Yes. And yes. And yes again.
He would ask them to suffer and survive because life was worth more than pain. More than pride. Life and love were everything.
He heard a low grunt. Seth. God, they’d already started. His county vehicle was to the right. He hadn’t parked up front. They didn’t know he was here. He pulled his cell, dialing Nate’s number. It was only a second before Nate answered.
“He’s still alive, Logan, but I haven’t found your woman, yet. I’ve called in Zane and Max and Rye. Max is moving slow because apparently he slipped a disc, but we’re all looking.”
Logan kept his voice low. “She’s here at our cabin by Nell and Henry’s place, but you got to come in real quiet or we’re all dead. I don’t know who the hell it is who has her, but they’re damn serious, Nate. Seven guys, every one of them carrying semiautomatics. Do not come in here sirens blaring or they’ll kill Seth and Georgia. I’m getting Henry and we’re going to handle it, but you get your ass out here pronto.”
“Henry?” Nate asked. “What the hell is Henry going to do? Protest them? Logan, just hold tight.”
He cut Nate off because he wasn’t going to listen anyway. He’d said what he needed to say. Logan shrank against the cabin, looking out over the yard between their place and Henry’s. If he was smart, the big boss would leave at least one guard, probably two. One at the front and one at the back.
Sure as anything, a thickly muscled man barged out the back door. Logan whipped his body around though his every instinct said to kill now. Killing now would just alert the herd that there was a predator around.
The back guard took up his post at the door and stared at the river, like something would come up from the water or the forest behind it. He yawned as though taking over someone’s house for a little torture was an everyday occurrence. His neck was covered in tattoos. Cartel. Logan would bet the man was either cartel or mob, and there was very little difference in the two these days.
What did they want with Henry? What the fuck had Henry been involved in before he’d come to Bliss?
The guard leaned against the back door and closed his eyes for a moment as though he needed a little nap. Logan would give him a nice long one once he had some backup.
This was his shot. Logan took off, his big body moving quietly. He hit the ground with as little of his weight as possible, keeping everything in the front of his feet, stepping lightly. He sprinted across the yard, expecting to get hit at any moment.
He heard a low shout. Georgia. She was screaming for Seth. God. He was leaving them when they needed him the most.
He had to. If he charged in without backup, they would all die.
Nell and Henry’s cabin was situated slightly up the river bend so their front door faced the side of Seth’s cabin. Logan made his way around the back. It was the most protected place. No one would see him there. His breath was sawing in and out of his chest as he made it to the cabin. The backyard had a small vegetable garden with a view of the river. Two Adirondack chairs were facing the view, but no one was out in the back.
He turned and found the back door. The screen was closed, but the door was open and Logan could hear humming. Nell was in her kitchen, humming as she shoved her hands in a big bowl and started working some dough.
“I’m better,” Nell said. “You worry too much, Henry. It’s perfectly normal. I’m actually quite hungry now.”
“I don’t know. I think you should see Caleb.” Henry was suddenly at the back door, the screen shadowing his face. If Logan thought he was sneaking up on Henry, he’d been very wrong. Logan suddenly got the feeling Henry had known he was coming. Henry put a finger to his lips.
Silence.
Nell’s voice floated through the house. “I just need some rest. Caleb would try to prescribe things, and you know how I feel about big pharmaceutical companies.”
“They’re not so bad,” Henry replied.
Nell was off, her voice rising though she didn’t leave her place. She started talking about all the different ways drug companies hurt patients and consumers, and Henry silently slipped outside.
“What’s going on? I caught you running across the yard with a gun in hand about thirty seconds ago and then that big guy stepped out onto your porch. Have you called Nathan?”
“Yeah, though I think this is your problem, Henry. You tell me something and you tell me now because my partner and my wife are being held by some sort of drug lord. Did you work for them before you came to Bliss?”
Henry went the slightest bit pale. “They’re from a cartel?”
Logan ran a hand across his hair, frustration welling up. He didn’t have time for this. “Well, I don’t mean to stereotype and Nell would have my head for saying it, but when a bunch of gentlemen of South American origin show up in a rolling torture van with a collection of semiautomatics and tattoos that total their kills, I tend to think cartel. I could be wrong. They could be a traveling circus. I don’t give a shit because they’re going to kill my people and I think they’re here for you. So I’m going to ask the question and you’re going to answer. Were you on the payroll?”
There was a short shake of Henry’s head. “No. The cartel was the target. If it’s who I think it is, they were mixed up with a terrorist cell. I was CIA, but then I wasn’t. Damn it. They’re supposed to think I’m dead.”
“They seem to have caught on. Nate’s on his way, but I don’t have time to wait so I need you to get your freak on. You owe Seth.” It had to have been Seth who had helped him, protected his identity. Seth was smart enough to do it, even all those years ago. Logan remembered all the times Seth would shut his computer when Logan walked in the room. He’d hidden Henry’s secrets, even from his best friend. Logan wasn’t mad. That was just who Seth was. He was trustworthy. “You owe him, Henry. And you damn well know it.”
Henry nodded and disappeared back into the cabin. “Hey, baby, Logan’s here. He says there’s a problem with the plumbing. I’m going to go check it out. You knead your bread, okay? I wouldn’t want to ruin it. And I’ll turn up the music. I know you love this aria.”
The sound of an opera filled the house and spilled over into the yard.
“I could come help.” Nell had to yell over the music. Clever Henry, trying to hide the inevitable sounds of death and destruction with wailing opera singers. Actually, Logan thought he might like the sound of gunfire more.
“No, baby. You stay here. It’s just a little wet work. I’ll be back in ten minutes. I love you, Nell.”
Henry slipped back outside and suddenly there was a nasty-looking knife in his hand. It looked like he’d raided the kitchen for his arsenal. While the knife was long and sharp, it wasn’t what Logan had in mind.
“Can’t you get a gun?”
Henry shrugged, the knife held easily in his hand. He stared down at it, a stricken look on his face. “I don’t keep one in the house. I don’t keep one at all anymore, Logan. I am exactly who I say I am. I’m Henry Flanders. I gave all of this shit up a long time ago.”
The truth was right inside Logan’s cabin. “It didn’t give you up, Henry.”
Henry’s eyes went cold. Yeah, that was the dude who had first shown up here. Somber. Dangerous. An elegant viper waiting to strike. “How many?”
“At least seven. And they’ve had Georgia and Seth with them for a good five minutes now.”
“They’ll play with them for a little while. They don’t understand this place. They’ll think they’re isolated. As long as they don’t think the police are going to blaze in, they’ll take their time because you soften up a target before you go in for the kill. They want information.”
“I suspect they want you.”
“Logan, I can walk in there and give myself up,” Henry started.