Page 104 of Honor ’N’ Duty

Startled, Colon spun. Kade jerked his head out from behind the muzzle of the gun, then shot to his feet and body slammed the man to his right. The guy stumbled, then began windmilling his arms before going down on his ass. The gun flew from his grip, and Kade dove for it, covering it with his body, then flipping onto his back to grab it in his tied hands.

Getting to his feet, the guy made a move toward Kade.

He twisted his arms around enough that he could aim the gun at the guy’s chest. “I wouldn’t. Face down. On the ground. Now!”

When the guy had complied, Kade got to his knees in time to see Smoke charge at Colon. Another of Colon’s men pointed his gun at Kade’s chest. Not good. With his hands still tied behind his back, Kade could never get aimed in before the guy blasted him full of lead.

The crack of a gunshot reverberated through the trees. The man who’d been about to shoot Kade staggered, then dropped to his knees. Then in slow motion, he fell face first on the ground.

Jamie had taken the kill shot, then covered off on Colon. But Kade had given strict instructions to take out Colon only in the event of a kill-or-be-killed scenario.

Smoke had quickly eaten up the distance and was preparing to launch at Colon. Right behind him was Thor.

Colon raised his gun, aiming it at Smoke.

Not in this lifetime, asshole.

With his hands still tied behind his back, Kade rammed his shoulder into Colon’s back. The gun went off.

Kade’s heart stopped. Had he hit Smoke?

Lying in the dirt, only a few feet from Colon, Kade twisted to see Smoke flying through the air, landing with his front paws on Colon’s chest. Kade gritted his teeth, pulling at the ropes binding his wrists until he finally slipped free. All around him, his friends were busy subduing the rest of Colon’s men.

“Fucking dog!” Colon wrestled with Smoke, pounding at his dog’s head as he grappled for the gun that had fallen from his hand.

Kade lunged, wrenching the weapon away and bending Colon’s wrist backward. The snap of bone came first, followed by a high-pitched scream. Kade straddled Colon’s chest and smashed his fist into the man’s face. More crunching as he broke Colon’s nose. Blood spurted from his nostrils. Kade sent one final blow to the side of the man’s skull, knocking him out cold.

Still straddling his chest, Kade wished he could hit him again and again for what he’d done to Josh, Laia, and Rosa…to Kade’s entire family…but he wanted Colon alive to go to prison for the rest of his godforsaken life.

“Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!” The accountant was on his knees, his arms stuck straight up in the air as high as he could possibly stretch them.

Kade had pegged the guy as a bookkeeper, not a fighter, and he was right.

Barking and growling drew his attention to where Deck’s dog, Thor, guarded one of Colon’s men on the ground. Dayne and Evan’s dogs, Remy and Blue, stood with their heads down, panting as they eyed the men like they wanted to eat them for dinner.

“You good?” Jamie held out a set of handcuffs to Kade.

“Yeah. I’m good.” As he accepted the cuffs, he gave his friend a curt nod of thanks. Jamie had fired the shot that had saved his life. “Release,” he said to Smoke. When his dog unclamped his jaws from Colon’s arm, Kade flipped the guy onto his belly and cuffed him, broken wrist and all.

Dayne did the same with the guy Kade had body slammed. Evan pressed two fingers to the other guy’s carotid, then looked up and gave a quick shake of his head.

“Think you could have cut it a little closer?” Eric grinned at Kade as he made quick work of cuffing the accountant. Eric’s Dutch shepherd, Tiger, stood off to the side, ready to launch, should the man rethink his surrender.

Evan snapped his fingers. His big German shepherd, Blue, trotted to his side and sat. “Gotta say, we all thought you were about to get that thick skull of yours aerated.”

So did I. So. Did. I.

He had cut it close. Crazy close. It had been worth it.

With the additional charges they’d likely get from the information contained in the ledger, Colon would be going away for a long time. Added to that would be kidnapping charges. The icing on the cake was that no slimy defense attorney in the world was good enough to get Colon off a murder charge now. Not with a verbal confession and federal agents as witnesses. Once they knew the accessory charges they’d be facing, even Colon’s men might turn on him.

Deck chuckled. “The things a guy will do to impress a woman.” He grabbed the radio clipped to his belt and pressed the mic. “The coast is clear.”

Kade turned at the sound of vehicles coming up the road behind him. Two SUVs, the first of which was Brett’s. Brett’s enormous golden Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Blaze, sat in the passenger seat, his big tongue lolling from the side of his mouth. Through the kennel bars behind them, he could just make out three heads. The rest of Colon’s crew.

Now it was Kade’s turn to chuckle. K-9 vehicles weren’t designed for prisoner transport, but Brett had stuffed all three of them into Blaze’s kennel anyway.

Jamie’s SUV came next. Laia sat behind the wheel. The passenger Kade had been forced to pick up was in the passenger seat. Laia jumped out and ran toward him, her expression anxious as she checked him out from head to toe.