Cocked: A Stepbrother Romance (22 page)

“She doesn’t know how to fire a weapon, much less how to tactically breach a guarded building. She can’t come with us.”

I let out a breath and Camden relaxed.

“I’m coming with you,” I said simply.

“Lacey,” Camden replied. “I think he’s right.”

“No,” I said quickly, “he’s not. You guys think you’re the only ones risking your lives? They’re my parents too. I didn’t ask for any of this, but now I’m telling you I’m going to be there to help finish it.”

Jared laughed loudly. “I like her,” he said to Camden. “She’s like a Valkyrie ready to ride into battle.”

Camden ignored him. “Lace, he’s right. You don’t know how to shoot a gun.”

“You’ll get in the way,” Jared added.

“I don’t care. Find something for me to do, because I’m coming.”

I stood there, my arms crossed, ready to take all morning if I had to. It was easy for them. They both knew what they were doing. They had killed before and were ready to kill again. But I was useless, less than useless, and they expected me to sit by while Camden risked everything for me yet again. I hated that feeling, hated how useless I felt sitting in the car while Camden drove for miles and miles and how terrified and weak I felt while I watched him kill for me. I hated that he was the one always ready to sacrifice while I sat around on the sidelines. But I was done with that.

Maybe he should be out there fighting. Maybe it wasn’t my fight. But I was going to make it my fight. I wasn’t weak, and I wasn’t backing down.

Jared studied me with a big smile on his face for half a minute. Things felt tense as Camden looked between the two of us, a small frown on his otherwise perfect face.

Finally, Jared spoke. “Will you shoot to kill?”

“Yes.”

“Will you follow orders?”

I nodded emphatically. “Absolutely yes.”

“Okay, then,” Jared said. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

“Hold on,” Camden said, but Jared gave him this look. Something seemed to pass between them, and Camden sighed. “Fine. Let’s go.”

Triumphant, I piled into the Jeep. This time, I didn’t sit in Camden’s lap.

I felt elated and terrified as we pulled out onto the road, a trunk full of guns and cash our only means of saving our family.

I was ready. I was scared out of my mind, but after everything that had happened, I was ready. I wanted this to be over, and it would be soon. For better or for worse, we were going to finish it all.

I caught Camden’s eye and he smiled at me. We were in it together. We’d always be in it together.

Jared floored it and we shot off into the day, ready.

I
t was nearly dusk by the time Jared slowed down the car and stopped.

I looked around. There had been nothing but trees and more trees and snow as far as the eye could see all day long. Jared had been tight-lipped about our final destination, though he was following GPS directions and coordinates.  

“This it?” I asked him.

“This is the end of the line, at least for the car.”

I nodded. “Makes sense.”

We climbed out. We were stopped on the side of an old, beat-up highway that continued far into the distance ahead and behind us.

“Are you sure?” Lacey asked, joining us near the back of the car.

“Sure as I can be.”

“How far of a walk is it?” I asked.

“Couple of hours. We’ll get there just after dark, which is what I wanted.”

I nodded. Since we were going in with only a few people, we needed every advantage we could get.

Jared looked at Lacey. “Still sure you want to come?”

She nodded fiercely. “Absolutely.”

“Okay then.” He reached into the back of the Jeep and pulled out a long gun with a heavy scope on the top. It had two folded-up legs on the bottom and a long, smooth circular barrel. “This is for you.”

“That looks huge.”

“It’s a sniper rifle. Ever shoot a gun before?”

She shook her head, looking intimidated. “Never.”

“Here.” He held the gun up, pointing as he went. “This is the safety. You flick it off to shoot. This is the magazine. You’ll have all your bullets there. This is the muzzle. It’s silenced and shouldn’t have too much of a kick, but make sure you brace it properly. I’ll show you how. These are tripod legs, to support it. Shouldn’t be any recoil.” He paused. “Still sure?”

“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.

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M
y 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.

I began to wonder, had Jared gotten caught? The house was still quiet, so probably not. Had he gotten himself too injured to return? A thousand scenarios ran through my mind.

And then he was back. One second we were alone, and the next he materialized from the darkness.

“Camden,” he whispered.

I brought my gun up and aimed it directly at his skull, surprised.

“Easy there,” he said.

“Jared. You need to be more careful.”

His eyes flashed in the darkness. He was wiping off a knife and slipping it back into a sheath on his leg. “Ready?”

“The guards?”

“Taken care of.”

“You’re going to be okay,” I said to Lacey.

“Be careful.” She reached out and touched my face. “Come back to me.”

I touched her hand. “I will. I promise. Stay safe.”

She smiled and looked back through her scope. I look one last look at her, the gun held between her hands confidently, her breathing even and measured. She looked perfect, and I felt my cock stir for a second.

I didn’t need to say anything else, and so I followed Jared down a slope, winding our way through the trees. We skirted the clearing around the house and stopped once we were directly behind it.

“Okay, one door into the back up ahead,” he said.

“I see it.”

“That’s our entry point. I’ll take lead, and you follow. If we hit trouble, toss a stun grenade and make sure you cover your damn eyes.”

“I got it.”

“Let’s go.”

We moved fast then, running low and silent across the snow-swept yard. There were no animals out and not a single sound except the soft crunch of the ground beneath our boots as we closed in on the house.

After closing the ground quickly, I pressed myself against the back wall while Jared picked the lock on the door. There were no alarms or gunshots, just more silence. As far as I could tell, nobody knew we were breaking in.

He gestured at me to hold as he cracked the door open, pressing his eye to the slit. He watched a moment and then gestured for me to follow.

Warmth hit me right away. We were in a boiler room, empty save for the usual stuff people kept in their basements. The floor was unfinished concrete, and the appliances hummed around us. Jared shut the door and picked his way quietly through the accumulated junk, the old buckets and paint cans and tools, and stopped at the next door.

I covered him as he checked the handle. It was unlocked. He carefully turned it, cracking it a bit and checking outside. After a moment, we crept out together into a short hallway.

It looked almost identical to the other house, almost eerily so. Whoever built the other place clearly had a hand in designing this one. There were a few doors leading off the hallway into various different rooms. It felt almost like a jail or possibly an office building, if that office building were built with concrete floors and dingy, cobweb-covered ceilings.

Jared picked the first one, nodding at me. My heart was racing in my chest as he threw it open and we entered, guns ready.

I was startled at what I saw.

Chained to a chair in the middle of the room was Trip, his face bloodied and bruised. Jared slowly shut the door behind us.

I walked over to him and checked his pulse. He was alive. I yanked his head back and slapped him.

He groaned. “No more,” he mumbled, and opened his eyes. I saw the recognition light up his entire face. “Holy shit.”

“Hi, Trip.”

I looked down at his pathetic body. Clearly the cartel had tortured him at some point, beaten him to within an inch of his life but kept him breathing. For what reason, I had no clue.

“Didn’t expect you here, Cam,” Trip said.

“I didn’t expect you to betray me. I guess shit happens.”

He smiled sheepishly. “Sorry about that. Was just trying to look out for myself.”

“I figured. Didn’t work out too well for you, did it?”

“They got pissed when you escaped. Decided to take it out on me.”