Keep Me Safe (Slow Burn #1)(65)

Again, Quinn went first. Caleb eased Ramie down, praying she didn’t wake and panic and slide off while he helped Beau lower Tori over the edge.

Once Tori was safely down, Caleb and Beau took Ramie’s hands and then carefully slid her legs over the edge and inched her forward very carefully so her weight didn’t suddenly plummet.

And she picked then, when she was dangling several feet above Quinn’s head, to open her eyes.

She screamed and began to struggle, her legs thrashing and rotating wildly in the air.

“Ramie! Ramie!” Caleb yelled. “Stop! You’ve got to stop. I’ve got you. You’re safe. But you have to stop fighting us.”

She went still, a low whimper working its way past trembling lips. “Caleb?” she choked out. “This is a dream, right? Tell me this is a dream.”

“It’s just a dream, honey,” he soothed. “A nightmare. Close your eyes and it’ll all be over.”

She went limp and relaxed and as soon as she did, he and Beau let her go and she dropped into Quinn’s arms, sending them both crashing to the ground.

Once Beau was down, Caleb tossed the gun to his brother. Then he swung his legs over and lowered himself to hang from the eave and then dropped the remaining distance, rolling the moment he landed to absorb some of the impact. The breath was momentarily knocked from him and he sucked in steadying breaths.

Immediately he crawled over to where Ramie and Quinn lay in a tangle of arms and legs.

“Quinn, are you all right?” Caleb asked.

“Yeah, just got the breath knocked out of me is all. What about her?”

“Can I open my eyes now?” Ramie asked in a small voice.

“Yes, baby. Open your eyes. We have to get moving.”

“What’s happening, Caleb?”

The tremor in her voice clutched at Caleb’s heart. The last thing he wanted was to tell her what had happened.

“The house is on fire. We had to get out through my window,” Caleb said gently.

“What about the others?” she demanded, scrambling to her feet. She shook her head several times as if clearing the drug-induced cobwebs from her mind.

“Tori, Beau and Quinn are here. Everyone is fine.”

“Eliza and Dane?” she asked anxiously.

“They aren’t here tonight. The team was coming back in the morning to discuss our next step. It’s just us and we need to get the hell out of here.”

“Is he here?” Ramie whispered.

Caleb knew exactly who he referred to.

“We don’t know,” Beau cut in. “But we aren’t going to take any chances. We have to get you and Tori someplace safe.”

“And you as well,” Ramie said pointedly.

“Yes, us too,” Caleb agreed.

“We can’t take any of the vehicles,” Beau said. “We can’t be sure they aren’t wired too.”

“How the f**k did he get a bomb into this house?” Caleb bit out.

“We don’t know that he did,” Quinn said in a low voice. “We don’t know what the f**k happened here. For all we know he shot an RPG at us. All I do know is that there was an explosion and now the house is on fire. His proximity to us is completely unknown so I vote we get the f**k out of here as quickly as possible.”

“That gets my vote,” Beau said.

Caleb’s gaze followed Ramie as she walked over to where Tori stood, shaking like a leaf from head to toe. Ramie gently took Tori’s hand in hers and squeezed. To Caleb’s surprise, Tori sent her a look of gratitude and kept her hand in Ramie’s as they set out quickly through the woods surrounding the house.

THIRTY-TWO

“THIS has gone on long enough,” Caleb said coldly. “I want the son of a bitch taken out and I don’t care how it’s done, legally or illegally.”

Dane stood in Eliza’s kitchen, pouring cups of coffee for the ten men assembled in Eliza’s home. Aside from Caleb, his brothers, Eliza and Dane there was also one of the two six-man teams that Caleb and his brothers employed. They only hired the best and it was time for them to do what they did best. Take down a killer.

Before anyone could respond to Caleb’s decree, Eliza walked into the kitchen and Caleb immediately turned his attention to her.

“How are they?” he asked in a low voice.

It had been a hell of a night and morning for Ramie and Tori. They’d trekked through the woods in the dead of night, and Ramie had been terrified that they were being followed. Hunted. Every noise had set them on edge. Their nerves had been wound so tight that by the time they’d made it to a place where Caleb could call Dane to come get them, they’d been utterly exhausted.

Caleb had felt no guilt whatsoever in giving Ramie medication to ward off an imminent panic attack. She’d been hyperventilating by the time Dane had arrived. Tori was every bit as distressed and had hovered anxiously over Ramie, evidently worried about the other woman.

“Ramie finally agreed to lie down and try to get some rest,” Eliza said grimly. “And she only agreed because Tori didn’t want to be alone and asked her not to leave the room.”

Caleb blew out his breath in rage. When would people he loved stop suffering? When would they be safe, or would they ever truly be safe? He ran a hand raggedly through his hair.