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Isobel’s lip trembled as one huge tear rolled down her cheek. “Will Jack live?” she whispered.
“Aye.” There was no way that boy would be allowed to do anything else. Not on Callum’s watch. “I need to go deal with this situation. I want you to keep Sophie warm. I’ll send in more orange juice for both of you, and you have to drink it. You need the sugar to help you cope with the adrenalin. Do you hear me, Isobel?”
She nodded, her attention straying back to Jack.
“Watch her,” Callum ordered Megan and Elle before he strode from the room.
As he left, he heard Elle murmur encouragement to Isobel, and he was almost overwhelmed with appreciation. Walking wasn’t as smooth as it had been before someone shot at him. His knee joint had suffered some damage. He could still move, but there was a stiffness that hadn’t been there before.
“I’m getting really pissed off with people shooting my prosthetic legs,” he told Dimitri as he came into the kitchen.
“You still able to function?” Dimitri said.
“Aye, I think it’s just dented.” Callum washed his hands in the kitchen sink, watching Jack’s blood drain away and hating every second of it. “What are we dealing with?”
The two men had stacked every piece of furniture they could find against both doors. The team attacking them were still trying to get through the steel-plated door. The thuds and shouting were almost continuous. It was only a matter of time before they tried the tunnel entrance.
“There are at least seven men outside. All armed to the teeth,” Ryan said. “As we came downstairs, two SUVs turned up. So there’s more guys than the seven—sorry, ten, including the three you dealt with—that we know about.”
“Weapons?” Callum dried off his hands, keeping an eye on the door to the room where Isobel and the kids were.
Dimitri held up his handgun. “I didn’t fire, so I still have a full clip.”
“I fired, but I still have most of my clip left.” Ryan gave him a smile. “I took out the gas canister beside the building you use for woodturning. I got two guys coming out of their SUV.”
“That was the blast,” Callum said. “I’ve got half a clip, a spare gun Elle’s holding and a box of bullets. But that’s it. I wasn’t exactly planning on waging a war out here.”
“How long until the cavalry arrives?” Dimitri said.
Callum looked at his watch. “Forty minutes, maybe more.”
There was nothing to say. They knew that forty minutes when under siege by a group like the ACAB Militia was a very long time to try to stay alive. Another thud against the door emphasised the point.
“How secure are we down here?” Ryan asked.
Callum cocked a thumb at the door leading up to the kitchen. “That’s reinforced steel. The tunnel is narrow, so the chances of them using it to rush us are slim, but at some point they’re going to figure out that the best way to get to us is to go through the floor of the house.”
“Are there any parts that are concrete?”
“The section above the bathroom. That’s the securest room down here. It’s also the smallest. The walls aren’t reinforced though, so if the militia get in here, they could break through the walls to get into the bathroom. Or just fire at them until the bullets make their way through.”
“What if we put the women and kids in the bathroom, pad the walls and barricade the door, then we go hunting,” Ryan said. “We can go out through the tunnel.”
“They used the tunnel to come in. They’re probably watching the entrance. Plus, it’s too narrow in there to defend ourselves coming out.”
“We’re stuck down here, aren’t we?” Ryan said.
“Aye.” Callum looked around. “But we aren’t helpless. They’re going to get in. It’s a matter of time. We need to move the women and kids to the bathroom and then position ourselves so we can take out as many as possible once they get in here.”
A large blast rocked the building. Sophie screamed and Isobel cooed at her. Callum could hear the fear in her voice.
“Let’s move them,” Callum said.
The men jogged towards the rest of their team. Megan looked up at them as they entered the room. “How long have we got?” she said.
“Ten minutes, maybe more,” Callum said. If they were lucky. “We’re moving everyone into the bathroom.”
“No.” Isobel held her son’s hand tightly. “We can’t move him. What if it makes him worse?”
