Page 24 of Thaddeus

You know what?

No.

I was done with Max’s shit.

I’d fucked over Thaddeus and he had reason to be mad at me so I’d give him a pass. A lifetime pass. However, the rest of the men were another story. Totally. I was done with being on the receiving end of their bullshit. Most especially Max.

“No. You know what? No more. I have a name, it’s Emerson—not ‘woman.’ Use it.”

“I beg your pardon?” His eyes narrowed and I only knew that because even in the dark his blond hair and blue eyes stuck out. He looked like he was a surfer-boy, not… whatever he was. I didn’t even know what they did. I assumed because Thad was with them, they were in the military, though I could’ve been wrong. I didn’t ask and I wasn’t going to.

“I think you heard me, Max. I’m not your punching bag. I get you don’t like me. None of you do, but guess what? I don’t fucking care. I’m not being a bitch to you. And in less than an hour you’ll never have to see me again. However, until that happens, kindly keep your personal bullshit to yourself.”

“Damn right, my bullshit is personal. You fucked over one of us, which means you fucked us all.”

Well, that wasn’t a pleasant thought—at all.

“Just pay attention and watch your ass out there. I don’t want to have to fill out a third report explaining why you’re dead, too.”

Jeez. I didn’t think it possible for a grown man to be so dramatic, but there it was.

“Thanks for the advice.”

Declan had stopped the SUV and found a heavily brushed inlet to park the truck. Now all we had to do was walk back to the shack. But we were splitting up, so I had to give Thad, Brooks, and Max some directions.

“The dirt road is going to fork. When it does, follow it to the left. If you continue straight, you’ll hit the water. You can’t miss the house. There’s literally nothing else in there.”

The jungle was thick and the underbrush thicker. It was almost sick to think, but the house was perfect. The tree canopy made it impossible to see the jungle floor which meant the shack couldn’t be found by plane. And you’d have to know exactly where the beach was to enter by water. Jefferson had been a lot of things, but stupid wasn’t one of them.

Max, Thad, and Brooks had disappeared, and for the first time since Jefferson had been killed, I could breathe.

“You ready?” Declan asked.

“Yes.”

We made our way through the rainforest in silence. It worked for me because I was a little out of breath trying to keep up with the men’s pace while trying to swat away insects so large it was against the laws of nature they could fly. And snakes, I was definitely watching for snakes. What I wasn’t watching for was bad guys. I figured Declan and Kyle had that covered. Neither of them had lowered their rifles since we’d started stalking through the trees.

How silently they could trudge through the swampy conditions amazed me. And neither of them had complained or shown any outward signs of being uncomfortable. And they had to have been. Even though it was the middle of the night and the sun was thankfully absent, it was still hot as balls. Sweat was trickling down my forehead and rolling in mini rivers down between my boobs.

I couldn’t understand how they could be covered head to toe and not stop once to wipe their faces or to guzzle water. I would’ve given almost anything for a cold bottle of water and five-minute break, but I’d be damned if I showed any weakness.

Besides, the shack was almost in view and all of this would be over in a matter of minutes.

Declan stopped and held up his right arm at a ninety-degree angle with his hand in a fist. Kyle stopped, too, so I figured that was some sort of bad-ass hand signal to halt. I did as the men did and stood completely still. Suddenly and without warning, three men dressed in black appeared from the chaparral.

Before I could let out a scream and run, Declan pulled me close and whispered, “Quiet.”

Now that the surprise had worn off, it was clear Thad, Max, and Brooks had rejoined us.

Declan nodded his head and four men started forward. When I took a step to follow, a large hand grabbed my bicep and stopped me. He shook his head and didn’t let go of my arm but had loosened his grip.

It wasn’t Thad holding me, I knew that, but with the black mask covering his face I couldn’t make out who it was.

In the moonlight I watched as the front door of the house was kicked in. The sound splintered the silence of the night and seconds later muffled gunfire rang out. I was in awe of the flashes of light I could see through the windows. It looked like the Fourth of July inside the small shack.

Then just as suddenly as it’d started, everything stopped.

A beat later, the man holding my arm propelled me forward and we entered the house.