Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 8

assholes. The back gate of the truck swung open, dim light poured in. Mac squinted, praying like hell his captors wouldn't see his eyes open. He had no doubt he and Grayson were destined to fill a shallow grave out in the desert somewhere. Had the Carpenter kids suffered the same fate, or were they back in the monastery, suffering for the sins of their parents?
    A single man climbed up in to the back of the truck, his submachine gun held loosely at his side. Mac could take him easily, but he worried Grayson would try at the same time. He was closer, the dude was his take down and he trusted Grayson would let him handle it.
    Fifteen feet... ten feet... five... action. The guy stopped beside Mac's feet, his gaze shifted to Grayson. Talk about opportunity. Mac swung his legs, connecting with the jerk, knocking him forward. He reached up, grabbed onto the dude's shirt and pulled him to the ground, smashing the asshole's face with his hand following by his elbow. Five seconds and the bastard was out cold, his body splayed on the hard wood floor of the truck beside Grayson.
    Grayson smiled up at him, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Nice, good form. I give you an eight."
    "Eight?"
    "Yeah, had you gotten the gun away from him before he fell on the strap, a ten, but now we have to work to get the damn thing out from under his fat body."
    "Fine," Mac grumbled. "Eight, that deserved a nine at least, maybe even a nine point five."
    Grayson grabbed their captor's gun and Mac gladly let him have the weapon, knowing Grayson always had his back. Now, they had to figure out how many people waited for them outside the truck. With his nerves freaked out, Mac sidled up to the open door, hoping none of the idiots would open fire. A bullet could pierce the thin shell of the truck, no problem.
    "You good?" Grayson asked.
    "Yeah, you want to poke out first?"
    "Might as well. I got the gun. Give me a kiss, I want some of your luck."
    Mac smiled down at his best friend and chuckle a bit. They'd always been close, but working with Grayson now was as rewarding as it was nerve-wracking.
    Grayson lifted one brow, "What's so funny?"
    "Nothing. I like working with you."
    "And I like screwing you." Grayson leaned in for his kiss before edging to the opening, the gun ready. He peeked around the door then slid back. "Clear."
    Grayson looked again and climbed down, jumping to the ground and leant back against the truck, protecting his body.
    Mac jumped down next and dropped to the ground, searching for any shifting of feet at the front of the vehicle. He saw no one, no movement, nothing that looked human and determined they were alone. They circled the truck twice, finding no one else.
    "I'm disappointed," Grayson said as he leaned against the side of the truck.
    Mac ran his fingers over Grayson's chest. "Why?"
    "They only sent one guy. Seriously, they thought they could get rid of us that easily. I'm kind of insulted. One guy?" Grayson said.
    "They probably hadn't heard of us. Maybe they thought we would still be tied up. You know, we almost didn't get out of those zip strips before the truck stopped. Different story had we been still bound."
    "I don't doubt your ability to save us from certain death. You've come through so many times," Grayson said.
    "The only question remains is, where the hell are they keeping the Carpenter kids?" Mac didn't want to believe the kids were already dead. They had to be in the basement of the monastery. No other option, unless of course the bastards had killed them. Fuck, killing grown men was different from killing kids.
    "Let's go back."
    "I don't know where we are," Mac said.
    "Neither do I."
    "Come on, let's see what's in the cab."
    "Wait," Grayson grabbed onto Mac's shoulder.
    "What?"
    'The guy in the back. We need to tie him up. We can't leave him loose in the back."
    "Yeah, let's go take care of him."
    ****
    After tying the guy up and searching his pockets they closed off the back of the truck before looking through the cab for a map. Of course there wasn't one, so Mac guessed they weren't too far from where they'd come and Grayson agreed. They turned around and drove until they came to an intersection. Mac slowed to a stop, staring off into the darkness.
    "You remember the name of the towns near the place?" Grayson hated being lost. It had been years since he'd actually been lost and unable to find the place he needed to go.
    "Dolores? Nuevo Zaragoza. Those two I'm fairly certain."
    "Let's take a left. If we