Born to Fight

Chapter 13

Celeste

I waited until the voices downstairs had faded before quietly slipping back into my bedroom.

I closed the door behind me and leaned against it for a moment.

My heart was still pounding.

Not from fear.

From determination.

I had made my decision.

I was done waiting for someone else to decide what was best for me.

I crossed the room and changed quickly, pulling on dark grey cargo pants, a cream woollen sweater and my hiking boots. I tied my hair into a high ponytail, grabbed my phone and slipped my key card into the back of my phone case.

Just in case.

Then I picked up Loki’s leash.

“Quiet,” I whispered.

Loki looked at me, his ears twitching.

“Come on.”

He followed me out of the room.

We crept down the stairs, careful not to make a sound.

Voices drifted from the kitchen.

Jamie.

Josh.

Billy.

Lilly.

I had no doubt they were talking about me.

Normally, I would have cared.

This morning?

I didn’t.

I wasn’t interested in what they thought.

I had somewhere to be.

I reached the bottom of the stairs and glanced toward the kitchen.

Then I spotted the bureau.

Jamie always left his keys there.

I hesitated.

For half a second, guilt tugged at me.

Then I thought about my mother.

About the blood on the kitchen floor.

About the men who had taken her from me.

I grabbed Jamie’s keys.

“Sorry,” I whispered.

Loki and I slipped outside.

Jamie’s Chevrolet was sitting in the driveway.

It looked almost brand new.

I stared at it for a moment.

“He’s going to kill me.”

Loki looked at me.

“Not literally.”

At least, I hoped not.

I opened the door, helped Loki into the vehicle and climbed behind the wheel.

I started the engine.

The truck roared to life.

My stomach twisted.

There was no going back now.

I put it into gear and pulled out of the driveway.

As soon as I reached the road, I pressed down on the accelerator.

I kept checking the rear-view mirror.

Nothing.

No cars.

No suspicious vehicles.

Nobody following us.

After ten minutes, I finally allowed myself to breathe.

Maybe I was being paranoid.

Maybe nobody was coming for me.

But I’d rather be paranoid and alive than careless and dead.

I connected my phone to the truck’s Bluetooth.

Then I opened Mum’s favourite playlist.

The opening notes of Eric Carmen’s Make Me Lose Control filled the cabin.

I turned the volume up.

Loki tilted his head.

I smiled despite myself.

“Your mum’s favourite,” I told him.

His head tilted the other way.

I laughed softly.

For a moment, it felt almost normal.

Almost.

But every few minutes, I checked the rear-view mirror again.

I couldn’t stop myself.

Part of me wished I’d told Jamie where I was going.

Part of me wished I’d explained why.

But I knew him.

He would have tried to stop me.

And I couldn’t let him.

Not this time.

Whatever happened next, I needed to do this myself.

⸻

Jamie

We were still sitting around the kitchen table when I heard an engine roar outside.

I frowned.

Then I recognized the sound.

My truck.

I shot to my feet.

“What the hell?”

I ran through the front door.

By the time I reached the driveway, my truck was already disappearing down the road.

I stood there in disbelief.

“Did she just steal my truck?”

Josh came running outside behind me.

“What happened?”

“Celeste.”

He looked toward the road.

“Oh, shit.”

I turned around.

“Does she even have a licence?”

Josh stared at me.

“I have absolutely no idea.”

“Great.”

I ran back inside and grabbed my phone.

“Josh, get your keys.”

“What are we doing?”

“Going after her.”

I turned toward Lilly.

“You stay here.”

She looked offended.

“What?”

“If Celeste comes back, call me immediately.”

“But—”

“No arguments.”

I grabbed my jacket.

“I don’t want you anywhere near this until we know where she’s going.”

Josh grabbed his keys.

“Come on.”

I pointed toward Freeze.

“I’m leaving him here.”

Josh nodded.

“Lilly can keep an eye on him.”

I glanced at Lilly.

“And if she comes back, call me.”

“I heard you the first time.”

We rushed outside.

As Josh started his SUV, he looked over at me.

“You know we’re going after her anyway.”

“I know.”

“So why did you tell Lilly to call you if Celeste comes back?”

I looked at him.

“Because we don’t know where she’s going.”

He waited.

I sighed.

“I don’t want Lilly walking into an unknown situation and getting hurt.”

Josh nodded.

“And?”

“And Celeste already has enough people pissing her off.”

He laughed.

“You mean Lilly?”

“Exactly.”

Josh shook his head.

“Yeah. Lilly does have that effect on people.”

He grinned.

“But I gotta admit, Celeste gives as good as she gets.”

Despite myself, I laughed.

“Yeah. She does.”

The laughter disappeared quickly.

I pulled up the tracking app on my phone.

A blue dot appeared on the screen.

My truck.

“Got her.”

Josh glanced at the screen.

“Where’s she heading?”

“I don’t know yet.”

I gave him directions as we followed the GPS.

Then another thought occurred to me.

I grabbed his phone.

“Give me your login.”

“To what?”

“The surveillance system.”

His eyebrows shot up.

“Oh.”

I quickly logged in.

Our system gave us access to the cameras we’d installed in my truck.

I activated them.

The screen showed the interior.

Celeste was behind the wheel.

Loki was sitting beside her.

And then music filled the vehicle.

Eric Carmen.

I smiled.

Billy, sitting in the back, went very still.

“That was Tina’s favourite song.”

His voice was quiet.

Sad.

For a moment, nobody said anything.

Then I looked at Celeste on the screen.

She was driving alone.

Heading somewhere none of us knew about.

And suddenly, I had a very bad feeling about where she was going.

⸻

Celeste

Forty-five minutes later, the road had become almost completely deserted.

No houses.

No traffic.

Just trees, open pasture and the occasional horse or cattle-filled paddock.

I checked the rear-view mirror again.

Still nothing.

I relaxed slightly.

Then I saw it.

The concealed track.

My heart gave a little jump.

I turned off the main highway.

The narrow track disappeared between the trees almost immediately.

If you didn’t know it was there, you’d never see it.

That was exactly why Grandpa had loved this place.

Five thousand acres of family land hidden away from the rest of the world.

And somewhere deep in those hills was the one place I’d always felt completely safe.

The cabin.

I followed the old dirt track, slowing down whenever the road became rough.

The last thing I needed was to destroy Jamie’s truck after stealing it.

Loki sat in the passenger seat, staring through the windscreen.

He knew where we were.

His tail started wagging.

“You remember this place, don’t you?”

He looked at me.

I smiled.

It had been too long.

I hadn’t been here since Grandpa died.

The memory hit me unexpectedly.

Grandpa teaching me how to shoot.

How to move quietly.

How to read tracks.

How to survive.

He’d taught Mum the same things.

And Mum had passed them on to me.

This place wasn’t just a cabin.

It was part of my family.

Part of me.

I drove deeper into the hills.

Eventually the trees opened into a clearing.

The cabin appeared ahead.

I pulled the truck to a stop.

For several seconds, I simply sat there.

Then I switched off the engine.

Silence swallowed the clearing.

I climbed out and looked around.

Everything appeared exactly as I remembered.

The cabin looked ordinary from the outside.

It wasn’t.

Grandpa had turned it into a fortress.

The windows and doors had reinforced security bars.

The alarm system was still installed.

Every approach to the cabin had been carefully considered.

He’d been a Marine.

Security had never been something he took lightly.

Mum had maintained everything after his death.

Now she was gone.

Which meant this place belonged to me.

I walked to the hiding place we’d used for decades and retrieved the spare key.

Loki followed me inside.

I locked the door behind us.

Then I entered the security code and disabled the alarm.

I stood in the centre of the cabin.

For the first time since Mum died, I felt something close to peace.

But I hadn’t come here to hide.

I’d come here to prepare.

I crossed the room and found the concealed doorway.

My fingers ran over the familiar edge.

I opened it.

Behind it was Grandpa’s hidden weapons room.

The weapons safe was exactly where I remembered it.

I opened it.

Inside were the things I’d come here for.

I took two handguns.

Two boxes of ammunition.

And two military tactical knives.

I stared at the weapons in my hands.

This was what I’d been taught to use.

What Grandpa had trusted me with.

What Mum had trained me for.

I wasn’t going to wait helplessly for someone to find me.

If they came…

I would be ready.

I locked the safe and closed the hidden doorway.

Then I found a backpack in one of the bedrooms.

I emptied it onto the floor.

Clothes.

Old camping supplies.

A few forgotten items.

I stuffed the weapons and ammunition inside.

Then I zipped the bag shut.

I was halfway through the kitchen when I heard something.

An engine.

I froze.

Loki’s ears shot up.

I slowly turned toward the window.

The sound grew louder.

Someone was coming.

My heart slammed against my ribs.

I grabbed Loki’s collar and dropped behind the kitchen counter.

“Stay.”

The vehicle came closer.

Then stopped.

My breathing became shallow.

A door opened.

Then another.

Footsteps sounded outside.

I tightened my grip on Loki’s collar.

Who the hell had followed me?

⸻

Jamie

We’d been following the GPS signal for more than an hour.

The road had become increasingly isolated, and when we finally turned onto an old dirt track, I knew we’d left civilization behind.

Josh slowed the SUV.

“Where the hell is she going?”

“I don’t know.”

We drove deeper into the hills.

Thick timber surrounded us.

Then suddenly, the trees opened.

A clearing appeared.

And there was my truck.

Parked in front of a cabin.

I felt a wave of relief.

At least we’d found her.

I climbed out.

Josh and Billy followed.

I checked the truck first.

Empty.

No keys.

“She has them.”

Josh nodded.

I scanned the clearing.

Nothing looked wrong.

But the soldier in me didn’t trust that.

I checked the tree line.

The windows.

The surrounding hills.

Nothing.

I walked toward the cabin.

Climbed the porch.

And knocked.

“Celeste!”

No answer.

I knocked again.

“Celeste, it’s Jamie. Open the door.”

I heard movement inside.

Then the lock turned.

The door opened.

And there she was.

Alive.

Unhurt.

I released a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.

Relief hit me so hard my knees almost weakened.

Then anger followed.

Not because she’d stolen my truck.

Because she could have been dead.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly.

She wouldn’t meet my eyes.

“I know you’re mad. I just really needed to come up here.”

I swallowed everything I wanted to say.

Not here.

Not yet.

“We should get going.”

She looked surprised.

“Okay.”

She turned and carefully locked the cabin down.

I watched her activate the security system before locking the door.

Then she picked up the coat she’d left on the porch.

Billy and Josh were waiting beside my truck.

Celeste noticed them.

She didn’t say a word.

She simply walked past them.

Loki jumped into the back.

Celeste opened the passenger door and climbed inside.

She placed her coat on the floor.

Something about the way she handled it caught my attention.

She was being careful.

Too careful.

I frowned.

But before I could think about it, she buckled her seat belt.

I looked at Josh.

He was watching her too.

“You’re going to have an interesting drive home,” he said, trying to hide his grin.

“She doesn’t look particularly happy.”

I ignored him.

“I’m just glad she’s okay.”

Billy nodded.

“You and me both.”

He looked toward Celeste.

“She’s strong-willed.”

He smiled sadly.

“She gets that from her mother.”

I looked at him.

“I think she gets it from both her parents.”

Billy gave me a small smile.

I opened the driver’s door.

“I’ll see you both at home.”

Then I climbed inside.

As I closed the door, I looked at Celeste.

She was staring out the window.

Avoiding me.

She knew I was worried.

She knew I’d been terrified.

And she was probably expecting me to lose my temper.

But I wasn’t angry.

Not really.

I was scared.

Because for the last hour, every possible nightmare had run through my head.

What if she’d been followed?

What if she’d been ambushed?

What if the men who killed Tina had found her first?

What if I’d arrived too late?

I could replace the truck.

I couldn’t replace her.

And somehow, I had a feeling Celeste still didn’t understand that.

⸻

Celeste

The drive home was painfully quiet.

I stared out the passenger window.

I could feel Jamie looking at me occasionally.

I didn’t look at him.

Eventually, guilt won.

“I’m sorry I took your truck.”

“I’m not mad.”

I turned toward him.

“Why not?”

“Because it’s a truck.”

“But it’s your truck.”

“Yeah.”

“A nice truck.”

He glanced at me.

“So that’s your reasoning?”

I frowned.

“What?”

“You think the only reason I should be angry is because you stole a nice truck?”

I didn’t answer.

Because, honestly, I didn’t know what else to say.

Jamie sighed.

“Celeste, I don’t care about the truck.”

He kept his eyes on the road.

“It’s insured. If you wrecked it, I’d replace it.”

I looked at him.

“I was worried about you.”

Something tightened in my chest.

“What if something had happened to you?”

I looked away.

He was quiet for a moment.

Then he added softly,

“What if I hadn’t found you?”

I didn’t have an answer.

The rest of the drive passed in silence.

But his words stayed with me.

When we finally pulled into the driveway, I grabbed my coat and climbed out.

Loki followed.

I waited until everyone was distracted before picking up my bundled coat.

Then I hurried upstairs.

I closed my bedroom door.

Locked it.

And finally allowed myself to breathe.

I pulled the coat from around the backpack.

I looked at the bag.

Inside were the things I’d gone to the cabin for.

The things nobody knew I’d taken.

Weapons.

Ammunition.

Knives.

I stared at them.

Then I pushed the backpack deep into the bottom of my closet and covered it with clothes.

Nobody could know.

Not Jamie.

Not Josh.

Not Billy.

Not Lilly.

This was my fight.

And for the first time since my mother’s death…

I was ready to fight back.