Page 62 of Guarded By Them

I wished I could reach out and take his hand, anything for those small moments of human comfort before our deaths, but I couldn’t risk it. Even though I knew we were going to die at any moment, I still strived for those few extra seconds and minutes of life, of time together. Of being with the men I loved, and inhaling fresh air into my lungs, and feeling the thump of my heartbeat pushing blood through my veins. I wished I could tell the guys how grateful I was for our time together. I hoped they knew how much they’d given to me, and how happy I’d been for the first time in my life. Those last few weeks of happiness meant more to me than a whole lifetime of misery.

I turned my head toward Kodee and Ryan. They were both looking our way as well.

I love you both, I told them.

Hard metal pressed against the back of my head. “Look forward, all of you.”

Out of the corners of my eyes, I could see Nettie’s men doing the same to each of the guys, so we were all on our knees with a gun jammed against our skulls, ready to blow our brains out.

We were going to be executed, like prisoners of war.

“No, no, no,” I begged. “Please don’t do this. You don’t have to do this.”

It was stupid to still have that tiny strand of hope that they might change their minds and let us live. Perhaps it was only human, but deep down, I knew it wasn’t going to happen.

Tears filled my eyes, blurring the ground in front of me. I wished I could do something. Should I turn around and fight, even if it did get me killed? We were going to die anyway.

“One, two—”

Gunshots shattered the silence of the forest.

The bullet hit me in the back like a punch of weight, throwing me forward. A scream of agony and fear burst from my lungs as I hit the ground facedown. Blood splattered my skin, hot and wet.

But how was I conscious? How was that even possible? Death was a deadweight smothering me.

No, I was wrong. I was still very much alive. What the hell had happened? The weight on top of me was a body. I experienced a fresh spurt of panic. Please don’t let it be one of the guys. It had been impossible to tell how many shots had been fired. The bangs had echoed through the forest, and my ears were still ringing from the sounds.

I was alive, but what about the others? That was all that mattered to me.

I pushed off the body of the man who’d been about to shoot me and looked for the guys. They were all still alive, like me. All confused, with dead men at their sides.

A cry of disbelief and utter joy peeled from my throat, and I crawled across the ground to reach them. Kodee wrapped his arms around me, pulling me to his chest, and he let go with one arm to pull Ryan in as well. Dillon folded himself around me from behind, his hands clutching the backs of Kodee and Ryan’s necks. We clung to each other, arms around backs, faces pressed to necks and chests. I wasn’t ashamed to cry, so grateful we were all still alive.

I almost didn’t care about who it was who had saved us, but, of course, I knew I couldn’t ignore that small factor for much longer. They were still standing over us, armed, having just shot four men. I didn’t think they were going to kill us, considering they’d just saved our lives, but there was always that possibility.

I wiped away my tears and forced myself to look up.

Frankie Capello and his younger brother, Manuel, stood over us. They had two other men with them as well, men I recognized from my time with them. Frankie’s graying hair appeared like silver streaks in the burgeoning light, and he looked like he’d struggled more with the hike to get here, his cheeks red, the extra weight he was carrying probably not making it easier. They’d removed suit jackets, but both wore shirts rolled up at the sleeves, and dress shoes that were definitely not appropriate for the forest. This told me that they hadn’t known where they’d be coming when they’d set out.

“How... how did you find us?” I dared to ask.

Frankie grunted. “That car you stole had a tracker on it. It belonged to Joe Nettie’s contacts, and after they didn’t hear back from a couple of their guys and then discovered the two bodies at a cabin back in Michigan, they were able to follow you.”

I didn’t get it. I understood about the car having a tracker in order for Nettie’s men to have found us, but how did the Capellos know about it?

He must have predicted my next question. “We have a rat in Nettie’s gang, someone who told us what was going on. We had to stay back to make sure they didn’t find out we were on to them, or we would have made it here sooner.”

Manuel Capello jabbed his brother in the side. “That gut of yours didn’t help on the speed front either, Frankie.”

“Ah, shut your mouth,” he said, but there was no malice in his voice. He looked down disapprovingly at Dillon, his lips pursed. “Well, you certainly know how to get yourself in trouble, don’t you?”

Dillon gave an awkward shrug. “I do my best.”

“I think we should have just paid you that ten grand at the start and kept Rue for ourselves,” Frankie said. “It’s not often I admit to making a mistake, but here I am.”

“She’s worth far more than ten grand,” Dillon snapped.

“So, you wouldn’t take it in return for her now, then?”

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