Something I couldn’t immediately recognize woke me. Not so much a sound as a feeling. As if the air itself was warning me. Olivia lay beside me, her soft curls splayed across the pillow, her body pressed against mine.
Then, a deafening crash jolted me to full awareness. My heart slammed against my ribcage as I tried to process the sight before me: three figures bursting through the cabin door. One holding a handgun. Adrenaline surged through my veins, sharpening my senses. The rifle was out of reach, hanging on the wall opposite the bed. And the kitchen knives? No chance – these bastards stood between us and them. I had no choice. My body would have to serve as a weapon.
“Olivia, get up!” I barked, my voice low and urgent. She stirred, her eyes widening as she took in the intruders.
No time to think. I launched myself off the bed, colliding with the first attacker before he could react to finding us on the bed. Our bodies collided with the force of a freight train, sending us crashing into the kitchen table. It splintered beneath us as we grappled, fists flying. He landed a solid hit on my jaw, but I gave as good as I got. My hands found his throat, squeezing tighter and tighter until his struggles ceased and he went completely limp in my grip.
“Get out of here, asshole!” Olivia screamed, her voice edged with terror. I glanced over to see her gripping a cast-iron skillet. With a vicious swing, she smashed it into the wrist of another attacker, knocking the gun from his grasp.
“Nice swing,” I grunted, rushing to her side. Together, we managed to restrain the second man, forcing his arms behind his back as he cursed and struggled.
“Who sent you?” I growled, my voice barely more than a whisper, as I locked eyes with the intruder. His only response was a defiant glare.
While Olivia and I struggled with the second man, the third attacker seemed to realize he was losing the upper hand. Shifting tactics, he scrambled towards the cabin door, no doubt hoping for a swift escape. But there was no way in hell I’d let him get away that easily.
“Olivia, keep him pinned!” I ordered, my voice strained from the effort of restraining our current captive. Trusting her to hold him down, I released my grip, lunged at the retreating figure, and tackled him just as he reached for the door handle. The impact sent us both crashing to the floor.
“Damn it!” I grunted, feeling a sharp pain flare through my shoulder. He tried to take advantage of my momentary distraction, throwing a punch aimed at my face. I twisted out of the way, catching his fist mid-air, and countered with a brutal right hook that connected with his jaw. He snarled, fighting back with renewed ferocity.
We traded blows, each hit landing with a sickening crunch, the pain quickly becoming secondary to the adrenaline coursing through my veins. His eyes were wild, desperate, but I could see the fear lurking behind them as I pressed my advantage.
“Get off me!” he spat, trying to break free of my grip. But I wasn’t about to let up now. With a final surge of strength, I slammed his head against the wooden floor, obliterating his nose, dazing him.
I took a second to check on Olivia. She was kneeling on the back of the second attacker, pressing the cast iron pan against the back of his head.
“Grab the gun,” I told her. “Don’t move, just reach for it with one hand.”
I held the gaze of the man she was on top of. “Move and die.”
He lay as still as a statue.
Olivia picked up the gun and had it pressed against the man’s back before she moved the heavy skillet. My smart girl. Her grip was steady despite the trembling of her body.
The guy I was holding down had a set of zip ties in his pocket. I secured his wrists and ankles tightly, then moved to do the same to the other two. Once they were secured, I grabbed my t-shirt off the floor and handed it to Olivia. She slipped it on, the too-big shirt hanging loosely on her petite frame.
Once she was covered, she went back to holding the gun, moving her gaze in perfect sync with the weapon, smoothly shifting between the three men.
I searched all three of them thoroughly, looking for anything to ID them. No wallets, no phones. These guys were pros. I’d have to get answers another way.
Olivia kept the gun steady, ready to shoot if they so much as twitched. Her hands didn’t shake.
Kneeling beside the one whose nose I’d smashed, I gripped his hair and wrenched his head back. Blood streamed from his nostrils.
“You’ve got ten seconds to tell me who sent you,” I growled, “or I’ll make you wish you’d never set foot in this cabin.”
His one visible eye glared at me defiantly. I slammed his face into the floor again, hard. When I yanked his head back up, he gasped, “Was just a job. Nothing personal.”
Not good enough. I grabbed his pinky finger and bent it back slowly, just to the point of pain. He hissed through his teeth but didn’t make a sound. Tough guy. I’d have to get creative.
“Last chance,” I said calmly. “Who hired you?”
When he stayed silent, I wrenched his pinky all the way back until the snap of bone breaking echoed through the room. He couldn’t hold back a strangled cry.
“Fuck you,” he spat. Blood dripped from his mouth.
“Wrong answer.” I grabbed his ring finger next, ready to break it, too.
“Wait!” His body tensed, bracing for more pain. ” I really don’t know. We get a contract, we do a job.”
I dropped his hand. “How’d you get hired?”
“Message on a burner. Intel says you’re in the life, man. You know how it goes.”
“How’d you get here?”
“Stole a beater. It’s parked right inside the tree line. Barely made it up here.”
I sighed. Everything he said made sense. “Olivia, I’m going to go check out their story. If anyone so much as breathes too deep, shoot them all.”
She nodded, eyes wide.
I stood and gave the guy a quick kick. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
I grabbed the rifle, yanked on my jeans, and headed outside. After circling the cabin, I headed over to where the assassins’ car was parked. I searched it quickly and found nothing but the phone tucked into the glove-box.
Grabbing it, I headed back inside. Everyone was still in exactly the same position as when I’d left. Good.
I turned the phone on and flicked to the call record. I hit redial. The line buzzed for a moment before connecting.
“Who the fuck is this?” Gregory’s slurred voice answered, his Scandinavian accent thickened by drink.
“Marcus Moore, remember me?”
“Ah,” he replied. “Nice to hear from you.”
“Is it, you sack of shit? Because you hired some guys to kill me. Hard to have a chat with a corpse.”
Gregory chuckled. “True, true. I do appreciate your sense of humor. Always have.”
I scowled. “I don’t think being murdered in my bed is funny.”
“Yes, of course.” Gregory cleared his throat. “Listen, Marcus. I like you, you know that. But money is money. And smart money is on you going down sooner or later. So I took a shot. Nothing personal.”
Struggling to suppress my rage, I took a few deep breaths before replying. “Yeah, whatever. We can discuss my hurt feelings later. Right now, I need you to cancel that hit. Immediately. I know these three clowns aren’t the only ones hoping to complete the job.”
“Mmm, that’s very civilized of you,” Gregory said. I could hear a muffled female voice in the background. “But Marcus, business is business. With you out of the picture now, I can make a lot of money taking over your businesses while your employees scramble.”
“True,” I agreed, calming down. Gregory was a lush and an idiot sometimes, but he was always willing to make a deal. “How about this instead. You cancel the contract. I forgive this betrayal of our friendship. And even throw in a bonus for you.”
“What kind of bonus? Something valuable, I hope.”
“Extremely. I have the name of an informant on a federal RICO case. Big stuff. The files are a who’s who of the underworld, Gregory. Street guys, independents like us and the families. A lot of heads are going to roll if this goes to trial.”
“Bullshit, you have that name.”
“I swear.” My gaze flicked over to Olivia. Her mouth was open in shock. “And it’s all yours. Do what you want with it. Sell the info, use it. I don’t give a fuck. Just call off the hit and that name is yours.”
There was silence on the other end before Gregory finally replied, “Deal. But if this info isn’t worth it, you’ll be hearing from me again.”
“Understood,” I said, and hung up.
I grabbed my own phone next, dialing Benjamin’s number. He picked up on the second ring. “Marcus? What’s going on?”
“Benjamin, I need someone to come out to the cabin and pick up three uninvited guests we’ve got tied up. Professionals, only slightly damaged.”
“Shit, Marcus. Are you and Olivia okay?”
“We’re fine. I made a deal with Gregory, so we should be good for now. We’re coming home. Meet you at the warehouse.”
“Alright, I’ll send someone out right away. Stay safe, and I’ll see you when you get back.”
“Thanks, Benjamin.” I ended the call and slipped the phone into my pocket.
Olivia looked at me, her eyes searching for answers, but she remained quiet.
I added a second set of zip ties to each of the men’s wrists and ankles. “Olivia, grab a bag and throw whatever you need right now into it. Meet me back at the car, okay?”
She still didn’t say anything, but she did what I asked.
I hefted the three men into the bathroom and shut the door. Pushing the remnants of the table in front, I figured it would hold them long enough for the cleanup crew to arrive.
Olivia and I finished getting dressed and carried some supplies and our weapons out to the car.
I was behind the wheel and backing away from the cabin when she finally spoke.
“Who was that man on the phone, Gregory?”
“An associate of mine.”
“A criminal?”
“Yes. He’s the one who was offering to pay someone to kill me.”
“And you’re going to tell him the name of the informant – Rick Logan? In exchange for sparing your life?” Olivia’s voice trembled.
“Yes, of course.”
“But that man is doing the right thing! He’s helping to catch criminals. I read those files. Some of the things he witnessed are horrifying. Evil.”
“Yes.”
“What do you think Gregory will do with that information?”
I shrugged, turning the car down onto the winding road that would take us back into the city. “Probably sell it to one of the mafia families. They’ll pay pretty much anything to smoke out a snitch, can’t let their bosses overseas get dragged into something like this.”
“So they would probably kill the informant?”
“Absolutely. And anyone they can connect to him, too.”
“How could you do that? How could you send a good man to his death?”
I stopped the car and turned to look at her. “First of all, we don’t know what kind of man he is. You said you read the files. He’s been involved for years. He’s probably as bad as the rest of them. Us.”
“That doesn’t make it right,” she said, frowning.
“I don’t give a shit about right, Liv,” I said, trying to maintain my composure. “It’s not about right or wrong. It’s about our survival. If sending Rick Logan to his death keeps you and me alive, that’s what I’m going to do.”
“That isn’t the kind of choice you have a right to make.”
“What would you do differently, Olivia? Tell me. Give me a better idea and I’ll listen.”
She looked down at her hands, fingers twisting in her lap. “I don’t know.”
“I’m serious.” I placed my hand on top of hers. “Tell me what else I can do.”
Olivia shook her head. “Nothing.” She finally looked up at me. There were tears in her eyes.
“Why are you crying?”
“Because you’re right, Marcus. This is the only choice. And I’m crying because I’m a hypocrite. Angry with you for being willing to sacrifice someone else to save yourself when I’m no better. I was ready to shoot people today for even threatening us.”
She was weeping openly now. I wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
“Baby, it’s okay. You’ve been through so much. Let it out.”
Through sobs, Olivia spoke again. My beautifully brave girl. “Keep driving, Marcus. We need to get back home.”