Mistaken Identity (Saved By Desire 4)

He didn’t wait for Marcus and Ben to follow him; he just knew they would. They didn’t get far, though. As they ventured deeper into the woods, they were pinned down by gunfire from several guns aimed at them from all directions. Shots rang out around them; one after the other, after the other. It made going anywhere impossible.

“Get back!” Marcus shouted at Ben when he tried to peer around a tree.

Ben stepped out of the way just in time for Joe to get a clear shot of the man he suspected was Lloyd, just a few feet away. The man went down without a murmur.

“Don’t you dare move,” he snarled at Ben, who jumped in alarm.

Removing his knife from his boot, he re-loaded his gun and went to find another target.

Jess sat and listened to strange popping noises coming from outside. She had no doubt that someone was firing guns somewhere. Unfortunately, there could be little doubt that it had something to do with Marcus and the men who had just left.

Just the thought that Marcus; the man who had done such scandalous, yet loving things to her earlier, could be shot at, or even shot, left her feeling sick. Helpless to do anything useful, she began to pray that both Marcus and Ben would still be alive in the morning.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

While he knew what he was about to do was a matter of life and death, constant in the back of his mind was his desperate need to return to Jess. She needed his protection right now. He had to get back to her to keep her safe. After everything they had shared, he couldn’t just and die on her, or allow anything to happen to her. He wanted a life by her side. He wanted a family, a home, a future. As long as he had Jess, he didn’t care what life threw at him. He would get through it because he had a very good reason to do so. Just contemplating what life would be like if she weren't around left him deeply disturbed. His world would end. It was as simple as that.

He loved her. Totally, completely, and unconditionally, adored the woman. She was as essential to him as the air in his lungs. He needed her. Just as much as she needed him.

“Let’s get this job done,” he growled, with more ruthless determination than he had ever felt in his entire life.

He forced himself to forget about everything around him, including Ben, and Jess and focused on what he needed to do. All of his years of training came to the fore in a heartbeat. Without uttering a word, he motioned to Joe and swiftly melted into the trees.

Without a target to aim at, Gillespie and his gang ceased firing.

Silence settled over the woods for several moments while Marcus waited for Joe to get into position, and the gunmen tried to find them.

Ben stared in the direction of a strange sound within trees. When he looked back at Marcus, he realised he was alone. To his horror, he then noticed that Marcus’ friend, Joe, had also vanished. He wanted to get up and run, but everybody had guns and were firing randomly into the darkness. He couldn’t risk that he would be injured.

With no other option available to him, Ben settled as deeply into the base of a tree as he could, curled up into a tight ball, and began to pray.

The sporadic gunfire lasted for another half hour while Joe and Marcus circled their quarry, picking off men as they went.

Marcus came up behind Mr Ball, who was hunkered down behind a pile of dried wood. He didn’t know what hit him when Marcus dug the handle of his gun hard into the back of the man’s head. He crumpled without a murmur. Marcus caught him before he hit the floor, and lay him down quietly before he secured his hands behind his back. Then he tugged the man’s shirt up over his head and used the sleeves wrapped together to tie into a binding to cover his mouth. Assured that Ball was going nowhere, and was now unable to see, or call for help, Marcus shoved him into bushes and covered him over.

Then he turned his attention to hunting down the next man.

Capturing Brammall was considerably harder. The man gave the outward appearance of being effeminate, but Marcus suspected that he had served time in the army. Nobody learnt skills like Brammall had while living in the back streets of London. The man moved with a panther-like silence that made him a considerably bigger threat than Carruthers. He stomped through the undergrowth with all the grace of a wild buffalo.

Unfortunately for Brammall, the skills were there, but they hadn’t been honed to perfection over recent months like Marcus’ had. Age also had a very large part to play in that the man was clearly not particularly well sighted enough to see in the dark.

Marcus used this, and speed, to his advantage to dodge from one shadow to another, and circle closer. Joe played his part in equal measure. By playing moving shadows the way they did, they knew the men they were approaching would get the impression that there was more than just two of them. Not only that but they would become disorientated and confused, and with those two negative emotions would come frustration and doubt.

Sure enough, panic set in, and the men began to shoot randomly into the darkness again, but this time, there was no particular direction to their firing.

Carruthers got taken down while reloading his gun. Once he was also safely secured and stashed in the undergrowth, they turned their attention to Abernathy, who they found crouched behind a thick oak tree.

Tapping him on his shoulder, Abernathy immediately spun around. He didn’t see the fist Marcus landed on him. The man’s eyes rolled into the back of his head. He got caught before he hit the ground.

“If we keep going like this we are going to run out of hiding places,” Joe mumbled as he helped stash Abernathy out of sight.

Marcus grinned and nodded toward the house.

“There is one we don’t have to hide in that house up there.”

Joe nodded. “I have seen him. He keeps peering out from behind the shutters.”

“I think it is the lad, Smithers.” Marcus glanced around them. “Where is Ben?”