Page 24 of Sniper Daddy
Harper, Sadie, Fiona, and the others move fast. They have drilled for this exact scenario. Kayley scoops up little Aidan, who is crying into her neck. Harper holds Poppi tight against her chest. Piper grabs her crutches and moves as quickly as her healing leg will allow, heart hammering.
I catch her before she reaches the stairs. I kiss her hard, fast, desperate—like I’m pouring every ounce of love and fear into it. “Stay down there. Don’t come out until one of us comes for you. I love you, Piper.”
“I love you too,” she whispers, tears stinging her eyes.
I push her gently toward the stairs with one last look that says everything. “Go.”
She descends into the bunker with the other women. The heavy steel door clangs shut behind them with a final, echoing sound.Locks engage. The emergency lights flicker on. They’re safe down there. But I am up here. Fighting again. Because someone wants to take her from me.
I grab my rifle from the rack by the door and move toward the front of the lodge. Silas is already shouting orders. Rafe appears at the corner with controlled bursts of fire toward the gate. Gavin, Rhett and Wyatt take positions behind the thick log barriers. Chase and Harlan move fast toward the generator shed to cut the exterior lights. Mason’s on the phone, most likely calling his team of US Marshals in.
The main gate is buckling again. Two trucks with reinforced bumpers are slamming into it. Men on foot are spreading out along the fence line, firing suppressing shots. I take aim through a broken window and drop the first man trying to climb the fence. The others scatter for cover.
Adrenaline surges through me, sharpening every sense. This is familiar. I breathe. Aim. Fire. Move. Protect.
The next twenty minutes blur into controlled violence. We return fire in disciplined bursts. Boyd takes out the driver of one of the ramming trucks. Wyatt and Rhett flank a group trying to breach from the west. Eli moves between positions, patching up minor wounds.
But these men are determined. A grenade sails over the gate and explodes near the woodpile. Another truck accelerates toward the weakened gate. The metal screams as it starts to give way.
Silas curses. “They’re coming through! Fall back to defensive positions around the lodge! We hold the line here!”
We retreat in coordinated pairs, covering each other. Bullets punch through the log walls, but the construction holds. I takecover behind an overturned table near the front window and keep firing. My only clear thought is that Piper is downstairs. Safe behind thick concrete and steel. As long as I keep these bastards from reaching the lodge, she stays that way.
The fight grows fiercer. One of the attackers makes it over the broken gate and charges toward the porch before Rafe drops him. Another tries to flank us and Rhett takes him down. The air smells of gunpowder and burning rubber. Shouts and screams mix with the constant crack of gunfire.
I reload again, hands steady. Worry gnaws at the edges of my focus. I don’t want to leave Piper down there, even though I know the bunker is the safest place on the mountain. But leaving her to fight is the only way to keep her alive. I trust the men beside me. I trust the defenses we built. Every shot I fire is one less threat that can reach her.
Rafe moves up beside me during a brief lull. “We can’t hold them off forever. If they bring heavier weapons, we need a plan.”
I nod grimly. “Then we make them pay for every inch. They donotget inside. Not while any of us are breathing.”
Another volley erupts. I lean out and drop two more attackers. My shoulder aches, but I barely feel it. All that matters is the gate, the lodge, and the steel door downstairs that separates Piper from the violence.
The battle rages on. Men shout. Bullets fly. The mountain that felt like sanctuary has turned into a war zone again. But through it all, one thought burns brighter than anything else.
Keep Piper safe.
No matter the cost.
I will fight until my last breath to make sure she gets the future we both want. The quiet mornings. The Sunday dinners. The life on this mountain where she never has to run again.
For her, I hold the line.
For her, I will win.
SIXTEEN
PIPER
I sit on the edge of one of the cots in the bunker, my hands clasped tightly in my lap to keep them from shaking. The heavy steel door is locked tight, but I can still hear the muffled sounds of gunfire filtering down through the vents. Every crack and thud makes my stomach twist harder. This is happening all because of me.
The guilt sits like a stone in my chest. I brought this to their doorstep. These people opened their home to me, fed me, cared for me, and now they’re fighting for their lives because my father refuses to let me go. I feel horrible. Sick to my stomach. If something happens to Boyd or any of the others, I will never forgive myself.
Harper sits beside me, one arm around my shoulders. Poppi is curled up in her lap, thumb in her mouth, eyes wide but quiet. Kayley is on my other side, holding Aidan close as he hides his face against her shirt. Sadie, Fiona, Daisy, Emma, and Hannah are scattered around the small space, some checking supplies, others simply sitting together in quiet support.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper, my voice cracking. “This is all my fault. I never should have stayed here. I should have kept running. I brought danger to all of you.”
Harper squeezes my shoulder gently. “Piper, stop. This isnotyour fault. You didn’t ask for any of this. You were running for your life. You came here for safety, and that is exactly what we give people here.”
