Page 81 of Breached

“Black,” I cut him off. “They have Black, so they have his radio. I can see the other two beams, and other than them, do I have a clear path right now to the house? Do you see anything?”

Silence.

“At this very moment, no.”

“Going back to the main channel,” I said quickly and switched frequencies. I sent off two short clicks and one long, letting everyone know our main channel was now compromised. Cole quickly sent back the same code with his three-short clicks at the end.

I needed to handle things quietly. I moved in as close as I could as I watched through my scope. Once I was close enough, I clicked my radio again twice. I saw a Cartel soldier glance briefly at John’s radio, but he looked away again. Good.

If anything, John knew I was alive and heading his way.

I sank back into the tall brush and moved around them as they argued about something I couldn’t hear. John was my main concern as he sat slumped against a tree. Then I saw it—a dark stain seemed to be spreading on his jacket. I saw him touch the stain on his stomach awkwardly with his right arm, and I realized his left arm looked to be out of commission. I made a bird call we often used in the woods to get each other’s attention.

He turned in my direction, and I saw his battered face when the lightning forked bright again, and I saw red.

I swung my rifle around my back and carefully made my way toward them. When I was close enough, I pulled my handgun and followed Guardian’s beam down to pop one of them in the head, and when the other moved toward us, I was ready and smashed a rock into the side of his head. Then I drove a bullet into it to make sure. It echoed loudly, and I knew I just outed our position, but I didn’t care. I grabbed John’s arm and hiked him over my shoulder and started to run.

“Thanks, West, I’m headed to the house with Black. Send Guardian to help the others.”

“Copy that,” West replied.

“What the hell happened, brother?” I hissed, trying desperately to avoid the boulders as I went.

“Don’t know what happened,” he groaned. “Moore tried to help.”

“You know Sloane is going to kick your ass,” I hissed, beyond pleased he was talking as I made my way in the direction of the house.

John kept mumbling, and I had to shush him a couple times. They must have given him something. We finally made it to the clearing, and the house was in sight. I half leaned into a tree trunk to ease the weight of John on my back, and he hung there like a heavy weight. As I readjusted him and was about to step out, I heard my radio crackle.

“Stop!” Mike’s voice cut through the speaker without the proper codes. I instantly knew he meant that for us and froze. “Two lions at your nine and two more at your three and six.”

“Circle south,” I heard Keith say.

I wasted no time going around the property to the south entrance. The door opened, and Cole quickly helped me in with John.

“It’s good to see you both,” he said with a look of relief.

“Say that to me when this is over.” I closed and locked the door behind me, and we hurried to join the others upstairs.

Two soldiers who normally worked up on The Peak grabbed John and carried him to a back room as Cole and I followed. Once they laid him down, I gave them the little information I had. “I think he’s on something, and he’s bleeding from somewhere. Also, watch that left arm,” I directed as they checked him over. Gunfire could be heard outside, but we ignored it.

“Let me take a look.” Cole leaned in and checked his pupils and pulse. John’s hand came up and grabbed his arm. He shook his head as his gaze shifted to me and he tried to say something. He licked his lips and tried again. “Need to get back out there.”

“Flush him fast, stitch him up, give him something for the pain, and get him back on his feet now,” Cole ordered, knowing that was what John was looking for. Then he slapped my shoulder and ran out.

“Copy that,” one of the men said as he ripped open a medical kit and quickly hooked him up to a bag of something.

“C’mon, buddy, let’s have a look.” I tore his shirt open and saw the gash across his stomach. It was bad but nowhere near as deep as the one Ty had on his thigh. I blew out a relieved breath.

“I’m fine,” John groaned and shook his head—he was coming around.

“Damn right you are. I carried your ass through the forest for that?” I scoffed and was thankful he wasn’t seriously hurt. “You owe me a case of beer for that shit.” I pointed at the guy with the medical kit. “Stitch him up, will ya? I gotta get up there.” He nodded.

“I’ll see you upstairs in ten,” I said to John.

“Fuck,” he panted as he tried to shake off the pain, “you.”

“Fucking cat scratch,” I muttered at him with a grin, then ran out after Cole. We needed to regroup and figure out our next move.