Page 72 of Gabe

“Ma’am. What’s going on?”

“There are intruders locked in the main office. Go take care of them. Then start getting everything ready for relocation. This location may have been compromised.”

As soon as they had their orders, her goons sprang into action. Half of them immediately ran upstairs to deal with Gabe and the others. A few more headed off in a different direction, probably to start the “relocation process.”

I didn’t know exactly what that meant, but I could guess. They would take the children they had and disappear so they could set up again in a whole new location.

Maybe even a whole new country.

It had taken Sebastian and Gabe so much effort to track them down and they had succeeded mostly through luck. If these monsters disappeared now, we’d probably never find them again.

Faint shouting could be heard coming from the upper story of the building. Then gunshots rang out. Every muscle in my body locked up as panic rushed through me. I was truly terrified that I was listening to my friends die.

Yet, as the seconds ticked by, the shouting only grew in volume, and even more gunshots rang out over the bayou. It sounded like a war had broken out just above our heads.

“What is going on?” Tansie shouted.

Her attention shifted to the remaining security personnel as she demanded answers.

The wire around my neck fell slack.

I moved before I even consciously decided to do so. Gabe had taught me many ways to get away from someone holding me against my will, but he hadn’t covered how to escape a garrote wire.

So, I improvised.

Throwing my head back, I slammed my skull into Tansie’s face. Pain speared my head right in the same spot as my scar and I crumbled to my knees. For a moment, I was eighteen again, and lying in a pool of my own blood in the high school parking lot. I never saw the bat coming for me, but I felt the moment it made contact. Worse, however, was the sound of my attacker laughing as he left me to bleed alone.

However, the memory passed quickly, and I looked up to see Tansie doubled over, screaming in pain as she clutched an obviously broken nose. Blood dripped between her fingers and dribbled down her chin.

My head hurt, but this time I wasn’t the one left bleeding.

Tansie’s words were garbled as she shouted, but I could understand enough to know she was ordering security to kill me.

Several guns pointed in my direction. I couldn’t run. The dock was wide open. There was no way to outrun a bullet.

So, I did the only thing I could. I dove into the swamp water below.

As soon as the murky water touched my skin, I shivered in disgust, but I stayed down long enough to swim under the dock. Although it only took a few seconds, I was already gasping for air when I re-emerged.

Rotted vegetation dripped from my hair into my eyes and I gagged. I already hated swamps, but now they were going to have a starring role in all my future nightmares.

Above the wooden boards of the docks, I could hear more gunfire. Then something heavy landed in the water near me. One of the security personnel stared up at me with vacant eyes before their body sank beneath the surface and disappeared.

Gripping onto the edge of the dock, I pulled myself up and peered over the wood.

Gabe and Sebastian steadily made their way across the dock. They were an army of two, systematically tearing their way through the building’s security. Half a dozen bodies lay strewn over the wooden boards behind them, and I had no doubt that there were more inside the building. Although Sebastian still couldn’t move very quickly thanks to his crutch, it didn’t matter. They were methodical and precise as they disposed of every enemy they came across.

A hollow clicking sound rang across the dock as one of Gabe’s guns ran out of bullets. He ducked back behind Sebastian while he reloaded, but with only one free hand, Sebastian couldn’t provide as much cover fire as Gabe could.

A pair of heavy boots ran past me as one of the security personnel tried to charge at Sebastian and Gabe while they had a chance.

From my place hidden below the edge of the dock, I reached out and grabbed the charging man’s ankles. He tripped and slammed face first into the boards. The echo of his impact with the wood alerted Gabe and Sebastian to his presence.

Gabe quickly finished reloading and shot the fallen man before he could stumble to his feet.

Blood seeped between the cracks of the wooden boards and dripped down into the swamp. Red puddles collected on the dock and stained the cuffs of Gabe’s pants with each step he took.

Across the dock, I noticed a figure crawling in the opposite direction. At some point during the gunfight, Tansie had taken a bullet in the leg. She couldn’t walk. Instead, she was dragging herself toward one of the boats.

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