Your son for Mine

chapter 21

Mario had felt his heart stop when he'd finally found a hole in the barn wall that let him peer inside. Lucas is naked, held up by his neck. Abraham Leby walked around him, stalking, prodding with a cattle prod. Abraham Leby is a dead man. He needed to get inside, but first, he needed to get Leby away from Lucas. Away from the winch that would wind the rope tighter around Lucas's neck. Get him away before he could do anything with that fucking cattle prod.

Quickly, he turned and let his eyes scan his surroundings. Nothing but weeds surrounded him. An old tractor, long past working he was sure, sat about thirty feet away. At the far corner of the barn past the small door, Mario saw what looked like the edge of an aluminum trash can. He moved closer to see and found not one but two. Mario had to improvise. He tried to tip one of them, but it was heavy. He was only able to tilt it an inch and he heard liquid sloshing around the inside. He grabbed at the other and it moved. He sent up a prayer. He bent his knees and lifted it, moving back a few feet and hoisting it as high as he could, throwing it with all his strength into the other can. A loud clanging sound echoed through the trees. And he moved.

He pulled the gun from his waistband, flicked the safety off, and took two quick steps
to the door just as a strangled, garbled scream came from inside the barn. Mario lifted his leg and kicked the door in, his gun held straight out in front of him. The door bounced off the wall behind it but he barely noticed as his entire focus was on Abraham Leby, who had moved from behind Lucas and now stood between them.

"Get on your knees." Mario stared the man down. His gun was pointed at chest level. He managed to keep his voice cold and steady even as his heart was threatening to beat out of his chest. He needed to stay in control. He heard Lucas's labored breaths, but he couldn't afford to look up at him, knowing the moment he did, his focus would shift, and that might be all Leby needed to get the upper hand.
Leby stood there. His gaze directed at Mario's, cattle prod still gripped in the hand at his side. He cocked his head and narrowed his eyes as if he were trying to puzzle out the situation. He had the answer, as he put gentle pressure on the trigger, effectively letting the man know there would be no compromise.

"Get On Your fucking Knees."

The corner of the man's mouth turned up slightly. Mario's brows knit together questioningly, but the other man held his hands out to his sides and his hand loosened slightly on the cattle prod. He made to drop it, but instead, swung his hand back and flung it forward as he charged. Mario squeezed the trigger.

The prod went wide and Leby fell to the floor, a perfect red circle in the center of his forehead. Brain matter and bone littered the floor. Mario took a deep breath and clicked on the safety of the gun before he tucked it into the back of his pants.

Finally, he looked up at Lucas, who stood stock still, silent tears running down his cheeks. Mario felt the sting of tears behind his own eyes, and he crossed the barn and bent down to cut the rope using the knife at his ankle. Lucas slumped and Mario reached out to gather him in his arms before he could fall.

"I've got you, lucs. I've got you." Lucas's eyes stared at him, through him. His nose was crooked and looked broken. His left eye was swollen, almost shut. Ugly purple bruises were blooming on both sides of his face. Mario couldn't fight the tears anymore as they ran down, wetting his cheeks.

"It's okay, baby. He can't hurt you. No one is ever going to hurt you again. Let me get these ropes off you okay?" Mario saw the tiniest of nods.

Gently, he turned Lucas around and reached up and loosened the noose before cutting it. He didn't want to have to pull it over lucas's head; he was already traumatized enough. Then he sliced through the rope at Lucas's wrists and fought to keep his breath silent as he looked at the angry abrasions they had left there. Oh. Lucs. He bent down and grabbed the pants at Lucas's ankles and gently pulled them up.

His eyes leveled on an ugly gash running from Lucas's ass to the middle of his back where it ended in a burn mark left from the cattle prod. Mario leaned over and placed a tender kiss on the wound. Lucas's body started shaking, and the sounds of sobs filled the room. Mario wrapped his arms around him and pulled him tight against his body. Abraham Leby got off easy.

"Come on lucas. Let's get out of here." Mario turned Lucas around and tucked his head against into his neck, making sure to keep his body between Lucas and the corpse on the floor as he moved them out the door.