Promise Me Once

  Find Keely.

  My plan had been simple. Sneak away in the middle of the night and take off for Austin. I wanted to go alone. I didn’t want to be responsible for getting anyone killed and I didn’t want to listen to Maddie lecture me about being careful.

  So I packed my saddlebags and rounded up some food. I had waited until the middle of the night and left without making a sound. But who did I find standing in the dark waiting for me, his bags packed and his horse saddled? Gavin.

  “Where’re we going?” he had asked. Not a hello. Not a ‘what-the-hell are you doing?’ Nope. Just a ‘where’re are we going?’ Typical Gavin.

  Now here we were, on the trail of my sister who I hadn’t seen in years. I glanced over at our campfire, making sure it was snuffed out. Coils of smoke rose slowly in the chilly air. Winter was setting in early. The last thing we needed for our trip.

  I pulled the reins to the right, leading my horse out of the alcove of trees. We had a few miles to go until we reached the outskirts of Austin. Might as well stop sitting around and face the hell I had heard it was.

  Gavin followed on his horse, humming some annoying tune. I rolled my eyes. He was just itching to draw attention to us. The man had a death wish. Maybe I did too. I had done some messed up stuff since the bomb hit. I had killed and hurt. I had stolen and taken what wasn’t mine. And I had done it all in the name of survival.

  I ducked my head, narrowly missing a branch as I rode under it. I thought of Austin, wondering if we had enough firepower to get in and get out. Guess we would find out.

  A stiff wind blew against me. My horse’s hoofs chomped quietly in the grass. I let my mind wander to a place I usually blocked out. The one where the memory of Cat still resided. I had no right to think of her, not after all these years. She was either dead or had hooked up with someone, but hell, I hoped she was still alive. To think that she may not be on this earth anymore almost knocked me off my horse. I liked to imagine her somewhere. Smiling. Teasing some poor man. Driving him crazy like she had driven me.

  I shifted in the saddle, uneasy with my train of thought. No, it wasn’t right to think of her. Life had changed. I had changed. I wasn’t that polite cowboy anymore. The one that smiled at her and opened doors for her to walk through. I was hard around the edges. Worn raw and cut deep. Dangerous to those who didn’t know me. The only thing I had left to care about was Keely.

  Everyone else was just collateral damage.

  ~~~~

  “Holy fuck.”

  I ignored Gavin and walked down the middle of the street, keeping a finger near my shotgun’s trigger. It was quiet. Too quiet. Fallen leaves rustled as they blew down the road. Garbage was everywhere and the majority of the houses around us were nothing but piles of rumble and brick.

  I glanced right and left, keeping my eyes open for trouble. More than likely, it was right around the corner, waiting to jump out. I could feel it. Taste it in the back of my mouth.

  Danger.

  It was my constant companion now and I couldn’t shake it off.

  We were still a few miles from Austin. Some old suburban north of town. The college was still a distance away and getting there might be impossible. But impossible was something I liked.

  Gavin walked beside me, his pistol holstered but his crossbow in his hands. I resisted the urge to snort with disgust. The man had a thing for arrows. I made fun of him every chance I got. I would never admit it to him, but I thought he was onto something. Arrows could be made much easier than a bullet, plus bullets were getting scarce.

  I preferred the five-inch blade in my boot. Or maybe the eleven-inch sheathed on my side. They both could cause some damage. Whatever we used, we still needed it despite the Americans kicking some foreign ass. Large groups of terrorists still roamed the country and militias that wanted power instead of freedom were popping up everywhere.

  That’s why Gavin and I were on edge. Who the fuck knew what we would have to face around a corner or a bend in the road. We were careful not to make our presence known as we walked down the street. My muscles were tense, ready to attack, if need be.

  Suddenly, a door swung open to my left. I snapped my shotgun up, peering down the barrel at the house. Nothing moved but some dead leaves. It was just the wind.

  “My spidey senses are telling me to get the fuck out of here, buddy,” Gavin mumbled beside me, holding his crossbow in front of him.

  “Yeah, well, my map says this is a short cut,” I said in a low voice, not wanting to spook any people that might be lingering behind the closed doors.

  “Fuck the map and fuck the short cut,” Gavin grumbled out of the corner of his mouth.

  This time I did roll my eyes. I lowered my gun and shot a look at him from under my hat. “You are the biggest damn whiner I know.”

  Gavin grinned, resting the bow on his shoulder. “But you love me.”

  I gritted my teeth. “I may be the only one.”

  Gavin scoffed as we started walking again. “That’s not what that redhead said last week.”

  “No, she said, ‘Have you put your tiny dick in me yet? I can’t feel it.’”

  Gavin flipped me off as he left to walk over to the curb. It was a love thing with us – the middle finger, the bird.

  He walked along the edges of the overgrown grassy yards and I stayed in the street, both of us keeping our eyes open. My gut was telling me to hurry, that Keely was close. I didn’t know why I was getting my hopes up. The chances of her still being in Austin were slim to none.

  We got through the small neighborhood with no problem or trouble and came to a large, wooded area. It was thick with tall oak trees and a layer of dried, brown leaves on the ground. It was a big city’s way of conserving nature or some shit like that – leave a few acres of trees but cut down the rest for mini-mansions. I just called the area a problem because it looked like a big, shady one. Perfect to hide in and wait for your next victim.

  The leaves cushioned our steps as we started through the woods. I was glad because we would have drawn a shit storm down on us if we had announced our arrival.

  Loud shouts came from somewhere deeper in the trees. Men. A number of them. And they didn’t sound very pleased.

  I raised the gun to my shoulder and Gavin did the same with his crossbow. We crouched lower and walked toward the danger, not away from it. We were crazy that way, I guessed.

  Using the trees for cover, we moved silently. When we saw the men, I took one tree and Gavin took another a few feet from me. I plastered my side to the tree bark and carefully slipped my safety off. I had counted seven men. That was five too many.

  I looked at Gavin and held up my hand, flashing five and two. He shook his head and held up three then pointed in their direction. I sneaked a peek. He was right. There were seven but three men were surrounded.

  Scratch that – they had three kids surrounded. A tall one and two short ones. Probably teenagers by the looks of them.

  They wore ball caps and heavy jackets. Two of them were scrawny. The tall one was bigger. They had their hands up in surrender, no weapons in their hands. I could tell from my vantage point that at least two of them were nervous. Hell, they should be. Seven against three weren’t good odds.

  I checked out the other men. They were Americans. Just some assholes bothering a bunch of kids. I knew the kind well. They picked on those less fortunate. Made a game of it. Troublemakers and outlaws roamed the countryside and took what they wanted. It had become a free-for-all the moment the EMPs had been dropped and no one was safe. Guys like these would make sure of it.

  “You know the punishment for stealing out here?” one of the guys said as he walked toward the three scrawny kids standing in the center of the men.

  I couldn’t hear what one of kids said, but I could only guess. The leader drew back a huge fist and punched the kid in the gut. Shit, that had to hurt.

  My hand tightened around the handle of my gun. I hated the violence that reigned everywhere. Sure, I wa
s a part of it but that didn’t mean I had to like it.

  Gavin caught my eye. I knew without asking what he thought we should do.

  Leave.

  He pointed behind us. He wanted us to mind our own business. Backtrack and pretend we hadn’t seen anything.

  I glanced back at the group of men again. Hell, he was right. I had to find my sister. These kids probably had stolen something and deserved what they got. It was the way now. An eye for an eye. I was colder that way. I had to be.

  I gave Gavin a short nod and eased away from the tree carefully. One mistake…one sound…and we would draw attention to ourselves. We had to move quietly but quickly. The sooner we left, the better.

  We backed away, one well-placed step at a time. We were careful not to put our boot on a downed tree branch or twig. It might mean the difference between finding Keely and finding ourselves in a heap of trouble. But sometimes the best intentions are worthless.

  I took a step back and my heel snapped a small branch in two. The sound was loud in the woods.

  But not as loud as the gunshot that ripped through the air. It was followed by another one then a scream.

  I raised my gun and shot forward. Fuck being cold. Fuck trouble. No one opened fire on a bunch of kids.

  Gavin was right beside me, running with his bow positioned against his shoulder. We hit the clearing in seconds, our boots breaking the branches and twigs we had tried to avoid minutes ago. What we saw almost made us freeze. Almost.

  Two men were sprawled on the ground but more were on their feet. They had a nasty assortment of guns and looked to have some mean-ass attitudes. They were shouting and pointing at the kids with pistols and shotguns, screaming at them to get down.

  The kids weren’t listening. One held a smoking gun. Another grasped a bloody knife. Fuck! One of them was a woman! Her hat had come off, exposing light blonde hair. Shit, she looks like…

  A big man stomped over to her and put a gun to her temple, yelling something about dying. That’s when I lost it.

  I pulled the trigger on my shotgun, taking out the man. It got everyone’s attention. Guns turned in our direction but they were too late. I chambered another round and swung to the next man, all in one, smooth motion. I took #2 out then #3 as I walked forward, my jaw set tightly and my aim true.

  Gavin did the same. His arrow found one man but before it had even buried in the man’s chest, he dropped the crossbow and pulled out his pistol. He was fast as shit with the gun as well. Deadly quick and cold as fuck. Sometimes the asshole even scared me.

  In seconds we had taken them all out. Five men. And we did it without flinching.

  Legend would say two outlaws with guns on their hips did it without remorse or regret. But history would get it wrong. We were just two ordinary guys looking to right some wrongs.

  I kept my head down, letting my cowboy hat shield my eyes as I surveyed what remained. The three kids still stood in the same place. Two of them watched Gavin and me with apprehension. The other one stood back behind them. Something about him made me wary. He was a dangerous motherfucker. I could tell just by the way he held himself.

  Too bad. I was deadlier.

  I didn’t give him a second thought. I had other things to deal with. Like the blonde. I headed straight to her.

  Gavin followed me. I had lowered my gun but he still had his pistol ready, waiting for one of the men to jump up. It was a waste of time. They weren’t going anywhere.

  My stride was quick as I headed to the blonde girl. The tall kid jumped in front of her, acting like the hero. But I was bigger and meaner and had one fuckin’ goal.

  “Don’t come any closer,” he said, holding up the little peashooter in his hand.

  It didn’t stop me. I grabbed his wrist and snapped it sideways, never breaking my stride. He yelped and dropped the gun. It thumped to the ground as I pushed past him.

  That’s when Gavin took over. He put himself between the kid and me, pointing his pistol at the boy. He didn’t know what the hell I was doing but he had my back. That’s what we did for each other. Brothers in arms.

  The blonde took a nervous step back, ducking her head and cowering as I got closer. My heart broke.

  Damn, it shattered.

  The scrawny kid behind her hadn’t moved. Just stood there holding that bloody knife. I didn’t give him a second look. I had more important things to do.

  When I got close enough, I saw her more clearly. Light colored hair rested down around her shoulders. Crystal gray eyes looked up at me through a broken pair of glasses.

  “Keely?” My voice broke. Her name was only a whisper coming from my mouth. I hadn’t said it in so long that it felt funny on my lips and foreign to my ears.

  She blinked. Her eyes went wide, but she didn’t speak. I opened my mouth to say her name again but she suddenly threw herself at me.

  Her skinny arms went around my neck like a powerful vise. She rose on tiptoes and buried her nose in my jacket collar.

  “Well, fuck me,” Gavin whispered beside me, lowering his pistol.

  I dropped my shotgun and wrapped my arms around Keely’s thin body as sobs shook it. I couldn’t believe it. I had found her. My sister. After all this time. I didn’t believe in miracles but maybe I should start.

  She cried and I held her tight, afraid to let her go. The words I wanted to say – the ones I had rehearsed in my mind a million times - wouldn’t come out past my thick throat. I gave up trying and just hugged her. The fact that she was standing in front of me was all that mattered anyway.

  From under my hat, I saw the scrawny fellow behind her stiffen. He kept his head down and face hidden beneath the brim of his faded ball cap. All I could see was a gently curved jaw. His body was just as thin as Keely’s. Almost girly. Whoever he was, he didn’t seem happy.

  Too bad. He could get lost. Keely didn’t need him anymore. And what the fuck was she doing with two guys anyway?

  I pulled away from her and looked down into her eyes. “You okay? Are you hurt? Did they do something to you?” I asked frantically as I grabbed the sides of her face, turning her head one-way then another, looking for signs of trauma. I had to know who to hurt next.

  Keely didn’t say anything but shook her head ‘no.’ She didn’t look hurt, just hungry and tired, but I still wanted to hear her say that she was okay.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked, grabbing her arms and giving her a good shake, desperate for her to answer me.

  “Leave her alone. She doesn’t talk,” the tall kid barked. He tried to dart around Gavin and come to Keely’s aid but Gavin held his ground, keeping the kid away from us.

  I snapped my focus over to him. Something about him seemed familiar but I shook the feeling off. “What do you mean she doesn’t talk?” I scowled, growing impatient. Keely could talk a person’s head off; the kid had to be wrong.

  He swallowed hard and looked at the scrawny guy behind Keely. I didn’t know what the hell was going on but I was getting angry.

  I gave Keely a good shake. “What is going on, Keely? Talk to me! Tell me you’re okay!”

  Tears filled her eyes and she shook her head ‘no’ frantically. I grew frustrated and scared. So damn scared that it pissed me off.

  I gently pushed Keely to Gavin and then picked up my gun. I had a feeling there was one person here who could answer all of my questions.

  With my shotgun in my hand, I took a threatening step toward the small kid. I got in his personal space, the best place to intimidate the hell out of a person.

  The tall kid started going bat shit crazy when I got near his friend but Gavin jerked up his pistol, keeping Keely safe behind him and the tall guy away from me.

  I stared hard at the small kid in front of me. His eyes were still cast down but I had a feeling the guy wasn’t in the least bit afraid of me.

  Time to change that.

  I towered over his thin body, itching to reach out and snap him in half.

  “Why do I have the f
eeling that you’re the cause of this?” I asked, my voice low and deadly.

  The kid took a quick step back as if he was afraid I would touch him. Good. But he didn’t answer me. He just kept his head bowed and that damn bloody knife in his hand.

  My muscles tensed, ready to throw this little weasel down and get some answers. I resisted and tried again.

  “Who are you?” I growled, sounding much calmer than I felt at the moment. “And why the hell should I not fill you with buckshot right now?”

  In answer, the kid flipped the knife around in his hand, fisting it.

  Gavin spun his pistol around to aim at the kid. I took a step back and snapped my gun up, pointing it straight at the boy. The tall guy started going berserk, yelling about leaving her alone. I wondered what the fuck he was talking about but didn’t have time to worry. Keely grabbed my arm and started pulling, making little mewling sounds and trying to get me to lower the gun, but I was mad and willing to shed this boy’s blood.

  “Drop the knife and start talking,” I demanded, looking down my barrel at him.

  The kid held out his arm lengthwise and opened his fist, letting the knife drop. It buried in the ground with a thud, blade first. He held out his arms in a show of surrender and slowly started to raise his head.

  First I saw the fine, graceful shape of his jawline. Then a delicate chin and full, curved lips. I went pale when I realized the kid wasn’t a boy at all but a girl in disguise. A perfectly shaped nose appeared between high cheekbones. Her beautiful skin had a slight tan to it. Her brows lifted in audacity. But it was the green cat-shaped eyes staring back at me that made me lower my gun.

  “Cat?” I asked with a hoarse whisper, unable to believe my eyes.

  A dangerous smile curved her lips up.

  “Hello, cowboy.”

  Chapter Thirty–Four

  Cat

  The two men came into the clearing with their guns blazing. They took out the group in a blink of an eye. They were cold. Calculated. Lethal. I would have known the one with the cowboy hat anywhere. He had haunted me since the night we met. Now he was in front of me.