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Thirty-Eight
The bellowing grew louder, and Annie’s palms began to sweat as she squinted down the barrel of the gun. This thing was high-powered, and it had been a long time since she’d fired an assault weapon. The yelling was half angry and half pained, and she knew if the injured man had his way, he’d make her pay for what had happened to him.
“Steady,” she whispered to Jon and Sarah. “Don’t fire until they’re close enough that we won’t miss.”
The rifle felt unwieldy in her hands, and she made the instant decision that she wouldn’t need something this powerful to take down one healthy guy. The injured man wouldn’t be much of an adversary.
Two figures burst from the trees. Eric Bell assisted Joel West. Blood poured from Joel’s left knee, and he could barely stagger into camp.
Eric led him toward the cell block and left him sitting on the ground and rushed toward the door. “Sit here while I get supplies.”
“I need pain meds!” Joel yelled after him. “Bandages and antibiotic cream too.”
“You guys focus on Joel, the injured guy, while I handle Eric,”Annie whispered. “Don’t let Joel go for his gun.” Her finger tightened on the trigger, and she gently squeezed off a shot.
A shout almost instantly followed the sharp report from her gun, and Eric stumbled and went down clutching at his knee. He spewed obscenities and curses as he rocked back and forth.
Annie kept her gun trained on him. “Throw down your weapons, Eric! It’s over.”
“Annie?” His voice held disbelief. “It’s not supposed to happen this way.”
She could have said so many things—like sometimes the underdog fights back. That good always wins in the end, even if they are overcome in this world by evil. That sooner or later your sins will find you out. But she held all that in and shouted again for him to throw down his weapons.
“You want me to shoot the other knee, Eric?” she called. “I’m not alone. The next bullet will be through your head and your friend’s head. We’re done playing your games. You’re never going to stalk any kind of prey again from inside a jail cell.”
She saw his decision to reach for his gun before he could make a move, and she put another bullet right by his other knee. He yelped and scrabbled back toward the door, but he had nowhere to go. They’d made sure the door to the cell block was locked and inaccessible. These guys had no cover and were sitting ducks.
“Throw your rifle as far as you can.” She knew Jon and Sarah were watching Joel West and had to trust he’d had the sense to stay still.
“All right, all right!” Eric shrugged off his rifle and held it by the barrel, then tossed it out into the yard where it hit five feet away from him.
“Now your knife. And your pistol,” she yelled.
His scowl deepened, but he yanked up his pants to reveal an ankle holster. He tossed the handgun and knife beside the rifle. She would have to go out there and make sure he was disarmed.
She grabbed a coil of rope and a knife. “Watch him.”
“You can’t go out there,” Jon protested. “Max and other hunters could show up anytime.”
“Sarah, you keep an eye on the perimeter and on the other wounded guy. We can’t cower here inside when I need to make sure he doesn’t have any other weapons on him. I need to tend to their wounds and truss them up. I’ll be fine.”
She didn’t wait for an answer but opened the door and stepped out into the late-afternoon sunshine. This standoff was far from over. But she couldn’t make the mistake of assuming these defanged snakes out here were harmless. When she least expected it, one of them could turn and bite.
Eric’s dark eyes were full of hate. “Max will make you pay for this. You think you’ve won, but you don’t know who you’re up against.”
“It’s true I misjudged Max, but he doesn’t know who he’s up against either. I’m not a victim. Not ever.” She wanted to kick him in the injured knee, but she restrained her base impulse. “Put your hands behind your back, Eric.” She cut a piece of rope.
He sneered but did as she ordered, and she bound him, then unlocked the cell block. She gestured for Jon to help her, and they dragged him howling and writhing with pain into a cell inside. She slammed the steel door shut as Jon went to get West. As they exited the block building after locking up Bell, she heard a shot zing out and saw dirt and grass kick up by the other hunter. He must have been making a move for a weapon.
Her scalp prickled and she stared carefully around the perimeter. He’d given them no trouble, so what if he was trying to provide cover for Max or another of the hunters? She spotted a glint of metal in the trees and made a dash for the utility shed.
“They’re coming!” She dove inside and Jon slammed the door behind him. A bullet zinged against the outside of the metal door.
The battle was about to get real. She glanced at Jon, then froze. “Where’s Sarah?”
Jon’s green eyes widened, and his gaze swept the room. “She was right here when I left to help you haul the men to the cell.”
The door had been open. Had Sarah sneaked out for some reason? Annie couldn’t imagine what could drive her sister to leave the protection of this building. Now she would have to go out there and find her.
