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“Was watching on the monitors, we’ve got seven men in total. Well, six now. The house is mostly locked up, Aggie’s in the basement taking cover with the kids. I’ve sealed the room up tight, so no one is getting near them. And I used the satellite connection to put in a call to the local PD. They’ll be a while in the storm, but they’re on their way and bringing the State Police with them.”
More relief took hold.
“Is he hit?” Adam asked, referring to me.
“I’m fine.” I pushed myself off the floor, the pain in my arm stinging as I stood up. “Fine. What about Marcus and Aubrey?”
“They’re in the barn. If we can get them into the house, we can hole up and keep safe inside. But—”
“But that’s going to involve going out there and putting all of us in danger,” Mac said.
I grinned. “We’re warriors – danger’s what we do.”
The guys grinned right back at me.
“Alright,” Mac said. “Here’s the plan...”
Moments later, I was positioned at the front doors on the other side of the house. Balaban and his men were on the opposite side, evidently putting all of their manpower into a flank attack. He was desperate, coming after us when he was weak, hoping to catch us off guard.
We were ready for him.
More gunfire sounded out, most likely Marcus shooting back at the attackers. I snuck around the house, the wind bitter and cold. I inched my way along the wall, pistol in hand. Before too long, I was at the corner looking out over the barn.
I saw him. Standing among his troops was the familiar sight of Balaban. He was easily a head taller than the rest of his troops, dressed in winter camo, his bald head bare. He shouted something in Croatian to his men, all forming up around him and preparing to attack the barn.
The sight of the half-dozen armed men made my gut tense. I wasn’t worried about myself—I was worried about Aubrey.
All the same, I had my orders. When I gave the signal, the counterattack would begin.
Taking one more slow, deep breath, I raised my pistol and took aim.
Chapter 34
Adam
Tyler was a damn good shot.
Gunfire rang out as he opened up with his pistol from his position on the far side of the house, two of Balaban’s men dropping like the plug had been pulled from them.
That was the signal for the rest of us to move. I pulled open the door to the garage, running in and jumping into the truck with the plow attached. After clicking the garage door opener, I gunned the engine and drove forward into the snow.
“Come on, assholes!” I shouted, steering the truck around in a half-circle toward the vans. “You wanted a fight! Here it is!”
I slammed onto the gas, driving forward and crashing into one of the vans. Just as we’d hoped, the display totally took them by surprise. From my cover, I took aim with my shotgun and fired a pair of blasts, taking down another of Balaban’s men.
Balaban’s ugly mug turned surprised, and he barked more orders to his men in his native language that I didn’t understand. They didn’t get the chance to execute them, however. Mac threw open the front door, marching out with his rifle in his hands and opening fire.
Two more men dropped, leaving only Balaban and one other remaining. I watched as they made a mad dash for the barn, slamming open the door and running inside before we had a chance to drop them.
Fuck.
I hopped out of the truck and ran over toward the house, Mac and Tyler coming to join me.
“Tyler! Barn window!” Mac barked. “Adam, come with me!”
We split up, running toward the barn’s side door. Anger and fear took hold of me in equal measures. The plan had gone off without a hitch so far, but nothing mattered until Aubrey and Marcus were safe and Balaban was neutralized.
Screaming sounded inside, followed by gunfire. Mac and I shared the same horrified expression as we stood on both sides of the door.
