24 Austin

Austin

Why was I hearing Ford call my name?

He should have been halfway to the river by now. Or on the boat and one step closer to being out of danger.

Actually, I had no idea how much time had passed while I floated in the darkness, so I couldn’t really say where he should have been. I just knew he shouldn’t have been here.

“Austin!”

There it was again, Ford calling my name, only this time it had a bit of a growl to it. Also, my body was rocking. Had he brought me on the boat with him?

With a groan, I slapped at the air.

My head hurt like someone had smashed it against a boulder. I was having a hard time remembering the last moments of my conscious life.

We were in danger, that much I could remember.

Oh, wait. Was I dead? Was this like a welcoming thing? Not really sure I believed in Heaven… or Hell. I didn’t think much of what came after. But if this was the after part, why was I hearing Ford?

I groaned again and tried to roll over.

Parts of my body hurt I didn’t even know existed, and now I was certain I wasn’t dead.

“Come on, Austin.” Yep, that was definitely Ford’s voice. “I need you to wake up, honey. There are four of them left, maybe more. We need to move before they come back to the house.”

“Where at?” I mumbled.

“They’re in the barn. We are in the house,” he responded, answering all the options that could have gone with that question.

“Head,” I mumbled, feeling like my tongue was swollen in my mouth. The pounding was too intense. I wanted him to make it stop.

“Fuck,” he swore under his breath.

“Well, look at that,” said a voice I didn’t recognize.

My head screamed at me, but this time it was warning me of danger. I had to get up. I had to protect Ford.

A shot rang out. My lids flew open, and though I felt like I was about to vomit up everything I’d ever eaten, I knifed up, instantly searching for a weapon.

Before me, a man in all-black gear crumpled to the ground. Another man dashed over the threshold behind him, gun raised.

Beside me, Ford fired another shot.

The man’s eye was nothing but a blank socket now, leaking blood. A high-pitched scream ripped from his throat as he dropped his weapon to hold the side of his face. Another shot caught him right through the throat, silencing his scream. He went down like a falling tree, landing on top of his buddy’s body.

I jumped to my feet and stepped in front of Ford, ready to use my body as a shield.

The smell of smoke hit me at the same time I registered the sound of a fire alarm going off in another room.

“Is something on fire?” I asked.

“The living room,” he answered in a whisper. “Shh. Still have two more out there. Stay here.”

He circled around me to head out the door, but I grabbed onto his arm. His head whipped to face me. His eyes were stern as he shook his head at me. I didn’t want to listen, but I didn’t have any other choice. One, I was in no condition to protect him or myself. The worst of it was that my vision was extremely blurry. Two, that was one look I didn’t want to mess with. Ford might have let me take charge and even boss him around a little ninety-nine percent of the time, but this was the one time he put his foot down. And damn, yeah, I had no choice but to step back.

The world blurred and spun around me. I was forced to let go of his arm as I fell against the wall for support.

What the hell was wrong with me?

“I think they cracked you good on the head. I’m no doctor, but I’m guessing you have a concussion. You should sit.” Ford helped me lower to the ground as he spoke.

I had to protect him.

“Wait,” I said before he turned his back on me. “Should keep one of them alive if you can. Need answers.”

He left me sitting there with heavy lids and a heart pounding.

I wasn’t one to complain, but everything hurt. Even breathing was painful. If there was ever a time in my life to bitch about the predicament I was in, this was it. Which was why I didn’t even hold back the pained whimper that slipped out when I attempted to move.

I think I passed out again because it felt like I blinked and Ford was shaking me again.

“Good?” I asked over a raw throat. The smoke was choking the air.

I couldn’t think about how I was going to lose the house. It was too painful.

“Yeah. I’ve got him tied up in the barn.”

“What’s the plan?” I asked.

I felt his hand on my face. Soft palms and rough fingertips cupped my cheeks. I think I hummed happily, but I couldn’t have been sure.

“I’m worried about you,” he said.

“No time,” I mumbled.

With a deep breath, I pulled the last of my strength to the surface. Another deep breath, and I got my feet under me to stand. I wavered for a beat, but then I steadied myself. I might have had to use the wall for support, but that wasn’t the point.

“Let’s go see what this fucker has to say.” I looked at Ford, smiling around a swollen jaw and cheek. His wince in return to my face didn’t give me confidence I was pulling off looking like I was fine.

At least, he didn’t say anything. And it kinda made me want to kiss him.

He helped me outside, the smell of smoke following us into the night air. Or maybe it was already out here. The house was a lost cause, I just had to accept it.

I coughed hard as I tried to pull fresh air into my lungs. We made it to the barn but only because I used him to hold me up.

“Couldn’t have dragged him closer?” I teased.

“The house is on fire,” he reminded me. Fair point.

Inside the barn, the lights were on, lighting up the dead body near the entrance and the guy in the middle who was tied up from his ankles to his neck.

“Bit excessive, don’t ya think?” I looked at Ford pointedly.

“I couldn’t take a chance he’d get free.”

He turned to the man on the floor with blood leaking from his nose. I didn’t feel a single bit sorry for what Ford had done to him.

“Who sent you?” Ford asked, voice commanding and deep and… well, it did things to me that were definitely not appropriate for the situation.

I leaned against the side of the barn, trying hard to catch my breath.

The man remained silent, face stoic as he stared at a nonexistent point above him.

“Who sent you?” Ford roared as he kicked the man hard in the stomach.

He grunted and tried to curl in on himself.

“I have nothing to say. Kill me,” was his response.

I walked to the back of the barn. The tarp was off the ATV and the key was now in the seat.

For a second, I let myself smile at the warm feeling in my chest. Ford came back for me. Even though I was mad at him for doing it, I still couldn’t help but fall for him a little harder.

I started up the ATV. The headlights were bright as I drove straight for the man. His eyes grew wide and I saw the panic lock up his whole body under those bindings.

I came to a halt right in front of him, skidding just enough that I bet he’d pissed his pants.

Ford’s eyes were on me as I slid out of the seat. I didn’t look at him, afraid of what I’d see on his face. This was a side of me I didn’t let out often, and I never enjoyed doing it. He said he didn’t see a monster in me, but would he after this?

I grabbed the section of rope looped around the guy’s ankles, turning his body around and dragging him to the back of the ATV. He was wiggling and grunting, but I had him beat. With all emotions and feelings tucked away, I looped the rope around the hitch on the back.

Without a word, I got into the seat again and started rolling forward.

“Fuck!” the man called out.

I hit the gas, going a little faster for a minute before easing off.

“Stop! Stop!” he screamed.

Ford jogged up behind the ATV.

“Who sent you?” he asked. His steps became eerily paced as he matched my super slow speed.

“I don’t know his name!” he yelled. I hit the brakes. “I never dealt with him. Clancy took the job, he’s the only one that’s been in contact with him.”

“What was the deal?” Ford asked.

I couldn’t really see what was going on, but I had my foot on the gas, ready to go when I felt it was the right time.

When he remained silent, I figured my services were needed.

I tapped the gas. His scream rang out into the night air.

“To kill you and leave you there for the FBI to find,” he nearly cried. “Clancy said he’s some big hotshot for the FBI and that if we do this job, we’ll be like fucking ghosts if they ever catch on to us. The guy said he could erase everything.”

All this shit I’d more or less figured out already. We were wasting time, and that was something we didn’t have given that our location had been compromised. Which reminded me…

“How did you know where to find us?” I yelled to the back of the ATV.

“He told us your location.” The guy spit. “He said he knew for sure you’d be there, that he had… uhh, an informant or something.” I hit the gas again. “Ah! Something about a location from a phone. That’s all I know!”

I caught Ford’s eyes. He looked like he didn’t want to believe it. He didn’t want to believe that Violet had sold him out.

I didn’t want to believe it either, if only for Ford. I hated seeing how it broke him, even if he was trying to hide it.

One thing was for sure, I was going to hurt Violet severely for what he’d done to Ford.

“Where can we find him?” Ford asked after I hit the brakes again.

“I don’t know,” he replied. His voice was cold, telling me that he knew it was over for himself.

Ford pulled a gun from the back of his pants. A second later, the shot rang out, marking the end.

I cut the ATV off and stepped out.

“Don’t,” he barked at me. “I don’t want to hear it. Violet didn’t sell me out.”

His face was hard as he walked away from me.

I let him go because it was what he needed. Also, the crash was hitting me hard and I was dizzy all over again.

Yeah, I was just going to sit back down and take a little rest before I went after him.

Not long, just like five minutes.