Page 84 of By Blade, I Love
“Block us from the house with the car,” Leo said as he gripped the handle on the roof, while he bounced over all the bumps of the field.
It was good advice, and when I came up to Wolfe’s grave, I felt my heart nearly give out, knowing he was in there, lying in the dark.
“But don’t park directly on the grave.”
I didn’t really need that advice, so I came close but didn’t let the weight of the car roll over where he lay.
We immediately hopped out, grabbed the shovels, and got to work. “Dig as fast as you fucking can.” I stabbed the shovel into the ground and used the pressure from my foot to dig in deep. I scooped as much dirt off in a single throw before I shoved the shovel back into the earth and repeated it.
Leo went twice as fast as I did, and that was saying something because I was going as fast as my body possibly could. He was drenched in sweat right away, even though it was sunset, digging and tossing and spraying the other tombstones with dirt.
I thought about the man buried alive right next to Wolfe. He had been alive when I’d gotten there, and maybe he could still somehow be alive…but I couldn’t afford to help him. I had to get Wolfe out of there.
We both ducked down when we heard the spray of bullets hit the windows of the car.
“They’re onto us.” Leo straightened first and started to shovel the dirt off.
I helped him, listening to the bullets continue to pelt the car that protected us.
I looked over the roof of the engine and saw two men heading for us. “Don’t stop digging.” I opened the door to the back seat and grabbed the automatic rifle. “I’ll cover you.”
“Shouldn’t that be the other way around?—”
“Shut up and dig.” I was a good shot, and Leo was the faster digger. It was the only setup that made sense.
Leo stabbed his shovel into the ground and continued without consideration for his surroundings. With complete abandonment of self-preservation, he focused on getting Wolfe out of the ground while trusting me to keep him alive.
I moved to the hood of the vehicle for cover, and I popped up and sprayed my bullets. I hit one multiple times in his bulletproof vest, and he staggered back. The other aimed for my head withhis pistol, but before he could get a headshot on me, I ducked down and reloaded.
Leo kept going, huffing and puffing, digging farther into the ground as he tossed mounds of dirt aside. He was soaked in sweat, his skin shiny in the fading light, probably about to rub the skin off his palms from how vigorously he worked.
I raised my gun overhead to draw fire from his pistol again, and then I jumped up and sprayed him once more. This time, I got him right in the neck, so he collapsed. The other one whom I missed had snuck around the opposite side of the car to try to grab Leo from behind.
I sprinted to the rear and then swung my gun around the corner of the trunk, hitting him right in the face and taking him by surprise. He hit the ground, and I stood over and fired the gunshots into his face.
Leo started to heave because he was so fucking tired. “You got ’em?”
“Yeah.” I let the rifle hang from my neck as I grabbed my shovel again.
“You need to keep an eye out, Frankie. More will come.”
I wanted to dig for my husband and get him the hell out of that grave, but I knew my brother was right. I let the shovel drop back to the earth, and I stood guard, listening to the gunfire from the other side of the house as the shootout continued.
“He knows we’re here,” Leo said as he shoved his foot onto the shovel and dug up another mound of dirt. Now he was three feet into the hole, about halfway to the coffin. “I’m sure he hears the gunshots and can put two and two together.”
“If he’s still alive…”
Leo continued to dig, a ring of sweat around his neck and under his armpits. It seemed like he wanted to say something, but he was probably too damn tired to get another word out.
Gunfire sprayed the Range Rover again, and I instinctively dropped down to avoid the bullets.
Leo took a knee, further protected by the vehicle as he continued to dig. He didn’t turn to look at the assailants who came for us, trusting me to handle it while he focused on Wolfe.
I looked through the bulletproof windows to see three guys headed our way. The window was dented in so many places that visibility was poor, but I could still make them out. “You gotta get him out, Leo. We’re getting too much attention.”
“I’m going as fast as I can.”
They sprayed the vehicle again, clearly not understanding it was bulletproof and they were wasting their ammunition.
