But Rowan’s pale head bobbing before him made it worthwhile.
Henderson jerked and skidded, as if he’d been hit.Rowan, right on his heels, caught his arm and hauled him upright.And yes, it was official.She had perhaps gone crazy, because she was laughing as she hauled the old man along, her eyes wide and wild, pale cheeks slick and shiny with tears Del could feel against his own face.
Then, wonder of wonders, he heard tires on gravel.A black van, headlights dark and dead, speeding toward them, throwing up chunks of crushed stone.
“It’s us, guys.”Yoshi, enunciating clearly even through static.“We’re coming to get you, so continue on present course.Zeke got clipped and Boomer’s furious, but otherwise we’re at a hundred percent.”
Henderson didn’t bother correcting him about the hundred percent.Neither did Del; he needed his breath for running.
A skidding, smoking half-turn and the side of the van was open, Brew leaning out.Rowan all but boosted Henderson in; Del was right behind her, crowding, his hands on her waist.He fairly threw her into the van.Hopped in himself, grabbing the quick-release catch.
Cath swerved, avoiding something in the van’s path.Boomer already had his comm off and was ripping open packs of gauze.Del slammed the door, the noise of bullets suddenly distant.Darkness pressed like a wet bandage against his eyes despite the faint glow of monitors.
The plastic explosive had worked better than even Yoshi had suggested.Every light in the complex was out.
“Goddammit!Motherfuck!” Cath was swearing, a low steady monotony of obscenities so familiar Del could have mouthed along.He ignored it, sliding his guns back into the holsters.The air was suddenly close and rank.
“Rowan?Ro?”I sound like I’m fifteen again.
“How bad is he?”Rowan’s voice broke; she sobbed, openly.Brew was already sliding into the passenger seat while Yoshi braced himself in the tiny chair, fingers dancing over the keyboard, stringing code.
They weren’t out of the woods yet.
“Bad news, Cath!”Yoshi yelled.“Front door’s closed!”
Cath’s only answer was an unrepeatable term which raised even Del’s eyebrows and the sudden jolt of acceleration as she smashed the gas pedal to the floor.Del lost his balance and fell, managing to land on something soft and familiar.
If I’m going to die, I’m going to do it kissing her.He found her cheek against his in the darkness.The van careened over a bump, Rowan let out a short cry of pain he smothered with his own mouth.
“You’re bleeding pretty badly,” Boomer muttered.“Dammit, old man, say something.”
“You fuss like an old woman.”Henderson’s voice, tight with pain.Del wondered where he’d been hurt, found he didn’t care at the moment.“Quit it.”
“You’re stepping on me.”This from Zeke, uncomfortably wedged in the far back.
Del also didn’t care who was stepping on Zeke.He slid his fingers into Rowan’s hair and kissed her again, savagely, teeth pressing against her lips.She gasped into his mouth; he tasted the chemical sourness of some drug.Fear smashed into him.Zed?Or something else?Slick wetness on her cheeks, and she shuddered so hard it was almost convulsions.Her hip was braced against the door; a small wounded sound rose in her throat.
“I’ll be all right.Just my leg.I’ll need a fucking cane.”Henderson said, his hand white in the dimness as he reached for steadiness, braced against the edge of Yoshi’s console.
“Watch the guns, watch the guns!”Brewster’s voice hit a pitch Del had never heard before.
“Get ready!”Cath shouted.“Or this is gonna be onefuckuvashort trip!”
“Oh, cra—” Whatever Henderson intended to say was lost in the impact as Cath barreled them through the fence.Bullets chewed along armor plating, but with the grid down and the backup power disabled, the entire brooding anthill of Zero-Fifteen was critically disabled.
By the time the Sigs got their wits about them, the Society ops would be lost in the urban wilds of Taos, scattering to rendezvous back at Headquarters.The van would be abandoned, the bodies of Section 511 would be found at the bottom of a dry gulch, and the Society would have pulled off yet another hat-trick miracle.
Jesus Christ.He kissed Rowan’s cheek, her ear, the slippery tangle of her hair.Then communication, as he flooded the link with crazed relief at finding her.
Don’t do that, don’t you EVER do that to me again.Goddammit, woman, I thought I’d lost you.You could have been killed.You could have been?—
“How we doing, Yosh?”Henderson heaved himself up, his voice brittle with pain.Boomer made an exasperated sound and braced the General, trying to keep compression against a wound high on the old man’s right thigh.
“No pursuit, sir.There’s some kind of snarl in the chain of command, and nothing’s getting done.Better than we’d hoped.”Yoshi sounded cautiously optimistic.“Cath?”
“We didn’t lose any tires, so I’m happy.Zeke?Zeke, baby, talk to me.”
“I think I sprained my ankle, and Boomer stepped on me,” Zeke answered morosely.“Great drivin’, Cathy.”
