A shot rang out from the back of the house. “Got one,” Lily heard Rachel’s yell.
“Is that Rachel?” Lily asked.
“Hell, yes, there’s nobody better with a twenty-two. If they try coming through that back door, they’ll be meeting the undertaker in town,” Tate said, taking a bead on someone outside and letting go with a shot. “Greer, you take the ones on the right. Dustin, the left.
“Which ones you going to take?” Greer asked, shooting again.
“I’m going to take the rest of the ones you two miss,” Tate answered, letting go with several shots, one after the other.
As Tate stopped for a second as if he was listening to something, Lily saw the black earpiece in his ear. He must have been listening to someone talking because moments later, she heard him tell them to send for an ambulance.
“They’ll be here in five. Brothers, if you got them, shoot them. I don’t want a motherfucker left standing. They’ll laugh us out of the county if they hear the police had to help us.”
At that, the men began shooting in earnest, and Lily had to put her hands over her ears.
Another round of gunfire sounded from the back.
“Got two more!” Rachel yelled.
Lily caught King’s astounded expression. “What were you saying about my town dealing with men like you?”
“Hold up. They want us to quit shooting. They’re afraid we’ll shoot them. Pussies are scared to come any closer,” Tate said, shooting once more before standing up. “Let’s go see if any of them are breathing. Dustin, you stay here with Rachel and Lily.”
Still more gunfire was coming from the back.
“Rachel, quit shooting. Get out here!” Tate yelled.
Rachel came running into the room, carrying a rifle in her hand. She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and Lily could tell she was having as much fun as her brothers.
She dropped down next to Lily on the floor. “I got a couple more. Did you keep count of how many you shot?” she asked her brothers.
Tate and Greer were opening the door. “More than you,” Greer bragged before they went out the door.
She turned to Lily. “Did he?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t keep count,” Lily replied, dumbfounded by her attitude.
Rachel flashed her a grin that was as full of it as her brother’s. “They like to throw it up to me that they’re better shots. I’ll get a copy of the police report from Knox and count them up.”
She turned and saw King. “You’re the guy who broke down in town.” She raised her gun to point it at him.
“He’s okay, Rachel. He’s my father.”
Rachel lowered her gun. “He’s the one who kidnapped you?” Rachel asked.
“Yes,” Lily answered her question. She would tell her the rest of it later.
“Dammit,” Rachel cursed.
“What?” Lily asked.
“That’s strike three.”
Lily heard several feet running from outside, and then the door pushed open for Shade, Viper and Razer to run in.
“Shade.” Lily couldn’t help her broken sob when she said his name. She’d been so scared she wasn’t going to see him again.
“Lily.”
If she’d ever doubted her husband’s love for her, all she would need to do is remember his face when he saw her. He ran, picking her up and holding her tightly in his arms. All the fear he had suffered and the relief at finding her safe showed his love more than a thousand words.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“I’m fine.” She hugged him back then stood still. “Are you crying?” she asked, astounded.
“No.”
Chapter 41
“Can we go home yet?” Lily asked again. She was sitting on a chair in Knox’s office, waiting for Shade with Beth sitting next to her, holding her hand.
“They’ll let us know. It shouldn’t be much longer.”
Knox had led Shade and her in here after they had left the house that King had taken her to. The ambulance had taken away King while two other ambulances had to be called along with the coroners from three counties to deal with the bodies.
“How did the Porters find me?” Lily asked.
“I have no idea,” Beth responded as Knox and Shade came in.
“I can answer that question.” Knox took a seat behind his desk.
Lily waited expectantly. “Well?”
“We’re waiting on someone. We promised we would until he arrived.” Shade walked to stand beside her chair, taking her hand. Razer came into the office then, shutting the door behind him. Lily could tell from their faces that the news they had wasn’t going to be good.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, there’s just a few things Razer and I haven’t told you. It’s not because we didn’t want to, it was because we couldn’t,” Shade answered her question as Razer moved to stare down at his wife.
A knock sounded on the door.
“Come in,” Knox called out.
The door opened and Pastor Dean came inside, closing the door with a serious expression instead of the affable one he normally wore. He was also dressed as she had never seen him before. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, which was unusual enough, but the ATF jacket and hat was what had both her and Beth sitting in shock.
“Beth, Lily.”
“Why are you wearing that?” Lily asked, standing up, her face tuning pale.
“Because I’m an ATF Special Agent.”
Lily wanted to run from the room, but that was the old Lily who always ran away, afraid to face her nightmares. She wasn’t going to run this time.
“I’ve been undercover since I took over your father’s church. It’s taken me this long, and over forty agents, to shut down a pipeline that carried drugs and firearms through nine different states.”
Lily stood, listening to him, and all she could think of was how much she had confided in him over the years.
“When Cash joined the military, he never forgot you two. He was especially sickened with Beth’s treatment and he knew it wouldn’t be much longer before Lily would be receiving the same. Shade’s father, Will Hunter, had retired, and so Cash asked him to stop by Treepoint to check on you two.”
Lily’s eyes flew to Shade at the mention of the former Sheriff.
“I was going to tell you when Dad came back into town next week. Think, Lily; why would I hide that from you when I’ve confessed to much worse than that?”
Lily nodded, believing him.
“When he stayed here those few days, Will decided he liked it enough to stay indefinitely. He and his wife both were tired of moving around so much and wanted a break from it.
“They settled here, and as you both know, it wasn’t long before he gained enough respect to become Sheriff. That’s where his military training came in handy. He soon discovered the pipeline and notified the proper authorities.” Dean walked further into the office, leaning against the corner of Knox’s desk.
“This is where the conversation becomes confidential.” He stared at both of the women with silent warning. “I had left the military and joined The Last Riders. I had been in the Seals and had served as a military Chaplin, but when I left the service, I no longer felt the call to serve as a pastor, so I left that part of my life behind. But I wasn’t content. I missed the action of being in the military, so when the CIA approached The Last Riders to become a paramilitary group, we accepted.
“That’s how we ended up in Treepoint to begin an investigation. The ATF offered me a position as a Special Agent to lead the investigation, but I had to go undercover to do so. The people who had begun developing leads ended up dead, so I waited for a way to enter the community that would be above suspicion.”
“Our parents’ death created the perfect opportunity,” Beth said; her face had gone as white as Lily’s as she gazed at Razer.
“Sadly, yes. I’m sorry.” Dean paused then continued, “I became Pastor Dean and began my investigat
ion. It’s taken me all these years to gather enough evidence to win my cases. I was a week away from making my arrests. I even had the warrants ready to go, but it all came crashing down today. “
“Why today?” Beth asked. Lily watched her sister calmly asking questions while she just wanted to get out of there.
“Because of Lily. We pooled all our available resources together, but to do that, I had to break my cover.”
Lily felt sickened. She was hurt that Pastor Dean wasn’t the man he’d pretended to be, but she didn’t want his work to have been in vain, nor did she want the criminals, who were hurting others, to remain free.