Page 105 of Saving Grace
Trent joined the other eight deputies as they stealthily approached the house. Matt had relaxed enough for Colt to let him go. He whipped up his phone and checked all the metrics from the drone. Lucas was right, those trees could be a cover for …
“Braxton, don’t move!” Trent yelled. “Everybody, fall back!”
“What’s going on?” Axe asked as they all moved cautiously forward.
One of the deputies rushed toward them. “Braxton stepped on a—”
“Braxton!”
A loud explosion shook the ground.
“Fucking land mine,” Matt bit out harshly. “Trent!”
The trees came alive with gunfire as all hell broke loose.
“That motherfucker has machine guns in the trees!” Matt yelled as the four of them rushed toward the fallen men. “Colt, you check on Trent. I’m going after The Reaper.”
Jesus Christ, he hoped Trent was okay. Matt pushed the grim thought out of his head and concentrated on getting to Grace. Crouching low, he studied the rotation of the machine gun. There were bursts of fire then a pause. He pulled out his smartphone to find her location. Shit, they were moving toward the back of the house.
“Matt, you’re not thinking of going through that,” Kate whispered, getting down beside him.
“Yes, I am.”
“You’re nuts!”
“No time to argue about this.” He blocked out his sister’s protests as he committed the cadence of the gunfire to a rhythm in his brain.
“Someone take out those machine guns!” Trent roared. Thank Christ the sheriff was okay as he saw him get up to his feet with the help of Colt.
Matt ran a Hail Mary dash toward the house. He’d be really, really pissed if he got shot by friendly fire. He swore viciously as a spray of bullets raked the ground beside him. Shouting erupted behind him, probably someone or many someones calling him an idiot.
He didn’t give a fuck. He had his woman to save, and he’d dodge bullets to make it happen.
Lines of burning fire slashed through him.
“Matt!”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Grace
A huge explosion rocked the walls of the house. It might have even blown some glass out. Ric ran back to the room with a backpack strapped on. He cut my ties and dragged me up, shoving another shirt on me and making me put on sweatpants.
“What did you do?” I shouted. My face paled when a crack of machine gun blasts echoed from the courtyard. “Oh my God, what did you do?
“Wear this.” He dumped a pair of shoes in front of me which looked surprisingly like my size. “We’re leaving.”
“You’ll have to drag me every step of the way,” I retorted, even as I shoved my feet into the footwear because anything that made it easier to run away from this lunatic was always welcome. “How many more people do you have to kill?”
His fingers tightened painfully on my upper arm. “As many as I have to to keep you. If you want less blood on your hands, you’ll not fight me on this. Now move!”
He pushed me out onto the hallway and resumed his grip on my arm, pulling me through the backdoor. He checked his phone, presumably for interlopers. Satisfied, he pocketed the device, took out his gun, and exited the house with me.
I heard urgent yelling from the courtyard amidst the mayhem of arms fire. As Ric pulled me further from my rescuers, I could see why he picked this property to hide out. The back of the house had deep woodsso there was no way the police cruisers could have approached from behind the house.
My heart sank as we made it to the tree line.
“Grace!”