Body and Soul (Twist of Fate 3)

Jake pulled in several breaths, ignoring the blood trickling down his temple. “Barton, at least let the kid go.” He nodded toward Lucky, who Zoey was trying to shield with her body so he wouldn’t have to witness what was happening.

Barton’s eyes flicked to Lucky. “No way in hell. He’s a witness now as much as anyone.”

“Then at least take him outside for this. Surely you can’t be so cruel as to make him watch his own fathers die?”

“What do you take me for? A monster?” Barton laughed. “I’ll be sure and kill the kid first, so he doesn’t have to watch me kill the rest of you.”

Bennett’s entire body fought against his bindings as Xander yelled, “You touch my kid—” Before he could even finish the sentence, Barton strode over to him and kicked him in the gut. His gun remained pointed at Jake and the gun to my temple didn’t ease up even a little bit.

“Dad!” Lucky called. I flicked my eyes to the teenager. His eyes were wide with panic. But this time he didn’t try to get to Xander. “At least let Zoey go,” Lucky said to Barton. He pulled away from Zoey and nudged her to try and get her to stand up. Bennett tried shouting through his gag, but it was too muffled to understand.

“Aren’t you chivalrous?” Barton’s smile toward Lucky was almost admiring. “Such a nice boy. I’m sorry about this, son. Really. Close your eyes.” To Jake he said, “We’re done here.”

As he lifted his arm to gesture first to Lyle, then Lucky, a muffled shout came from outside the shed. Lyle froze, and Barton quickly stepped to the broken window. I didn’t need to see what was happening because I knew. Either Wade or one of the men had finally cleared the perimeter and given us the signal we needed by dragging Barton’s man outside into the trees and making sure he made enough noise to get Barton’s attention.

Jake took advantage of the distraction to shoot forward and tackle Barton to the ground. Lyle’s gun arm swung around toward them, but there wasn’t a way to get a clear shot off. I shoved my shoulder against Lyle in the hopes I could throw him off-balance enough to keep him from taking the shot, but since I was still on my knees, it didn’t do much. He cursed and stumbled a bit, then lashed out at me with his free hand, catching me on the side of my head. He pointed his gun at me, but then Zach was there. He’d managed to get to his feet during the melee. His shoulder caught Lyle square in the chest, knocking the man backward, but he still managed to hang onto his gun.

At the same time, Xander stumbled to his feet and threw himself on top of Zoey and Lucky. He wasn’t close enough to reach Bennett, so I reached into my boot for the knife in the hopes I could cut Bennett loose so he and the others might have a chance to make a run for it. But before I could reach him, a gunshot rent the air. I turned to see that Zach had somehow managed to knock Lyle back against the wall, causing the gun to discharge harmlessly into the floor. Zach was trying to use his body to keep Lyle from aiming the gun, but with his hands tied, Zach didn’t stand a chance. Lyle punched Zach hard in the side, causing him to stumble to his knees.

Lyle immediately aimed his gun at Zach. Fear for Zach had me moving without thought, and I used every ounce of strength in my body to jam the thick little blade into Lyle’s neck. My hands were shaking so violently, I was shocked I hadn’t missed his neck completely. But my aim had been true. The asshole looked at me in shock as he dropped his gun and then pulled the knife from his neck. The weapon clattered to the floor as he went down. Zach tried to go for the gun, but he was too far away from it.

I wasn’t.

I went to grab it, but before I could, another shot tore through the room.

Jake.

Chapter 34

Jake

The sound of a gun going off momentarily distracted me as I fought with Barton. It was enough time for him to bring his elbow down on my arm to force me to loosen my hold on the gun he and I were struggling for control of. Barton and I were fighting by the window, and I knew that as scuffed up as it was, there’d be no way for Wade or any of the other men outside to get a shot off without risking hitting me. Which meant they wouldn’t take a shot while there were two bodies in the window.