Behind me, she calmly calls out, “Out of the northeast. Twenty, twenty-five miles per hour. Gusts twice as much.”
Calming my breath, I caress the trigger and curl my finger ever-so-slowly.
I fire. I miss.Dammit.
As the bastard jumps. I send another round. He doesn’t get up, so he’s either hiding or wounded. Regardless, I bought us some time.
“Follow me.” Butt high, thighs wide, Kell crawls toward a group of stubby pines.
Under the trees, airways tight, I settle my nerves and focus.We reach the summit. We save lives. There are no other choices.“We need cover, Kell.”
“Working the problem. Give me a second.” Binoculars raised, she scans the panorama. A few moments later, she scrambles up the steep incline on all fours. Following her, my knees wet and sore, I check for a signal every hundred yards or so.
“Stop. I’ve got bars.” My hands shake as I tear off my glove. Once the spreadsheet is sent, I text our GPS position to the FBI and Patten Securities.
If nothing else, our bodies will be recovered. Placing my call, a wave of remorse washes over me. I wish I had let my mom know I did forgive her. Dammit, I don’t want to die.
“Hunter? What the hell is going on?” When Wulf answers the phone, my mind snaps back to the present.
Worried we may lose our connection, I rapid-fire my report. “Spreadsheet. Ricin event. Locations, dates. Did you get it?”
When the device crackles a response, I say a short prayer. “Repeat. Over.”
“We have the spread—Sitrep?” At least if we’re killed, it won’t be in vain.
My gaze locked on Kelly’s, I pick up my long gun. “Two of us. Armed. Terrorists closing in. Number unknown. Cabin compromised. Target road.”
“Roger that.” Over the static of his voice, the buzz of snowmobiles grows louder.
Swallowing hard, I speak to him for perhaps the last time. “Thanks, Wulf. Tell my… Never mind. Take these bastards down, dammit.”
I grit my teeth, prepared to fight. If I’m lucky, I can rescue the woman I love.
When an icy glove cups my cheek, I raise my eyes to a fiercely determined face. “Are you giving up on me, Wildlife?”
My heart swells. She is so magnificent.“Not yet, sweetheart, but it’s going to get rough.”
She stands, her automatic under one arm. “Well, get off your butt. Today is as good as any to die.”
Wouldn’t you know it? Fate gives me reason to live, then tries to off me. Ain’t life a bitch?
Done with my mini-pity-party, I picture girding my loins, and chuckle.
“What’s so funny?” When O’Malley loses her balance, I reach out to catch her.
“Tell ya later.” Closer now, the Skidoos’ engines whine. No doubt, their riders struggle over this hilly terrain.
Near a glade, she slips off her snowshoes. On her belly, she climbs on a flat rock, aiming down the hill. “Let’s take out as many of these motherfuckers as we can.”
Under the circumstances, I grin at her pure grit. “Yes, ma’am.”
One, two, three vehicles roar into sight. While their motors rumble, I kill one mercenary while she takes out another.
We engage until we run out of cartridges. As I pull my pistol, a male uphill from our position strikes terror into my heart.
“Drop your weapons.”
Arms up, one digit still on the trigger, I turn toward a towering mercenary in white camos. Praying for a quick death, I coil my body.
