death like a mask and was happy to do its bidding. These men stood by while my girl was abused before their eyes. They’d been here through her torture and they’d done nothing to stop it. They were all guilty as far as I was concerned.
I was happy to be the judge of that, jury too and most importantly of all, executioner.
My feet tracked bloody boot prints through the snow as I ran on, darting between trees for cover and hunting for some sign of my lost girl.
A cry of pain which I recognised as hers set my hackles rising and a snarl of rage escaped my lips as I turned towards the source of the sound, spotting another mine entrance to my right. The cave was narrow, wooden props holding it up and lanterns bolted to the roof to light the way.
Winter cried out again and a prickle ran down my spine. This felt just like the last trap they’d set me, with Tyson howling in the woods. They were using her to lure me closer, hoping anger would blind me to their games and lead me to my death. But I’d been playing more dangerous games than this for much longer than they could imagine.
I looked around carefully and spotted another mine a few hundred feet to my left. There were no lights illuminating that cave, but I was willing to bet the shafts linked up somewhere.
I cast another look towards the lit up mine then decided to follow my gut, darting to the other one and heading down into the dark.
The ripe, pungent scent of the cannabis plants which they grew down here swept over me as I moved beneath the earth and the biting winter air was cut off.
The mine shaft descended into darkness, robbing me of my sight while my shoulders brushed against the walls and the temperature steadily rose.
I caught the distant murmur of male voices and paused as I tried to decipher the words, but they were lost to the shadows. Regardless, I was pretty sure that meant I’d guessed right about these shafts being connected.
The walls widened out and I paused, waiting for some new sound to guide me on, only moving again once I heard their voices, followed by a muffled cry of pain from Winter.
My heart lurched and stumbled in my chest before picking up a furious rhythm which pounded to the beat of violence.
I’m going to rip those motherfuckers apart.
I headed right, keeping my hand to the wall as the marijuana scent grew thicker, more cloying and suddenly I spotted light up ahead.
It was just a sliver of yellow in the dark at first but as I found another passage to turn into, the light grew. I hurried on, careful to remain silent as I crept across the stone floor in my heavy boots. The further I went, the hotter it got, sweat trickling between my shoulder blades and across my brow.
Each twist and turn of the mine shaft revealed more and more light until I was almost blinded by it.
I squinted against the glare and found myself at the entrance to a huge cavern set up for growing their illegal crops. The plants were growing in long rows beneath the high powered heat lamps, the overpowering scent of them billowing across the space.
At the far end of the cavern stood three men who surrounded a small girl in a ripped shirt.
“Hit her again, Farley,” Duke commanded, his tone emotionless, his rifle aimed at the narrow passageway ahead of him.
The biggest fucker among them laughed darkly before swinging his fist straight into Winter’s gut, sending her flying back with a cry of pain.
The last guy caught her before she could fall, his hands sliding over her body as she fought to get out of his grip, her features written with disgust.
I gritted my teeth against the desire to dive into the room, roaring her name as I opened fire on them, forcing myself to remain calm instead, stick to the best course of action that I could to get her out of here alive.
I ducked behind the closest row of plants, raising my rifle and cursing internally as I failed to line up a clear shot.
They were shoving Winter back and forth and she stumbled between them, too close for me to risk sending a bullet their way in case I hit her instead.
I slung the rifle over my back, pulled the knife from my belt and began to