Read Online Defiance: A House Divided (The Defending Home Series Book 2) by William H. Weber - Free Book Online
Authors: William H. Weber
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much.”
Standing in a beam of soft light, she looked even more beautiful. Unable to help himself, Dale crossed the distance between them in two short strides and pulled her in for a long kiss. He felt Sandy go limp in his arms before at last he pulled away.
A radiant smile filled her face. “What took you so long?”
Chapter 11
Sheriff Randy Gaines
––––––––
T he morning had begun for Randy with the stark realization that life in Encendido would never be the same. For some time, he lay on his cot replaying the seconds before Mayor Reid’s head was made to look like a dead animal along the side of the highway. That was to say, red and covered in hair, but otherwise unrecognizable.
Ever since Dale’s attack against the sheriff’s office, Randy had ordered that the lunch room at the rear be converted into a temporary barracks. Out went the tables, chairs and the now empty vending machines and in came the army-style cots. There were fifteen of them in total, although currently only eleven were being used. The process of recruiting more deputies was becoming something of an uphill battle, especially after the arrival of Edwardo Ortega and his men. Surely, things would only grow harder once word of the Mayor’s death began to spread.
The cartel’s attack against Fortress Hardy, as some of the folks in town had taken to calling it, had proven to be a total and complete failure. A third of Ortega’s men were either dead or wounded. Before charging off, Edwardo had assured them his men were more than up for the job. He’d even spat when Mayor Reid had suggested the deputies tag along as a reserve force in case he should need them. In hindsight, seeing that look of anger on Edwardo’s face, his nostrils flared, his bloodshot eyes looking like roadmaps, it was clear Mayor Reid had just swung and missed. Strike one. The final strike would come after Edwardo and his men limped back, swearing incessantly in Spanish and firing their guns into the air in frustration.
It was no surprise that Ortega had blamed the mayor for the failure, telling him if his deputies were man enough to be there, they would have slaughtered the defenders and carried the day. It didn’t matter that the mayor had told him to limit the bloodshed, that a surrender was preferable to an extermination. The mayor had given his word and he had intended to keep it.
Keith entered the barracks just then carrying a handwritten note. A few of the other deputies around him were stretching the kinks out of their backs from a bad night’s sleep. Randy stood, rubbed his eyes and took the note from Keith. It was from Edwardo and in broken English instructed Randy to assemble his deputies out front in five minutes.
He glanced up at Keith, who looked just as surprised. “There’s a small crowd gathered. Seems Edwardo’s gone around and collected a bunch of the townspeople.”
“Who gave you this note?”
“One of his enforcers,” Keith said. “Big arms. Scar across his neck. Bandage on his right wrist.”
“El Ventrílocuo,” Randy muttered. “He say what this was about?”
“Contrary to his name, this guy doesn’t say much.”
“All right then,” Randy said, his heart hammering in his chest as he wondered if he was about to witness another execution, perhaps this time his own. “I guess we do what the man says. How bad can it be, right?”
A look of deep concern flashed over Keith’s face. For a moment he looked like he wanted to say something, likely something bad about Edwardo, but thought better of it. Had they already come to the point where even law enforcement had to bite their tongue for fear of being killed? Last Randy checked, they were the ones calling the shots, spreading fear through the population, taking whatever they pleased. Now the tables had turned and with them, so too had the contents of his stomach.
Minutes later, Randy and his ten deputies stood on the steps of the Sheriff’s office. He’d arranged
Standing in a beam of soft light, she looked even more beautiful. Unable to help himself, Dale crossed the distance between them in two short strides and pulled her in for a long kiss. He felt Sandy go limp in his arms before at last he pulled away.
A radiant smile filled her face. “What took you so long?”
Chapter 11
Sheriff Randy Gaines
––––––––
T he morning had begun for Randy with the stark realization that life in Encendido would never be the same. For some time, he lay on his cot replaying the seconds before Mayor Reid’s head was made to look like a dead animal along the side of the highway. That was to say, red and covered in hair, but otherwise unrecognizable.
Ever since Dale’s attack against the sheriff’s office, Randy had ordered that the lunch room at the rear be converted into a temporary barracks. Out went the tables, chairs and the now empty vending machines and in came the army-style cots. There were fifteen of them in total, although currently only eleven were being used. The process of recruiting more deputies was becoming something of an uphill battle, especially after the arrival of Edwardo Ortega and his men. Surely, things would only grow harder once word of the Mayor’s death began to spread.
The cartel’s attack against Fortress Hardy, as some of the folks in town had taken to calling it, had proven to be a total and complete failure. A third of Ortega’s men were either dead or wounded. Before charging off, Edwardo had assured them his men were more than up for the job. He’d even spat when Mayor Reid had suggested the deputies tag along as a reserve force in case he should need them. In hindsight, seeing that look of anger on Edwardo’s face, his nostrils flared, his bloodshot eyes looking like roadmaps, it was clear Mayor Reid had just swung and missed. Strike one. The final strike would come after Edwardo and his men limped back, swearing incessantly in Spanish and firing their guns into the air in frustration.
It was no surprise that Ortega had blamed the mayor for the failure, telling him if his deputies were man enough to be there, they would have slaughtered the defenders and carried the day. It didn’t matter that the mayor had told him to limit the bloodshed, that a surrender was preferable to an extermination. The mayor had given his word and he had intended to keep it.
Keith entered the barracks just then carrying a handwritten note. A few of the other deputies around him were stretching the kinks out of their backs from a bad night’s sleep. Randy stood, rubbed his eyes and took the note from Keith. It was from Edwardo and in broken English instructed Randy to assemble his deputies out front in five minutes.
He glanced up at Keith, who looked just as surprised. “There’s a small crowd gathered. Seems Edwardo’s gone around and collected a bunch of the townspeople.”
“Who gave you this note?”
“One of his enforcers,” Keith said. “Big arms. Scar across his neck. Bandage on his right wrist.”
“El Ventrílocuo,” Randy muttered. “He say what this was about?”
“Contrary to his name, this guy doesn’t say much.”
“All right then,” Randy said, his heart hammering in his chest as he wondered if he was about to witness another execution, perhaps this time his own. “I guess we do what the man says. How bad can it be, right?”
A look of deep concern flashed over Keith’s face. For a moment he looked like he wanted to say something, likely something bad about Edwardo, but thought better of it. Had they already come to the point where even law enforcement had to bite their tongue for fear of being killed? Last Randy checked, they were the ones calling the shots, spreading fear through the population, taking whatever they pleased. Now the tables had turned and with them, so too had the contents of his stomach.
Minutes later, Randy and his ten deputies stood on the steps of the Sheriff’s office. He’d arranged
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