Page 38 of Guarded By Them

Kodee went to the front door, where a set of keys hung from a hook beside a coat rack. He unhooked them and put them in his pocket. “The keys to his truck,” he explained. “Timmo’s not going anywhere for a while.”

We were out in the middle of nowhere. He could probably walk to the nearest town, but it would take him the best part of a day, and we’d be long gone by then.

“What about the bodies of the men outside?” I asked.

Kodee shrugged. “I don’t think we can do much with them. There’s no point in hiding them. Someone knows they came here looking for us, and when they don’t hear back, they’re going to know things didn’t go to plan.”

“We should search them, and their car,” Ryan suggested. “There might be something on them or in the vehicle that’ll tell us who sent them.”

“I think that’ll just waste time. We know it’s either the Capellos or Joe Nettie’s men. It doesn’t make much difference which is which, does it?”

“I think it does,” I interrupted. “The Capellos want me alive, but Nettie’s men want me dead.”

“And they all want the rest of us dead,” Dillon finished.

Kodee pressed his lips together and nodded. “Okay, let’s just get out of here, then. There’s a good chance more people will be coming, and I don’t want us to still be here when they show up.”

He bent and hauled Dillon back to his feet. “I’m fine, I can walk,” Dillon muttered.

He released Dillon, and Dillon walked unaided, albeit with a limp.

“You two make a fine pair,” Kodee observed, looking between Dillon and Ryan. Both men flipped him the bird, and he chuckled.

We picked up the bags containing everything we’d brought from the apartment—the passports, money, some changes of clothes—and carried them out to the car. Timmo didn’t make any attempt to stop us leaving, and I figured that was a good thing. My emotions were mixed about him. I didn’t think he’d done what he had to get us in trouble, but he had still put us in a situation that might have gotten us killed. If Kodee hadn’t woken at the arrival of the car, those men would have sneaked into the house, and, if they were Nettie’s men, probably shot us in our beds, or if they belonged to the Capellos, they would have shot the others and grabbed me.

I thought I’d rather be dead as well than seeing all the guys shot, and me having to endure the pain of their loss. There wouldn’t be any point in continuing. I simply would lose the ability to care about a future.

Together, we left the cabin behind, stepping out into the front of the property, where we’d left the car. It was morning now, the pale light filtering through the branches. The dawn chorus of birds twittered and tweeted in the trees, and small clouds of midges danced in the air. The light at least meant we were able to see that there were no other men hiding in the bushes, ready to shoot us.

But instead it revealed something else.

“Shit.” Ryan stood with his hands on his hips, looking down at his car. “The sons of bitches slashed the tires of my car.”

My stomach dropped. What were we going to do now?

“It’s okay, we can take Timmo’s truck.” Kodee dangled the keys he’d taken from the hook on the inside of the door.

But Ryan shook his head. “Nope. They already thought of that.”

The truck tires were in the same state as ours, all deflated, with what appeared to be the slash of a blade through them.

“That must be why it took them so long to get around the side of the house,” Kodee mused. “They were busy out here first, taking care of our means of escape.”

“Where’s the vehicle the men had arrived in?” I asked.

“It must be parked farther down the driveway,” Kodee said. “I heard them arrive, so it can’t be far. They must have underestimated how much sound travels at night out here.”

Ryan nodded. “They wouldn’t have wanted to leave the car too far away in case they needed to make a quick escape.”

We exchanged glances, each of us with the same thing on our minds.

Dillon shrugged. “We don’t have much choice. It’s not like we can walk out of here.”

He had a point. He was injured, and even if he wasn’t, Ryan wouldn’t be able to cover the miles needed to get to the nearest town.

We didn’t want to be in the enemy’s car, but what choice did we have?

Kodee jogged down the track, heading toward the road. He slowed to a stop and lifted his hand. “It’s over here!” He stepped off the track, going to the car, which had been partly hidden off the road. “We’re in luck” he called out. “The keys are here, so at least we won’t have to search the bodies.”

---