Page 23 of Crowe
I turned back to Noah and cupped his jaw. “You’ll be safe down here. Okay. You hear me?”
He swallowed, but he nodded.
I went up the stairs and closed the hatch behind me, putting the rug back in place, just as my phone alerted me to the presence going past the gate.
I went out the back door and slipped around the cabin until I reached the front corner and peeked around it. The same sedan from yesterday was creeping up the drive. Before they got close enough to see me, I moved quietly and quickly towards the trees where I would have plenty of cover.
The car stopped in front of the house, and two men got out. One scanned the tree line. The other headed straight toward the cabin like he belonged here. I needed to stop him before he went inside the cabin where Noah was hiding.
“Little early for visitors,” I called out evenly.
Both of them snapped toward the sound of my voice. The one nearest the sedan went for his waistband. I drew and fired once. The shot cracked through the trees, and he spun and went down hard in the gravel. The second man dove behind the sedan and fired back.
Wood splintered behind me as I moved further from the cabin with one thought in mind. Keeping this guy as far away from Noah as possible.
He leaned out, trying to spot me. I fired again, hoping to force him back into cover and buy myself some time. It worked, and as soon as he couldn’t see me, I ran through the wooded area, circling around his car.
He expected me to go for cover in the cabin so that was where his focus was, but I wasn’t near the cabin at all. I came around the back of the sedan just as he stepped out again, looking for me. I closed the distance fast.
He fired as I grabbed his wrist, jerking the muzzle wide. The bullet tore uselessly into the trees. I drove my elbow into his jaw and slammed his back against the car. His gun hit the gravel, and he swung at me all wild and panicked. Fear does that to you. Makes you sloppy, but I kept it tight. My knee to his ribs, then I spun him around and caught the back of his neck and slammed his face into the hood of the sedan hard enough to dent the metal. He sagged but didn’t drop, so I wrapped my forearm across his throat from behind and cinched tight, pressing against his carotid, restricting his blood flow.
He thrashed for a few seconds, then his movements stopped. I lowered him to the ground and used zip ties to secure his arms and legs so he wouldn’t go anywhere when he came to.
I walked back toward the first shooter. He was leaning against the car using his left hand to apply pressure to the gunshot wound. I kicked the gun out of reach and shook my head. “Bad morning for you, but you’ll live,” I said quietly.
I stepped back but didn’t lower my guard. I kept scanning the treeline just to be safe as I pulled my phone out and dialed.
“Wolfe,” I said when he answered. “I’ve got two. One shot, one unconscious. Same sedan from the other day.”
“Noah?”
“Noah is safe.”
“Okay, Hawk and Gator are headed your way. They loaded up as soon as you called about the drone. They’re a good three hours out, though.”
“No worries. I’ve got things under control here. We’ll see them when they get here.”
“Sounds good.”
I looked at the guy who was leaning against the car and sighed. “I guess it’s a good thing I never got around to chopping that woodsince an empty woodshed is a good spot for you to hang out and think about all the ways you went wrong.”
I grabbed him up, dragged him around the side of the house, and tossed him in the woodshed. “The more you move, the more you’ll bleed. So if you want to live, I strongly suggest you keep still.”
I closed the door behind me and went back over to retrieve the other guy. He was still out cold, so I had to use a fireman’s carry to get his heavy ass to the shed. Something I didn’t enjoy. Number one had scooted himself up so he was leaning against a woodpile, and I dropped number two at his feet.
“Is he alive?” Number one asked.
“Do you care?” I asked.
He shrugged his one good shoulder.
“That’s what I figured.” I shut the shed door and clicked the lock in place. My grandfather had built that woodshed. It was sturdy as a rock with a concrete floor and no windows, so I wasn’t worried about them getting out. They were there to stay.
I hurried inside and pulled back the rug. I opened the hatch and called down to Noah. “Noah, I’m coming down.”
“Jackson, is that you?”
I hurried down the stairs to find Noah sitting in the corner, his knees drawn up tight, using them to hold up a shotgun that was pointed right at me. I’m not sure I’d ever been so proud of anyone in my life. He might be scared, but he was a fighter.
