"Deck!"
Vivian's scream cuts through the fog of pain. I try to push myself up, but my left arm won't cooperate. Blood is spreading across my shoulder, hot and wet.
"Run." My voice comes out as a rasp. "Vivian, run."
She's scrambling back up the slope toward me. I try to wave her off, but my arm won't move.
"I'm not leaving you."
"Goddamn it, Vivian?—"
The men emerge from the cave. Three of them. Rifles raised.
Vivian raises her Glock and fires. The shot goes wide, but it makes them duck for cover. She fires again, placing rounds near their position like I taught her.
"Go!" I grab her ankle with my good hand. "Please."
She looks down at me. The fear in her eyes is overwhelming, but so is the determination.
"I'll come back for you."
"Don't—"
But she's already gone, sprinting down the slope into the darkness. The men emerge from cover and two of them give chase while the third approaches me with his rifle trained on my chest.
"Don't move." Professional voice. Calm.
I couldn't move if I wanted to. The blood loss is making me dizzy. The world tilts and spins.
"Where's she going?"
"Fuck you."
The rifle butt catches me across the face, and the world goes black for a moment. When I come back, the contractor is speaking into a radio.
"Target One is down. Target Two heading west toward the main road. Collins and Meyer in pursuit."
The radio crackles. "Acquire Target Two. Target One is secondary."
Secondary. They want Vivian more than they want me. Of course they do. She's the witness. I'm just the bodyguard.
"Understood." The contractor looks down at me. "You're lucky. Boss wants you alive. Wants to know how she ended up here."
"I'll never?—"
Another blow to the head. This time, the darkness doesn't recede.
My last thought before unconsciousness takes me is Vivian's face. Her eyes as she promised to come back for me. Her voice telling me she loved me.
I failed her.
Just like I failed everyone else.
I don't knowhow long I'm out. When I wake, I'm still on the slope, but the contractor is gone. My hands are zip-tied in front of me, and my shoulder is a symphony of agony.
Vivian.
I struggle to sit up, my vision swimming. The moon has moved. At least an hour, maybe two. Long enough for them to catch her. Long enough for everything to go wrong.
