Ashley
The first gunshot, mere minutes after Al left me alone in the cabin, made me flinch.
SSI was here. But what would happen to them? Al seemed confident he’d win. Even if he didn’t, he’d made sure we’d all die.
Tears rolled down my cheeks, and snot dripped from my nose. Unable to move my wrists or elbows meant I couldn’t lift my shoulder high enough to wipe either away.
I’m going to die a slobbery mess.
Not that it mattered. I’d end up blown to kingdom come or eaten by wild animals before anyone found me.
Thump thump thump.
I looked up toward the sound. Someone was on the roof.
Then it was eerily quiet. The only sounds were my sniffles and mumbled prayers.
A few more shots sounded.
Noise came from the roof.
People yelled.
Then it got quiet again. There was no way the fight had ended that quickly. I held my breath and waited.
When the sound of gunshots surrounded the cabin—lots of it, like in war movies—I flinched, squeezing my eyes shut as I shook uncontrollably and lost control of my bladder.
Chapter 49
Nathan
We made it to the perimeter without setting off any booby traps. Unexpected, but not surprising. Al would want me alive so he could exact his revenge, and booby traps couldn’t distinguish between targets.
“He wants to engage. I can’t speak for his men, but Primary Tango is an expert marksman,” I whispered to the teams.
“Copy that,” everyone answered.
“Sierra, they know we’re coming, so let us fire first. We’ll test their reactions.”
“Copy that. Sierra, stand by.” John’s voice cracked over the comms.
“Bravo Two, are you ready?”
“Target in my crosshairs.”
“Bravo Three?” I asked Maxwell.
Everyone had a bad guy in their sights. On my order, we fired and removed four obstacles in the blink of an eye. A few people fired blindly into the woods, but we’d already moved from our shooting positions and taken cover.
“Movement in the back. They’re turning to the front, but not moving.” John updated us.
“Movement on the roof,” Jay said.
“Has to be the primary target.” I was ninety-nine percent sure it was Al. Taking the high ground gave him a tactical advantage. Knowing we might need him alive if Ashley wasn’t in the cabin, I didn’t give the order to kill him. Al was a sick fuck who didn’t care who he hurt, and there was no telling what he’d done to Ashley.
“Awaiting orders.” John’s voice broke the silence and brought me back to the present.
“Sierra Two, you have a clean shot to the roof?”
