Page 64 of Redemption in the Dark (The Righteous 5)
He didn’t have much in the way of holsters that would fit her, but he did have an old one that adjusted and was worn like a backpack.
“Hold your arms out.” She did as he asked, and he quickly clipped the holster in place, tightening the straps. “Not a great fit, but better than running with two guns in your hands.” Pulling the backpack off the hook, he stuffed it with as much ammo as he could grab. Then he flung his M4 on his shoulder before slipping the night vision band over his head. Pushing the gun rack back into place, he bent and pulled up on the trap door in the closet that was designed to look like boxes piled up.
“Head on down.”
“What about Duke?” Maeve said as she looked at the ladder.
“Don’t worry, he knows how to climb,” he said, and Maeve lowered herself into the hole.
“Duke in,” he said and pointed. Duke used the ladder like a pro as he stepped down the rungs backward into the dark hole. He closed the closet doors and pulled the hatch down, locking it into place as he stepped into the escape tunnel.
“You do know this is not normal right? Most people don’t build an escape tunnel under their bedroom closet.” Maeve said quietly when his feet touched the floor. “One without spiders would’ve been nice,” she said, squealing as one lowered from a dark crevasse in front of her face.
“Don’t mind Bob. He’s just social.” He grinned at the look of disbelief on her face.
“Of course, you named a spider Bob,” she mumbled.
“What else was I going to call him? Not Bob,” he asked, taking her hand and leading the way down the tunnel. He knew the space like the back of his hand. “Hang onto me tight.”
This tunnel wasn’t something you put on a building blueprint, not when you worked for the people he chose as his employers.
“I don’t think most people name random arachnids in a dark hole that look like it was all too happy to have me as its next meal.”
He smirked at her over his shoulder but realized she couldn’t see it in the dark. Reaching the end, he peered through the camouflaged exit and saw one person moving around by the shed with his Hummer in it. He hadn’t wanted to get into another fight and draw awareness to them.
The chatter in the stolen earpiece caught his attention.
“Can anyone see inside?”
“No, it’s all red, like it’s hot inside.”
“Shit. Going in.” A couple of seconds passed. “What the fuck? We have one, two wounded and one dead, and shit. Look at Carl’s throat. Make that two dead. Warning. There is a dog or something else with them, and they…fuck, they have an earpiece, going dark.”
“Fuck.” Wolf pulled the earpiece out that was now useless and tossed it on the ground. “Come on. We need to move. Be as quiet as you can be.”
He pushed open the exit hatch, and the three of them ran for the back of the garage. As the guy Wolf had been keeping an eye on rounded the front, he was no longer in sight. Wolf looked around into the surrounding forest. The night vision didn’t show anyone lurking in the woods, so he quickly turned to peer through the dark window on the backside of the shed. The large door wasn’t open, but they could decide to check inside the shed any second.
He signaled what he was planning and pulled his knife as he slipped around the front of the garage like a shadow, his hand ready to attack. The guy had his back to him. He hated to do this, especially knowing that these men were his brothers or had been once. Flicking the blade in his hand, he reached back and let the blade fly. The man froze as the blade pierced the back of his neck and fell forward, landing face first in the dirt.
“Go inside. I’ll be right there.” He ran to the downed man and pulled his thick knife back out before rolling him over and pulling up the black mask.
“Thank god,” he whispered and let the mask drop back into place as blood dribbled out of the unknown man’s mouth.
Not that it made him feel a whole lot better that he didn’t know the man, but he really didn’t want it to be someone he knew well. He gripped the edge of the large door and opened it as quietly as possible, the small wheels rattling on the metal track. Luckily, they still hadn’t found the switch to shut off the music, so the loud thumping and guitars of the AC/DC song that had just turned on masked most of the noise.
Maeve was sitting in the passenger seat of the Hummer, and he spotted Duke sitting up straight in the backseat as he hopped inside. The vehicle roared to life as he turned the key. He’d always loved the sound, but right now, he wished it purred like a kitten instead. He pulled out of the door, and movement from the direction of the house caught his attention. Seconds later, the vehicle was hit by a rain of bullets.
“Jesus Christ,” Maeve cursed and slid down in the seat.
“Don’t worry. The Hummer can take a lot more than what they’re carrying on them. The bigger issue is getting somewhere safe. I don’t know how far away their vehicle is or if they have a chopper with them.” He looked out the window up at the dark night sky. “I don’t think so, I didn’t hear one, and I always hear them.”
He looked over at Maeve, whose eyes were wide as she looked around.
“I feel like I’m on the wrong end of a James Bond movie,” she said as she wrung her hands together. “I’m pretty fucking brave, but this is crazy. I feel like I’m being hunted, and I don’t know why. That guy looked like a damn assassin. I’ve never done anything to warrant a whole fucking team of assassins.” She shook her head, and he felt for her.
He knew all too well what it was like to be hunted and stalked.
“I know one spot we can go that will be safe and hidden until I can figure out our next step.”
