“No! Don’t go there, either.”
What were those noises in the background? She stiffened. That was gunfire. “Caz, what is going on?”
“Nabera and his men tried to capture the women at the roadhouse. The women got away—and are here.”
JJ stared at the speakers.
“The PZs are attacking the Hermitage—in force. Maybe fifty or so. Get the troopers here. The Feds. We need help.” Caz pulled in a breath. “Stay away from here, mamita. The cabrones are all over the road outside. There is no cover out there except for their cars.”
“But—”
“I must go. Be safe, mi corazón”
His heart—he’d called her his heart.
Somehow, she’d parked in front of the municipal building. Her need to head for the Hermitage with lights and sirens blazing couldn’t be allowed. She forced herself to turn off the engine.
Duty first.
She summoned help from the state troopers and the FBI, then the DEA, warning them that the good guys, women, and children were in the Hermitage buildings. And she added another caution that there might be good guys attempting to attack the PZs from the rear.
Because she knew Mako’s sons. They wouldn’t sit quietly when attacked.
When an FBI special agent told her to wait for them to arrive, she hung up on the idiot. As if she’d sit on her hands when her man and her daughter and her friends were in danger?
Never.
But some help would be nice.
She slid out of the police car.
A light showed in the coffee shop across the street. Sarah was at Audrey’s party, and Uriah was probably waiting for her to come home. He might not know what had happened.
As JJ ran across the street, her worries tangled with hope. Last fall, no one in town had trusted her. Since then, they’d taken her in and made her one of them.
Would they follow her now…into war?
Chapter Thirty
If the cost is the loss of a life, then let it be my loss and not that of my brother… ~ Unknown
With relief, Bull spotted Aric and Regan obediently sitting on the tunnel steps and waiting for him. Both were wide-eyed and frightened, something no child should be.
Fucking PZs.
“Let’s go, kids.” He picked Aric up, took Regan’s hand, and headed downstairs into cooler air that smelled of moist dirt. “Follow me, Dante. Ladies.”
Going up, Caz passed them, his arms filled with a load of weaponry to equip the women who’d volunteered to help. Gabe had already set Knox and Chevy up in Hawk’s sniper nest to keep the attackers busy.
Bull could see that Caz had left the armory door closed and concealed.
“Sirius and Gryff are in a storage room.” Caz smiled at Regan. “They hate noise, so they’re safer there, mija.”
“Okay, Papá.”
Caz exchanged glances with Bull, both of them hurt by the girl’s scared little whisper. “Go with Bull now, chiquita.”
“Time to get you tucked away.” Moving quickly, Bull led Regan, Dante, and the non-combatant women past the armory and then past the heavy door to Mako’s amply-weaponed disaster shelter—totally unsuitable for civilians.
Instead, he stopped at a storage room, more than adequate to keep them out of the line of fire.
The women filed past him. As he’d figured, Frankie wasn’t in this bunch. She wasn’t the type to sit out a fight.
“People, do not leave this room.” Bull gave them a hard stare. “Am I clear? Out here are nervous people with weapons, and anyone leaving this room is liable to get shot by someone with an itchy trigger finger—or might catch a bullet from the assholes outside.”
The women nodded. He knew them all except for three middle-aged women who…damn, they were state legislators.
Politicians. “Ladies, that goes for you three also. Stay here.”
“We will,” the oldest one said.
Setting Aric on the ground, Bull crouched down. The boy was trembling. Dammit. “Aric, your mom’s upstairs, helping with the guns, but she needs you to stay here. Regan, you too. Keep an eye on Aric, please.”
“I will, Uncle Bull.” Her chin trembled, but her answer was steady.
He gave her an approving nod. Toughest kid ever.
Damn the bastards for putting these two through this shit.
“Bull,” Caz shouted from above. “Get moving. We need more firepower. And ’mano, no one saw Hawk at the roadhouse.”
Fuck. Bull stiffened as his worst worries were confirmed. Hawk wouldn’t have let the women be taken if he was operational. Trouble was, no one had expected an attack on the roadhouse.
It only took one bullet.
“Hawk?” Aric was stricken. So was Regan.
Caz, you idiot. Bull pulled in a breath. He wouldn’t lie but wouldn’t deny them hope either. Dammit, bro, be okay. “Hawk’s sneaky, so we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Aric’s mouth trembled, but he nodded.
Regan put her arm around him.
“Stay strong.” Bull ran his hand over Aric’s hair, then squeezed Regan’s shoulder. “I’m proud of you both.”
Farther in the room, Dante was pointing the women toward blankets on the hard dirt floor. The only light came from a camp lantern in one corner. The accommodations weren’t comfortable, but better than bullets.
Dante glanced over. “Go on, boy. I’ll be up in a minute.”
At the stairs, Bull stopped to let Caz and Audrey go past on the way down.
Caz paused to say, “I’m sending Audrey up to Gabe, then guarding the ground floors. You escort Dante and Lillian to my place, sí?”
“Got it.” Bull ran up the stairs, his need to see Frankie growing by the moment.
At the kitchen island, Lillian was loading a Glock.
His spirit hurt at the thought of the older woman joining the battle. “Lillian, maybe you should—”
“My dear boy, you will not deny me my place on this stage.” Her smile was cheerful, her eyes grim. “ ‘Hark! the shrill trumpet sounds, to horse, away. My soul’s in arms and eager for the fray.’ ”
Guess that was his answer. If he argued, he’d probably get served up the St. Crispin’s Day speech.
“Hey, dude.” By the dining room table, Erica waved at him. “I’m assigned to you.”
“You?” Spotting movement, Bull turned.
Kit and Sarah were upstairs on the landing outside Mako’s rooms, both carrying weapons.
He scanned the living area, and dread lodged in his gut. “Kit, where’s Frankie?”
Kit looked over the railing. “Isn’t she with the women in the tunnels?”
“No.” Fear increasing, he turned to Lillian.
Surprise, then concern filled her face. “I didn’t see her.”
Upstairs, Sarah leaned over the railing. “Dear God, I don’t think she was in the van. Erica, did you see her?”
“I…no, she wasn’t.” Erica’s eyes were wide. “How could we not notice?”
Bull bit back his snarl. The women had been terrorized and tied-up in a dark van, and as driver, Kit wouldn’t have known who was in the cargo area.