Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 63626 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 318(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63626 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 318(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
I stood, bending to swipe at my legs to wipe off bits of hay, dirt, and soot, wincing as my fingertips ran across raw skin. The sound of another crack had my head whipping back around. That had not come from the barn. It wasn’t a beam splitting. It sounded more like a… Something whizzed by me, and I fell flat. Oh my God.
That was a bullet!
Someone… make that more than one person was shooting. I heard the sound of gunfire coming from all around me. It sounded like a war zone. I needed to warn everybody. I pushed to my feet only to scream as something barreled into me.
“I’ve got you.”
I couldn’t immediately respond as Jay’s weight had knocked the breath out of me. We continued our roll until we were behind the water trough. I could feel the heat of the fire but was more concerned about the lead that continued to fly around.
“Wh… who… wh… what’s hap… happening?” I managed to get out, my throat raw from inhaling so much smoke.
Instead of answering, he pushed me down. “Stay here, I’ve got to get Kit.” When I realized he was heading for the barn, I raced after him, grabbing his arm.
“She’s not in there!” I said, ducking when a piece of the roof fell only feet from us.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Yes, I checked every stall. I-I don’t know where she is.”
He finally nodded, taking my arm with one hand and gesturing toward the house. That was when I realized he had a gun in his hand.
“What’s happening?” I asked again.
“There’s not time to explain,” he said. “I need to tell the others Kit isn’t in the barn. I need to get you to safety. Be ready to run. I’ll get you to the house.”
Before I could protest, he had my hand in his and had taken a few steps when he dropped my arm and lifted his gun, the barrel bucking as he pulled the trigger. My cry was echoed by the man who’d come around the corner of the chicken coop. Jay didn’t have to tell me to drop. I hit the ground a moment after the stranger did. I didn’t stare at the dead man, but at a spout of water pouring out of the trough beside me… spewing from a round hole. A bullet hole.
I realized Jay’s hand was clamped around his right biceps. Evidently, the water trough had not been the only casualty.
“Oh my God, you’ve been shot,” I said, unnecessarily as we both could see the blood oozing from between his fingers. I didn’t hesitate, but ripped my blouse off, ignoring the buttons popping. Wadding it up, I forced his hand from the wound, pressing the makeshift bandage into place. “I’m sorry,” I said at his grunt of pain. “We’ve got to stop the bleeding.”
“Can you shoot?” he asked.
“I-I…” I didn’t want to touch the gun. I hated violence. Hell, I covered my eyes when watching action films on TV. But this wasn’t television; this was reality. This wasn’t the time to be squeamish. This was life and death. “Point and pull the trigger, right?”
How he managed a grin, I’d never know, but he did. “Yeah, that’s the gist of it. My hand’s no good. I can’t use the gun. Take it and get to the cabin. Search for Kit there. Hide in the basement.”
“I could go into town for help,” I offered, the thought of hiding in the dark, the fear of not knowing where my family was, not knowing what was happening all threatening to overcome me.
“They took out the tires on the trucks,” Jay said. “We saw the flames from the field and came running, but…”
“Where are the others? Rye, Banks?”
“We spread out. We needed to find you and Kit as quickly as we could…”
He paused and I took over. “Here, hold this,” I said, applying more pressure to his arm. Once his hand replaced mine, I used my teeth to tear off a strip from the bottom of my skirt. “Who is it? What do they want?”
“Cook Blackstone and some of his men,” Jay said, wincing a bit as I tied the piece of fabric around the bandage as tightly as I could. “And as for what he wants? He wants every Barrett dead.”
I looked up from my work to see he was serious. Fury like I’d never known filled me. Jay’s face was pale, his body trembling, probably going into shock from the loss of blood.
I bent forward to brush his hair off his forehead. “Well, fuck that.” I kissed his cheek, but his good hand cradled the back of my head, pulling me in for a proper kiss. It was quick, but it was one that had my heart filling as his hand dropped away. Plucking the gun from his right hand, I made sure to keep it pointed away and my finger off the trigger… at least for now.