Against the Edge (The Raines of Wind Can - By Kat Martin Page 0,123
lay sleeping on the floor near the corner, while Sam slept next to Aggie on a lumpy mattress over an old-fashioned rope bed. The back door was closed.
Ben started to move just as the older woman stirred, and he froze. Inching into the shadows, he went still, making himself invisible inside the room.
Long seconds passed. Little by little, Aggie relaxed back into slumber and began to snore softly. Ben gave an inward sigh of relief. He looked down at Claire and an ache throbbed in his chest. In a shaft of moonlight coming in through the window, she looked beautiful, her dark hair spread over the pillow, a trace of tears dried on her cheeks.
He wanted to tell her how much he loved her, tell her how much he regretted not saying the words before, but there wasn’t time for that now.
Sinking down on a knee beside her, he placed his hand gently over her mouth. Claire’s eyes popped open, wild with fear. Then she realized who it was, and those pretty green eyes filled with tears.
Ben held a finger against his lips, warning her to silence, then took her hand and helped her to her feet. She was wearing a worn cotton nightgown and her feet were bare. She looked exhausted and afraid, and love for her welled in his chest. Bending his head, he pressed a quick kiss on her mouth, then motioned her back against the wall and moved toward Sam.
Ben froze next to the bed. Aggie’s arm lay possessively across the boy’s chest, and though the woman was sound asleep, Sam shifted restlessly. Any minute he was going to wake her up.
Fuck. Drawing his .45, he leaned over the bed and clamped a hand over Aggie’s mouth. When her eyes shot open, he showed her his weapon, motioned her out of bed and onto her feet.
Sam stirred and opened his eyes. “Dad!” The boy shot out of bed and ran toward him. Ben’s throat tightened. Until that moment, he hadn’t realized how much he had wanted to hear that word.
“It’s all right, son,” he said softly, keeping his voice even and his gun on Aggie. “Go over there with Claire.”
Sam’s pale eyes went to the older woman, barefoot and dressed in her nightgown. “Don’t hurt her, Dad. She was nice to us.”
Ben reached out and stroked a hand over his son’s sleep-mussed hair. “We just need her to be quiet until we get out of here.”
With perfect timing, Trace appeared in the doorway, weapon drawn. Ben holstered the Nighthawk, used a plastic tie to bind Aggie’s wrists and feet, then stretched a piece of duct tape over her mouth. He lifted her into his arms and set her gently in the middle of the bed.
“Bye, Aggie,” Sam said as Claire pulled him against her and urged him toward the door.
Trace went ahead of them, checking to make sure it was clear, his pistol in both hands. Ben signaled for Sam and Claire to move out of the cabin, staying close to his side.
It all happened in an instant.
A man walked out of the cabin next door, the tip of his cigarette glowing in the darkness. From where he stood on the porch, he couldn’t miss seeing them, and when he did, he started shouting the alarm. Jake fired a sleep dart from his position on the hill, hitting the man in the neck, and he went down, but the camp was already in motion.
Half-dressed men streamed out of the cabins, weapons at the ready, some of them firing though they didn’t have a target. They had drilled for this moment, practiced for the day their camp might be invaded.
Ben shoved Claire and Sam back inside, out of the line of fire, and slammed the door. “Stay in here and stay low!” Across the clearing, Alex laid down a spray of automatic-rifle fire, giving Trace the cover he needed to reach safety behind the woodshed.
Outside the cabin, bursts of gunfire rattled across the compound. Ben strode over and dragged Aggie off the bed. He cut the plastic ties binding her wrists and feet and hauled her toward the door. Ripping off the duct tape, he pushed her out onto the porch, his gun pressed into her ribs.
“Tell them to hold their fire.”
Aggie straightened, didn’t hesitate. “Stop shooting, you fools. You’re gonna get somebody kilt!”
Looked as if killing somebody was exactly the plan, but Ben didn’t say that. “Tell Mace to come forward.”