Bow Down(129)

“Positive.” She held out her hands and Jared handed her the gun. It looked way too big for her, but she held it confidently. “Let’s do this.”

I laughed and looked at Jared, shaking my head. I don’t think I’d ever been more attracted to her than I was in that moment. There was nothing sexier than an attractive woman holding an enormous, deadly weapon.

Jared grinned and began to give her more detailed instructions. Meanwhile, I looked into the box and grabbed myself a bulletproof vest, a big-ass rifle, and a few stun grenades. While I strapped my gear on, Lacey leaned up against the bumper.

“What’s the plan, anyway?” she asked Jared.

“We’re going in on the ground. While we’re down there, you’ll be up in the hills overlooking the place. If someone comes outside, you shoot them.”

“What if it’s one of you?”

“Look through the scope first. Don’t rush. Nobody will know where you are. You’ll have plenty of time to decide.”

I walked over to her and placed my hand on her shoulder.

“Are you still sure?”

She looked at me. For a second, I could see the fear there. “I’m sure.”

“If things go south,” Jared continued, “you head back here and get the fuck out. Understand?”

“Okay.”

“Lacey,” I said seriously, “do what he says.”

“I will.”

“Seriously. Leave us behind if something happens.”

She looked at me for a few seconds. “Okay. But nothing will happen.”

I nodded and squeezed her hand.

“Okay. We have a serious hike ahead of us. We need to get moving.”

I checked my rifle, made sure my armor was strapped, and nodded. “After you.”

He gave me a long look. “You know, you don’t have to do this.”

“Yes, I do.”

“No shame in it, Camden. This is my job. But you, you got away from all this. You don’t have to go back.”

“I’m already back. I’m already deep in it. I’m not a coward. I need to see this through.”

He nodded. “Good man. Let’s go.”

We walked out into the woods. The snow crunched softly under my boots. I slung the rifle over my shoulder and shoved my hands in my pockets as we moved. Lacey kept up, quiet and brooding.

Up ahead, violence.

My feet were freezing and I could see my breath fan out in front of me as we finally began to close in on the house.

As we crept closer, keeping near the shadows of the trees and navigating by the just-risen moon, Jared talked through what we were about to do.

In essence, he was going to take out the guards and sneak us in through the back. There was maybe a bit more to it than that, but it boiled down to the simplest thing in the world. And he made it seem like it was no big deal, like he was used to going up against impossible odds all the time. Lacey was going to keep us covered from the outside.

I didn’t mind it. It wasn’t like I was crazy or suicidal or believed I could take on twenty men single-handedly, but I was willing and ready to do whatever it took to help my family. This was the last step, and I was prepared to make it.

We crouched down next to a snow bank, and Jared held up his hand to indicate silence. We crawled toward the top and looked down into a small valley. Sitting in the very center of the valley was a squat little house with smoke curling from the chimney. It looked a lot like the house we had escaped from the day before.

“This is it,” Jared said softly.

“Let’s do it then.”

“Not too fast. Look.” He pointed off to the left.

I followed his gaze and spotted them: two armed men pacing a slow, lazy circle around the house.

He looked at Lacey. “See them? Brace your gun like this.” He helped her set it up, including a small little tripod at the end of the barrel. She sighted down through the scope.

“I see them. Just two.”

“That it?” I asked.

“All I noticed at least.”

Jared got up onto his knees. “Like I said, this place shouldn’t be as heavily guarded. They don’t know we know where they are.”

I nodded and Jared began to move away.

“Stay here,” he said. “I’ll get you when it’s through.”

Before I could answer, he was gone, melted into the night.

The way he simply vanished sent a shiver down my spine. The man seemed friendly, if maybe a little crazy. But underneath all that, he was a highly-trained killer. Probably some sort of assassin for the CIA. That sort of man couldn’t have family or friends. That sort of man only had the kill.

I watched the cabin down below, but the sentries disappeared into a thicker part of the woods. Lacey breathed quietly and evenly. We exchanged looks but didn’t speak, neither of us wanting to draw any attention our way. I didn’t hear a thing for what felt like an hour, and the sentries never reappeared. Lacey kept her eyes glued down the barrel of her gun.