Delivering His Gifts (Mountain Men of Liberty #10)- K.C. Crowne Page 0,64
was no time to corral them.
“There are guinea pigs and a rabbit,” I called out to Eli.
“Got ‘em,” Eli yelled. “Catch the guy, I’ll be right behind you.”
I could hear sirens in the distance. Help was on the way. Eli had the animals, they were alive.
I took off toward the treeline. I cursed at the fact that I hadn’t thought to bring a gun. I had a knife that I almost always carried but wasn’t sure it would be enough.
I was surrounded by trees, which were blotting out the remaining sunlight. Acrid smoke filled my lungs as I searched for the person I saw running from the house.
An explosion caused me to turn back toward the house, and my heart raced as I saw the back part - where Danielle’s bedroom would be - completely gone.
She’s safe, I reminded myself. She’s not here. But had she been… My stomach dropped at even the idea of her being home, in her room or anywhere in that house, for that matter.
There was no sign of my brother. And no sign of the man I saw running into the woods.
Dammit. I was about to let everyone down again and could lose my brother in the process. I had to make a decision - to go after Eli or to keep looking for the man in the woods.
It was only a split second, but it felt like I had wasted an eternity. I was about to sprint back to the house when something collided into my body, slamming me to the ground. The earth seemed to crack underneath me as I landed, catching myself before my head bounced into the ground.
The person who tackled me was smaller than me and only managed to take me down because I hadn’t been prepared. But once I was down, I managed to roll the both of us over. I stared down into dark eyes behind a red and black ski mask. I’d never seen such a mask before, with red lines down the front as if to make it look intimidating.
I held the man to the ground as he fought against me. He was smaller than me, weaker. But he was wily. His small frame allowed him to move quickly. I ripped off the mask just as there was a sudden, sharp pain in my side. The man sneered as he pulled the knife from my flesh and buried it in my side once again.
The surprise caught me off guard, and the man kicked me off him. The knife was still buried in my flank, and I knew I needed to leave it be. Pulling it out could be dangerous; I could bleed out in minutes.
The man grabbed the mask and took off into the woods as I pushed myself up with the help of a nearby tree. The pain was staggering, as was the blood loss. My head was spinning; I couldn’t chase him. I had to let him go, which filled me with a new rage despite the pain
I didn’t recognize the man, but I had his face imprinted into my brain. I recognize him if I ever saw him again, with his narrow, harsh features and thin lips. His head had been shaved, though his hair was growing in dark.
I kept going over the details in my head as I tried to keep moving toward where I last saw him. The blood seeped through my side, soaking my clothing.
Footsteps. I heard footsteps.
Was he coming back to finish the job?
“Mason!” Eli’s voice called to me as I leaned against the tree, the dizziness overwhelming me. He was at my side a second later, giving me a shoulder to lean on.
“The firemen are here. The fire is out,” he said. “Let me call for help.”
“We need to find—him,” I said, my voice wavering as I spoke. It felt like I was slipping away. “Let me go, I need to…”
“You’re not going anywhere,” he said. “The cops will be here soon. They can search the woods.”
“No, he’ll get away,” I murmured weakly, hating the weakness.
Eli kept a firm grip on me, making sure I didn’t try to get away, though I wouldn’t get very far if I tried.
“Over here!” he yelled as he helped me. “We need some help over here!”
“I’m not going to the hospital,” I said.
“The hell you’re not,” Eli scoffed.
“I need to get back to Danielle.”
“Graham is with her. She’s safe. She’s not going anywhere,” he assured me.