“I did take it… but…” She shakes her head, wiping her tears away. “But it’s gone now.”
Trying to read these men, I narrow in on the gun. I need him to drop it. Fast.
“Put your gun down and we can talk,” I say calmly, wanting to remain in control. Holding this axe, I have a feeling this situation could turn deadly all too fast.
“Talk?” Joe laughs. “I don’t talk.”
Max smirks. “Yeah, you just eat.”
Joe walks to the coffee table and takes a plate of French toast, eating it as if he doesn’t have a care in the world. I back around, keeping myself between Cozy and these men.
“Where is the money?” Max demands.
“I took it. I did. I stole the money but then the car… It was broken into while I was in a store. Nothing is left.”
“Who would break into your piece of shit car?” Joe asks, licking his syrupy fingers.
Cozette reaches for my hand; I hold onto her tight. She is shaking like she might blow over any moment. “Did you hire someone to come after me? Because maybe they double-crossed you.”
Max hisses his distaste, focusing on Joe. “Motherfucking Andre. I’m gonna kill that bastard.”
It gives me enough time to act. I use his anger at Andre to take control. I move toward him, quickly, and I swing the flat of the axe into his gun arm, knocking the gun loose and him to his feet. Reaching for his hand with the gun, I bend his wrist until he lets go of the revolver. It slides to the floor and Cozette runs for it as it spins on the hardwood.
With the gun in her hand, she lifts it, cocking it. My girl is one bad ass woman and it makes me love her all the more.
Using both hands, I shove the axe handle under Max’s chin, I choke him. Making the decision is easy. He either does what we want or he dies.
Joe drops the plate of French toast and it cracks as it hits the floor, but Cozy, with tears falling down her porcelain cheeks, turns to him. “I am not your property anymore. I heard your plans. You want to sell me to the highest bidder? Well, that won’t happen. I will kill you before I let it.”
“Drop the gun, Cozette,” Max breathes, though the words are choked as he struggles. “Don’t do something stupid.”
“Stupid?” she asks. “The stupid thing was letting you keep me locked up for how many years? I don’t need you and I never did.”
Joe’s arms are now raised and he looks at Cozy, trying to gain her sympathy. “We took good care of you,” he says.
“Care of me? You don’t know the first thing about care. Whitaker, though, he understands what it means to protect someone. Protect me.”
Max’s fingers grab at the wooden axe handle, but I don’t let up. “He doesn’t care about you, Cozy,” Max grunts. “You’re trash.”
With that, my anger pushes past a breaking point and I use both hands to hold the handle against the guys neck as I knee him in the nuts . “Don’t talk about my wife like that.”
“Wife?” Cozy turns to me, but the gun is still trained on Joe.
“Yes, my wife,” I say, my adrenaline racing, my need for her stronger than it has ever been. “I fucking love you, Cozette, and I won’t let these fuckers ruin what we’ve got.”
“I don’t want to kill anyone,” she says, whispering.
“I know, baby,” I say. “How much money do they need to be paid off?”
“Two hundred grand,” she whimpers.
Fuck, that’s a lot of cash. And all I can think is, what would be happening to her right now in this cabin if I wasn’t here? If they had tracked her down and she’d been confronted by these two thugs?
It fucking kills me to think about… about her being alone with these men, threatened and scared. I thank God that I’m here. That this is my cabin and that I felt the need to leave the city yesterday.
I take the gun from Cozy, and she takes my phone. I march toward the men until they are pinned to the wall.
Cozy is on the phone, talking to a 911 operator.
Soon enough the cops are here, handcuffing Max and Joe and I have Cozy wrapped tight in my arms.
“That’s the address to the compound,” she tells the officers once the men are in a police car. “There’s cocaine in the safe, and illegal guns too. You can call me into the station any time you want. But right now, I’m spending Christmas morning with my husband.”
I lift my eyebrows, in awe of Cozy, as she speaks with a police officer. She may think she comes from a bad place, but it’s made her a strong ass woman. I’m so proud of her.