Galen's Gemma - Dale Mayer Page 0,41
Gemma, but he needed her to stay quiet. He should have expected her to have some decent fighting skills, and she’d certainly caught him with a couple decent blows with her boot and her elbow, and she’d actually cut the skin on the back of his hands with her nails. But he hadn’t wanted to hurt her, so he’d taken it and had not made a sound. He let her into the cabin and shut the rear door silently. He pulled her close, crushing her against his chest.
“I just went to the outhouse. I couldn’t wait any longer,” she said, as her arms wrapped around him.
“I understand that. We need to check that Becky is still in the bedroom.”
She took one look at him, the whites of her eyes glowing in the dark. She looked at the bedroom and shook herself free of his arms.
Instantly, the two of them moved, tiptoeing as quietly as they could. She sighed with joy when she saw that Becky was still here. When he confirmed that she was sleeping, he reached out for Gemma and just held her close.
“Who’s here?” she breathed the words against his ear.
“Not sure,” he whispered. “When I got back to Zack, I found him knocked out on the ground outside Joe’s cabin, and the others were missing.”
She reared back and stared at him in shock.
“I brought Zack along, but he’s still out cold in the back of the truck.”
She shook her head, her hand covering her mouth. “Dear God.”
He nodded. “I know. This is getting ugly.”
“We have to tell Tim.”
“I did. I sent him a text.” He lightened his grip, but, when her shoulders sagged, he tucked her up close again. When she snuggled in deeper, he just smiled and hugged her tight.
“What are we doing here?”
“Waiting for them to come after Becky.” She stiffened in his arms, but there was no help for it. She had to know the truth. He just held her close as he let her process the information.
“Do you think my sister’s here?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “I left Zack down on the ground to head to Joe’s cabin, to ensure that all three were still in separate bedrooms, like they were not ten minutes earlier when I last spoke with Zack. But, before I even reached the cabin, their vehicle took off. I picked up Zack and loaded him in the back of our truck and followed, tracking them here. They’re parked down on the far side in the bushes, and I’m even farther out. So I know that they were coming here, which means your sister has talked.”
Gemma winced at that. “She must be desperate.”
“I think, at the moment, she’s playing the odds to get out of here safely.” His voice was as low as he could make it. “But that’s no guarantee that anybody will get out of this alive.”
“Tim’s sentries have weapons,” she said.
He nodded, saying, “But so did these guys.”
She stared up at him and shook her head mutely. “We can’t have Tim’s guys getting hurt.”
“I’m not planning on it,” he said, “but I know that the bad guys are coming here after Becky, and, if you’re here, you’re also in the line of fire. You and that little girl are my priorities.” With that said, he pulled her back a little farther so they were in the dark corner in the rear of the cabin.
She looked around. “They could come in through the window in that room.”
“I’m guessing they figure they’ll have to take you out first,” he said. “They don’t know where I am, but, since they found Zack, they’ll know that I’m around somewhere.”
“Rebecca could have told them,” she said instantly. “And, even if she didn’t, they would have checked her phone, finding the text where she asked me if the cavalry was coming.”
“The cavalry?”
“Yes,” she said, “and I didn’t answer.”
He nodded. “She also knows you though. She expects, if there was any way for us to come after her, that you would send us.”
“That’s what I figured.”
Just then they heard several footsteps outside. He gripped her tight and pulled her closer. “Don’t move,” he whispered. He drew his gun from his holster and kept the weapon at the side of his thigh, waiting. He had no problem shooting to kill. He could only hope that Tim didn’t have a problem disposing of the body or leaving it someplace where the cops could find it a long way away from here.
When they heard more footsteps, she