Page 36 of Navy
“Fucking bastard,” Hope seethed. “I’d like to get my hands on that cocksucking, motherfucking bastard and lock his arse up to see how he likes it.”
Laughing softly at her words, I patted her hand, “Don’t worry, Hope, you may still get the chance.” Turning to look at Navy, I raised a brow, “When are we leaving?”
Picking up his phone to check on something before he replied, “In an hour. The boys will be here by then and it will be dark. Do you think you can find the entrance in the dark?”
“Yep,” I replied, “I know those woods like the back of my hand.”
“Okay,” Navy acknowledged, “Let’s get sorted, the boys are bringing gear with them, but Hope can we use some of your handguns and do you have a first aid kit we can use?”
“Absofuckinglutely,” Hope agreed, getting up from the table.
An hour later, Navy, myself along with Cairo, Blaze, and Bond were on our way. Reaper and the other brothers would be coming but were a little behind the others. Not wanting to wait as we didn’t know how bad Derek was injured, we’d decided to head out. It was only Julian, and I knew that Navy could handle him in his sleep.
Navy had opted to take two of the four by fours rather than bikes as we didn’t want Julian to hear us coming. It wasn’t long before we were on the road leading up to the main house.
“Slow down,” I order Navy as I lean forward. Navy slows the car down to a crawl as I search for the small speed limit sign that used to be on one of the trees. I hope that it’s still there. Just as I’m wondering if I missed it, I see a glint on a tree up ahead of.
Pointing at it, “See that sign up ahead on the tree, just before it is a service road into the woods. Pull into that. We’ll have to go on foot from here on out.”
Navy follows my orders without a qualm, making me happy he’s not one of those men that has to make himself feel like the bigger man by questioning me.
We turn off the main road and drive along until I see the oak that fell down years ago in a storm. Tapping Navy’s thigh, “Stop here, Navy.”
Once the car comes to a standstill, I open the door only to stop when Navy growls, “I’ll come around and get you, sweets.” I’d been so focused on getting to where we needed to that I’d forgotten that he liked to help me out, especially when the vehicle we were in was as high as this one.
Patiently, I waited for him to come round and get me. Taking the hand he held out, I slid silently out until I was standing next to him. The others were walking quietly up to us. It was at this point that I realised how in sync they all were. I hoped I’d be able to be as quiet as them when we walked in the woods.
“Right, sweets, this is your show. You know where you’re going. We’ll follow along behind you. Do we need to worry about dogs?”
Shaking my head, “No, there’s never been dogs. It’s not far from here. Just the other side of these trees.”
“Lead the way but go slowly. It’s dark and I don’t want you falling,” Navy cautioned.
“Okay,” I promised, walking towards a hidden path. It was a lot more overgrown now than when I’d used it as a child, but I managed to find all the clues I’d notched into trees along the path after the first time I’d used it, knowing even then that Julian would lock me in again. Although at the time I’d never thought that I’d one day be using them to find my way in the dark on a rescue mission.
But I’m glad I did because this path looked very different at night and as well as the trees being bigger than they had been. Landmarks were a little different now.
Before long, I could see the lights of the main house in front of us. Coming to a stop in the tree line, Navy came up behind me, wrapping his arm around my waist.
“Where to now, sweets,” he whispers close to my ear, making me shiver.
I point over to the right, “The entrance to the tunnel is over that way. Here.” Taking my old house keys out of my pocket, I hand it to Navy. “These are the keys to the front and the back doors. If you go to the left and around that big oak over there, you’ll come to the side of the house. I don’t know if he’s armed the alarm, but the code used to be 7789. He may have changed it, but I doubt it because he’s lazy. Do you have the map I drew you of the house and how to get down to the cellar?” Navy pats his jacket pocket. “Can I have Cairo go with me as he’s the smallest of you and may fit in the tunnel?”
“Yeah, that’s fine, sweets. Stay safe and I’ll see you on the other side,” Navy presses his lips to my temple. Cairo comes up next to me as we watch Navy, Bond, and Blaze as they seem to disappear into the darkness.
“Ready?” I ask, tilting my head to look up at Cairo. His teeth flash in the darkness as he smiles at me, “Lead the way, milady,” he teases gently. Giving a little snort of amusement making me wonder what is wrong with me that I’m finding anything humorous at a time like this. Hoisting the strap of the first aid bag higher on my shoulder, I walk through the trees to where the entrance to the tunnel is, and I nearly step on it before I see it. Dropping to my knees, I brush the dirt off the doors and find the lock, twisting it, and I cringe at the noise it makes as I pull the doors up and lay them flat against the forest floor. Taking a torch from my pocket, I cup my hand over the end as I switch it on, dimming the light slightly as I start walking down the stone stairs, shuddering in disgust as spider webs brush against my face. When I’m at the bottom, I turn and light the way for Cairo, waiting for him to pull the door closed behind him. Once he’s at the bottom of the steps, I turn and walk along the dirt until I get to the hole in the wall that was the way into the cellar.
Looking at the size, I wonder if I’m going to fit in it. My hips are a lot wider now than what they’d been when I was eighteen.
‘Ah, well nothing for it but to try,’ I thought.
Decision made, I push the first aid kit into the tunnel, take the strap holding the flashlight and fit it to my forehead. I love that these guys were boy scouts, they have all the cool tools. Turning back to Cairo, I ask, “Can you give me a boost?”
Indecision on his face, he looks at the tunnel, then me, then back the way we came. Sighing deeply, he nods, because he knows as well as me that if he left me, I’d be in danger anyway and if he went first, my back would be unprotected. Best to take me with him and have me go first.
Bending, he cups his hands, stepping on them I bit my lip to hold back a squeal as he just about tosses me into the tunnel. Not wasting any time, I start pushing the bag in front of me and leopard crawl along. My heart pounded a few times when I thought my hips were going to get stuck but having Cairo behind me made me push on. I knew that I’d have bruises tomorrow, but it was a small price to pay to get to my brother.
Brushing another spider web away, I shuddered with disgust. The feeling of them crawling all over me wouldn’t go away until I had a shower. I don’t remember there being so many down here when I was a child, or maybe they just didn’t bother me as much as they do now. I guess spiders were better than rats, though.