CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER EIGHT

JJ grinned as April greeted Marlowe. Carlise and June had already been by Jack’s Lumber to visit their friend and tell her how happy they were that she’d regained her memories. Bob mentioned Marlowe had some morning sickness and was resting, so she’d arrived later than the other women.

April’s visit with the doctor had gone well. He said the headache from the return of her memories was fairly normal and should dissipate as the day went on. He told them to call if it didn’t fade or the pain got worse and recommended over-the-counter pills to manage it in the meantime, and they’d scheduled another appointment for next week.

Relieved that the doctor wasn’t alarmed by April’s pain level, JJ didn’t object when she insisted on going to the office. He stopped at the local diner first and made sure she had a big breakfast before heading to Jack’s Lumber.

Not much work had gotten done so far because Carlise and June had arrived minutes after him and April, then the three women had reminisced about what seemed like every memory they’d ever had together.

Chappy and Cal also told April how happy they were that she was on the mend, then proceeded to spend plenty of time giving JJ shit about wandering around Newton in the middle of the night practically naked. JJ didn’t care about their teasing because he knew they would’ve done the same thing if it had been their woman who’d called them in distress.

“Is she really all right? The visit with the doctor went okay?” Bob asked JJ as they watched April and Marlowe chatting happily.

“Yeah, although she scared the shit out of me,” he admitted.

Bob nodded. “I can imagine. When we heard the audio of what Marlowe was going through with that asshole in his car and I wasn’t there, I felt completely helpless.”

JJ had also been worried and scared when Marlowe’s whole situation with her coworker went down, but he felt as if he understood his friend even better now.

“So . . . she remembers everything?” Bob asked.

“Apparently.”

“And she’s okay with the two of you?”

JJ pulled his gaze from April and looked at his friend. “She says she is, but . . . I know I was a jerk. I was holding back for no good reason, acting like a coward. I feel like a total ass that I waited until she was hurt to admit how deep my feelings for her ran. I’m scared to death she’s going to internalize my reticence and talk herself into thinking that I don’t really care about her. That the only reason I finally acted on my feelings was because of her accident.”

Bob shrugged. “Wasn’t it?”

JJ clenched his teeth and looked back to Marlowe and April. They were laughing about something, and seeing the smile on April’s face made him relax in a way he didn’t understand.

“Look, I’m not an idiot. I’ve been your friend for a long time, JJ. We’ve been to hell and back together. If you think any of us missed the looks you’ve given her when you thought no one was watching, or how you were extra grumpy because you couldn’t articulate your feelings and that’s why you were being such an ass, you’re wrong. We all just assumed you two would eventually work out whatever was holding you back, and you’d end up together.”

“I just don’t want this to be one-sided,” he admitted.

Bob chuckled and smacked the back of JJ’s head.

“Ow! What the hell?” he complained as he glared at Bob.

“Just as we noticed the looks you were giving her, we saw the looks she gave you when your back was turned. Not to mention the way she worried about you when you were working too hard or when you got hurt. Remember that time a few years ago when that tree fell the wrong way and almost cracked your head open like an egg? She was a basket case, JJ. You didn’t see it because she hid it so well, but she couldn’t sleep for worrying about you, she harassed the rest of us about being safer on the job, and she even asked Chappy to look out for you when you returned to work.”

“She did?” JJ asked in surprise. As far as he knew, she’d taken the incident with a grain of salt, acting just as even-keeled as she always had.

“Yes. That woman has loved you for years. Do I think it’s stupid that you waited so long to let her know you’re interested? Of course. But she waited too. You both had baggage you were trying to work through. So what if it took her getting hurt for you to overcome those demons in your head insisting you weren’t good enough, or whatever other bullshit you were thinking. You’re together now . . . and you need to make the most of it.”

JJ looked back at April and nodded. Hell yeah, they were together now. His hands itched to touch her. He longed to see her looking up at him from his bed. “You’re right,” he belatedly said.

“Damn straight I am,” Bob said with a grin.

JJ rolled his eyes.

“Come on. I want to check on Marlowe. She was puking her guts out this morning, and I want to make sure she’s feeling all right.”

She looked as if she was feeling fine to JJ, but since he wanted to check on April and see how her head was doing, he didn’t argue. The two men wandered over to the couch where the ladies were sitting. Bob went straight to Marlowe and, without a word, pulled her to her feet, sat, then settled her onto his lap.

“I was sitting there!” Marlowe exclaimed with a laugh.

“And you’re still sitting here,” Bob said calmly.

“He’s so annoying,” Marlowe told April, not hesitating to snuggle into her husband as she got comfortable.

JJ didn’t copy his friend’s maneuver, but he did set himself next to April on the couch so closely her entire thigh was touching his. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and to his delight, she leaned into him, giving him her weight.

“Oh yeah, I can see how annoying he is,” April told Marlowe.

They both grinned.

“What were you guys talking about before we so rudely interrupted?” Bob asked.

“Now that April has her memories back, we were just talking about some of the better ones we have together,” Marlowe said.

“Like?” Bob asked.

“There’s so many,” April said with another grin. “The lunches we’ve had while you men were out slaving away, how much we cried when June asked all of us to go to Liechtenstein whenever she and Cal get around to having their royal marriage ceremony, and some of our crazier girls’ nights out.”

“I do have a question for you,” Marlowe said to April. “I’ve wondered about this forever and for some reason never asked, but it’s okay if you want to wait to answer until we’re alone.”

“Oh, this I want to hear,” JJ said with a grin.

“Yeah, that wasn’t the best intro if you wanted to keep whatever it is between us,” April told her friend with a small smile.

“Sorry. I mean, I don’t think it’s a huge deal, but it was back when Kendric and I were in Cambodia. I called here, to Jack’s Lumber, because it was the only number I knew. You answered, April, and rounded up the guys to talk to me.”

“I remember,” she said softly. “You sounded so scared.”

“That’s because I was. Kendric was unconscious and hurting, and I had no idea what to do. Anyway, at one point in the conversation, JJ, you wanted to talk to the others without me hearing, so you asked April to mute the phone.”

“I did,” JJ said. “And for the record, it wasn’t because I was trying to keep things from you, I just needed to talk through options with my team.”

“I understand. I mean, I was a stranger, and for all you knew I was lying my ass off and was planning on hurting you guys, or Kendric, if you showed up,” Marlowe said.

JJ huffed out a breath. “We didn’t think that at all,” he told her with a small shake of his head. “Honestly, I just didn’t want to stress you out further by talking about retrieving Bob and not you. At least, not at the same time. Before learning you’d married Bob, we thought we had no legitimate way to get you on a plane.”

Marlowe nodded, then turned her gaze back to April. “I heard the phone beep, but the speaker wasn’t muted. So my question is—did you do that on purpose?”

JJ looked at April and wasn’t surprised at all to see the sly expression on her face. “Yup. If it had been me in that situation, I wouldn’t have wanted people talking about me, deciding my fate, without my input. I figured you had every right to hear what was being said about you.”

“But I told you to mute it,” JJ scolded.

She shrugged. “I know.”

He growled low in his throat. “How come you never do what I tell you to?” he complained. “I can’t count how many times I’ve told you to stay put, only to see you on a worksite. Or I say we can’t take a job, and you schedule it anyway.”

“I do the things you ask that make sense,” April said without hesitation. “When you tell me to do stupid things, I ignore you.”

JJ sighed. “You’re a pain in the ass.”

April smiled. “Yup.”

Honestly, JJ had absolutely no problem with the way April was running Jack’s Lumber. In most cases, she was right in the decisions she made, which was why he’d never really taken her to task for disobeying him.

“And for the record, I was absolutely right in letting Marlowe hear that conversation, because if she hadn’t, you guys wouldn’t have known she and Bob were married,” April said with a smug smile.

She wasn’t wrong.

“Thank you,” Bob told her. “Seriously. I would’ve been furious if I’d woken up on that plane and found out Marlowe had been left behind.”

Marlowe turned to Bob and said something so low, JJ couldn’t hear, but he took the opportunity to lean into April. “I love how you always think about other people and what they need.”

April gave him a small smile. “I know what it’s like to feel as if no one cares what happens to you. To be going through the motions of life without anyone seeing you. I knew there was a chance you’d get really upset at me for not muting the phone, but I trusted you guys; you weren’t going to say anything bad about Marlowe, and it was important to me that she not be left out of whatever decision was going to be made about her future.”

JJ lifted a hand and palmed her cheek. This woman constantly surprised him. Made him want to be a better person. “You’ll never again know what it’s like to feel as if no one cares what happens to you. I see you, April. Don’t ever doubt that. And while I might not have shown it, I’ve seen you for the last five years.”

She stared at him for a long moment before lifting a hand, covering his own on her cheek, then turning her head and kissing his palm.

JJ wanted nothing more than to pull her up, tow her to the parking lot, stuff her into his Bronco, and take her home. But he was interrupted by Marlowe saying, “Well, for the record, thank you. I was very relieved I didn’t have to be separated from Kendric.”

JJ’s palm tingled where April had kissed it, but he forced himself to focus on their friends. Difficult, when he couldn’t stop thinking about April’s words from earlier. How she’d come right out and said she wanted to be with him tonight . . . in his bed. She was braver than he’d ever been since they’d met.

Conversation turned to work, as it usually did, and the four of them talked about the job they’d yet to do for the ski resort, the same one April had been going to scope out when she’d had her accident.

“Oh! I didn’t tell you what happened yesterday!” Marlowe exclaimed.

JJ felt unease creep up his spine when a frown appeared on Bob’s face. Whatever she was about to share, his friend didn’t like it.

“What?” April asked.

“Kendric and I were in that new furniture store that opened in Rumford . . . you know, the one that’s in that huge warehouse? I think they’re trying to be like IKEA, but trust me, they aren’t anything similar. Anyway, we’d decided to start looking for baby furniture, because this little nugget is going to be here before we know it.” Marlowe put her hand on her belly, and JJ smiled a little when Bob’s hand covered hers.

“Kendric went to look at bookcases or something, and I was in the baby aisle. There are huge shelving units, like floor to ceiling, and I’d stopped to check out one of the cribs. The employees have put together one of everything they sell in the store, and the crib was displayed on a shelf at eye level, so you can see what it’ll look like when it’s assembled. They have boxes piled up both above and below the put-together piece. So . . . I looked at the crib and decided I didn’t really like it and had just moved when one of the boxes from the top shelf fell! It landed right where I’d been standing not two seconds earlier!”

“Holy crap,” April breathed.

“Right? Scared the hell out of me,” Marlowe said with a nod.

“What happened?” JJ asked.

“I have no idea. But the box burst open, and the wood from the crib went flying everywhere. One small piece hit my leg, but thankfully nothing else got me.”

“Trust me, I gave the management a piece of my mind,” Bob growled. “I don’t know how that box managed to fall from where it was sitting, but that’s the last time we’ll set foot in that place, I can tell you that.”

“It wasn’t that big of a deal,” Marlowe said, patting Bob’s leg.

“Not a big deal?” Bob asked incredulously. “That box was heavy, and it fell from several feet up. If it had landed on you, you could’ve been seriously hurt.”

“But I wasn’t,” Marlowe soothed.

“That’s crazy,” April said with a shake of her head.

“Yeah. As much as I don’t like to admit it, it rattled me,” Marlowe said.

“Scared the shit out of me,” Bob said in a low, hard voice. “I was across the store and heard the huge crash, and for some reason, I just knew Marlowe was in danger.”

“Because you’re paranoid,” she said without heat.

“Yup,” Bob agreed.

“Well, I’m glad you’re okay, but did you find the furniture you wanted?” April asked with a small smile, clearly trying to lighten the mood.

Marlowe giggled. “No. But now I’m thinking Kendric would be okay with making a nest of blankets on the floor instead of getting any baby stuff at all.”

“Damn straight,” Bob mumbled as the women laughed.

JJ felt bad for his friend. If that had happened to April, he’d be freaking out. And the management would be hearing from his lawyer for sure. The thought of innocently shopping and almost having a box full of heavy wood fall on April’s head made him want to lock her in his house and never let her out again. Online shopping wasn’t his favorite, but that story was enough to give him second thoughts.

“And no, I refuse to buy our groceries online,” Marlowe said, as if she could hear what JJ was thinking. “I mean, there’s a lot of things we kind of have to get online, living out here in such a small town, but I draw the line at letting someone else pick out my bananas or touch my meat.”

“No one’s touching your meat but you,” Bob muttered.

April giggled as Marlowe rolled her eyes at her husband.

“With that, I think I need to get some work done,” April said with a shake of her head.

“No,” JJ told her.

She turned to him. “What?”

“No. I need to get you home so you can rest.”

“I don’t want to rest,” she protested.

“April, not twelve hours ago, you called me with your head hurting so bad you couldn’t even open your eyes. You went from not remembering the last five years to all the memories coming back at once, making you incapable of doing anything but moan in my arms. I’m not going to let you overdo it today. The doctor said you needed to rest, and you aren’t going to do that if you’re sitting at the front desk, looking through your files and trying to see what we might’ve messed up while you weren’t working.”

She glared at him. “One hour,” she cajoled.

“No,” JJ said with a shake of his head.

“Thirty minutes.”

“No.”

“Jack!” she protested.

“April!” he echoed.

She turned to Bob and Marlowe. “Tell him he’s being unreasonable,” she begged.

“Actually, I think he was remarkably lenient, letting you come here after the doctor’s visit,” Bob said with a shrug.

“Who asked you?” April grumbled.

He chuckled. “You did.”

“Marlowe?” April pleaded.

But her friend gave her a sympathetic look. “I think he’s right. You’ve got a furrow in your brow, as if your head hurts, and a nap couldn’t hurt after all you’ve been through. The last thing you want is to have a relapse, for your memories to go away again if you try to do too much, too soon.”

April sighed, sat quietly for a moment . . . then admitted softly, “I’m afraid if I go to sleep, the memories will disappear.”

“They won’t,” JJ told her firmly. “How about this—you come to my place now and take a nap, and I’ll go out and get us Granny’s Burgers for dinner.”

April turned to him. “Are you trying to bribe me?”

“Yup,” JJ admitted without reservation.

“Dang it. It’s working,” she grumbled.

Everyone laughed.

Marlowe stood, with Bob’s help, and held out a hand to April. She took it without hesitation, and Marlowe pulled her to her feet. Then she wrapped her arms around her. “I’m glad you’re okay. I was so worried about you.”

“Thanks,” April whispered as she hugged her friend back.

As soon as Marlowe let go, JJ wrapped his arm around April’s waist and pulled her against his side. It would be a long time before he forgot how much pain she was in when he’d gotten to her the night before. The way she’d burrowed into him as if he could take away the throbbing in her head. He’d felt so helpless when all he could do was hold her.

“What about the office?” April asked as JJ steered her toward the back door, where they’d left their jackets. Winter hadn’t settled in yet, but it would be here soon. The weather had gotten colder, and JJ was well aware that April wouldn’t miss the hot summer temperatures. He’d learned over the years that she much preferred to be cold than hot. He hadn’t even noticed the cold weather when he’d been running around in nothing but his briefs the night before. All he’d been thinking about was getting to April.

“I’m going to come back after getting Marlowe settled at home,” Bob said. “Chappy and Cal are out on a job, and I’ll wait for them to get back before I head out for the day. Besides, everyone around here knows our hours are wonky since you’ve been hurt. They’ll leave a voicemail or email us if they can’t get a hold of anyone. It’s fine.”

April sighed. “All right. But I don’t like it.”

JJ chuckled. “Noted. Come on, time to go.”

They all walked outside, and JJ locked up the office before putting a hand on the small of April’s back and steering her toward his SUV.

Marlowe called out another goodbye from Bob’s pickup, and April waved at her. Then she turned to look at JJ. “Jack?”

“Yeah, hon?”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Everything. For staying with me in the hospital. For driving me home. For helping to arrange for me to have a car. For letting me stay with you. Not making me feel weird about being in your house instead of my apartment. For coming over last night. For being practical . . . all of it.”

JJ stopped on the passenger side of the car and slid his fingers into April’s hair. He brushed his thumb against her cheek for a moment. “You don’t have to thank me, April.”

“I do, I—”

“No, you don’t,” he interrupted. “Because if you think there’s anywhere I would’ve rather been than at your side, you haven’t been paying attention. If you think I would’ve let you convalesce in your apartment, by yourself, you don’t know me. But you will. From this point on . . . everything I do is for you. Even making you go home and take a nap when you don’t want to.”

“I’m not a kid,” April said seriously.

“No, you’re not. You’re a mature adult who’s lived a life without someone at her side who gives a shit. I give a shit, April. Yes, you can make your own decisions, and if you really wanted to stay here and fiddle on the damn computer, I wouldn’t have stopped you. But you’ve been through hell in the last couple of weeks, and your head does hurt. Marlowe didn’t need to tell me that. I can see it for myself, and it kills me. Let me take care of you, sweetheart. Let me spoil you. Please.”

“I’m not used to being spoiled,” she told him.

As if JJ needed her to admit it. “I know,” he said simply. “I warned you. I’m intense. And bossy. And I’ll scorch the earth to make sure you’re safe. If that had been you in the store, and that box had fallen off a shelf and almost hit you . . .” He shuddered before continuing. “Let’s just say I would’ve made a scene that the manager wouldn’t soon forget. No one hurts you, including yourself.

“I need you to understand that you have a champion now, April. And while that might sound cool, there will be times you’ll get pissed at me because of it. I’ll annoy you, and you’ll call up one of the other girls and bitch about me being overprotective and smothering, and you’ll wonder what the hell you’ve gotten yourself into. But then I’ll bring you a cup of coffee with your favorite creamer and let you watch those stupid home-improvement shows you like, and I’ll make love to you, and you’ll understand that I’ve got your back at all times.

“When the shit hits the fan, I’ll stand in front of you and protect you with everything I have. When necessary, I’ll stand behind you and let you shine and do your thing. And I’ll be at your side when we need to face our demons together.”

JJ knew he was being over the top and probably a little aggressive in his desire to make her understand what she was getting into. But he needed her to hear this now, because once she gave herself to him, it would literally kill him to let her go.

“Okay,” she whispered.

“Okay?” he asked.

“Yes. I’ve never had a champion before. I think I’ll like it. And so you know, there will be times when I need my space. I’m used to doing things without consulting anyone because there’s never been anyone who’s given a shit what I do. It’ll take some getting used to, I think.

“And I’m going to need you to cut me some slack when I do something you don’t like. I can be moody and bitchy. And while I’ve loved being around you this past week, I don’t think I can be the kind of girlfriend who likes to be attached at the hip with her man. I can drive myself places and go shopping and hang out at the house by myself. There will be times when I just want a bowl of cereal for dinner or won’t feel like talking about anything. I tend to leave my shoes in every room, and I hate doing dishes. I love taking pictures, so you’ll need to get used to being in them more than you have in the past. And . . . as much as I love the thought that you want to protect me, you aren’t allowed to put yourself in danger to save me. Got it?”

“Everything but that last part, yes,” JJ told her.

April scowled. “I mean it, Jack. You’ve been through enough hell already. How do you think I’d feel if you were hurt protecting me? It would kill me. The guilt would eat me alive.”

“How about we both do everything in our power to lead boring lives here in Newton, so it’s not an issue?” JJ asked, trying to distract her. There was no way in hell he would ever agree to let her get hurt if he could do something to prevent it.

“Sounds good to me,” she said with a smile. Then she leaned her head into his hand and closed her eyes. “Take me home?”

“Yes,” he said.

Her eyes opened. “Nap, food, TV . . . and no, I won’t make you watch one of my horrible home-improvement shows,” she teased, then got serious once more. “Then bed. Together.”

JJ’s cock twitched in his jeans.

“I mean, we slept with each other last night, but I don’t think that counted.”

“It counted,” JJ said with a nod. “I got to hold you, feel your heart beat against mine, and smell you on my skin.”

“You know what I mean,” she protested. “I want you, Jack. I have for years. I need you.”

“I need you too,” he said. “But we’ll see how your head feels.”

April rolled her eyes. “Is this one of the times you’re making decisions for me for my own good?”

“Yup.”

“Fine. But I’m telling you, I’m feeling okay. Yes, my head hurts a little right now, but the doc said that was normal. And it’s nothing like it was when I woke up last night. I’m thinking an orgasm would get the blood flowing and actually help more than hurt.”

JJ shifted, his cock pressing uncomfortably against his zipper now. “Damn, woman,” he complained.

April grinned. “Take me home, Jack.”

JJ had a feeling that for all his tough words about doing what was best for her, they would amount to nothing when she got an idea in her head. It wasn’t as if he could deny her anything. And since he wanted her as much as she apparently wanted him, he was a total goner.

Leaning down, JJ kissed her. It started out as a mere touch of lips, but she was having none of that. She gripped his neck and held him against her as she opened her mouth and her tongue sought entry to his mouth.

Again, realizing that he couldn’t deny her anything, JJ opened for her. They made out in the parking lot of Jack’s Lumber for several minutes, until he finally pulled back and realized he was panting.

“Why did we wait so long to do this?” she asked with a sparkle in her eye.

“Because we’re stupid?” JJ answered.

“Pretty much. Take me home,” she ordered again, running a hand down his chest.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said obediently. He reluctantly slid his hand out of her hair.

“I guess I know how to get you to do what I want,” she said with a sly smile.

“Guess you do,” JJ agreed. Then he kissed her again, hard and fast, not letting her coax him into more this time before helping her into the vehicle, handing her the seat belt, and waiting until she’d fastened it. He closed her door, took a deep breath, then headed around the SUV to the driver’s side.

Ryan Johnson watched from the trees at the back of the parking area behind Jack’s Lumber. He’d spent many hours sitting there, plotting and planning. He watched Marlowe and Kendric Evans drive away and April and Jackson talk forever before making out. He scowled furiously as they kissed. “Enjoy it while you can, asshole.”

Ryan had spent so many years planning his revenge, nothing would stop him now.

He was leaving for Colorado tonight to prepare for the final showdown between him and the four men. He’d been there several times in the last year, getting certain things ready, so it should only take him a day or two to finish. Then he’d come straight back to Newton—and kick off the beginning of the end.

At one point in his life, he would’ve felt bad about the women getting caught in the middle of his revenge . . . but Ryan had stopped feeling much of anything beyond hate long ago. The women had become necessary for him to reach his end goal. That they would die was now icing on the cake.

Riggs, Callum, Kendric, and Jackson would suffer just as much as he had. They’d feel the same pain Ryan had suffered after learning of his brother’s death.

His brother, the person he’d loved above all others, ruthlessly killed and thrown away as if he was nothing but a piece of trash.

But he wasn’t. He’d been doing as ordered while attempting to make a better life for himself and Ryan. He was only fourteen when his brother was killed . . . when the four Americans had been held hostage . . . but he now felt far older than his years.

He’d begged his brother to let him join him in the mountains. To participate in the interrogation of the American soldiers and do his part to secure the life they both sought. But he wasn’t allowed. He was told to stay home. To wait for instructions.

So he had. And he’d never seen his brother again.

His father didn’t care, and his mother was equally useless. Only Ryan had vowed to make the Americans suffer. He wouldn’t rest until they felt the same despair and anguish Ryan still endured.

And the time was approaching. Meanwhile, he was having more fun than he’d anticipated. Making that box fall off the shelf at exactly the right moment had been tricky, and while he’d missed hitting Marlowe, seeing how upset Kendric became was worth it. He’d wanted to injure the bitch, maybe even cause her to lose the brat she carried. That would’ve tortured her husband. But now that he’d thought about it, it was better she’d only had a close call.

He had two more incidents planned before he moved on to the main event. He’d fully intended to send the other two women to the hospital, like April, but with time to consider, he realized three “accidents” resulting in hospitalization would only make the men suspicious. If they thought the women could be in danger, they’d close ranks, and he’d never be able to get to them.

No. It was better to scare them. Engineer random freak events that wouldn’t cause the men to think twice, wouldn’t have them putting two and two together and realizing an enemy was out there, watching and waiting.

Ryan chuckled. A low, terrifying sound. He watched as Jackson scanned the parking area, but he wasn’t worried that he’d be spotted. He was deep in the woods, and he’d sat there many times without being seen. The soldiers thought they were safe here in middle-of-nowhere, Maine. Didn’t sense the danger that was right in front of their faces.

He couldn’t wait to mess with their heads. It would be so much fun! They’d be scared out of their minds, and he’d enjoy every second. They’d watch their women and unborn children die, unable to do a damn thing about it.

They’d deeply regret their part in what had happened five years ago—then the men themselves would die. Ryan would get justice for his brother and the satisfaction of knowing the soldiers had died with the failure to protect their loved ones weighing on their useless souls.

He wanted to get on with it. Put his final plans into action immediately. But he needed to be patient. First up—two more accidents. Then he’d make his move.

Shifting to his feet, Ryan walked through the woods, away from Jack’s Lumber, to exit on a quiet residential street where he’d left his black pickup. He got behind the wheel and headed for the run-down house he’d been renting. It was fine in the summer, but with winter approaching, it was more obvious what a piece of shit the place was, with cold seeping into every crack.

“I fucking hate Maine. Snow. America. This fucking town!” Ryan mumbled as he pulled into the small garage and closed the door behind his truck. If he had more time, he’d also turn his hatred toward the man who owned the piece-of-crap rental. Make him suffer slowly. Instead, he’d simply burn the place down before he left.

Smiling, feeling anticipation build within him, Ryan entered the house and went straight to the bedroom he’d turned into a workspace. Most of the explosives had already been moved to Colorado and were in place, but he figured . . . the more, the better. And making the IEDs, land mines, and other surprises the soldiers would find when they tried to rescue their women kept Ryan busy while he struggled to be patient.

Food held no appeal. Neither did sleep. All Ryan wanted to do was make more and more weapons to bring down the four men who’d taken away his brother. Time was ticking, just like the explosives he was making, and soon, he’d hit start on the timers.