Chapter 12 - The Siege of Oakhaven
The heavy oak front door of the cabin exploded inward in a shower of splinters and iron hardware, crashing onto the wooden floorboards with a deafening thud.
“Get down!” Miller roared, drawing his pistol and diving behind the heavy stone fireplace just as a volley of submachine gun fire chewed through the front wall, sending splinters and drywall flying everywhere.
Jax tackled Clara out of her rocking chair just as a stream of bullets punched through the chair back where she had been sitting a second before. He shoved her behind the heavy oak dining table, then scrambled across the room toward the corner cot where Leo was instantly jolted awake, screaming in absolute terror.
“Jax! What’s happening?!” Leo cried, clutching his knees to his chest.
“Stay down, buddy! Keep your head under the mattress!” Jax yelled over the deafening roar of gunfire outside. He grabbed a heavy iron fireplace poker, his mind racing for an exit route.
Miller fired three rapid shots through the shattered window frame toward the porch, earning a sharp curse from the shadows outside. “We’re surrounded! At least four men with automatic weapons! They’re using suppressors!”
“They want the ledger!” Clara shouted from behind the table, coughing violently as drywall dust choked the air. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a heavy, grease-stained manila envelope tied with twine, holding it up in the dim light. “They want this!”
Jax looked at the envelope, then at Leo huddled trembling beneath the cot. There was no time to negotiate, no time to wait for reinforcements.
“Miller, cover the back window!” Jax ordered, grabbing his heavy leather jacket and wrapping it protectively around Leo’s small shoulders. He scooped the boy up into his arms in one swift, desperate motion.
“Jax, you can't go out the front!” Clara screamed.
“We aren't going out the front,” Jax growled.
With a mighty heave, Jax kicked out the rotting wooden panels of the pantry window at the back of the cabin, shattering the glass and tumbling out into the damp mud of the backyard with Leo clutched tightly against his chest.
Bullets buzzed past his ears like angry hornets, chewing into the dirt just inches from his boots as he sprinted toward the dense treeline along the riverbank. He slammed down behind a massive fallen pine log, shielding Leo with his own body while gasping for air.
Miller vaulted through the pantry window right behind them, firing his last three rounds into the darkness before diving into the mud beside Jax.
“Where’s Clara?!” Jax shouted over the sound of footsteps closing in from around the cabin.
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“She’s right behind us—!” Miller started to yell, but a sudden flash of headlights lit up the treeline as an armored tactical vehicle burst through the fence, its blinding spotlights pinning Jax, Leo, and Clara against the dark forest wall.
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