After a moment, the man waved his arms at the helicopter.
Just the distraction Ash needed. He stood and moved a few meters back, peripherally noting that the woman on the ground was moving again. A tiny spark of that old, untrustworthy hope returned. “You’re Elias?” he yelled, to which the giant finally nodded.
“I’m Ash.”
“Okay.”
Before the man finished the word, Ash was off, bypassing him with a grin. “See you around, mate!” he bellowed as he threw himself off the cliff and into the water’s roaring embrace.
***
For two seconds, Elias stared, stunned, as the man disappeared into the waterfall.
A moment later, his instincts kicked in. Not trusting that the people in the aircraft were his, he turned and raced back for Leo; diving, he wrapped her up in his body and rolled against the ledge—the only cover he could find—expecting to be riddled with bullets in the process.
Nothing. No shots fired. No sound but the never-ending pounding of water to stone. In his brain echoed the man’s last words—See you around, mate—said like some fucking James Bond.
“Elias!”
Who the hell was that, calling from above as if he knew him? He ignored the voice, wrapped his arms around Leo as carefully as he could and put his lips to her ear. “Leo,” he whispered through his raw throat. “Sweetheart. I’m here. I’m here.” She stirred, though her eyes didn’t open. Both of them shook from the wet and the cold.
The helo hovered low, its shadow darkening the entire slab of rock. The shadow chilled him almost as much as the wind from the rotors.
There was no way out. Well, they could take to the water like the Bond dude, but at this point, neither would survive.
He was flat out of energy.
“Elias. Elias Thorne.” A man dressed in khaki tactical gear rappelled to the ground above him, then jumped from the ledge to land a few feet away. “I’m Von Krainik. Leo’s teammate,” he yelled. “Come on, man. Let’s get you guys to a doc.”
Elias shook his head and refused to move. They’d have to get through him to touch Leo.
“Elias. Amka sent me.”
“How’d you find us?”
The man nodded his head to where the two men had fallen a few minutes earlier—one a dead body, the other a freaking stuntman. “One of those guys activated a personal locator beacon a couple hours ago.”
“There are more.”
“They’ve been contained.”
“How?”
Though he didn’t actually smile, the glee on Krainik’s deeply scarred face was the creepiest thing Elias had ever seen. Well, the second creepiest, after the British guy’s maneuvers. “Your godmother led a rebellion. From what I heard, the old lady tore their shit up. Contained ’em before we ever arrived on the scene.”
That would have made Elias happy if Leo weren’t lying limp in his arms.
“There’ll be more.”
“We’ve been informed the team expected no backup. This was a one-and-done operation.”
Do or die. Jesus.
And what the hell was all of this for? Money?
He didn’t think that Ash guy had done it for the money. Whoever he was, there’d been a zealousness to him that didn’t speak of profit and loss. “What about the one who just jumped? Said he’s not with them.”
“We’ll go after him once we—”
Something occurred him and he strained to get up with Leo in his arms. “My dog! Someone needs to find my dog.”
“Whoa, whoa, stand down, Thorne. We’ll come back. We’ll find him once we get you some medical care.”
“No hospitals,” Elias said, that old fear of being found still at the forefront. Worse, now, with Leo to take care of.
“No hospitals,” the man repeated as his hands reached for Leo.
Elias ignored them, let desperation push him the rest of the way to standing, his limbs so heavy he could do nothing but brace and hold her. “I go where she goes.”
“Understood. But you’ve got to let me send her up there. Come on, man. We’ll get her help.”
He couldn’t release his hands, couldn’t stop touching her, couldn’t trust anyone. Not even one of her teammates.
And then his brain clicked back into place. “Von Krainik,” he said, remembering what she’d said about this man with the scarred face and the dark, empty eyes. He looked like a psychopath. “What’s your call sign?”
The man gave a short, approving nod. “Reaper.”
Elias looked at Leo. “And hers?”
Von’s jaw hardened. “Terminator.” His eyes crinkled, turning his marred face into something from a nightmare. “Arnie when she’s being a pain in the ass.”
“Elias?” Leo croaked, squinting up at him.
Shocked at the sound of her voice, he looked down. “Leo. Sweetheart.” He curled forward. “I’m here.”
“Hey, Arnie.” Von’s voice was a deep, resonant bass, his accent pure Texas.
She turned to stare blearily up at the other man. “Von? That you?”
“Affirmative.” Krainik’s eyes met Elias’s as he held out his arms. “May I?”
Something twisted in Elias’s chest when he released her to Von’s care, his gaze glued to Leo’s the whole time.
“Hey, Elias?” What might have been a smile ghosted over her lips.
He leaned in. “Yeah, sweetheart?”
“Might wanna get some pants on.” She broke out into a full-on grin as Von carried her away.
Chapter 39
The second they touched down in Schink’s Station, Leo was surrounded by people.
Elias fought the hands touching him, tried to shove them aside when they wouldn’t let him stay with her. He was too weak to fight them—and once he’d passed her off to the doctor, the Von guy stuck to him like a damn burr.
Which was good, if he truly was a grim reaper. Elias would rather he do his thing here than on Leo. Leo needed to make it out. He turned, swung his gaze in search of Bo, before remembering that she was still out there somewhere.
The pain of loss made him stumble. “Reaper,” he called as the man forced him onto some kind of gurney.
Krainik waited, expressionless.
“Don’t let her die.”
“Won’t.” Von put his hand on Elias’s shoulder. “And I’m headin’ back out for your dog.”
Elias gave a single nod, lay back on the gurney where they poked something into his vein, and passed out.
***
Amka didn’t usually like strangers in her town, but these guys were okay. She was the one who’d called them after all.
They’d come in with their own damn medical team, which she sure appreciated. An attractive, fiftysomething ER doc and her big, hairy sidekick, who claimed to be a nurse but seemed more caveman than anything.
What followed was twenty-four hours of comings and goings, blurred medical procedures—on her godson and Leo. New faces, old faces, and scenes of Schink’s Station like something from a war zone.
Amka smiled as she hauled her ass up onto the cabin porch. Given that she was responsible for the worst destruction of property here, she couldn’t be too pissed about it. Well, she could, but she could also enjoy the memory of smashing through the lodge’s window. That would be a highlight she’d look back on fondly for the rest of her life.
A guy stepped out of the shadows at the door to the cabin. Tall, reddish hair, kinda looked like that Outlander guy, though without the pretty accent, and held a rifle in his hands like he knew how to use it. “Help you?” the man asked in a voice that had been run through a meat grinder. This guy had come in just a few hours ago. One of three groups to descend upon Schink’s Station in the past few days.
She cocked her head. “What’s wrong with your throat?”
His eyes widened before narrowing again. “Uh, people don’t usually ask me that the first time we meet.”
“I’m old. I’m allowed to ask nosy questions.”
One side of his mouth kicked up. “You’re Old Amka.”
“And you are?”
He smiled full-on now and she almost had to step back at the movie-star wattage of the thing. “Dr. Ford Cooper.”
“Doctor? Why aren’t you in there with my godson, then?”
“Not that kind of doctor. I’m a glaciologist.”
“Huh.” Useless, then. She lifted her chin. “I wanna see him.”
“He’s asleep, but…”
“You keeping me out?”
The handsome man lifted his hands and stepped away from the door. “Nope.”
She put her hand on the doorknob and turned. “What are you doing out here, exactly, Dr. Ford Cooper?”
“Guarding the cabin, ma’am.”
“Worried about the guy who got away?”
He shrugged. “We prefer to err on the side of caution.”
She lifted a brow and opened the door, then turned back. “Never told me what’s wrong with your voice.”
“Took some shrapnel in Afghanistan.”
She shook her head and snuffled out a laugh. “Glaciologist my ass.” She shut the door, turned to look at Elias, and let the tiniest bit of regret seep into her heart.
She hadn’t done right by the boy. Hadn’t gotten him out in time. He looked like hell. A black eye, cuts on his face, his cheeks sunken. From what that creepy-ass Von had told her—and Jack, her second-favorite pilot after Leo Eddowes—he and Leo had survived just about every possible danger this place could throw at them. And come out on top.
She smiled.
“Just gonna stand there staring?”
Elias’s voice startled her.
“Shit, boy, don’t sneak up on me like that.”
“Sneak up?” He let out a pained-sounding laugh. “I’m stuck in bed. Pretty sure you were the one doing the sneaking, Amka.”
She glanced around the cabin, exactly like the one she’d gone in just over a week ago to convince Leo to go look for him.
Her feet hurt now when she shuffled over to the chair and sank into it. Funny how she’d barely felt the pain in battle mode, but now her arthritis was back with a vengeance.
“How is she?” Elias asked, and for some reason, she knew exactly who he meant.
“In pain. Doc thinks it’s a concussion. Too many hits to the head. She’s observing her.”
He nodded. “That’s what they told me too.”
Her eyes narrowed on his face. “You two…”
“What?”
“I don’t know. You do more than run for your lives?”
“Yeah, Amka.” He shut his eyes and sighed, deep and mournful. “We did a lot more than that.”
“Pam the hot doc seems to think Leo’ll pull through.” She struggled out of the chair. Thing was too damn soft. “Think Dolores is salvageable?”
Elias cringed.
“Went out in a blaze of glory, huh?” She couldn’t help a wave of pride at what her old plane had managed to do on her last flight.
“Yeah.” He got a far-off look in his eye. “Should have seen her.”
She cocked her head, wondering if he was thinking of the plane or the woman flying it. Little of both, she figured. For that one flight, they’d been one and the same.
She cleared the emotion from her throat. “So, remember the blond guy? One they called Deegan?”
He went stiff. “Yeah.”
“Found his body washed up a few miles downriver from your…altercation. Smashed up good. Three bullets in him.”
Elias paled and his face went blank, reminding her yet again that her godson hadn’t signed up for this bullshit. He’d always been one of the good guys, not the bad.
“That other man killed him. Not you.”
He opened his mouth and shut it again. “Any sign of him?”
“The spook? Vanished.” She bent forward. “You think he’s undercover MI6?”
“Hell if I know.” He stared off at something. “Maybe he was one of the good ones. He saved my life after all.”
She nodded in return and bent low. “You’re the good guy here, Elias. Always have been. Always will be.” Giving in to a rare urge to show physical affection, she kissed his cheek and whispered, “Proud of you, boy. Like your mom and dad always were. So damn proud.”
He replied, tight-lipped, “Thanks, Amka.”
“I love you, Elias.” She nodded once, holding back the wave of emotion that tried to seep out, and left without looking at him again.
Outside, she turned to Dr. Ford Cooper. “He’ll be going with you when this is done, I figure.”
The fake Outlander guy made an is that so face and waited.
“Finally got something to live for.”
Chapter 40
Elias spent all of his time in Leo’s cabin, sitting in the big armchair by her bed, waiting for her to wake up.
The few times she woke, she called his name and he was there to hold her hand, to touch her, even if she was so out of it on painkillers that she probably wouldn’t remember the next time she awakened.
People came and went on a regular basis and it became quickly apparent that her teammates really did care about her. Seeing that level of support and trust made his heart hurt in a way he couldn’t really explain.
They’d been back for close to forty-eight hours when Von knocked on the door. “Having a meeting. Hoped you’d join us.”
Elias didn’t move. “Not leaving her.”
“I get that.” Von gave a slow nod. “Pretty sure we need you there.”
“What about her? Shouldn’t she be there?”
“It’s why we need you.” Von stared him down with those near-black eyes. “Come on. Pam says you need some air.”
After a long look at Leo, Elias finally shoved out of the chair.
The lodge was crowded. Filled with Leo’s teammates and the folks of Schink’s Station, with the exception of the wounded. A sheet of plastic closed off the back half of the space, where Amka had driven through the window apparently. He could almost laugh at that image.
Almost.
He liked what he’d seen so far of these men and women. He liked the hyperserious glaciologist who’d recently flown in, and his girlfriend who made food, apparently 24/7. Her name was Angel, which seemed unbelievably fitting. He liked the dude’s older brother—Eric Cooper, the leader of the group. He liked Pam, the doc, and the doc’s boyfriend, Jameson, who was even bigger and hairier than Elias. A redheaded Santa Claus with a laugh like a bulldozer.
And, weirdest of all, he liked Von the Reaper, who despite his grim name had probably done more saving of lives than taking. Ans, the missing team member, had left the morning this whole thing started, headed for an abandoned mine in Colorado.
Then there was the pilot, Jack, a guy who’d come in with the other group but turned on them and, with Amka, had taken the town back and called in Leo’s team.
In all this mess, the only people he couldn’t stand were the ones who’d tried to kill Leo and him.
And there was only a handful left of those.
The issue now was what to do with them.
“Take ’em out back and shoot ’em,” Amka yelled.
“Okay, hon. We’re not doing that.” Daisy put her hand over Amka’s.
“They’re a menace.”
“They are, but we can’t.”
Amka grumbled but didn’t disagree.
Elias watched the interaction between the Schink’s Station people who’d chosen to attend this strange town hall and the outsiders who’d somehow seamlessly taken control of the place.
It was odd being in a roo
m with so many people, voices, and opinions but all of them aware. In on it. On his side.
And they all knew his name.
“Elias.” Eric Cooper broke through the chatter, quiet but sure. Everyone stopped speaking. “You’re the expert here. What do you think?”
Expert? On what? The virus? Or running for his life?
He opened his mouth and shut it. “I’m no expert.”
These guys were the experts on black ops and cover-ups. Less than ten hours after Von had led them back to Schink’s Station, the rest of Leo’s team had swooped in here, taken control, and made it look smooth and easy. Eric cocked his head. “What’s next for you, then?”
That wasn’t a question he could answer in front of this crowd, with all these eyes on him. Especially when the one face he most wanted to see—the one he cared about—wasn’t here.
And that, right there, was his answer. “I make decisions with Leo.”
A few brows rose, one head nodded. That was Von, who’d seen them on that riverbank. He more than anyone knew what Elias felt for Leo.
“Okay.” Eric—the team leader—and his brother, Ford, exchanged a look and smiled. “We hold the prisoners, keep this here, in town. And wait for Leo to wake up.” He looked around the room. “That work for everybody? You guys okay with keeping the town contained for a while?”
“Depends.” Amka snorted. “Y’all gonna sit around or help us rebuild?”
“Now you’re talking my language.” Jameson, the big Santa Claus guy stood. “Where’re the tools at?”
***
In less than a day, Von and Elias developed a weird sort of partnership—the kind that neither of them was used to. Von had his team and that was it. And Elias, well, he’d had himself. Until recently.
Which was why it surprised the hell out of him when Von volunteered to head out into the mountains with him that afternoon in search of Bo. Initially, Elias figured Von was there to babysit—either they didn’t trust him not to take off, or they thought he physically couldn’t handle it after the last week’s adventures.
Uncharted Page 33
