Absolution (The Protectors 1)

“We need some supplies,” I said as I began checking the engine. But when Cole didn’t move, I glanced at him.

“I’m not leaving you here with him,” he said coldly.

I ground my teeth together and then shoved past him and headed into the small store and began grabbing some food and drinks. I kept my eyes on Cole as he checked the car and by the time I got back outside, he was closing the hood.

“We need some place to lay low,” I said as I handed him the bags.

“I know a place,” Cole said and then he shoved the bags back at me and held out his hand expectantly. I forced back the urge to tell him to fuck off and handed him the car keys.

Jonas didn’t say a word as we climbed back in the car and I was seriously starting to worry that the shock was affecting him worse than I’d thought. “Drink this,” I urged as I handed him a can of soda. He didn’t look at me, didn’t even acknowledge that I was speaking to him.

I gave up and remained silent as Cole drove us out of the city and headed north towards the Catskills. It took more than three hours to reach the destination he had in mind and by the time he pulled onto a narrow dirt road that led up to a darkened farmhouse, my arm felt like it was on fire. Motion activated lights on the house went off, flooding the inky blackness with light.

“Whose place is this?”

“It belongs to a guy I served with. We used to come up here a lot between deployments to do some fishing.”

“What if he comes up here?”

“He won’t,” was all Cole said as he got out of the car. As I got out, I saw Cole open the back door to gently pull Jonas from the seat. I went around the car and reached for Jonas in the hopes that I could get him to talk to me but Cole stepped between us and shoved me back against the car.

“Stay the fuck away from him!” he snapped. “The only reason I haven’t put you down yet is because you owe us some fucking answers!”

“I don’t owe you shit!” I snarled.

I wasn’t surprised when Cole took a swing at me. The blow caught my jaw but I managed to stay upright and then I decked him. Cole hit the ground but his recovery was quick and he was on his feet and coming after me within seconds. His arms went around my middle as he tackled me and we landed in a heap on the wet ground.

Cole’s fist felt like a battering ram against my sides but I reveled in the pain. I’d take Cole’s punishing blows over Jonas’s bitter withdrawal any day.

“You think you’re innocent in all this?” I snapped as I shoved Cole away and staggered to my feet. I slammed my fist into his jaw and watched him stumble back. “At least before you came along he could fucking sleep! Did you even stop and think what you were doing to him when you asked him to dredge up that shit with your sister? Were you the one who had to sit by helplessly and listen to him screaming and crying out in his sleep night after night because you needed fucking answers?”

Rage mottled Cole’s features and then he was on me like an animal. For every punch I gave, I got one back in equal measure. Neither of us held back as we turned our fear and frustration on each other. I had no idea how long the battle raged on for but it ended just as quickly as it had started when the sound of a gunshot pierced the silence. We instinctively jumped apart and searched for our mutual enemy but when I saw where the threat was coming from, I stilled.

Because it wasn’t one of our unknown attackers that had tracked us down to finish what they started. No, the threat was aimed solely at me and it was Jonas who was looking down the barrel of the gun that was pointed directly at my chest.

Chapter Thirteen

Cole

Blood trickled out of my nose and drifted over my lips and into my mouth but I didn’t dare move my arm to wipe it away. Even though the gun wasn’t aimed at me, I could see Jonas was shaking violently and I was afraid that if I startled him, he’d inadvertently fire. As much as I hated Mace in that moment, I didn’t want this.

“How long?” Jonas asked, his voice uneven. “How long have you been watching me?”

Mace didn’t seem as concerned about not moving because he did use his arm to wipe at the blood streaking down his face where my fist had torn into the flesh near his eye.