Blood Vows (The Arsenal Book 3)

by Cara Carnes

  “If she stayed with you, she likely would’ve had a good life. A happy one. That’s what matters.”

  Tanner was quiet longer than Dallas expected, likely replaying all the ways he’d screwed up. “You’re in deeper than I ever was. The woman I knew never would’ve crashed, damn near comatose. You and your crew are bringing out the woman I fought to find. You hurt her, and I’ll bury you in these woods.”

  Fair enough.

  Dallas watched the man leave, then he went to the creek and scrubbed the city stink off for his woman. He’d just arrived at the creek when a low voice on the com dragged him to a halt.

  “A man like you at her back, there’s not a nightmare in existence Kamren won’t kick in the balls,” Vi said.

  “Love you, Dallas.” Mary’s voice was cracked at the end.

  His gut twisted as he heard the emotion through the com from the woman who was ice cold precision during a mission, no matter what went down. Pregnancy had loosened the reins on her emotions. Dallas couldn’t wait to welcome his niece or nephew into the world. The kid had a hell of a mom and dad.

  “Love you, too,” he replied. “Fucking thrilled he has you. Fucking thrilled we all have you both. Now get that drone away from me so I can scrub the city stink off.”

  They hauled ass as a group for a full day and camped east of where the trail they’d used ended. Kamren had been impressed with how fast the large group moved. The Arsenal folks were in excellent condition and clearly used to rougher terrain.

  Which was good since the area was a rugged span of millions of wilderness acreage interspersed with plains, forest, and mountains at the south end of Yellowstone where the Teton Wilderness yawned on until eventually ceding its swath of existence to the Washakie Wilderness and the Shoshone Forest. Their search grid was massive, to say the least.

  Mary and Vi had established zones based on the recent dump of scans they’d obtained from somewhere. Based on their conversations, Kamren didn’t want to know where the women had procured the resources to scan whatever landscape they chose. All that mattered was they had target zones.

  They’d opted to use a drop point that was farther away than actually necessary. They could’ve shaved a day off had they dropped nearer the target zones, but the element of surprise was important. Planes made noise, and Kamren had been okay with not jumping from a perfectly functional plane for a LALO (which she found out was a “low altitude, low opening jump”). No thank you. She’d haul ass for an extra day.

  Since each group had gone their separate way mid-morning, she, Gage, and Dallas had fallen into a routine of their own. Gage remained at her left, Dallas to her right. Though they let her remain in lead position between them, neither of the men’s attention ever diverted from patrolling their perimeter as the sagebrush along the open plain gave way to lodgepole and white bark pine, spruce, and fir trees.

  Mule deer and elk darted in the distance, as if sensing the growing tension within their small group as they headed deeper into the remote region. No one had mentioned the possibility of losing coms, but she suspected Mary and Vi had that covered since they’d been more than a few steps ahead of them the entire way so far.

  Stopping hadn’t been on the itinerary. Hard paces gave way to slower trudges on occasion, but conversation wasn’t ever necessary since they let her set the pace. Sound carried farther out here, where man was often at the mercy of the terrain, the sheer wildness of the world humanity hadn’t fully tamed.

  A distance of half a day’s hard haul would separate the groups from each other by day’s end. Kamren studied the changing landscape as she headed deeper in the forested area. So far, they’d seen no sign of humanity aside from hikers and campers, which had been yesterday. They were well into the bowels of the wild now.

  They’d gone another two hours before she caught the first glimpse of something abnormal. Bones. Carcasses in assorted states of decomposition. She squatted, withdrew the survival knife Jud had given her, and inspected the newest kill. Maggots and critters crawled within the foul stench. She breathed through her mouth, which left a vile taste on her tongue when she swallowed.

  “Human kill, a couple days ago,” she said into the com. She let the adrenaline spike within her bloodstream before she shared her suspicions. “They played with it first.”

  “How?” Dallas asked.

  Kamren pointed at what had once been a baby deer. No self-respecting hunter would take down a fawn, much less one this young. Disgust rolled through her. “Baby deer, all four legs are broken. Skinned along its haunches. Judging by the large pool of blood, it was still alive.”

  “They stabbed to kill after they were done playing,” Gage commented as he crouched beside her and Dallas and motioned to the binoculars he held. “There are a few more to the west.”

  “A killing ground, likely squatters.” Kamren stood. “Unpredictable.”

  “Erm, what’s the different between a squatter and a hunter or a survivalist or whatever?” Zoey asked.

  “Survivalists live off the land, taking only what they need. Preppers stock for the end of days, or whatever disaster they fear the most. They hoard resources, the more the better. Hunters kill for the thrill, but typically adhere to rules and clean their kills, then use the meat, or give it away.”

  “And squatters?” Zoey asked.

  “They ravage the land, take what they want, and don’t give a damn about the ecosystem around them.” Her stomach soured when they continued forward, and she inspected the swath of death carved out in the landscape. “This is a pack.”

  “How can you tell?” Gage asked.

  “Kills are different—some hesitant, others confident and brutal. This is fun and sport for them.” She looked around. “They’re trapping the animals elsewhere, then bringing them here.” She motioned to the remnants of fires around them. “Been here a while. They’ll be back.”

  “They aren’t who we’re looking for,” Vi surmised.

  “No, but they may have seen others. They’re often paranoid assholes who’d either prey on more innocent folks that they run across or they’d steer clear of a bigger opponent.” Her stomach turned. “Doing nothing about these bastards isn’t an option.”

  “No, it’s not,” Dallas said. “Gotta ask, sweetheart. How do you know so much about guys like this?”

  “Been raised wilder than civilized most of my life. Dad worked for guys like this some seasons when things were lean; any money was good money.” She didn’t offer more. Likely he and everyone else listening on the com could fill in the holes.

  “That before, after, or during your stint here with Tanner?” Dallas asked.

  “Before mostly, though some during,” she answered honestly.

  “Jesus, there’s damn near twenty kills within my visual range. How big of a group are we dealing with?” Gage asked.

  “Surprised they didn’t leave someone there,” Vi said on the com.

  “They’re cocky. With nothing left to protect, they’d all rather enjoy the hunt, come back, play and kill. Then do it again tomorrow.” She peeked up at the sky. “They’ll be back soon. Night will fall in a few hours.”

  “So we wait,” Gage said.

  “And prep our own little surprise.” She shouldered off her backpack and looked at Dallas as he grinned at her.

  “Tell us what to do, sweetheart.”

  By the time night fell, they’d set enough traps to down a small army. Dallas grinned as Kamren tied off the last snare and stood. She’d been amazing. He could almost hear the thoughts radiating from her as she inventoried her environment for weapons for her traps. Bits of bone had been scavenged from the older kills. Rocks, sticks and other jagged debris had been accumulated. Her instructions had been quick, concise and focused.

  He and Gage had spent the past couple hours digging holes, filling them with more revolting shit than he’d rather remember, and watching her construct something within the tops of the trees above them. Mary and Vi had shown her how to use the drone
s to position the massive snare she’d constructed from paracord and rope.

  “Everything’s ready. Now we wait,” she whispered as she settled on her belly behind the blind of foliage and small branches he and Gage had constructed. She admired their handiwork a moment, nodded and added, “Good job.”

  “We learned a thing or two about blinds thanks to you,” Gage said with a grin.

  Silence descended as they waited. Sound was the ultimate determinant in landscapes such as this. Unchecked, it echoed a warning great distances. Their quarry didn’t bother to remain quiet as they made their way to their playground. Dallas’s pulse quickened as he noted eight heat signatures within the headgear, a larger group than he’d expected.

  “Let’s refrain from lethal,” Mary requested.

  “I make no promises,” Kamren said.

  Dallas chuckled. “I’m liking her blood-thirsty streak.”

  “Oh boy, this isn’t going to go well for those assholes,” Zoey said.

  She wasn’t wrong. The first idiot stumbled on a trip wire and into the target zone and tumbled forward. His head struck the large rock Kamren had them roll into position.

  “Jim? Jim?” Voices rose as the men ran to their downed comrade. Another stumbled and landed in the same unconscious position.

  “What the fuck?” One of the men looked around. “Someone’s here.”

  “Well, isn’t he the brilliant one,” Vi quipped. “Want the drones to handle this?”

  “No,” Kamren answered quickly. “These guys get off on playing. I think it’s time we make them the prey.”

  Before Dallas could stop her, she rose from her position behind the perch and sauntered out. There was no other description for the sultry way she moved her hips and thrust her chest out. She demanded their attention, and she got it quickly.

  “Well, looks like we have a visitor, boys.” The man looked around. “I’m Billy. You lost? We might help, if you’re nice to us.”

  Dallas growled, but Gage grabbed his arm and shook his head. Right. They’d wait and let her do whatever the fuck she thought she was doing.

  “You boys like to play,” she commented as she angled back a couple steps. Her right foot bypassed a snare without pause.

  The men took menacing steps forward. Another landed in a trap dug into the ground, much like the pit Bubba’s grandson had fallen into, but shallower.

  “Get your ass over here. What’d you do to our camp?” Billy asked.

  “You want me?” Kamren asked. “Come get me.”

  The taunt sent the five remaining men forward in a loud burst of movement and battle cries.

  “Jesus, they’re pathetic,” Mary commented. “Drones are in position, Kam. Let us know if you need them. Cord’s ready.”

  Dallas and Gage rose from their hiding spots and engaged two of the biggest combatants, which left three chasing after Kamren as she wound herself through the maze of snares with rabbit-quick reflexes. With a grin, she jumped onto a large rock and sat, knives in hand.

  One more fell, slamming forward into the rock she sat atop. She glanced down at him as he crumbled to the ground, then reached over and yanked a rope. The large net she’d constructed ripped from its hiding hole beneath the foliage and entombed the two remaining men in the final trap. Their cries of rage and shock echoed within the area as they were hoisted upward.

  “Now,” she said into the coms.

  Drones flitted about and wound cord around their ankles. The netting fell to the ground as they fell a few feet down, then snapped to a stop as the hoist from a rope hung between two of the largest trees held them in place. Dallas moved quickly and, with Gage’s help, gathered all the weapons they found on the men. He left zip-tying them to Gage and dropped all the weapons near where Kamren now sat on the ground.

  She looked up at the two hanging men and began unknotting the paracord net she’d made.

  “Bitch! Let us down or you’ll be sorry.”

  Dallas snagged the KA-BAR from its sheath on his thigh, hauled the man up by his mangy hair and pressed the tip against his jugular. “Call my woman a bitch again and I’ll give her a lesson in how to skin a human. She’s been wanting to learn.”

  “Aww,” Kamren said. She set the unwound cording down. “You’re so sweet to me, babe. You know what I really want, though?”

  Her eyes were wide, her voice pitched shrill-high and loud with excitement. Dallas chuckled as Gage approached, an amused grin on his face.

  “I’ll give you the world if you only ask, sweetheart,” he said dramatically. “You want a trophy from your hunt? We’ll carve something off. I bet they’ve got something small enough to turn into a necklace. You want one, sweetheart?”

  She kinked her nose up and shook her head, sighing loudly. “They smell bad.”

  “We’ll burn ‘em then,” Gage said as he kicked some sticks beneath the two men. “I’ll get some tinder.”

  “What the fuck?!” one of the men shouted.

  Kamren drew out her knife and scraped it through the ground at her feet in a wide circle. “I’m gonna be honest with you, Billy. See, we’re out here hunting, same as you. Thing is, our prey’s a bit smarter than your kills. Way smarter than you.”

  The two men wiggled like worms on a fishing line. Dallas dropped Billy’s companion.

  “I figure you all have been out here rounding up your toys and having your sport with poor, defenseless babies because you aren’t men enough to take on real prey.” She shrugged. “That’s kinda sad. But you’re just a sad sack of shit, aren’t you, Billy?”

  “I ain’t got no beef with you,” he said.

  “See, you do. Cause I don’t take too kindly to idiots like you wrecking an ecosystem for fun.” She stabbed the knife into the ground mere inches from his face. “So here’s what’s gonna happen. My man and a buddy of his are real good at skinning anything. I’m thinking there’re two of them, two of you. And I really wanna learn.”

  They wiggled harder. One pissed his pants.

  “Jesus. They always piss their pants,” Gage muttered. “Remember? The last one did that, too.”

  Dallas chuckled. “That’s only the start of our fun, though.”

  “True,” Kamren said. She crouched down. “Here’s what you’re gonna do for us, Billy. You’re gonna tell us all about what you’ve seen out here. Every little detail. When, where, who, how many. Everything.”

  “We ain’t seen nothing!” The other man’s voice hiked up. “Let me go!”

  “You’re a smart man, Billy. This is a good trade. Your life for info on assholes you don’t give a shit about. Give us what we need, and we’ll cut you down.” She shook her head. “Keep quiet, and I’ll be forced to get mean.”

  “You’re crazy!”

  “Probably,” she admitted. “But I know how to draw every grizzly in these parts here. You two would make fun toys.”

  “Okay, okay. We’ve seen lots of folks. There’s a trail a couple days from here.”

  “Don’t fuck with me, Billy. The crew we’re hunting has hunkered in; they’re mean and nasty. The sort of asshole you steer clear of ‘cause you ain’t got the balls to play in their yard.”

  “Past where the Thorofare spills into the Yellowstone River.”

  “Use Bridger Lake as a landmark,” Mary said.

  “Starting point is the campground at Bridger Lake. Where from there?” Dallas asked.

  “East. East of Bridger,” the other man said. “You don’t want to mess with them.”

  “Why not?” Gage asked.

  “They’re crazy.”

  The answer said a lot since both the men strung up were nuts. Dallas grunted as he cut them both down and nodded for Gage to secure them.

  “We’ll notify someone to come and collect the trash,” Vi said. “Sending coordinates for everyone to converge near your current location.”

  “And if his intel is bullshit?” Kamren asked.

  “Then we go back to the initial plan, but the area is within your
search grid,” Mary said.

  Kamren glanced at Dallas. He understood the look on her face without her saying anything more because his mind was already there. “No convergence. We’ll proceed to the coordinates and scout the area, then we can converge if needed.”

  “Agreed,” Nolan said via the com.

  “Agreed,” Jesse said.

  “Okay. Marking a route for you, most direct path,” Vi said.

  Dallas clicked the com to standby and got to work helping Gage and Kamren clear the traps and repack supplies.

  “You can’t leave us,” Billy screamed.

  “Someone will haul you out when they have time. Until then you can hang there, wondering if the grizzlies will get you first.” Kamren shrugged on her backpack. “Guess it’s not as much fun in your playground when you’re the prey.”

  Dallas chuckled as she turned and headed out like they hadn’t just left eight men-zip tied in the wilderness. Gage shook his head. “Your woman’s a handful.”

  Yeah, she was, and he couldn’t wait to get her home.

  With his son.

  “We’re close,” he said into the com.

  “We’re close,” Mary confirmed.

  “It’s a larger group than expected,” Vi said. “The other two teams are en route, but it’ll take a while and they’re breaking down their encampment.”

  Kamren heard the information and ignored the clutch in her gut. She’d suspected as much based on the movement within the encampment and makeshift lean-tos at the edge of where the plains gave way to an outcropping of new tree growth. They’d counted eleven structures, but there was no sign of a bunker. They hadn’t been hunkered down, simply on the move. Structures were in assorted stages of being broken down.

  They were leaving the area, which meant she, Dallas, and Gage couldn’t wait for backup. They had to somehow slow them down.

  “We have a plan,” Mary said. “Or the start of one.”

  “Read us in,” Dallas said. “Any signs of my kid in that mess?”

  “Not yet, but that’s part of the plan.”

  “Go on.”