Switch

The house was just where Kitt’s friend Paulie said it would be. The bastards hadn’t even bothered to hide the van. It was parked right in the driveway. I rose to the hill above it and cut my engine so they wouldn’t hear me approach.

It was just a shitty little ranch house with overgrown shrubs and weeds coming through the cracks in the cement driveway. The thing was sinking into its foundation. In the ten minutes it took for me to get here, Paulie sent me the satellite street view of the place. The yard behind it was fenced in. There were no neighbors on either side, just one in the back, and that house looked vacant.

Gunn pulled in next to me, cutting his engine like I did.

“Don’t you fucking try to stop me,” I said. “I’m getting her out of there.”

A million horrible thoughts flashed through my mind. They had hours with her. She could have been raped, tortured, or already dead. Bile nearly choked me.

“Goddammit, Switch. If you …”

I turned to him. Gunn must have seen something in my face. If I had to knock his ass out to get past him, I would.

“This is on me,” I said. “If I fucking die trying to get to her, or even if I’m already too late ... I’m going in that house and getting my girl.”

Gunn’s face fell. “You son of a bitch. You know I’ve got your back.”

Clenching my jaw, I nodded. Then I turned to the house.

“We go in from the back,” I said. “Over the fence. It’s all overgrown. They won’t see us coming.”

“Sure, unless they’ve got a fucking alarm,” Gunn whispered.

“Then we move fast.”

“We don’t even know how many are in there.”

“Don’t care.”

I started down the hill. I heard Gunn let out a breath, but he followed me. Getting into the yard was easy. The bushes provided natural cover. There was a sliding back door leading into a kitchen. I ducked down, hearing voices.

“Sure thing, boss,” one said.

“That’s Paco, I think,” Gunn whispered. “Motherfucker.”

Then I saw her. Kitt was sitting on a chair at the kitchen table. Paco was on the phone, standing in front of her. One of the prospects sat on the chair opposite Kitt. A third man stood a little off to the side.

Paco put his phone in his back pocket. “Well, well, sweetie,” he said. Kitt stared up at him and my heart clenched. “Looks like we hit the jackpot. You were holding out on us. Kick, you watch the front. Fletch, check out back. I’ll make this quick. Boss wants to send a message with this one. Don’t mean we can’t have a little bit of fun first.”

I went on autopilot. One look at Gunn and I knew we were on the same page.

Kitt moved. She screamed and kicked out, trying to catch Paco off guard. The probies did as they were told. Kick headed toward the front, out of view. The one called Fletch turned and headed straight for us. His eyes went wide as Gunn stepped out of the shadows. He covered me as I went for Paco.

Paco drew down. His gun was aimed right at Kitt as she rolled away.

One shot. Clean through Paco’s forehead. His eyes went wide as it took him a moment to die.

Gunn took Fletch out. Kick screamed.

I was already in the kitchen. Kitt had rolled to the corner of the room, under the table. Quick thinking. She took herself out of the line of fire.

But it was over. Just like that. Kick dropped his weapon and put his hands up.

“You okay, baby?” I said. “Did they hurt you?”

She was stunned. With my gun trained on Kick, I reached for her. Kitt got to her feet and I folded her against me. She was shaking, but strong.

“You came for me,” she whispered.

“You got this?” I said to Gunn.

“Damn straight,” he answered.

I put my weapon in the back of my waistband. I took Kitt’s face in my hands. “I came, baby. Nobody’s ever going to get away with hurting you again.”

She blinked wildly, fighting tears. But she straightened her back and smiled up at me. She was okay. Thank God. She was okay.