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“Leave them. They aren’t going anywhere,” Matt said. “We’ll deal with them later. Make sure they’re secured.”
“What if they freeze to death?” Harry said.
“Anybody care, speak now,” Matt said over the headsets.
There was silence.
Lake made it to the front door. It was ajar. He pushed it open with the barrel of his gun and listened. Nothing. Not so much as a creak coming from the ground floor. But noise reverberated through the building. It came from the tower bedroom.
Lake kept his back to the wall as he headed up the stairs, gun pointed in front of him.
“Need backup,” Callum said in Lake’s ear.
Lake changed direction and headed for the back of the house. Quickly, but silently, he made his way along the hallway to the kitchen. There was the sound of smashing glass. Gunfire. Screaming. Lake raced towards it all. He ran through the kitchen, grateful he was familiar with the layout of the house. As he came to the broken back door, he spotted Callum and Matt. They were hunkered behind the small wall surrounding the patio, pinned down by two guys in white snowsuits, armed with semi-automatic rifles.
Grunt appeared at Lake’s side. They didn’t speak to each other. With one hand motion, Lake communicated where he wanted Grunt to go and the man was off, moving silently into the shadows.
Lake stepped out into the back patio and took aim at one of the guys who had Callum pinned. Then he felt a thud on his upper arm, making him jerk backwards. He’d been hit. He spun in place and spotted three more assailants rounding the corner of the building. Lake crouched behind the only cover available, a metal patio chair, and fired. The men dodged, hiding beyond the corner of the building.
“Five down,” Grunt muttered as he came up behind Lake. They crouched, back to back.
“Stop them!” A high-pitched scream came from above them.
Lake fired off three shots at the corner of the building, pushing the remaining assailants back. When they ducked out of sight, he looked up. The women were hanging out of the windows.
“They’ve got Megan,” Jena yelled, her arm outstretched, pointing.
Lake’s head snapped in the direction she pointed. Two men, dragging a woman between them. Shots rang out, making Lake and Grunt flatten to the icy ground.
“Stop shooting at my castle,” Caroline shouted. “You. You in the white. Put that gun down at once.”
Lake had no idea who she was shouting at. All of the men wore white. There was another gunshot and the sound of shattering glass.
“Not the conservatory!” Caroline wailed. “We just had that installed.”
Then something heavy flew through the air and landed on the head of the guy who’d shot the conservatory. He crumpled under it.
“Good shot, baby,” Josh shouted. “Wait. Is that Josh Mark Two? Couldn’t you have thrown the lingerie drawers?”
“Six. Flattened by a life-sized Josh doll,” Grunt said.
“St
atus?” Lake barked into his mic.
“Two with Megan,” Matt said, his voice vibrating with fury at the thought of his sister being taken. “Two pinned to the back patio.”
“Everyone else secured,” Mitch said.
“And tasered,” Harry added. “Just in case.”
“You just like using the taser,” Flynn said.
“I’m getting one when this is over,” Harry agreed.
Matt had taken advantage of the commotion to sneak up on the gunman who’d pinned Callum down. “Seven. Secured and disarmed,” he said.
The last remaining attacker fired rapidly at Matt as he ran for cover in the spot where his cousins were crouching.
