Target on the Mountain

by Elizabeth Goddard

  She nodded, but before he left the protection of the tree, she stopped him. “Alex, wait.”

  He turned to her, those piercing eyes undoubtedly seeing what she could no longer hide. “I still care about you, too. I always have... I always will.”

  The joy on his face sent her heart soaring. Alex took her hand and slowly raised it to his lips. He held it for just a second longer and then slowly let it go.

  She was more fearful than ever before. She had so much to lose. “Be careful,” she urged, and he smiled down at her.

  “I will.”

  She watched Alex run for the next tree up. The person firing on them was quick to spot his movements and another round of bullets kicked up the dirt near where Alex stood.

  Keeping as flat as she could, Rachel edged around the tree and opened fire. She caught a glimpse of a man standing in the open station window before they ducked out of sight.

  Alex took advantage of the down time and rushed to the back of the building. Once he was in place, Rachel would draw the shooter’s attention away from him.

  She aimed for the opening and fired off several rounds. She could see Alex slowly easing up the stairs. If she could keep the man’s attention on her, Alex might be able to take him by surprise.

  Rachel fired off several more rounds, giving Alex the time he needed to charge the station. She heard a brief scuffle, then silence. Alex! He needed her. She ran as fast as she could to give aid.

  With her heart pounding out the rhythm of her footsteps, she took the steps two at a time.

  Once she reached the landing, she was boosted by adrenaline every step of the way to the open door. The station consisted of one circular room that afforded a three-hundred-sixty-degree view around them.

  Through the filtered light, she saw two men standing close. Something was wrong. There were no weapons drawn. Alex jerked toward her. As she drew near, the look on his face was one of sheer disbelief.

  “What is it?” She barely managed to force the words out.

  And then the second man slowly turned to her. Two things quickly became apparent. He was injured, his shirt covered in blood. She couldn’t tell the extent of his wounds, but he’d obviously lost a lot of blood. The man staring back at her had Rachel dropping her weapon and running into his arms.

  This was her brother. They’d finally found Liam and he was alive.

  * * *

  Alex watched as Rachel hugged Liam, and his exhausted mind struggled to take it all in. Liam was here. He was alive.

  Liam staggered under Rachel’s embrace and she pulled away, somehow managing to catch her six-foot, one-hundred-seventy-pound brother before he could fall.

  “You’re hurt.” She slowly eased him to the floor. The amount of blood on his shirt was alarming.

  Alex tucked his weapon behind his back and knelt next to Rachel as she carefully unbuttoned Liam’s shirt.

  “I’m okay. I bandaged it up, but we need to get out of here as soon as possible. They can’t find it.” Liam tried to get up but slumped back onto the floor.

  Alex tried to quiet his friend. “We will. Help is on the way. I just need to let them know where to find us.” He glanced around the circular room, looking for the radio. He spotted a flare gun and quickly pocketed it. But then he saw something that threatened to take away his last bit of hope. Someone had deliberately smashed the machine. His spirits sank.

  “What happened to the radio?” he asked Liam.

  Liam shook his head. “It was like that when I arrived. They must have beat me here. I guess they wanted to make sure I didn’t have a way to call out for help.” Liam winced in pain as Rachel did her best to secure the wound once more.

  Alex had to know what Liam had found out. “Who are these people? Why are they after you?”

  Liam seemed to be fighting to keep from losing consciousness. He’d lost a lot of blood and the exertion of trying to defend himself had taken its toll. “Former CIA,” he murmured, before he closed his eyes. “They’re all supposed to be dead.”

  The statement pretty much confirmed what he and Rachel had suspected.

  Before he could ask another question, Rachel’s worried gaze met his. “He needs immediate medical attention and I can’t even imagine what’s happened to Deacon by now.”

  Liam caught what she’d said. “Deacon? You’ve seen him? Is he okay?”

  Alex couldn’t lie to his friend. “He’s in pretty bad shape, but he’s hanging on. You were the one who took him to the camp?”

  Liam nodded weakly. “We were attacked. I’d been working with Deacon for a while. Through his asset, he found out where the sarin gas was stored and we managed to get it to a secure location. I was supposed to meet with Deacon’s asset, who would give us the names of the people Temple and his men are selling sarin gas to, but we were attacked instead. We were taken hostage. They took our weapons and cell phones. I thought they would kill us, but they demanded to know where we’d moved the sarin. Deacon and I managed to escape, but not before we were both injured.” Liam closed his eyes once more, breathing heavily.

  Alex squeezed his friend’s arm. “Rest now. I’m going to see if I can fix the busted radio.”

  He got to his feet and motioned to Rachel. She made sure Liam was as comfortable as possible and then she joined him.

  “Do you think you can get it working again?” She glanced at the destroyed radio with doubt.

  “I don’t know. It’s in pretty bad shape, but it may be our only way to reach Jase before it’s too late.”

  “What do you need me to do?” she asked.

  “Keep a watch outside. If they’ve been here before, and we have to assume they have because of this—” he pointed to the destroyed radio “—then there’s a good chance they’ll search here again. Especially after hearing the shots.”

  A noise behind them captured both their attentions. Something was wrong with Liam. His head slumped to one side. He was unconscious.

  They rushed to his side. “Liam, buddy, wake up.” Alex shook his friend gently. After an alarming amount of time had passed, Liam slowly opened his eyes. “Stay awake for me, Liam. I need you to do your best to stay awake.”

  Liam managed the smallest of nods. Rachel’s reaction to seeing her brother’s condition worsen was devastating. She was terrified of losing him.

  Alex got to his feet and held his hand out to her. She couldn’t take her eyes off her brother.

  “Rachel, look at me.” She stood as well, finally focusing on his face. “I need to see if I can fix the radio to get Liam help. I need you to stand guard...okay?”

  Slowly, she agreed. She took up her weapon and went over to the opening that faced out to the grounds below. It showed the same path that they’d come up.

  Alex went to work on the radio, using all his ham radio knowledge to try to bring the busted machine back to life.

  While he worked, he couldn’t help but feel that time was running out. With so many loose ends tangled around each other, they’d need a clear head and safer grounds to understand what was really going on here. He still couldn’t believe former CIA agents who had once been honored for their work in the field were responsible for attacking Liam and Deacon along with himself and Rachel. They clearly had nothing to lose at this point.

  He tried to sort through the details he knew so far. Temple and his thugs had sarin gas here in the US, which was unimaginable in itself. Whether or not they’d smuggled it in or produced the gas themselves was uncertain. Both he and Rachel had overheard Temple talking about a meeting with someone. A possible buyer for the weapons here in the US. Alex didn’t like the sound of it.

  Something Liam had said troubled him. He’d told them that Deacon was working with him and that they were supposed to meet with Deacon’s asset, presumably someone connected to Temple. Did Liam’s handler know about Deacon?

 
Alex knew very little about Jamison, other than what Liam had told him. According to his friend, Jamison was a stand-up guy and always had Liam’s back. He trusted the man completely. Had Liam’s trust been his downfall?

  FOURTEEN

  Trying to keep her focus on the grounds below was an almost impossible task. All she could think about was Liam. His condition was getting worse. She glanced back at her brother. Had they found him again only to lose him to his injuries before they could get him to safety?

  Please, God, no.

  She’d never seen Liam look so weak. He’d been shot before, but never like this. Liam had been her rock, especially after she’d lost Brian. Now Liam needed her and she felt so helpless.

  Something caught her attention below. What looked like a light flashed. She quickly ducked behind the closest wall. She was almost positive it was the reflection of a gun scope.

  Alex must have spotted her reaction because he hurried to her side, careful to stay out of sight of the opening. “Did you see something?” Concern creased his brow.

  “There’s someone out there. They’re armed.”

  “Did you see how many?”

  She’d only caught a glimpse. “I’m not sure. I just caught sight of the one person.”

  He looked back at Liam. “We need to try to keep him as quiet as possible. Maybe they won’t look here again since they’ve destroyed the radio.”

  She so wanted to believe it. She didn’t. These men were ruthless and they had everything to lose. They would have heard the shots from earlier. They’d know the direction they came from.

  Rachel eased to the opposite side of the opening, careful to keep out of sight. Alex followed. She peered out. She could no longer see anything, including the rifle scope. Had she been wrong?

  She watched as Alex searched the area below them then shook his head.

  “I don’t see the person anymore, either. I could have been wrong.” She didn’t believe it, though. There was someone out there. The only question remaining was how many of them there were.

  He didn’t answer. His focus was trained on something below. “Wait, I see something. There’s at least three men coming this way.”

  She looked in the direction he indicated and spotted them. “We can hold our ground against them for a little while until we run out of ammo, but it’s going to call a lot of attention to us. The rest of Temple’s men will be here before your team has a chance to find us. There will be no escaping then.”

  Alex hurried across the room and looked down below. “Nothing but a sheer drop-off back here. There’s a small ledge, which barely has room to stand and no room for error.”

  She understood what that meant. They’d have to try to hold off Temple’s team until the Scorpions arrived.

  Rachel grabbed Liam’s weapon and checked the clip. He was almost out of rounds. Hers wasn’t much better. It was only a matter of time before they were overthrown.

  If they were going to die here, she wasn’t letting that happen without telling Alex how she felt about him.

  Alex headed for the opening where he’d seen the men, but she stopped him. “Alex, wait.”

  He turned back to her, searching her face.

  Rachel slowly found the courage she needed. “Alex, we may not make it out of here and I can’t die without telling you...how I feel about you.”

  She’d never seen him look so uncertain. He reached for her and tugged her close. His arms were everything that she remembered, but she needed to tell him everything.

  “No, I need to say this.”

  He waited for her to go on.

  “When you chose the job over me, well, it was crippling. I thought we would have a future together and then it just ended.” She shrugged. She couldn’t lose control now. “When I got back home, I was a wreck. I couldn’t function for the longest time, but slowly, with Liam’s help and the Reagans, I moved on. I married Brian because I cared about him. He knew all about you and me, but it didn’t matter to him.” She stopped for a breath. “I’ll always be grateful for him, but I never stopped loving you, Alex. And I never will.”

  He framed her face with his hands and kissed her tenderly. When he looked at her the way he was right now, she was so afraid. She had so much to look forward to in life, and it might quite possibly be taken from her again.

  “I’m not going to let that happen, Rachel,” he said, reading her worried thoughts. “We will make it out of here, and when we do, we will have a lot to talk about. Do not give up on us.” The sincerity in his eyes made her want to keep fighting with all her might.

  She managed a smile for him. “I won’t. I’ll never give up on you again.” With one final kiss, they both eased to the opening once more. The men had stopped. They appeared to be assessing the station carefully. She could see them talking, then one of the men slipped closer to the station.

  “He’s coming inside. If we can take him out, it might force the others to search for him. It will give us some leverage.”

  Rachel understood. She would act as bait for the man to draw his attention away from Alex, who would take the man down. She heard the first step below creak, followed by another. She’d been in situations like this hundreds of times in the past, yet the adrenaline rush of the life-and-death situation was always there.

  A shadow fell across the door to the building. Rachel kept her hand on her gun. This was it. Their lives—their future—came down to her not losing her cool. The door slowly opened. She saw the barrel of the gun first. She waited for the man to enter. Her thoughts screamed that she didn’t want to die here along with Liam and Alex without knowing what their sacrifice was all about.

  * * *

  Alex waited behind the door as the man eased through it. He barely cleared it when he spotted Rachel. Before he had the chance to fire off a single round to warn his comrades, Alex grabbed the man from behind in a choke hold. The man struggled like a wild animal. Alex tightened his hold around the man’s neck. After what felt like forever, his struggles grew weaker. The weapon slipped from his hand. Rachel rushed to grab it before it could hit the floor. Once the man was unconscious, Alex eased him down to the floor.

  “That didn’t go as quietly as I’d hoped.” He went to the opening and glanced down at the two men. They were definitely on alert.

  Rachel joined him. “I’m not sure they heard him, but it won’t be long before they come looking. At least for now, it’s two against two.”

  It was something, he guessed, but how long before the rest of Temple’s goons came after them?

  Alex went back to the man and checked his pocket. He had a cell phone. “Thank You, God,” he said in a grateful tone, before he punched in Jase’s number. “Jase, it’s me, Alex. I don’t have much time.” Alex knew his commander wouldn’t recognize the number. As quickly as he could, he told Jase what was happening.

  “We’re still an hour out at best,” Jase told him. “We ran into some sketchy weather. We’ll head for the ranger station. In the meantime, I’m calling in the state troopers. I know you don’t trust the local authorities, but these guys are state. Hang in there. This is almost over.”

  Alex ended the call with Jase’s assurances running through his head.

  He turned to Rachel and smiled. “They’re close. He’s calling in backup, too.”

  She went into his arms and held him tight. “I’m so grateful. I’m not sure how much more of this we can take on our own.”

  He kissed her temple and let her go. “I’ll keep an eye on the guys below. You watch this one in case he wakes up.”

  Alex went over to the opening. One of the men had disappeared. He searched the area below. Where had he gone?

  “What’s wrong?” Rachel had noticed him looking around.

  “One of them is missing. He may be heading this way.”

  She moved closer to the door. With the but
t of the weapon ready, she waited, but nothing happened. After what felt like an eternity, she glanced over at Alex.

  He shook his head. The man still hadn’t appeared again. His buddy was standing behind a tree, partially visible. “I don’t see him. Maybe he got worried about his missing comrade and went for help.” If he had, then Alex wasn’t sure they could hold the men off until Jase arrived.

  “We can’t afford to make a run for it with Liam’s condition so serious.”

  Liam opened his eyes as if he’d heard her say his name. When he spotted the man lying by the door he tried to stand, but Rachel hurried over, trying to quiet him. “Liam, it’s okay. Try to stay as still as possible. Help is almost here.”

  “That’s one of the men who took Deacon and me hostage,” Liam managed in a whisper. He glanced up at Alex. “There are others out there still, aren’t there?”

  Alex had to tell him the truth. “There are. Two more that we know of. I see the one, but the second is missing. He could be anywhere. Can you keep an eye on this guy?”

  Liam didn’t hesitate. “I can.”

  Alex smiled in spite of the situation. It had been years since he and Liam had worked together. He’d missed his companion.

  Rachel clearly wasn’t sure. “He’s too weak, Alex,” she whispered so that only he could hear. “He won’t be able to withstand a firefight. Is there still no visual of the other one?”

  Alex shook his head. He didn’t like it. “They’re definitely up to something.”

  He had barely gotten the words out when the second man appeared again next to his friend. “Where was he?”

  “Something’s wrong.” Rachel looked through the scope of the weapon of the man she’d disarmed. “He has something in his hand.”

  Before she finished talking, the man’s companion opened fire and they were forced away from the opening.

  After the first round of shots whizzed past them, Alex aimed at the man who’d fired on them, forcing him back behind the coverage of the tree.