Acquiring Trouble (26 page)

“Going somewhere, pet?” His menacing voice turned her blood to ice. She dug her heels into the ground and used all her weight to try to force him to lose his grip on her shirt. Instead the man let go and she stumbled forward, landing on her knee. A
branch from a tree
hit
her in the face
as she reached out to try to sav
e herself from fa
lling completely to the ground.

“Feisty, aren’t we?”
h
e laughed. Morgan took a breath and hung her head in defeat. She waited until the man stood in front of her and then launc
hed
herself
at him. Fists flew and
she connected but couldn’t tell where. Pain shot up her arm
as
she continued the assault.

The man wrenched her hand
that
was clawing at his face. B
efor
e she could protect herself
, she
fel
t the back
of his
hand hit her. Pain blossomed and spread across her face. Tears
sprang involuntarily from her eyes and she felt blood drip from her nose
and
down her split lip. She sudden
ly understood the meaning
of
“
having your bell rung
.”
 

“You think that’
s going to break me you dumb son of a bitch?”
Morgan wiped the blood from her face and smiled. She widened her grin when she saw his confidence falter
momentarily.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the gun Miles had given her
lying
on the ground. Taking advantage of his brief hesitation Morgan lunged for the gun. She felt him reach out to grab her. The side of the shirt ripped under his grasp causing her to fall short of the gun. It was just a foot away, but the man in black was standing over her now. She had blown her one chance.

“It’s al
most a shame I have to kill you,
”
he seethed.

Morgan rolled
over and looked up at the man.

“
Too bad a
lmost
doesn’t count in life or death
.” He pulled out a gun and aimed it at he
r as he stood over her, clearly enjoying her fear.

Bill bayed as he nipped at the man’s ankles. The man just kicked him away. Bill cried out in pain as the man’s kick connected and sent him through the air.

Rage overtook Morgan. The man was still laughing
at
the
dog’s
injury when Morgan used every o
u
nce of
her
strength to kick her leg up and bust his balls.

“Son of a bitch!”
t
he man gasped
, as he grabbed his injured boys and bent over taking deep breaths.

Morgan pushed herself forward and grabbe
d the gun. She fumbled with it as she turned and aimed up toward the man.
He looked up and in shock
,
aimed his gun at her
,
and went to fire, but not before Morgan
pulled the trigger twice
.
The man
fell to his knees. E
yes full of anger and shock locked with hers before
he f
ell face-first into the ground at her feet.

Morgan scrambled to her feet and rushed over to Bill.
“You’re such a good boy. Let’s get out of here.” Fearing to release the dog that saved her life, Morgan
scooped Bill
u
p and stumbled forward with him
in her arms.
She picked up her
pace and jogged throu
gh the trees. S
ticks and branches
were
hitting her as she ran past th
em
,
no longer recognizing the slicing
pain.

Morgan pushed through
a row of boxwood bushes
and stumbled onto a dirt road. She heard tires slide on dirt as brakes were slammed.
Bright lights suddenly blinded her
as she struggled to
hold
Bill.

“
Jesus H. Christ,
”
s
he heard a man say.

Mo
rgan held
the dog
close and
aimed
the gun. She could
see
a
man approaching her. “Stop or I’ll shoot you.”

“Morgan? It’s
Pierce
. Put that down!”

“Pierce?” Morgan gasped.

“What
happened to you?” Morgan dropped to her knees, the exhaustion overtaking her. Bill whimpered and kissed her face. “Come on, let’s get you to my mom’s house,” he said gently.

Morgan felt him try to lift
the dog
out of her arms, but when she
refused to let go
he
lifted them
together
, carrying them to his truck
. “No! You have to help Miles! Just leave me here!” He tucked her safely into his truck and quickly
turned it
around and headed up the dirt road.

“What’s going on Morgan?”

She was starting to get irritated with his calm voice.
“The men I told you about, they came! Miles tried to hold them off so I could escape, but one of th
e men found me in the woods
.” Pierce didn’t ask what happened and Morgan was grateful for that. She felt as if she was living this experience outside of her own body.
“Please, help Miles!” Morgan felt the tears start to trickle down her cheeks.

“I will. I don’t have anything to help him with in the truck. I’m going to do what my brother would want me to do
—g
et you someplace safe first.” Morgan choked back tears as images of life without Miles filled her mind. She barely heard Pierce on the phone with Cade and
some guy named
Ahmed. Somewhere in the back of her mind she remembered that name associated with security. She doubted some security guard would be much h
elp and the tears started anew.

By the time the large farmhouse came into view Marcy was standing in the driveway alongside her husband. Rifles lean
ed
against the stairs
,
causing
a
coldness
crept into her again. Shivers
w
racked her body.
Pierce slid the truck to a stop and
Jake was at her door instantly.

“I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault,” she whimpered as he helped her out. Marcy wrapped her in a blanket and it was only then that she looked down and saw only tw
o buttons remained on the shirt that was covered in blood and dirt.
  A sleeve was ripped and by the draft she was feeling, the tail of the shirt was also ripped off.

“It’s okay, dear. Jake and Pierce will take care of it.” Morgan heard the desperation in her voice. Pierce and Jake tore out of the driveway before she even had the
chance to reach the first step.

“I’m so sorry Mrs. Davies. I’m the reason your son is in danger and if anything happens to him it’s all my fault,” Morgan cried. Sobs
w
racked her body as she felt Marcy guide her up the stairs. She glanced at the strong woman next to her and when Morgan saw tears silently falling from
Marcy’s eyes she tried to control her own tears. Marcy was taking care of her while worried for her family’s safety.

“Here,” Marcy guided her to the couch in the living room, “
l
et me take Bill.”

“No!” Morgan gripped the sturdy little dog in her arms. She couldn’t explain it, but she felt that Bill was her link to Miles and she was never going to let go.

“Okay. I’ll go get you some ice for your face.” Morgan stared after her an
d curled up into a little ball.

“Miles, please come back to me,” she whispered into Bill’s coat as she held him tight against her chest.

Miles
closed and locked the door to his bedroom. He carried the guns to the window
,
propped them against the wall,
and laid out the ammunition in a neat row. He pressed the panic button on his alarm on
the
way to his closet. He pulled
and
pushed some boxes out of the way and reac
hed up for the large duffle bag
,
which he
place
d
next
to the window.
H
e pulled out
his Delta Force
knife and strapp
ed it to the side of his pants.

“Th
ere you are,” Miles pulled out a night scope and attached it to the rifle. Before he got the chance to open the curtains and evaluate the sit
uation further gunfire erupted.

The glass shattered
but
Miles sat back and waited. The sound of the bullets ripping apart his house pissed him off. He felt the familiar rage
gathering
and let it come. His h
earing intensified and
his vision shar
pened as he picked up the rifle. He
looked out the window. Calmly he started taking out the men in black t
hat were surrounding the house.

One made a dash for the front door and Miles pulled the trigger. He scanned the tree line counting the men. He quickly moved to the back and counted more men coming out of the
woods
.

He took two quick shots and rushed down the stairs. He had to g
o after Morgan and protect her if it wasn’t too late already.
He rushed
to
the
bedroom
door when he heard an explosion below. Miles slowly crept down the hall with his M-16 snug against his shoulder.
The
front door was gone and through the smoke of the small charge he saw a figure
slowly making his way
inside
.

Miles took
a
steadying breath and waited patiently for the man to come into full view before pulling the trigger. “I really liked my door, asshole,” Miles mumbled as he hurried down the stairs.

He pushed his large credenza from the dining room to block the door before racing back upstairs. He did a quick grid scan of the backyard and saw a total of three men converging. He picked off two, but one managed to see
k
protection behind his stone fire pit.

Miles rushed across the large room to the
front
window. They just kept coming! Before he could get a shot off
,
he heard a crash as
the large wi
n
dow
was
shattered by a spray of bullets
. He looked for the culprit and finally found him sitting in the maple tree out front.

Miles didn’t know how much longer he would be able to hold them off. He just hoped the silent alarm would send
help soon.
He
pushed aside the curtain no longer trying to hide his actions and laid ground cover to prevent the men in front from advancing.
Miles checked the back yard and found it empty. The man had made it into the house.

Miles crept slowly to the door and cracked it open.
The door was kicke
d open and smashed against
his
face, knocking him backwards.
Miles didn’t wait to see who came through before he roared and charged the figured lurking behind the door. Their bodies connected and went tumbling backward down the hallway.

He felt the man land next to him as Miles scrambled to his feet.
He kicked
the man
’s gun
down the hall before placing a
well-aimed
kick to the man’s gut. Miles
reached down, grabbed the man by
his
Kevlar vest and hauled him
to his feet.

“Tell David to send more men next time,” Miles
growled
as he shook the man.

“You’re never going to make it out alive,” the man sneered from under his black ski mask. In one quick motion he reached for his waist and produced a sharp blade.

Miles heard the sound of the knife being drawn and didn’t wait. He pulled the man close to him and with all his strength sent the man in black sailing over the banister and crashing to the floor below.
Unfortunately he lost his human shield and the sniper fire started again
. Miles
was forced to dive to the ground as bullets riddled the wall where his head had been just seconds ago.