Edge of Anarchy (Edge of Collapse, #4)

by Kyla Stone

Liam squatted behind the cover of a cluster of trees about fifteen feet to the left of the trail of breadcrumb tracks that Pike had left for him to follow.

Pike had attempted to circle around and sneak up on Liam from behind. It wouldn’t work. He would use Pike’s own plan against him.

Liam had checked for double-backed tracks. He’d swept in a semi-circle from the obvious trail outward until he’d found it, and then he’d set up his ambush after checking the ground conditions around his firing position.

This deranged psychopath was dying today. Full stop.

This, however, was personal.

After what Pike had done to Hannah, the irreparable harm he had caused her… Liam wanted the scumbag to die a slow, painful death. For Liam’s face to be the last thing he ever saw.

Liam’s shot had gone wide, winging him in the shoulder instead of the chest.

Pike was shooting blindly, hoping to flush him out. It had the opposite effect. This time, Liam was able to get a bead on where he was likely hiding.

He had a mission, and nothing would get in his way.

Trepidation speared him. He had to get up, had to get to his feet and reassess the situation. Pike had the high ground now. Liam was a sitting duck.

Urgently, he tried to sit up, instinctively reaching for his weapon. Nothing happened. His body refused to obey.

His legs wouldn’t move. He couldn’t feel his feet. He couldn’t feel anything from the waist down.

He was numb. No, worse. He was paralyzed.

The moment his own body betrayed him.

He couldn’t move his legs, but he could still move his arms. He could still shoot. As long as he had breath in his lungs, he could fight.

He thought nothing of his own survival.

Only one thought drove him—ending Pike before he could g...

“Come on!” he shouted. “Come fight like a man!”

Liam waited.

Liam sought him through the scope. By the time he found him, he was up again and had shuffled back behind the trees.

He was limping. Liam had nailed him in the leg. How badly, he couldn’t tell.

“Show yourself, you coward!”

Pike did not come out. He did not show himself.

All Pike had needed was to get Liam out of the way. He’d accomplished that goal. Pike was already gone.

Anger like he’d never felt slashed through Liam. Rage mingled with gut-wrenching fear. Not for himself; never for himself. A monster was heading Hannah’s way. This time, there was nothing Liam could do to stop it.

Fresh anger flushed through him as he explained the attack on Darryl Wiggins and the townspeople’s attempt to take over a Winter Haven house. “They think they deserve Winter Haven. They want it for themselves.”

“We should just let them starve. Why are we working so hard to feed them when they repay us like this?”

It was stuffed full of food—fruits, vegetables, meats, and ice cream.

Julian knew she had two other freezers in the garage, both bursting at the seams. Not to mention the crates in the basement.

That dirty witch. All the food is stocking her shelves. Ugh!

“Tell Sutter’s men to stop feeding anyone who participated in the attack. And their families.”

“This is only a problem because of you.”

“You were supposed to stop Bishop weeks ago.”

“That’s the problem, isn’t it? You never know. You never plan. You never think things through. You just act—rashly and recklessly, without regard to consequences. All actions have consequences, Julian. They’re like dominos, one tumbling after another. If you don’t know exactly where that last domino will land, then you’re

acting blind. The strongest leaders—those that last, those that leave a true legacy—they never act rashly. They’re never blind. They know exactly what they’re doing, and why, every single step of the way. Do you understand?”

He wanted to defend himself, explain his actions, place the blame on someone—anyone—other than himself.

He knew better than to interrupt his mother when she was like this—using her silence as a weapon to cow him.

A look of intense displeasure, of disgust.

“Gavin would have taken care of this problem. He knew how to use a scalpel rather than a hammer. He always knew what to do.”

What a sick family.

They don’t know what’s best for them. But we do. I do. I have to make the hard decisions for them. That’s why I’m in charge. That’s how I must lead.”

“If the only place they can get supplies is through us, then they have to obey us,” Julian said, scrambling to satisfy his mother.

How 'bout you get off the teet and be a man?!

“That’s how we force them to do what we want. Anyone attacks Winter Haven again, we take the food away. Let those stubborn fathers and mothers watch their kids starve. See how the people like that.”

“I do not understand why some people insist on acting against their own self-interests. I wish there was another way.”

Sooo… that's not what you're doing?

His mother did not put out a plate for him or offer him a slice. He knew better than to ask for one.

“I will decide what you can or cannot do!” She shot him another displeased look. “Noah is on our side.”

A surge of jealousy burned through him. Bitterness mingled with loathing. Julian was supposed to be chief of police. Julian was supposed to be running this town.

“Let me deal with the new police chief. Noah requires more—finesse. But he’s loyal. I trust him to do what needs to be done.”

“In times of great crisis, we are forced to do what we must to protect the whole group. I thought what had happened would be enough. That everyone had suffered enough.”

“You weren’t the only one who made a mistake, son. So did I. We must fix it now, by any means necessary.”

They’d lost another eleven residents to hypothermia in the last eight days.

While all y'all cozy. If you were for the people maybe you'd stick it out in your own house just like your neighbors?

“Everybody dies, but not everybody really lives. I said we should make a list of all the stuff we wanted to do while we’re still alive. Because you don’t know how long it’ll last.”