Page 46 of N8
N8 stood, but moved to stand beside her, his eyes locked on her face. “I’m staying. I’m not leaving you.”
“I’m staying, too.”
They all turned to stare at F8, who resolutely faced them. “We can’t keep running and hiding all our lives. And we can’t split up. We need each other. I say we give Sheriff Biggs the benefit of a doubt. We asked him to protect us. Well, he’s here doing exactly what we asked him to do. At some point we have to trust him.” She nodded at Cydney. “I’m staying with you.”
“So am I,” K8 stated.
G8 softly growled. “Okay. Count me in.” He looked over at where they saw the vans’ headlights pierce the darkness. “If we’re not leaving, let’s get our butts back in hiding before they spot us.”
P8 and T8 hunched back down to rejoin them. No one remarked upon their change of plans.
24Checkm8
They soon heardthe sound of the advancing engines. They hadn’t spotted the sheriff since he’d gotten out of his car. N8 lowered his face to whisper, “Didn’t he say he had backup coming?”
“Yeah,” K8 answered him.
“What if those other cars are his men?”
“No.” F8 quickly negated that theory. “It’s the same engine from the van they first kidnapped us in. The second van sounds just like it, except with a little variable.”
They didn’t argue with her. They knew her abilities were too keen.
“Do you hear any other cars?” Cydney inquired, keeping her voice low.
F8 tilted her head in that way she had whenever she was concentrating. “No. Not yet.”
The tall figure of Sheriff Biggs came into view, but the man remained partly in the shadows. The shadow of his rifle was clearly visible in his hands, but the muzzle was pointed downward, not aimed.
The vans stopped in front of the main lodge. Men began exiting the vehicles before the engines were turned off and the headlights were dowsed. They could hear F8 softly counting the figures.
“Seven, eight… There’s ten of them all total, if you count both drivers,” she informed them.
“The man’s outnumbered,” P8 noted.
“Not if you count us,” N8 countered.
“But they have guns,” K8 argued.
“Shhh! Shhh!” Cydney waved for them to be quiet.
The men slowly advanced into the camp. One man checked the main lodge, quickly returning to inform one guy who remained standing where he was.
“That’s Coxwell,” F8 clarified.
Another guard checked cabin number one. They all moved furtively, making hardly any noise whatsoever, which made N8 wonder if they were trying to creep up on him and the others in a surprise raid. If that was true, these guys were seriously downplaying F8’s incredible hearing.
The man looking into cabin number two opened the door. Noticing the state of the interior, he broke the quiet. “They’ve rabbited!”
“Fuck! Well, start searching the woods,” Coxwell ordered. “They can’t have gone far.”
“Stop right where you are!” an authoritative voice rang out. Sheriff Biggs stepped out from where he’d been hiding and took a couple of steps toward the man. The rifle in his hands was now raised, but still not aimed toward anyone in particular. Immediately, three nearby guards aimed their weapons at Biggs.
“You’re interfering in a government project,” Coxwell spat. “Put that pea shooter down before you hurt yourself.”
“I don’t care if you’re from the government, or any branch of the military,” Biggs informed him. “And, last I heard, slavery had been outlawed since the Civil War.” He eyed the three men surrounding him. “You’re on private property. Plus, you’re threatening an officer of the law. Using those guns make your actions a felony, and that’s quite a number of years in the state pen.”
“Why don’t you just let us have the kids, and we’ll be on our way. No harm, no foul. You know you’re seriously outnumbered, Sheriff,” Coxwell taunted. He held out his hands to show he was unarmed, but they all could see the pistol holstered on his hip.
