Page 25 of The Mountain Man's Mail Order Temptation
Two.
Both are down. Headshots.
I leap from the tree and race silently through the woods, circling to the other side of the remaining men.
The one with the binoculars has his rifle raised, searching with his scope. Not at the tree where I was but following my trail. Fucking thermal.
I drop to the ground, aim, and take the shot.
Three down, two to go.
Except when I turn back toward Grant, only the hired mercenary remains, and he’s looking straight at me.
Shit.
He raises his weapon and fires, but I’m already rolling away. Behind the nearest bush, I push to my feet and race for the cabin. That’s where Grant is headed, and this asshole will follow me.
I hear Ellie scream as I run around back and kick down the door. Drawing my pistol, I scan the room and step inside.
My woman is standing over Grant Chamberlain, wielding a muffin tin. He’s moaning on the ground, holding the back of his head.
“Fucking bitch. You hit me with your baking pan.”
“It’s stress relieving!” She swings and hits him again.
I’d laugh but the sound of boot steps quietly climbing the porch alerts me to the last man.
I turn and fire, right as he comes into view. He drops to the ground, gun sliding across the wood deck.
I face the last threat.
Grant struggles to his feet, glaring at Ellie. “I was going to make you my queen.”
“You never asked if that’s what I wanted.”
He looks confused and shakes his head. “Why wouldn’t you?”
Training my gun on him, I step closer. “Because she’s mine. Ellie, call the police.”
“This isn’t over,” Grant says.
“You have four dead men outside, Chamberlain. By my count, that puts me at six hundred forty-seven. It ends now, or I add you to my list. Getting awful close to six hundred fifty. What do you think? Want to help me with that goal?”
“You’re fucking crazy.”
I shrug. “After all this time, can’t say I care one way or the other.” I hear Ellie in the kitchen making the call. “Last chance. Leave Ellie alone forever or disappear with the rest of your men before the cops arrive.”
He spits out some blood and holds his hands up. “She’s yours.”
“Fucking right, she is.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
ANSON
While Ellie called the police,I secured Grant with zip ties and texted Ezra for assistance. He showed up a few minutes later, gave me shit for all the bodies I kept dropping on his mountain, and hauled Chamberlain out to the porch for “the last fresh air he’d breathe for a while”.
But the past doesn’t like to stay buried, and he knows that as well as anyone. We helped Stone, another ex-military man who came to this mountain for solitude, just a few weeks back with his mafia problem. When my brothers need my rifle again, they’ll have it. Just as they have my back today.
