. Before I acted. Before I charged in there and made things worse.
But if this guy had laid so much as a finger on Lily, I was going to kill him.
I sucked in a deep breath and blew it out slowly, trying to calm down enough to think. I didn’t have a clear shot. I needed to get in the house and sneak up on the guy.
He was standing at the foot of the stairs, yelling up the stairs at someone. Probably Lily.
Who else could it be, right? He’d already taken out Stu. It must be Lily.
I sucked in another deep breath and weighed my
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