There was now nothing and no one between her and the vehicles on the road. The motorbike was still sputtering, still sending out noxious exhaust fumes. The two ATVs were pointing more or less in the direction of New Hope, or so Hallie thought. If she was quick enough, she could probably get across the distance and onto one of the vehicles and make her way to the main settlement.
And then what?She asked herself. As far as she knew, there was no radio or outside communication equipment in New Hope. There was, from what Rhodda had said, a group of armed men working for the so-called principal of the settlement. And Hallie had no idea how he might feel about having a strange woman turn up in what he thought of as his town with a wild tale of armed men, a crashed ATV and a missing Conclave Investigator. In low city, if Hallie had turned up at a police station, or other place of authority, with a tale about one of thehochlenin trouble, the local cops would have responded.Hochlenwere in charge, after all. But this was Paradise and she couldn’t be sure that anyone would care, let alone respond.
And there was Rhodda. Hallie couldn’t - wouldn’t - just leave the other woman, perhaps to be caught by Vinny and his ugly group. Rhodda had seemed genuinely terrified of Jonah. No, Hallie couldn’t leave her.
Which meant she needed to find some way to dispose of the remaining four men, find Girard, and collect Rhodda. A smile pulled her mouth. She didn’t actually need to find Girard. If he was awake and able to move, he would find her. But she did need to deal with the four remaining thugs. She looked down at the shotgun she was holding and the smile turned savage. She’d wanted something she could use as a club. It had proved effective once already, and she still had the element of surprise. The thugs all believed that Girard had been the one to take Shorty’s gun. They weren’t looking for a former skip-tracer from low city far, far out of her jurisdiction. And that gave Hallie a huge advantage.
Holding the shotgun ready to use as a blunt weapon, Hallie took a look around. Which pair to go after first? Vinny and his perhaps-brother or Red and Blondie? Vinny was definitely the most dangerous, from what she could tell. He was already on alert, looking for danger, and was going to be the hardest to tackle. Red and Blondie were likely easier targets. And if she took them out of play, quickly and quietly, she wouldn’t have to worry about them turning up when she went after Vinny.
Easing into a crouch, she slid out of the shrub she’d taken refuge in and made her way through the dense undergrowth, careful to keep her head and back lower than the hip-high plants, following the trail Red and Blondie had left behind them. Their already foul tempers were about to be made even worse.
Chapter thirteen
Halliehadbarelygoneten paces, making her way carefully around another tree with a thick shrub at its base, when a hand shot out of the shrub and covered her mouth, stifling her squeal of surprise. She brought the shotgun up on instinct and turned, aiming it at the head and shoulders of her attacker, only to halt the motion halfway through her swing when she recognised Girard.
Girard moved his hand from her mouth and brushed her cheek, giving her a slightly lopsided smile. One side of his face was bruised, eye almost swollen shut, skin scraped red and raw. The injuries looked bad, but she knew from experience that they were most likely superficial and would heal quickly. It was one advantage of beinghochlen. As well as the damage to his face, she could also see traces of dirt on his clothing that hadn’t been there earlier. All surface issues. There were no gunshot wounds. The governor’s men had missed their target. She drew a deep, shuddering breath in, relief coursing through her, heartthudding in her ears, and settled into the centre of the shrub with him. There was a hollow just big enough for the two of them, if they were happy to rub shoulders. And Hallie didn’t mind. From the way Girard was sitting, resting against her, she didn’t think he minded the closeness, either.
“Six of them,” Girard said, voice almost soundless next to her ear. “Or there were.”
“Two down,” Hallie confirmed. “Two in that direction. Two over there.” She pointed.
“Remarkable,” Girard said, with a smile that drew heat to her face. “I tried talking. They weren’t listening. I ran and lost them for a bit, but they are determined to find me. There was one in charge, seemed the most dangerous.”
“Vinny. Went that way,” Hallie told him, pointing again.
“Rhodda?”
“Hiding in a tree.” Hallie frowned. “Not sure where.”
“Take the other two out first, then tackle Vinny?” Girard suggested.
“That was my plan,” Hallie agreed. She took a closer look at him. He still had his gun, secure in the holster at his hip. Like her, it seemed he hadn’t wanted to use it and draw attention. “Weapon?”
He raised his fist, wrapped around what looked like a sturdy bit of tree branch. It would probably be more effective than the shotgun she was holding. He lifted his brows and pointed out of the shrub. Asking her if she was ready to go, she realised. She nodded. As much as she’d have liked to stay and sit with Girard for a while, now wasn’t the time.
She followed Girard out of the shrub and in the general direction that Blondie and Red had gone.
It wasn’t that difficult to find them. Hallie would have managed without Girard as a guide. She just had to follow the low-voiced muttering and cursing that the two men wereexchanging. She and Girard managed to creep up very close behind the men and then, in a move smooth enough that it felt coordinated, she and Girard rose up and swung their respective weapons, connecting solidly with the heads of the two men in front of them. Hallie couldn’t help her reflexive wince at the sound of the shotgun barrel connecting with Blondie’s head in a dull thud. She hoped she hadn’t done any permanent damage. She just wanted him out of the way long enough to let her and Girard, with Rhodda, escape.
With Red and Blondie unconscious on the ground, Girard spared a moment to tie their wrists and ankles together with lengths of rough rope. He grinned briefly when he saw Hallie’s surprise. “Took the rope out of one of the ATVs while they were in the woods,” he told her.
“Good thinking.” Hallie approved. He handed a coil of rope to her, and she looped it around the holster she wore, hoping she might have a chance to use it.
“The others are this way,” Girard said, and led the way back into the forest.
As they walked, Girard making almost no noise, Hallie feeling clumsy by comparison, she wondered how anyone found their way about the forest without tracking magic. After all the turns and changes of direction, she was completely, thoroughly lost. The trees all looked almost the same to her. There might be different foliage around different trunks, but that was as much as she could tell. She shivered, imagining Blondie and Red waking up, managing to free themselves, and then stumbling further into the forest rather than back out to the road. They could get so badly lost they might never find their way out. It was a moment of sympathy only. She was quite sure the men would have shot her just as easily as Shorty had shot at her earlier, accidentally killing his accomplice.
Then Girard halted in front of her, and crouched down. She settled next to him, and heard the sound of voices, coming closer.
“What in hells were you doing out here?” That was Vinny, sounding annoyed, with some of his self-control worn away.
“Hiding.” The voice that answered could only belong to Rhodda, unless another woman had somehow found herself out in the forest. Hallie closed her eyes briefly, guilt stabbing her. She’d left Rhodda and the other woman had been found. But she wasn’t defeated. There had been a sarcastic bite to the woman’s words that made Hallie’s brows lift, more surprised by the tone than the fact the two men had, apparently, found Rhodda. Vinny and his possible brother were closely connected with the governor, who seemed to terrify Rhodda. It was possible her fear was reserved for the man himself, and not his underlings.
“You were a long way from the crash,” the other man commented. “How did you get so far into the forest with those injuries?”
“None of your business.” There was a hard edge to Rhodda’s voice that Hallie approved of. A tough woman. Even having been caught by two of the governor’s men, she was holding her own.
The group came into view. Rhodda was walking in front of the two men, her head down, hands by her sides. She was moving slowly, with a hint of stiffness in her stride. The painkiller might be wearing off, or climbing into and out of a tree had jolted her injury. She was human, after all, and that meant more pain and a longer healing time.
