Authors: Lara Nance
“Takers,” she yelled. There must be some outside.
Dammit, we waited too long.
She hurtled out her door and almost collided with
Rolf. He rushed by, wearing only a pair of drawstring pants. She ran behind him up the stairs to the salon, the others piling out of their rooms to follow.
Rambo and Dusty lunged, barking at the side door to the deck. Rolf
squinted out the window and, without saying a word, threw open the door to race out down the dock. Cara followed in her bare feet. She reached the parking lot and the rocks in the paved surface cut into her feet, but she kept going. She heard more commotion behind her and knew the others followed. Dusty and Rambo dashed past all of them.
A
lone figure raced about a hundred feet in front of Rolf. But he didn’t beat the dogs. They overtook him and Dusty latched on to his pants leg. The big dog’s actions sent the Taker sprawling. Rambo was on him in seconds, going for the man’s throat. His teeth cut a gash and blood flowed freely.
The man flailed about with his arms and legs
. Rambo whimpered and went flying across the pavement, but the game little dog jumped up and rushed in for more. Thankfully, Rolf arrived by this time and Rambo was satisfied with chomping down on an ankle. The man butted Rolf in the stomach with his head and tried to grab his neck. Rolf twisted away and threw a punch, catching the intruder in the cheek. The Taker staggered back, trying to get his feet under him to run again. But Dusty and Rambo clung to his pants, tripping him up.
Rolf
managed to grab a flailing arm, his lips pulled back in a grimace. Tor raced past Cara and pinned the other arm behind the man’s back. The Taker spit and thrashed, a wild glaring creature. A shiver of disgust hit Cara like the sudden smell of sewage. He didn’t even seem human.
Marc
grabbed the arm Rolf had been holding and growled, “Do it!” His pale face glowed in the streetlights.
Rolf fought to get his hand behind the man’s neck, but
the Taker’s bucking and struggling threw Rolf’s hand off. Cara and Shana rushed forward together and tackled him, landing in a heap on top of the man with Marc and Tor pinning down his sides. Cara still got a knee in the gut, but she held on and kneed him back right in the groin. Rolf pushed a hand under his neck and the Taker’s movements slowed until his head arched back and he lay still, eyes open and bulging.
“Hurry
. Get him inside.” Rolf rose to complete his tortuous ritual while the others dragged the man back to the boat. Rolf’s men waited on the boat deck and lifted the body up once they had him on the deck.
Rolf
rose from his doubled over position and sprinted back to them, looking over his shoulder a few times. Sweat glistened on his face. “Did anyone see another person?”
“No, just this one.
Dude must have been lurking around checking out the boats when the dogs started barking,” Tor said, Amber clutched his arm, her face white.
“Quick, inside.
” Rolf gestured with his hands for them to move. “Turn off the deck lights.” Fortunately, the other boats in the marina stayed dark and oblivious to what had occurred, or simply didn’t want to get involved.
Inside the salon, Cara and Alistair
called to their dogs to quiet them down, but they continued to pace and sniff.
“Man, I never thought
that little dog would be any use, but damn if he didn’t help take the guy down,” Shana said as she watched Rambo bouncing around, sniffing at the door and the edges of the room.
“Did you see him take a bite out of the man’s neck
?” Alistair’s chest puffed out.
“Yea
h, Rambo, first blood.” Shana leaned over and ruffled his fur. “Go, little man.”
Rolf had followed his men
as they hauled the body to the back of the boat. Cara went outside and found them at the stern.
“
You should go inside,” Rolf said. They were wrapping the man in lines.
“What are you going to do with him?”
He gave his men a few instructions in a low voice she couldn’t make out then took her arm to steer her back to the salon. “We have to dispose of him. They’re going to put the body in the dingy and some of us Dealers will have to take it farther into the harbor where the water is deep then sink it.”
“Oh.” S
he shivered.
“Are you okay?
You have blood on you.” He pointed to a streak of red on her shirt.
“
I’m fine. This is his.” She jerked her head toward the body.
He dropped his head and let out a deep breath. She swallowed the lump in her throat and hurried back to the salon.
The others paced, wide-eyed and anxious, adrenalin running high. Rolf slipped in the door a few minutes later and explained about the body.
“Oh, thank God it won’t be on the boat with us.” Amber’s voice quivered.
“Well, guys, I think it’s clear we need to move against the Takers at once.” Tor took his wife’s hand.
Rolf
glanced at Cara. With one of their numbers missing, the other Takers would become suspicious and start searching for him. They might even alert Desmond. They had to strike now. Cara slowly inclined her head to Rolf and his eyes narrowed.
“We can’t wait any longer
,” Cara said.
“Very well, tomorrow evening we attack,”
Rolf said.
Chapter Thirty-Three
“We’re almost there.” Cara drove the big Lincoln they had stolen after dark, the rest of the group crammed in, three in the front, four in the back. She dropped Amber and Tor on the street that curved toward the Taker’s house. They crept through the shadows to a hedge and disappeared. A little closer to the house, she let Shana and Marc out.
She passed the house and lights
shone in a downstairs room.
Someone’s home
. Turning up the street, she dropped Rolf first then Alistair a little further on.
Darkness
cast eerie shapes across the lawns of the silent houses. A gentle breeze moved tree limbs, casting a flickering light on the pavement from the partial moon above. She turned off her headlights and steered the car to the side of the road.
She
slid out and gently closed the door, starting up the street toward the Takers’ house. A sudden blast of headlights splashed over her and a car skidded to a stop beside her. The door burst open. Arms reached out and snatched her into the back seat. She screamed and thrashed but the car door slammed then they took off.
“
Woo hoo
, got us a little fighter here,” yelled the one who’d grabbed her. His hot breath on her face reeked of bourbon.
“
Let go
.” She hit and kicked, but the tight confines of the seat hampered her movements. Her captor punched her in the stomach and the air went out of her lungs. He slapped her across the face and white lights twinkled in her vision. Fear gave her energy, but she couldn’t overpower both of them.
Think, Cara.
The car roared down the street toward the hous
e they were staking out. Rolf burst from his hiding place. He reached for the door handle but the car slid sideways to head back the way it had come.
“What the hell?” the driver yelled, eyes shifting to the rearview mirror. “What’s going on?”
“Just drive and lose him. He’s on foot,” backseat man said. He turned to Cara, his soulless eyes studying her face as she crouched in the corner, hands in front of her. “Hey, I recognize you from the pictures. You’re the one Desmond’s lookin’ for. We’re going to get a nice little bonus, Ben.”
“Our lucky day,” Ben said. “Shit,
Steve, that guy got a car and he’s behind us.”
Steve swiveled in the seat and
glanced out the back window. Cara turned, too, when his grip loosened. Rolf followed in their stolen vehicle only a hundred feet behind them. Her heart surged with hope.
Ben accelerated
, and she slipped as he took a turn too fast, gravel spewing from the tires. Cara tumbled over the seat to the far side, striking her shoulder on the door handle. Sharp pain shot through her arm.
The
car roared down a residential street, and Steve steered so they plowed into trash cans. The cans flew into Rolf’s car behind them. He swerved, tore up front yards and hopped curbs, but nothing stopped Rolf. Cara rolled across the back seat, aiming kicks at the Taker as she fought to keep her balance at the same time. His fingers dug painful welts into her arms.
The Takers swerved
around a right hand turn and the car fishtailed. Rolf did better in his maneuver and closed the distance between them. He picked up speed and forced his vehicle beside theirs. Ben cursed and twisted his steering wheel, but Rolf jerked his wheel, pushing back.
T
hrough the windshield, Cara saw the street they were on ended in a wooded area. She gritted her teeth and punched Steve in the eye then wrapped her hands around Ben’s head, covering his eyes.
“
Dammit, bitch
.” Ben twisted his head but Cara hung on with all her strength. “Get her off me!”
But Steve had a
hand pressed to his bleeding eye, groaning. Cara gave a gasp of relief when the car’s tires screeched. It skidded and spun around. The rear went over the curb, and they tilted, sliding down an embankment into the woods. The bumper hit a tree and the vehicle thudded to a stop. Cara pushed open the door. Steve grabbed her ankle. She fell face first out the door and smacked her cheek against the damp leaves.
Footsteps
cracked through the underbrush. Rolf’s hands gripped her shoulders, yanking her out of the car. She twisted and kicked Steve in the face with her free foot and he yelled, falling back into the car holding his head. Rolf set Cara down, eyes intent on the driver.
He
wrenched the front door open and hauled the Taker out by the neck. With a twist of his hands, a crack rent the air and Ben dropped lifeless to the leaves beside her. She scooted away, bile biting the back of her throat, and Rolf dove into the backseat.
He backed out, doubled over and grimacing after taking Steve’s Light.
When he straightened up, he rushed to see if the driver was still alive. There was no movement of the Taker, but Rolf took his Light just the same. He bent over, breathing hard, hands on his thighs as the cleansing washed over him. He gagged and fell against the door, eyes squeezed shut.
“
Rolf
.” She pulled herself to her feet, holding on to a tree. Her stomach throbbed with pain.
He
straightened and rushed to her side, crushing her against his chest.
Tears erupted
from her, and she clutched his jacket.
He pushed her tangled hair back from her forehead. “Are you truly
all right?”
She nodded, wiping the tears from her face with one hand.
Then her eyes popped wide. “The others.”
###
Cara stepped through the gaping hole of jagged wood in the Taker’s front door.
Tor’s handiwork, no doubt
. She and Rolf followed the sounds of furniture crashing, yells, and thumps of bodies falling to the back of the house where the living room was located.
Rolf threw back his head and roared an inhuman sound
as he entered the skirmish. Amber’s tiny figure stood at the side of the room, clutching her radio to her chest, eyes like huge sparkling emeralds. Shana and Marc fought one man while Tor grappled with the other one. Alistair stayed in a far corner, but held a stick of firewood he used to hit any Taker within range.
Cara staggered against
the wall to duck Tor’s flying kick into a man’s throat, which dropped him to the floor. Rolf rushed to take his Light. Shana threw a right hook, catching the other Taker in the side of the head. He crumbled, and Marc rushed to hold his arm. Rolf took this Taker’s Light as well, rubbing his hand after the cleansing. His face was pale and drawn after so much tainted Light, and he heaved in ragged breaths. Cara rushed to his side and rested her fingers on his chest. She sent her soothing energy into him until he nodded, covering her hands with his. “I’m okay now. Too much distorted Light at one time.” His breathing slowed and the lines at the corners of his eyes eased.
Cara’s hand
settled on the dull ache of her stomach where she’d been hit by the man in the car. Shana bent over, hands on her knees, breathing in short bursts.
“Is everyone all right?” Cara gasped, her eyes traveling
around the group.
“I believe so
.” Alistair patted his arms and head in a tentative manner. Marc gave them a thumbs-up, chest heaving.
“Yeah,” Tor said
. He clutched Amber, who still clutched her radio, eyes big.
“Thank God you got loose, girl,” Shana panted,
glancing at Cara then Rolf. “Did you get the other two?”
“Yes.”
Rolf cupped Cara’s shoulders. “You sure you’re not hurt?”