Page 63 of Shielding Maya

She saw Spencer exit the woods between First and Second Roads. He ran toward the vehicle speeding to the top.

Adam Jacobs raced on foot from First Road toward Jasiah. Spencer trained his weapon on Adam, but held. Maya yelled, "Jasiah."

Adam ran straight toward Jasiah and jumped on him from behind. There were too many people in the way. She couldn't stop him from getting to Jasiah. Myles ran toward Jasiah from the opposite side as Adam Jacobs. From the corner of her eye she saw Spencer wrestling with a man he pulled from a vehicle. People scattered in all different directions. Chairs flew back as people stood quickly and ran. Myles took two steps and jumped to pull Adam from Jasiah.

Her heart was in her throat. She felt like she was in slow motion. Her feet didn't seem to work properly and she couldn't fill her lungs completely.

She approached Myles, Jasiah, and Adam. Myles held Adam's arms behind him, his eyes trained on Jasiah. She ran to Jasiah. "Let's go."

"Go where?"

Taking his hand, she tugged him toward her Jeep.

"I'm not leaving."

"The hell you aren't."

He stood firmly, she was no match for his size. Maybe she could match him in stubbornness, but not size.

"Tate, I can't get Jasiah to leave."

"Take him to his cabin." Tate ordered.

She stopped and faced Jasiah. "Please. Please at least go to your cabin. I can't assess the threat right now and you need to be safe."

"They all need to be safe."

"They are. Please."

His shoulders dropped slightly as he turned and jogged toward his cabin. She followed him closely. As soon as he entered the cabin she spoke to her teammates. "Jasiah is in his cabin."

Myles spoke next. "I have Jacobs hog-tied and Spencer just hog-tied the assailant from Tennessee.”

Maya looked at Jasiah. He stood at the window watching what was happening. "Jasiah, you shouldn't be in the window. If someone wanted to shoot you, they'd have an easy time of it."

"Maya. We can't do this. Not like this. It makes me look weak."

"It doesn't. It's keeping you safe."

"A leader who runs isn't a leader."

"A leader who's dead can't lead." She squared off. Face-to-face they stood. His fists were balled up, his chest heaved.

Tate came over the comm unit. "Report in."

She listened as her teammates reported in. She waited until last. "Maya Sager. Safe."

Tate spoke again. "Spencer and Myles, what's the situation at this time?"

Myles responded first. "I have Jacobs secured. He keeps saying he was trying to help Jasiah. That man wanted to kill him. I don't know if I should believe him."

Spencer reported next. "I have the man from Tennessee. He isn't talking. How do you want us to transport and where?"

"Is there a place up there we can question him?"

She looked at Jasiah. He was angry. She'd never seen his jaw so tight. "Jasiah. Tate is asking if there's a building up here where we can question Adam Jacobs and the assailant from Tennessee."

Jasiah's brows bunched together. "Jacobs is in on this?"

---