Page 58 of Marked

He moved swiftly through the grass toward the next window. Moonlight broke through the film of smoky clouds, lighting his path. He stopped at another one and tugged. Locked as well.

Fuck.

He’d have to—

Voices sounded from inside. A roar of laughter and a clank of bottles met his ears. He skirted the structure toward the sound. Fluorescent light spilled onto the gravel path leading to the barn’s open door. Keeping his back to the wall, he crept forward and peeked around the doorframe.

Four men sat at a table playing cards. Beer and liquor bottles littered the table along with bags of chips and an ashtray. The heady scent of cigarette smoke wafted to his nostrils.

The men jeered as their game continued.

Cole lifted his gun and readied himself for attack. A movement on the other side of the door stopped him. His gaze zeroed in on Dallas’s dark figure. He was holding up his hand.

Dammit.

Dallas motioned for him to back away from the door. Cole complied, rounding the corner of the barn so he could speak through the earpiece out of earshot of the partiers. “What, man?” he barked under his breath.

“I think I’ve located Bella. Come around to this side.”

Cole muttered a curse. It’d be a fuck of a lot more efficient to take out the four tools getting wasted, but if there were more men in the barn, it could start a shoot-out, which would only endanger Bella and make getting her out difficult.

His best bet was to get to her quietly and then strike once she was safe with Sophia and Lexi.

“Fine,” he mumbled.

He jogged around the barn and met Dallas on the other side. His twin motioned for him to follow, and they broke into a quick stride.

Dallas’s steps slowed as they reached the north side of the barn. The entire wall was lined with barred windows—horse stalls.

“There’s a side door up here. I checked it and it’s unlocked. Confirm if that’s the kid.” Dallas nodded at the window above their heads.

Cole slipped his gun behind his back, reached for the metal bars, and hefted himself up. The window was about eight feet off the ground, but there was no way to get through the steel rods. The interior of the barn was dim. Only the odd overhead light was lit. Across the narrow hall that separated two rows of stalls sat a little girl hunched on a bed of hay. Her stall door was open, but some kind of binding connected her arm to the wall.

Searing-hot fury scorched his skin.

He dropped down from the window as his blood pressure shot through the roof, making his temples pound and his vision blurry.

“Dude,” Dallas said, caution in his voice. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

Cole raked his hand over his face. “They’ve got her tied up like a fucking animal.”

His brother’s hand clapped his shoulder, jolting him from the rampage his instincts were hell-bent on delivering to any adult inside.

“Look at me.” Dallas’s command forced Cole to focus on his brother’s face.

His chest heaved with the effort it took not to ambush the place.

“She’s alive. She’s right there. You need to go in and get her, but first you’ve gotta calm the fuck down or you’re going to terrify her.”

Cole dragged a slow breath of air into his nostrils. The crisp, piney scent of the mountains, damp and fresh, invaded him. He pulled in another. Then another.

Dallas was right. If he scared Bella, the whole thing would blow up in their faces. And of course she’d be scared. He looked like one of the criminals her mom locked away. Not that his brothers looked any less intimidating.

“C’mon. Just get in and get out. Then we can come back and do some damage. All right?” Any other mission and Dallas’s pep talk would’ve been unwelcomed. Annoying even.

But this time, Cole needed it.

“’Kay.” The confirmation came out on a broken puff of air.

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