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They could do this.
Shade stopped again another few yards ahead, pinning his back to a tree and silently indicating for Cage and Rook to move closer.
As they did, Cage noticed no movement in the clearing. No one was around. All the buildings in view were dark. They could see the main house on a ridge just beyond the barn and some sheds. Not one light was lit in any of the windows.
It was goddamn spooky and set the fine hairs on the back of his neck on end.
This scenario was unlike when they had recovered Autumn.
“Somethin’ ain’t right,” Shade said under his breath.
That observation twisted Cage’s gut.
“It’s way too fuckin’ quiet. Not one damn light on in any of the buildings. Nothin’ rustlin’ but the livestock. Nothin’.”
Fuck. “They’re expectin’ us,” Cage assumed, his gaze slicing through the compound again, searching for any signs of life.
“Yeah. They didn’t snag Dyna to keep her. Those fuckers snagged her as bait,” Rook whispered, sidling up to them.
“Fuckin’ motherfuckers,” Cage muttered under his breath.
“If they don’t wanna keep her, then they might not think twice about hurtin’ her.” His brother said out loud what Cage was unfortunately thinking.
“Goddamn ambush. That’s what this is,” Shade said. “They’re waitin’ for us. Not sure where. Never seen it this dead up here.”
“Don’t say dead,” Cage growled.
“Know what I mean,” Shade mumbled, keeping his eyes focused at the center of the clearing. “With the number of kids up here, quiet ain’t a thing. They took ‘em somewhere. Maybe one of the cabins higher up the mountain. One harder to get to.”
“Ambush or not, we gotta find Dyna,” Cage said. “Ain’t leavin’ this mountain without her.”
“Agreed,” Rook said beside him.
“Can’t afford a gun fight without knowin’ where she is, either,” Cage added. He didn’t need his baby caught in crossfire. He glanced at his brother. “Text the rest. Warn them it’s an ambush and we need to regroup.”
“Tell ‘em not to leave their locations. We’ll use text to figure out a new plan. We got this far, ain’t goin’ back,” Shade told Rook. “You two stay here for now. Gonna check some shit and will be back.”
Within a blink of an eye, Shade was gone, following the shadows, tracking silently among the trees and brush.
“That fucker can be scary. He’s gotta have some special ops trainin’ or somethin’,” Rook said as his fingers moved quickly over his phone, typing out a group text.
“Or somethin’,” Cage muttered, looking for signs of where Shade went.
The man had become completely invisible.
“Just glad he’s on our side,” Rook continued. He lifted his head. “’Kay, message sent.”
“Don’t know who’s on those inbred motherfuckers’ side, though. Don’t know their skills. They’re survivalists at worst. They live off this fuckin’ mountain. They’re resourceful.”
Rook squeezed Cage’s shoulder. “They’re dumbfucks, brother. Too stupid to live.”
“Yeah, then how are they breathin’?”
“Won’t be for long,” his brother assured him.
“Wanna wipe them the fuck out, but can’t, not all at once. But we’re not lettin’ this slide. No more goddamn warnings.”
“If we gotta quietly take them out one by one, we will. ‘Cause it was bad enough when they stole Red from Sig, now they stole my fuckin’ niece. They’re done. All of ‘em. Don’t care what Trip or Judge says. They all gotta go in one way or another. Women and kids, too. Can’t let ‘em keep breedin’ a new redneck army.”
The thought of killing children, even if they were inbred Shirleys, made his stomach churn. There had to be another way. Whatever that solution was wouldn’t come into play tonight. Dyna’s safety was priority number one. But if a few adult Shirleys were taken out in the process? So be it.
In fact, that was preferred. Whoever touched his daughter needed to die. Male, female, he didn’t give a fuck.
Then they’d remove the rest from this Earth, from this mountain, like a surgeon’s knife. Steadily and carefully one at a time. Even if it was slow and methodical.
But the clan’s actions today guaranteed their demise.
Their extinction.
One way or another.
Cage hunkered down behind a thick shrub just beyond the cabin. Rook and Shade remained in his line of vision.
Shade had a huge fucking knife in his hand. A Rambo-sized fucking knife. Who the fuck carried shit like that?
That crazy motherfucker apparently.
Their new plan was to move in groups of two and check every fucking building at every cleared level up the mountain.
The only problem was, the compound was pretty fucking vast. Off the main clearing, where the leader’s house was located, were narrow, rutted dirt roads that reminded Cage of the spokes on a wheel. One directly north, one northeast and one northwest. Then off those lanes more rough roads spidering out into the thick woods.
Shade said he’d explored each one. He memorized the layout of the area. After every recon trip, he’d add to the crude map he drew of lines, squares, squiggles and symbols. Before they got on foot earlier, Cage had glanced at it. It wasn’t detailed but basic and he found it strange that Shade hadn’t made any notes on it. Just marked it with some letters, numbers and symbols.
