Heathens & Hand Grenades (Book 1 of the Heathens Duet)

Chapter 63- Riggs

My baby girl looks broken, her wings clipped as she cleans her prison cell. Her warden keeping a close watch over her, closer after we're pretty sure he saw one of us move past a camera. A calculated move. At least now we know they were motion activated and not just static.

Disarming Jax when that bastard chose to put on a little show for us, that was difficult, when all I wanted to do was set him loose on the abusive fuck. My own restraint is stretched thin, especially when the tears began spilling from her eyes. He had already hurt her in the time it took us to find her, that was clear from her face, but we had to wait. Cover of darkness was our best asset. The rain wasn't enough.

Calista needs hope. The dead eyed stare that meets my mask through the kitchen window is a look I know all too well. It's the face I saw reflected in the puddles of muddy water I was forced to drink from in my captivity, when the only end to the torment is in your hands and all you have to do is find the strength to grasp it. I'll forever be grateful for my brothers for finding me before I made that final step.

"What did he do to her?" Dario whispers through gritted teeth. "I should've found her earlier. I could have, if I hadn't taken so many breaks. Why did you make me stop?" He begs me for an answer I wish I could give him.

"If you hadn't rested, your brain would've eventually and we would have lost more time. You are not to blame," I promise him as I grip the sides of his face, urging him to see the truth in my eyes. Always feeling as if he's to blame for every failure, he has to know that he's the only reason we have found her at all. "It's your brains, your skills that have gotten us this far. You found her. You did good Rossi. Now let's go get our girl." The weight washes off his shoulders in the rain.

A flash of lightning illuminates us briefly and I watch the moment she registers our presence. She shakes it off a moment later when we retreat back into the darkness. I can only pray she stays safe while we figure out how to breach the cabin. We all know about the weapon strapped to his hip. The slightest mistake and he could decide that no one will be coming out of this alive.

Dario was able to uncover loads once we had narrowed down properties that seemed the most probable options for Deputy Barnes to have taken her. Our tech wizard in his element had this place mapped out, receipts for materials, and off the book contractor hours figured out from tracing plates to this address over the past two years when he inherited it. Colton Barnes may have been cautious and paranoid, but our technical bloodhound is better.

Still, the knowledge alone isn't enough to make this a simple rescue. He had outfitted the surrounding woods with motion detecting cameras, replaced the glass windows with polycarbonate, and the door a solid wood that was probably older than the four of us combined.

"Kace, I want you on the roof." He takes off the minute I dismiss him, mask on his face, but powered off. The rain pelts and shields us and I watch as my brother shimmies up the roof like a kid at the playground and disappears over the pitch. "Dario, you know what to do," I remind him. He waves his field laptop wrapped up in a poncho despite its waterproof coating.

"Just waiting for the signal," he nods as he retreats further into cover.

"Jax, you-" I pause at his absence. "Don't fuck things up," I mutter to the rain. In all honesty, I'm surprised we were able to restrain him until this point. A quick pat down lets me know he also took his knives. Slippery motherfucker. I keep a careful eye on things through the windows, tracking both of their movements until I see him come up behind her in the kitchen. He can't see her face, but I can.

We are out of time.

I frantically shake my head at her begging for her not to do what the steel determination in her eyes is promising, forgetting that she can't see me without revealing myself to him as well.

Double checking my sidearm, I take off the safety and run to the living room side. I hurl the nearest rock I can find at the window. No damage, as expected, but it does pull his attention and that's all I need. He stalks from the kitchen, phone in hand as he checks the cameras. He marches toward the window, inspecting it and peering into the darkness where I reside as if he can force me to reveal myself through sheer will alone.

I hate that I can't hear her through the rain and the distance, but I do watch as he tilts his head and grins. He heads toward some speakers and seconds later out comes some country pop shit. Fitting for a man whose all image, no substance. It's loud enough that it competes with the sound of the rain and wind outside, but that might be a blessing in disguise. We might not be able to hear him, but he definitely can't hear us.

Callie floats in from the kitchen, taking his hand and beaming up at him as he twirls her around. The hell is she doing? Everywhere his hands touch, I want to work over, erasing his existence from his body.

Our plan needs them to be separated. I watch them dance, his smile growing at the relaxed way she lies in his arms, her mouth turned up in a laugh I feel in my soul. Her hands drift from his shoulders to his chest, caressing as she leans closer to place a teasing kiss on his lips. His hand trails down to her ass, yanking her closer and I catch the moment her act falters. Just a moment before she laughs it off. I need her to give me an opening. The second she does, the plan is on.

Too bad Mother Nature doesn't feel much like waiting. One minute everything is clear, music spilling from the speaker, Callie and Colt pressed together like they're some happy couple in their own little world. Next, everything is pitch black and I'm struggling not to slip headfirst into a panic attack.

I touch my gun. I can defend myself. I touch the mud beneath my feet. I am outside. I touch the twisted, healed skin around my neck. I am alive.

Still, I whirl around at the sound of trampling leaves at my back, gun drawn and ready. "It's me boss. I didn't cut anything. I was waiting for the signal. What's the plan?"

The plan? The plan went to shit and I'm trying my best to remain here in the present. I'm the worst person to be in charge right now, to have so many relying on my command to get them through this alive. I can't fail again.

A sharp two note whistle has me looking up on the roof where Kace has managed to pry open the chimney cover. My brothers still trust and believe in me, despite my failures. Not only for themselves, but for her, Calista. I chirp back and he tosses the homemade canister of tear gas down until it shatters, filling the cabin. It's unpleasant, but it won't permanently injure her.

I keep waiting for the generator we know he has to come on, but nothing. Something else has gone wrong. Closer now, I can hear the sounds of scuffling and I wrack my mind for another plan. "Dario, how do you feel about playing Santa?" It's desperate, but one good thing about these old hunting cabins is the ostentatiously large fireplaces. Perfect for a slight build like Dario to shimmy down.

"Ho, ho, ho, I guess," he sighs as he drops his laptop and Cupid mask into the bag strapped to my back. Armed with a gas mask modified to have night vision and a handgun, I heave him up to the roof where Kace has a line ready to lower him down.

"Keep him alive. I plan to have some words with the good old deputy."

A two-finger salute and I watch him slowly lower into the darkness.

One pop. Too fast to be Dario. I whistle sharply at Kace and he's already on it, pulling him up. "It wasn't me! I'm fine." He's whisper shouting. "Let me back down damnit."

Two more pops. I take off around the cabin for another way in, confident in Kace's ability to watch out for Dario. I need to get to my girl. Now.

Colton Barnes is going to find out why my men call me God. I'm the wrathful sort.