Eden's Promise (26 page)

She curved her hands against his face and looked into his eyes. “Thank you for coming for me. I know this wouldn’t have happened if you’d been here.”

Her words jolted him, that she knew him well enough to know that got him. “I wasn’t going home without you.” It was no declaration of love, which he wasn’t sure she was looking for anyway, but that was for another time, another place. There would be another time and place.

She kissed him, her lips soft, parted, and before he could respond, she drew back, picked up her gun and returned to her sister’s side.

Training kicked in as he approached the back door of the barn. Two men were better than the half-dozen on the other side, but gunfire would draw them to the back. He had to be smart about this. He took a pitchfork off the wall, one he’d placed there himself just yesterday. He’d thought then that it would make a good weapon, and smiled grimly to himself that it resembled the trident of the SEAL emblem. He climbed back to the loft, then carefully balanced himself on a beam that ran beneath a smaller window. He was going to have to break through it, since it didn’t open, and that would not feel good. It would also cost him the element of surprise, but he didn’t see another option. He only hoped his luck held against the two lousy shots.

Taking a deep breath, he rammed the end of the pitchfork into the window with all his strength, shattering it so that the glass rained down on the two men below. He kicked a bigger hole into the window, then pushed through, balancing on the outside frame for a moment before he launched himself and the pitchfork onto the two men.

They still had their heads—and more importantly, weapons—down as they shielded themselves from falling glass. Aaron led with the pitchfork and struck the first man, felt the implement strike flesh, penetrate. He hit the ground hard and rolled, releasing the pitchfork. The gurgling sound was familiar, as was the shout of alarm from the other man. Aaron didn’t waste energy to pull the pitchfork free. Instead he rolled to his feet, bringing his gun hand up to strike the second man in the throat with the butt of the weapon, silencing him, then striking him hard across the temple so he went down. He struck the second man one more time, and relieved both men of their weapons.
 

Damn, they should have been able to hit them from the top of the hill, given the range of these automatics. They weren’t trained, then, were just lackeys. But Aaron couldn’t waste time feeling sorry for them. They had blown up the truck, thinking to kill him, after all.

The sound of cracking wood carried across the yard. The front of the barn. Even with the tractor there, if the men decided to go through the wall, Eden was in danger. Strapping one of the extra guns around his back, he cradled the other like an old friend and crept the length of the barn toward the front, staying low and in the shadows, which lengthened as the sun moved closer to the mountains. He raised the gun as he neared the corner, only to stop when Wayne himself stepped out on the front porch of Bill and Nancy’s house, Nancy in front of him, a pistol pressed to her temple, her hair wrapped in his hand. She was pale and crying.

“Aaron!” he shouted. “I have what I came for, but you’re the icing on the cake. Come on out, or this nice lady will be redecorating her porch with her brains.”

Nancy gave a cry of terror that went straight to Aaron’s gut. Damn it, his plan was falling apart, and he didn’t have time to think of another. He couldn’t watch this woman killed, not after what she’d done for him and Annie. He drew a deep breath and glanced up, as if he could see Eden in the loft through the wood of the barn. Maybe there wouldn’t be another time, another place. He wished he could at least get her these weapons before he turned himself in. Instead, he crouched low and placed the two pilfered guns close to the foundation of the barn, in case he could get back to them. With his pistol in the waistband of his cargos, he stepped out of the shadows, hands raised.

“Here I am, Wayne. Let her go.”

Naturally, he didn’t. “Where’s your little spitfire? The troublemaker?”

“She didn’t make it,” he said, hoping the men would give up on the barn and focus on him. Then Eden and the others could escape, go home, be safe.
 

He refused to think of what might have been, and took another step forward, and another, putting distance between himself and the barn.

Which gave his enemies a chance to surround him. Two grabbed him, wrenching his arms high behind his back, damn near dislocating his shoulder. Two others held guns on him.
 

“We have him!” one of the men shouted, presumably to the two men in the back who could not answer.

Aaron braced himself for that discovery, but didn’t take his gaze off of Wayne, who still hadn’t released Nancy.

“I thought you were a man of your word,” Aaron said.

“God, he killed them! He killed them!” came the distressed cry from behind the barn. “Jones and Milhorn are dead. He killed them!”

Something changed in Wayne’s face and he nodded. The blow to the side of Aaron’s head was staggering, then he was hit again. Just as he went dark, he heard a gunshot.

Chapter Nineteen

Horror submerged Eden from the time she watched Aaron step out from the corner of the barn to the moment she saw one man strike him so hard with the barrel of a rifle that he sagged between the two men who held him.
 

Christine crept forward, her gun at the ready, but Eden stilled her. Aaron had lied about her whereabouts, and based on the commotion below, had killed the men who knew they were in the barn. To fire now would only put Aaron in more danger, and would reveal their location. Kelly was in no shape to run, the side of her leg bloody where she’d fallen on the hill. She hated sacrificing Aaron for her sister, but until she could think of a plan—

The gunshot from the road startled her, and she all but pressed her face to the dirty window to see what was going on. But she had no view of the road from up here, only of the house, where Wayne’s men were dragging Aaron’s limp form to the porch.
 

“Hawkins! What in hell are you doing here?” Wayne demanded, loosening his grip on the woman, who dropped to her knees on the porch, sobbing.

Hawkins?
The pirate? What was he doing there? How had he found them? And could she count on him to pull Aaron’s ass out of the fire? Desperate, she pressed her cheek to the window.
 

“You seem to have found something I was looking for,” Hawkins shouted. “I’ve come to make a bargain.”

Wayne stepped off the porch and ambled down the drive, stopping just at the edge of Eden’s sight. She still couldn’t see Hawkins.
 

“You think I don’t know he’s your buddy? You have the same tattoo.”

“He’s a deserter, and as such worth a great deal. I’d like to take him in, to curry favor, if you will.”

Eden couldn’t stand not being able to see what was happening. As quietly as she could, she scrambled down the ladder and found another window facing the road. She ducked low, just peeking out. Hawkins stood on the road, hip cocked casually, a rifle braced on his hip, pointing at the sky. Apparently Wayne didn’t see him as a threat, because his men kept their attention on Aaron, who was clearly unconscious.

“I have a score to settle with him.”

“I see that. But I can make it worth your while. A month’s worth of supplies, free.”

Eden slapped her hand over her mouth to smother her gasp. Who was Aaron to Hawkins, for him to make that kind of sacrifice?

Even Wayne seemed taken aback. “Regular order?”

“Of course.”

“Two months,” Wayne countered.

“Done,” Hawkins said without hesitation.

Wayne signaled to his men, who carried Aaron forward. His head still lolled on his shoulders. How hard had they hit him? She held her breath, waiting for Wayne to go back on his word, to hurt Hawkins, who was alone, after all. An easy target. But the transition went smoothly, and Hawkins loaded the unconscious Aaron into his truck, letting him slump on the seat. He closed the door behind him and Eden took a breath, only to hold it again as Hawkins turned to walk around the front of the truck. The tension among Wayne’s men was thick as Hawkins passed through them. Of course it would be. Aaron had killed some of their friends. Never mind those friends had been trying to kill him.
 

But Hawkins reached the driver’s side unmolested, and then all hell broke loose.

She was pretty certain the shooting started from inside the truck, and the men surrounding it fell back. But then gunfire rang out from the loft, and from behind. Drawing her own weapon, she busted out a corner of the window and fired on the group of Wayne’s men who were still near the house. One fell, the others scattered, running for their trucks and presumably more weapons. She fired her clip was empty. While she reloaded, she heard more gunfire from overhead. Christine.

But they’d revealed themselves, and some of the men began shooting at the barn. Around her, the animals reared and snorted in panic. She ducked as the window above her shattered. When she chanced to look out again, Aaron was standing on the running board of Hawkins’s truck, an automatic weapon cradled in his arm, but he wasn’t firing. A few men lay, face down, around the truck. Aaron hopped down and motioned with the barrel of his gun for the other men to gather their fallen and get into their vehicles.
 

She couldn’t wait any longer. She struggled to move the hay bales from the back door and dragged it open. She gagged to see the man with the pitchfork protruding from his chest, but the other man stirred, groaning. She bent to pull him to his feet, noting he was already disarmed, and with his arm looped over her shoulder, she helped him around the corner of the barn, where his cohorts were busy decamping. Where was Wayne? She didn’t see him, and Aaron and Hawkins were still near the truck. Did they know where he was? They seemed so focused on these guys.

“Here’s another one,” she called.
 

Aaron showed no surprise at her appearance. He motioned for one of the men to collect their comrade. She relinquished his weight gratefully, and once the two men were away from her, she scanned the area, looking for Wayne.
 

“Where is he?” she asked Aaron.

He grimaced and hopped down from the running board. “I lost track of him when the shooting started.”

“You don’t think he’s gone back into the house, do you?”

Aaron shook his head and nodded in the direction of the house, where an older man stood on the porch with a rifle. “That’s Bill. Not sure Wayne could get past him.”

“So where is he? He’s not in the barn.”

Aaron heaved a sigh and rubbed the side of his face, then pulled his hand away to grimace at the blood on his palm. “We need to find him.” He turned toward Bill, who stepped off the porch with his rifle by his side. “Where did Wayne go?”

“I hit him and he went down. Some of his men gathered him up and took off.” The older man nodded toward a retreating truck.

Christine joined them, holding her rifle in front of her with both hands. “What are you talking about? I hit him. High in the shoulder.”

“And I hit him on the right,” Bill countered. “Are you Eden?”

“I am.” Eden stepped forward and offered her hand. “We’ll help you get this cleaned up.”

“Is everyone in the house all right? Nancy?” Aaron asked.

“Shaken up, but we’ll manage. You all should probably be on your way.” He leveled a look at Aaron.

Of course. They’d brought trouble to his doorstep. Time to move on.

Aaron hesitated. “Let me clear the buildings, at least, make sure no one else is hanging around.”

Bill opened his mouth to protest, then nodded.
 

“Eden, help Annie get her things together. We’ll head out as soon as she’s ready,” Aaron instructed. “Christine, get Kelly and Geoff into Hawk’s truck.”

“Wait, now. What?” Hawkins demanded, approaching. “I already went above and beyond the call of friendship to help you out here.”

Aaron stared. “I don’t care what it takes, what you need. We need to get home, away from that lunatic, as fast as we can. I’ll find a way to pay you. Now either help me clear the buildings, or get Kelly into your car. She’s hurt.” He turned to Bill. “When he comes back, if he comes back, you tell him which way we went, what route we took, anything he needs to know to keep your family safe.”

Bill’s lips thinned. “If he gets that close again, we won’t be doing any talking.”

***

A somber group made their way across the mountains in Hawk’s truck. He kept the headlights off despite the darkness, which was probably smart, but riding that way was also scary as hell. She wished she could sleep like Annie and her sister were doing.
 

Annie had cried when she left Nancy, who begged her to stay. Eden could tell the younger woman wanted to accept the invitation, but she was worried Wayne would return, and her presence would put the family in danger. Eden tried to reassure the young woman she’d find a good home on the island, but Annie had already left one mother figure in Adele. Now she was leaving another.