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Chapter Thirteen
Lennox
I’ve missed this feeling.The zing of anticipation while waiting for an enemy to fall into your trap. The thrill of knowing your mission comes down to one moment, one minute, one second of quick thinking and outmaneuvering. The feel of cold metal in my hand, ready to protect the woman I love at all costs.
Night has fallen and from my perch up in a tree just north of the house, I can see Katrina sitting on the front porch. Her figure is barely a shadow, the only light right now from the moon and the lamps inside. She’s reclined in the big chair, looking the picture of relaxed. I smile, knowing her hand is clutching a gun under the blanket she has over her lap.
Cohen and Connor are on the grounds too, watching the approach of the four white vans as they make their way up the mountain. Only one of those vans is going to make it through. The one Carlos is in. The others are about to experience some…rocky terrain.
“I’ve got eyes on collateral two, three and four. Confirmation your guy is in vehicle one,” Cohen’s voice comes in clear over my earpiece.
Keeping my gaze on the horizon of the driveway, I confirm he’s clear to get rid of the tagalong posse.
“Let’s blow their minds,” Connor jokes over the line. I shake my head at his antics. I swear I can hear Cohen’s eye roll at his younger brother.
“In three, two—”
A loud bang sounds, making the earth shake. From my vantage point I can’t see the sky but I can tell from Katrina’s little giggle that there’s smoke over the tree line. She doesn’t move to look in my direction, something we talked about when planning for this event, but she does give a small dip of her head, indicating that she can see the aftermath.
Part of the road has now been blown up. Not enough to completely damage the surrounding forest, but the road is now impassable.
“Collateral two, three and four are down. Carlos is still en route. I repeat, still en route. I’m in pursuit.”
The fucker didn’t even stop to check on his men. It’s something we anticipated but still, that’s cold.
Touching my earpiece, I request an update from Connor, who’s at the halfway point to my property.
“Connor, do you see the van yet?”
“Confirmed, but it’s stopping. They’re approaching on foot. Keeping to the main road but to the east. Should be in your eyeline in thirty.”
Seconds later I can hear the footfalls of at least four men. When they come into view, my smile grows at their unwarranted confidence. I identify Carlos immediately. He’s hard to miss, matching Katrina’s slimy description to a T. He’s also bossing his men around, yelling like he’s the only one in the area.
For someone who’s made his living off the misfortunes of others, he has no clue how to be subtle.
“I have eyes on Carlos. His men are splitting up. Two staying on the east side, two to the west. Carlos is approaching up the lane.”
Both of my friends respond that they were in position and on standby.
My lip curls as I watch Carlos approach the cabin, knowing any second Katrina would be in his sights. He is grinning, like he’s about to win some big prize. Rubbing his hands together then running them down his three-piece suit—which was a ridiculous thing to wear in the forest, but ego came first for the man clearly—he waltzes up to my property. The idiot doesn’t even draw his gun.
Katrina doesn’t make a move as he approaches the front of the house, giving the illusion that he was about to take her unawares. What a fool he was.
Floodlights burst to life on the front lawn, blinding Carlos enough he has to raise his arm to cover his face.
“That’s close enough, Carlos,” she calls out, all sweetness in her voice.
The man lowers his arm but doesn’t stop. Instead he laughs and continues to saunter up the path, only stopping to lean against the front step handrail.
“And what are you going to do if I don’t? Go running to your boyfriend? I see you’re all alone up here and unarmed.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Katrina replies, throwing her blanket off her lap and revealing her gun. It’s pointing right at him.
God I love this woman and her dramatics. She is so damn hot.
“You’ve got incoming,” a voice crackles in my ear. “Two approaching your six, trying to move in behind Kat.”
“Yeah, that’s not happening,” I say, bringing my rifle into position and locking in on the two targets. They’re taken out in seconds, both falling to the ground in silence. If Katrina heard anything, she doesn’t say a word. Doesn’t even flinch.
“Looks like the lads from collateral three are still up to play. Prepare yourself.”
“Feds are rounding the mountain.”
“Fuck. They’re early. Katrina just got Carlos talking. We’re gonna run out of time.”
“You focus on covering your girl. We’ll take care of rest,” Cohen assures me.
Refocusing, I zero in on Katrina’s conversation and release a quick birdcall—our signal that company was coming. She needed to get him talking and quick.
The mountain was about to get really crowded and we needed answers before the party started.
