Stranded with My Stepbrother Chapter 174

Will

Shoot her. My heart stopped.

I kicked the man shoving me into the SUV in the knee. It gave a satisfying pop, and he went down.

Crawling over him, I scrambled out of the SUV. But I was too late.

A shot rang out.

“No!” I screamed.

But McKenzie didn’t fall to the ground.

Ames did.

I stopped next to my grandfather, who was staring in just as much confusion as I was. “Carlson, what the hell—?” Grandfather snapped.

Carlson, or who I assumed was Carlson, turned to face my grandfather.

Then Carlson was gone, too, in a spray of blood.

The mercenaries surrounded us, herding McKenzie, Grandfather, and me to the middle of a phalanx. I hugged McKenzie to me and ducked down. I didn’t give a fuck what my grandfather decided to do.

“Is it the police?” one of the mercenaries asked my grandfather.

“No. I paid them handsomely to stay away and to keep others away as well,” Grandfather said.

That mercenary nodded. It was the last thing he ever did.

Once he was on the ground, the other mercenaries began to panic. “Fuck this shit!” one snarled. “I’m getting the fuck out of here!” He headed to the SUV.

Two others followed him.

Whoever was shooting fired at the SUV and at them. All three went down, and the SUV’s engine wheezed, then died, having been shot twice. In an act of overkill, the shooter took out the SUV’s tires as well.

“Christ.” My grandfather grabbed one of the mercenaries and used him as a human shield to get to the sedan.

It worked—to a degree. The unwilling mercenary became riddled with bullets while my grandfather skidded into the driver’s seat of the sedan. It was all for naught, however, because suddenly that engine was obliterated as well as the car tires.

“Fuck!” my grandfather exclaimed, getting out of the sedan and crouching next to it.

The rest of the mercenaries decided they were done being fish in a barrel. They took off down the street to a line of vehicles parked further away, leaving McKenzie and me completely exposed. I held her tightly, praying we weren’t next.

“I’m havin’ trouble decidin’ whether or not to shoot the bastard,” a familiar voice said behind us.

I turned my head. “Moose?!”

Moose stood with a rifle slung over his back and a Glock in his hand, pointing it directly at Grandfather. “Seems a waste to just let him walk away.”

“Moose!” McKenzie shot up out of my arms and hugged the grizzled veteran. “Thank God! Where’s Mom and Dad? And Dolly and Shep? Are Dad and Shep okay?”

“It was a hell of a thing gettin’ them out of that place, but they’re restin’. I think they’ll be okay,” he said. “The reason that one ain’t dead is we don’t know where Dolly is.”

“She was at the estate,” I informed him. “Have you managed to get in there?”

He snorted. “Your parents make it sound like a death trap. Yeah, that don’t sound like somewhere you just walk into.”

I looked at my grandfather. “I can think of someone who can get us in and out without any trouble.”

“Why would I help you?” Grandfather scoffed.

Moose gently pushed McKenzie aside and pointed his gun at him. “I have a Glock. My Glock says you want to be helpful.”

“He has a gun, too,” I murmured. “I’d bet my life on it. He gave the one he took off of me to one of the others, but I am sure he still has one of his own..”

“Well, ain’t that special.” Moose kept the Glock pointed unflinchingly at my grandfather. “Gun, please.”

With a low growl, Grandfather tossed it over.

“Great. Now we’re all goin’ to get in my goddamn truck. Will, you take that gun and cover him from the back. I’m drivin’.” Moose pointed to a rusty red pick-up parked around the side of the building.

The convoy of mercenaries took off, taking with them Grandfather’s last shred of hope. I found it very satisfying.

My grandfather got out from behind the sedan and followed Moose to the truck with McKenzie and me walking behind him. I had the gun trained on the back of his head.

Moose opened the passenger door and pulled the seat forward so McKenzie, and I could get in. Once we were situated, he pushed the seat back and waved my grandfather inside. “Keep that gun trained right on him. No distractions this time,” Moose said sternly.

I winced. So, he saw that. “Yes, sir.”

He slammed Grandfather’s door shut and stomped to the other side of the truck.

“You’re going to regret this, Will,” my grandfather seethed.

“I doubt it,” I replied, not letting the gun waver an inch.

Moose hopped into the driver’s seat then got settled, transferring the gun to his left hand and holding it in his lap, pointed right at my grandfather’s guts. “Don’t be thinkin’ I ain’t just as skilled with my left hand. You fuck around, you’re gonna find out.”

“I understand,” Grandfather said.

“Will, you put that pistol down where the cops can’t see it. It should still shoot through the seat just fine if need be,” Moose instructed me.

I lowered the gun and pointed it at the back of my grandfather’s seat.

“You do know you’re all just going to suffer more for this poor decision?” Grandfather warned.

Moose pulled away from the curb. “They always say the same bullshit. Like their brains ain’t gonna be the same color splatted on the ground as anybody else’s.”

I poked my grandfather in the shoulder. “Call Ike. Tell him to bring Dolly wherever Moose asks to meet.”

“I most certainly will not!” Grandfather snorted.

Moose loudly cocked his gun. “I’m thinkin’ Will has the right idea.”

My grandfather huffed. “He’ll never agree to it. I’ve taught him better than that.”

“We’ll see.” I poked him again. “I think it’s worth a try.”

Grandfather rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone.

“Put it on speaker,” Moose said.

My grandfather put the phone on speaker. It rang just once before Ike picked up. “Sir?”

“I’ve been kidnapped. Why didn’t you tell me they’d escaped the facility?!” Grandfather roared.

“I don’t have any intel to that effect, sir. What do you mean they’ve escaped? We’re getting check-ins at regular intervals….” Ike trailed off. “They’re with you, sir?”

“That asshole they call Moose just ruined the entire operation! And now they’re holding me hostage until I can produce Dolly.” My grandfather was incensed.

Ike took a deep breath. “Sir, I’ve been told on many occasions not to succumb to blackmail.”

“That’s what I told them!” Grandfather was breathing hard now. “I know you’ll put Dolly down a deep, dark hole until the end of time for whatever they’re about to do to me. No mercy.”

“Of course, sir.” Ike hung up.

“What the fuck?! That was it?!” I yelled.

“Will, it’s unbecoming to raise your voice. Real power doesn’t have to,” Grandfather said.

Moose was quiet. Dangerously quiet. He lowered my grandfather’s window with the push of a button. “Throw the phone out.”

Grandfather snorted but did as he was told, tossing the phone out.

Without a word, Moose rolled the window back up.

“Moose, what do we do?” McKenzie asked, her voice strained. “We can’t let them hurt her!”

“We won’t.” Moose pulled onto the highway.

“I’d love to know how you’re going to prevent it,” my grandfather scoffed.

“You’ll see.” The way Moose said it sent chills down my spine.

My grandfather laughed. “You think you scare me, but you don’t. You need me to have any hope of getting Dolly back. But the part you don’t understand is that you’re never going to see her again, regardless of what you do. Quite a conundrum you have there, Moose.”

“No conundrum, Mr. Masterson. I see the situation real clear.” We pulled off the highway onto a bumpy dirt road.

“Figures you would try hiding them in the middle of nowhere again,” Grandfather sniffed.

“I didn’t. This here’s your stop. Your last stop.” Moose turned sharply into a copse of trees.

“What is that supposed to m—?”

Moose whipped his Glock up from his lap and shot my grandfather in the head.

McKenzie let out a shout of surprise.

I didn’t make a sound, just stared.

“Damn. Gonna have to clean that window before we head back out,” Moose said calmly. He reached over my grandfather’s body and swung the passenger door open, then shoved Grandfather out, letting him fall to the ground with a final thud.

“H-he’s dead…” McKenzie breathed. “Oh my God, he’s actually dead….”

“Sometimes that’s all you can do with evil,” Moose said. He took out a handkerchief and began wiping my grandfather’s blood, brains, and bone off the passenger window. “Shoulda kept some wet wipes in here. Will, can I have your shirt? Not sure what I’m wearing’s gonna be nearly as absorbent.”

He talked as though he were doing a little light housekeeping. I unbuttoned my shirt and handed it over, staring out the window at the corpse and trying to process the situation.

“He’s really dead…” she repeated.

Moose used a little spit, and my shirt and finally got the window looking presentable. “Always makes such a mess. Anyway, we’d best get outta here. There’s gonna be people comin’ for him. I’m sure he’s got a tracker on him or in him somewhere.”

“Okay.” I tried to man up and sound just as nonchalant as Moose, but my voice cracked.

He looked in the back seat. “You two are gonna be fine. And I’m gettin’ Dolly. All I have to find out is how many of ’em it takes.”

“How many of who?” I asked.

“Your granddad’s associates. Think I’ll start with that Ike character,” he mused.

“Right.” It wasn’t a bad idea. “What do you need me to do?”

Moose smiled. “I think havin’ you draw them out has been goin’ just fine. But I think you two are tired of it. So, if you know who all I should be targeting, that’ll help. I won’t need nothin’ more than that.”

“I can help you with that,” I said. “But you’re right, Ike Freeborn is your best bet.”

He put the truck in gear and reversed right over my grandfather’s arm. He didn’t even flinch. “Then I’ll start with him.”