“I did.”
“That’s…” She snapped her mouth shut.
“Cold?” His dismissive huff expressed more than words. It told her exactly what he thought of the people chasing them. And wasn’t he right after all? If this group was anything like the others she’d encountered, they’d stop at nothing to get what they wanted.
“Well executed.”
“You think?” He sucked in a deep, audible breath. “Well, we’re not out yet.”
She peered around, blind until the dog shot ahead, blazing a pale trail through the murkiness. With her first step, she banged her shin into a rock and swore.
“Here.” The man put his gloved hand out, palm up. “Take it.”
She paused, staring for a few seconds before letting her eyes rise to meet his in the dark. “Okay,” she said, surprised at how certain her own voice sounded. Then again, she had no other choice.
***
Ash watched from the shadows as what had once been a homey, rustic wooden cabin lit up the night like a torch.Mystery solved.
Well, part of it. He knew now why the giant had led them to his home.
To blow us all straight to hell.
An excellent play. Ash had caught the scent of an accelerant the moment the cabin’s front door had swung open. Most of the others hadn’t been so lucky.
Guilt scratched at him. His warning shout had come too late.
Then again, these operatives should have known better. A man like their team leader, Deegan, who according to Ash’s intel had led missions in hot spots around the world, should have known better. He should have protected his people, taken the time to scout out the situation rather than blundering in like that and risking lives.
Ash looked around, glad that he didn’t have to answer to that man.
In the meantime, their quarry had just grown more interesting.
The wind shifted, bringing with it the scent of an approaching storm.
Not a good start to the mission. They’d just arrived and most of the Titan Security team were either injured, dead, or dying. The real bugger was that as of this moment, rescue was impossible. Too dark and, with the imminent weather change, too dangerous.
Ash made his slow, careful way around the perimeter, following the paw prints he’d first spotted near to the crash site. The canine, he reckoned, would be what gave his quarry away. Eventually.
He sighed, regretting the devastation, not just to human lives and nature, but to what had been a lovely little home in the wild. This place—the cabin, the scenery, the absolute isolation—spoke to him. He felt something like kinship for the man. And respect.
But he had a job to do.
He catalogued each and every paw and boot print as he returned to the front and approached the team leader. “Deegan,” he said, with a hint of petty satisfaction at the big, square-jawed American’s startled response.
“Shit, man. How’d you get there?”
“Walked,” Ash replied, not showing a hint of humor.
A snowflake curled to the ground between them.
“Lost four good people tonight.” Deegan couldn’t, for the life of him, speak quietly. Even his whisper boomed. “Now you’re a fuckin’ comedi—”
“Target’s gone.”
“Yeah, I know they’re—” Deegan’s hand dropped from where he worked a gloved palm over his shaven skull. “You saying they survived this?”
“You won’t find their remains in there.” Ash put out a hand, watching as a few more flakes settled on the worn leather of his glove only to disappear, as fleeting as life itself. “It was a trap.”
