Page 100 of Barbed Wire Hearts

“What sequence?” I ask, watching as Levi carefully picks the metal out of Wiley’s shoulder with a pair of tweezers.

“I had some extra things installed while we were on the drive,” Dakota responds, coming over to show me on the tablet. I watch a bunch of different cameras along the road, but what I see are the gates slowly closing, each one made of metal. The cars pull into the driveway at the end and stop, waiting for a few minutes, before they start again.

“Calling John,” Levi says as he grabs a bottle of alcohol and dumps it down Wiley’s back.

Wiley snarls and jerks away. “You asshole! That hurts!”

“Thought you had worse,” Levi jokes, but turns his attention to his phone once John answers on the other line.

I turn back to the screen, watching as the front car uses its grill like a battering ram, destroying the first gate. I start to panic as I realize they’re coming and things are going to get a whole lot worse very quickly.

“They’re breaking through,” I gasp. “Dakota, they’re not stopping!”

Dakota grins at me as he taps the screen to see another angle. “They’re not meant to stop them, Kate.” His eyes flicker with something. Rage? And something else. Anticipation? Either way, it makes his face tight as he looks at me. “They’re only meant to slow them down.”

He taps the screen again and the cattle guard disappears, leaving nothing but a hole behind.

“How long?” I croak.

“Ten minutes at most,” he replies. “Cowgirl up, Calamity Kate. We’re about to go to war.”

ChapterSixty

Kate

Ilost my hat somewhere again. I only realize it when I notice Dakota dusting his off and plopping it back on his head. It reminds me to check my own head only to find it gone. I must have lost it out at the main gate after the bomb.

I really fucking liked that hat. I keep losing the motherfucker.

There are so many people in the house, it becomes almost overcrowded. With the dogs meandering through, it’s damn near claustrophobic. William slips down the stairs and I order him back up. He goes to the top of the landing at most and refuses to go any further. I don’t have any time to go up after him and try to catch him. When William Shakespurr doesn’t wanna be caught, he’s damn near impossible to catch. So I give him a stern finger and look and hope that he runs to hide if shit hits the fan.

“Where the fuck is Fuzz?” I ask, looking around when I find his bag empty. “Anyone seen Fuzz?”

“Okay, they’re through the second gate,” Dakota announces. “Everyone not essential go on out the back door and head out toward the mountains.”

I whip my head toward him as those who have become family start heading for the back door. “What?”

“Too many people in here,” Dakota says. “Anyone we don’t want in danger is going out. Only those willing to help fight will be in here with us.”

Naomi comes up then. “I should be stayin’.”

“You’re leavin’,” Dakota growls. “You ain’t stayin’ here to get hurt.”

She scowls, clearly preparing to argue, so I step in.

“I couldn’t bear it if something happened to you because of me,” I tell her, pulling her in for a hug. “Please go. Be safe.”

“Oh, honey. This ain’t your fault. You’ve just been caught between a rock and a hard place is all.” She hesitates. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“The guys will keep me safe,” I reassure her. “They promised.”

She frowns. “If you die, I’m gonna be so mad at you,” she says before tugging me into another crushing hug. I hug her back just as tightly knowing that I can’t really know if I’ll survive this or not. I can only have faith in my guys and myself.

Naomi releases me and heads out the back with the others. I watch as they all climb onto four-wheelers, minibikes, and side-by-sides, before they all move out toward the mountains, off to hide wherever Dakota has planned. Some of the dogs run alongside them, but a few stay with us. Ole Red sits happily in the kitchen, loving the cool tiles there. In the end, there’s only four others who stay with us, one of them being Jimmy with the head injury.

“This is it?” I ask Dakota, staring at our small numbers with wide eyes. “This is your big plan?”

Dakota glances at me just as one of the cars falls into the cattle guard trap, the nose of it going in and slamming to a stop. The hole is apparently deeper than I assumed because it lifts up the back of the suburban into the air. I watch, surprised, as the other cars start trying to find a way around.

---