Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 133213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 666(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 666(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
“Hey, Zach.” Aidan kept the words quiet. He felt like he was in the presence of a dangerous predator.
Zach looked up suddenly and seemed to realize who was talking to him. “Aidan.”
“And me.” Lou had rolled the window down. “You need to get in the van and let Aidan look you over. The team is inside the house. We need to be ready to go.”
Zach seemed to shake something off, stepping back. “Good. Huisman sent half his guards with me. They’re dead now, so it’ll be a fair fight. Doc, Kala’s going to need you. Carys, too, if Huisman decides to fuck around with Tris. I have to go.”
“Go?” Lou scrambled out of the van. “Go where? You’re hurt.”
A ghost of a smile hit the captain’s lips. “Back to hell, sweetheart. Should’ve known I wouldn’t belong here. Take care, Lou. Aidan, you can get in through the garage. No one’s guarding it anymore.”
And with that, the captain jogged off looking like the final survivor of a horror film.
“Yes, that was Zach,” Lou was saying. “I don’t know, Aunt Charlotte. He ran away.”
The fact that she’d called Charlotte aunt let him know how shaken Lou was. Aidan couldn’t be. He couldn’t let panic take over. Zach’s words rang in his head. Carys might need him. Kala definitely needed him. He secured the pack over his back and made sure the safety was off the gun. His heart thudded in his chest. “Lou, I have to go in.”
She nodded. “I heard him. I’ll update the uncles…Ian. I’ll update Ian. Be safe, Aidan.”
Aidan took off, trying to remember the schematics Parker had attempted to drill in all their heads the night before. He retraced Zach’s steps. It wasn’t hard. He followed the blood.
Was Zach hurt? Should he have tried to stop him? A head injury could have made him do irrational things.
Aidan stopped as he rounded the corner that brought him to the open garage. It was set back from the road, and that seemed like a good thing now since there were bodies everywhere. Zach had put the knife he’d had in his hand to use. Aidan stepped over them, trying to avoid slipping.
He entered the kitchen and could hear someone talking.
“Don’t.”
Tristan. Tristan had shouted the word. Aidan inched down the hall and then felt a hard hand on his elbow.
Cold blue eyes stared down at him. Big Tag was not happy.
“Zach got away and told me Kala needs me,” Aidan whispered.
A brief nod was all he got, and then Adam moved around him with Ian following.
“Carys!”
Tristan’s shout threatened to shake Aidan’s world. He didn’t think. He ran toward the sound, evading Ian and Adam.
He stopped at the edge of the living area, and the sight threatened to take his breath. Carys was sitting in a chair, her arms held down with zip ties and her finger in a straight cutter, tears rolling down her cheeks. Tristan had two guards on him, both with guns at his back.
Huisman was going to take her finger and likely more. He said something, and his lips curled in an evil smirk.
“You mean here, Manny?” Ben Parker stood on the balcony, his rifle trained on his enemy.
The world seemed to slow down as he realized Cooper and TJ were coming from the opposite direction. Aidan lifted his gun because that fucker wasn’t going to hurt Carys. He moved in as he heard the first gunshot.
Huisman put the gun he held to Carys’s head. “You might be able to get me, Benjamin, but are you willing to bet her life on it?”
Aidan stopped because Carys wasn’t the only one with a gun to her head.
“Stay calm, son,” Adam commanded.
“I’m not moving.” Tristan’s hands came up. “Dr. Huisman, you’re surrounded. Just let Carys go and we’ll all survive this.”
Huisman wrapped a hand in Carys’s hair, holding her in place. “What would be the fun in that?”
“Parker, do you have the shot?” Ian asked.
“Ah, we’re all here then,” Huisman said. “You better have a bead on all of us or you’re certain to lose at least one of your teammates. My men will execute that one if I die. Maybe we’ll get both. As for Benjamin, I wonder what’s more important to him. Taking me out or the fact that he’s standing in front of the door where I’m holding the woman known as Ms. Magenta. I don’t know how much longer she’ll last. I gave her a little something. Maybe she’s already dead. What do you want more, Benjamin? My head on a platter or your whore? You know how I took care of the last one.”
Parker blinked twice, his body stiff. Cooper was already looking for the stairs.
Parker dropped his gun and went through the door behind him.
“How the hell do I get up there?” Cooper sounded panicked.