by Cindy Dees
He nodded and turned automatically to keep a lookout behind them, searching for any sign of pursuit or movement back there.
Piper was gone maybe sixty seconds before she came back grinning ear to ear. “C’mon,” she murmured.
He followed her across the ridge and stared into the valley. Cleared pastures stretched below, and two long, narrow barns made of galvanized aluminum pointed toward a small house at the far end of the valley.
“Praise the Lord and pass the potatoes,” he muttered.
Piper took off down the hillside, fully as fast as she’d run from the campsite initially. He felt it, too. The burst of adrenaline at the idea of this nightmare being over was huge. He rode the wave of renewed energy to fly down the hill beside her. They hit the edge of the pasture and she veered into the trees beside it.
They would have gone faster in the cut grass beyond the barbed wire fencing but would’ve been out in the open. He had to give Piper credit for proper caution.
It took them almost ten minutes to run the length of the big pasture, parallel the barns and then swerve toward the house. A rusty pickup truck was parked beside it. Please God, let someone be home.
They raced across the front yard and up onto the covered front porch. Piper knocked on the door. The next few seconds were perhaps the longest in Zane’s life as he prayed for someone to be in. For there to be a working phone. For him and Piper to be safe.
The front door opened, and a man of about fifty years stood there. “Little early to be out selling stuff, isn’t it?” he growled.
“Please forgive us for bothering you,” Piper said politely. “My friend and I have been out hiking and got lost. We desperately need to use a telephone and call for help.”
The farmer looked her up and down and then did the same to Zane. For his part, Zane smiled and did his best to look nonthreatening. But the truth was, he and Piper probably looked like ax murderers. He had several days’ growth of beard going, and both of them were covered in mud and debris from their wild run through the woods.
“You look like you got lost in the woods,” the farmer grunted. “Come on in. Phone’s in the kitchen.”
Piper stopped by the phone and looked at him questioningly. “Who can get here faster—your people or mine?”
“Mine,” he answered without hesitation.
She gestured at the old princess-style phone hanging on the wall, and he picked up the receiver and dialed. He chose the emergency number he’d memorized before this mission. It went straight to a CIA crisis-response desk.
He rattled off his identification credentials and waited impatiently while they were verified.
A female voice said, “You are authenticated. Go ahead.”
“I’m blown on an undercover assignment and need immediate emergency extraction. Armed hostiles are in close pursuit of me.” He looked at the farmer, whose mouth hung open. “What’s the street address here?”
The farmer shook himself and answered. Zane relayed the address and then said, “We need a police helicopter here ASAP, along with armed law enforcement response.”
“We?” the woman at the other end of the phone asked briskly. “How many people need extraction?”
“I have a civilian female with me. I brought her with me from the undercover operation, and she will also need transport. She’s a material witness in the investigation.”
“Understood. Is this a good call-back number?”
“Yes.”
“Shelter in place. We’ll have people out to you as quickly as possible. I show you being in a fairly remote area. Police response may take up to an hour.”
“Tell them to hurry,” he bit out.
“Will do.”
Zane disconnected the call and passed the receiver to Piper. She dialed quickly, and her call was answered immediately, too.
“Hey, Rebel, it’s Piper.”
Zane heard the exclamation from the other end of the line. But Piper cut off whatever the other woman was saying. “Look, Rebel. We’re in trouble. I’ve got a team of foreign terrorists on my tail. Same guys who kidnapped me. Police response has been called in to this location, but if you could have Major T call in any military assets that are close by, that would be helpful. If he can get a National Guard helicopter scrambled to this location, and maybe a gunship, that would be good.”
Zane listened as she relayed the farm’s address. There was a pause, and then the person at the other end of the line spoke for several seconds.
Piper’s expression went grim as she listened. “Understood. Thanks.”
She hung up and surprised Zane by turning to the farmer. “Is there anyone else here besides you, sir?”
“Nope. Wife already left for work.”
“Do you happen to have any guns and ammunition here?”
The farmer frowned. “Why do you ask?”
“A satellite looking down at this position reports a team of five humans moving in this direction. They’re about a half mile from the ridge at the back end of your pastures. We’ve got about fifteen minutes until they get here. And my source said they looked armed.”
Zane winced. Mahmoud and his guys would come in hot with AK-47s blazing, and possibly more weaponry than that.
The farmer appeared hesitant.
Zane said quietly, “Look. I know you have no reason to trust us. But I’m a federal agent, and she’s a military officer. We’re running from some very, very bad men. We all need to get in your truck and drive away from here as fast as possible.”
“Truck’s broken down.”
“Can we get it running in fifteen minutes?” Zane asked urgently. “The government will buy you a new truck—hell, I’ll buy you a new truck—if we can at least get it moving and get a few miles away from here.”
“Naw, man. It’s dead. Won’t even turn over, let alone start.”
“Tractor?” Piper bit out.
“It’s parked behind the chicken sheds—”
“Too far for us to reach before Mahmoud’s guys would be within shooting range,” Zane responded.
Piper nodded in agreement. “Sir, we need you to bring us any firearms you have in the house. What’s your name? Mine’s Piper, and this is Zane.”
“Irv Smith.”
“Nice to meet you, Irv. I’m so sorry we’ve brought this trouble to your door. My partner is right. The government will compensate you fully for any damage to your property today.”
Zane was impressed with the calm, confident, soothing tone of voice Piper used on the man. It had the desired effect, too. The farmer smiled a little and nodded at her.
“Guns?” Zane prompted gently.
The farmer headed for a spare bedroom, and Zane followed close on the guy’s heels with Piper close on his. They had to step around and over an elaborate model train set that took up most of the floor.
Irv opened a closet and pulled out a .22 shotgun and a larger Remington rifle. He rummaged on the upper shelf and emerged with four boxes of ammo, two for each weapon.
Zane looked at Piper. “You wanna shoot long range or short?”
“Long. I’ve had a fair bit of sniper training.” She picked up the Remington, and he picked up the .22.
She looked over at the flabbergasted farmer. “How true do these fire?”
“I been huntin’ with ’em for nigh on twenty years. Don’t miss much.”
Piper nodded. “Do you have any more weapons in the house?”
“My wife’s got a little peashooter she carries in her purse from time to time. She don’t usually carry when she goes to work. Lemme see if it’s around.”
Zane gave the .22 a quick once-over, checking for rust, familiarizing himself with the trigger action and practicing loading it. Piper did the same with the Remington, handling it with smooth ease.
“Aha!” the farmer exclaimed
. From a drawer that looked to be full of ladies’ lingerie, he extracted a dinky little handgun.
Zane said, “You keep that. Use it to protect yourself if it comes to that.”
“What’s in the barns?” Piper asked. “Chickens?”
“Yup. Nearly a thousand laying hens. Raise ’em free-range, I do.”
Zane said quickly, “The barns are made of aluminum siding. No protection from gunfire. Might as well be inside a tin can.”
Piper nodded tersely. “This house will offer the best cover, then. If you head down to the barns, Irv, you can hide there. We’ll draw the gunfire up this way and you’ll be safe. The bad guys want us, not you.”
“You sure? I’d be a third gun.”
Zane smiled warmly and patted the older man’s shoulder. “We appreciate the offer, but that little pop gun isn’t going to do much good against the firepower these bastards are going to bring to bear on us. Piper’s right. You need to head on down to the barns and stay out of this. We don’t want you to get hurt. And Uncle Sam will build you a new house and renovate the whole farm after this. So don’t panic if you hear stuff getting shot up.”
Piper added, “Go look after your hens. We’ll take care of the bad guys.”
“All right, then.” Looking worried, Irv headed out the back door and hurried toward the barns, pistol in hand.
“ETA?” Zane asked Piper as they moved furniture out of the way of windows and created clear pathways from one window to the next.
She looked at the clock on the kitchen stove. “Ten minutes.”
He commented, “If they try to search the barns, we’ll shoot at them and draw them up here, yes?”
“Yes.” She asked, “Will they try to surround us or will they take up protected firing positions and pepper us for a while?”
“Mahmoud will want to kill us both. But he’s got several young guys on his team. My guess is they won’t be experts at field-of-fire control. I don’t see him fully surrounding the house because he won’t trust the youngsters not to shoot him or his more experienced guys. I could see him trying to burn us out.”
She nodded. “Then we shoot just enough to draw them up here to us and then lie low until they try to close in on the house.”
“Fair enough. And then we’ll improvise when the plan goes to hell,” he added dryly.
She smiled at him. “Exactly.”
Her grin was almost wolfish. “Are you enjoying this?” he asked incredulously.
She shrugged. “I want to protect that farmer, and I have to admit I’d like to drop a few of these bastards. Particularly that Yousef guy who took so much pleasure in beating me up. I’m not afraid, if that’s what you’re asking me. I’m trained for this stuff.”
“Thank God,” he replied fervently.
She disappeared into the kitchen and emerged with two big, sharp butcher knives. She passed him one, presenting him with the handle. “Mahmoud won’t expect me to know what to do in a firefight. He still thinks I’m the assistant principal of an elementary school.”
Zane grinned. “He’s in for a hell of shock when he sees what you can do.” If this came down to hand-to-hand combat, his money was on Piper. He tucked the knife in the back of his belt, checked the load on his weapon one more time and settled down to wait with the extra ammo on the floor beside him.
Piper went into the kitchen and made another phone call. Zane listened as she said quietly, “ETA on our hostiles?”
There was a pause, no doubt for the satellite technician to get a fix on their position and look for warm bodies. Piper listened for a minute and then stayed on the line.
She called to him in the living room, “ETA three to four minutes. They’re about halfway down the side of the pasture. Five incoming.”
They had tipped the refrigerator over on its side across the back door, and they’d pulled a bulky wood stereo console across the front door to barricade it. Piper knelt behind the refrigerator now, watching the approach to the house from that direction.
She called, “My eyes in the sky say they appear to be circling wide of the barns to approach the house from the west side.”
That would put Mahmoud and company facing the living room’s side wall. “Will you have a shot at them from the kitchen?” he called back.
“Yes. I can shoot out the window over the sink.”
They had already opened every window in the house a few inches so they could put the barrels of their weapons on the sills to steady them. He moved to the living room window on the west wall of the house and scanned the tree line a little over a hundred yards away.
From that distance, the AK-47s should shred the house’s siding and quickly start putting rounds into the living room. Zane glanced about and spied a hefty coffee table in front of the television. He jumped up, grabbed it and dumped it on its side in front of the window for extra protection. It was made of oak planks a good two inches thick. That sucker would stop bullets for a good long time.
“Have you got decent cover in there?” he called.
“The kitchen sink is enameled cast iron. I’ve got my shooting nest all set up. You?”
“My nest is built. I’ve got a two-inch thick oak table in front of me,” he replied.
“Check. I’ll let you know when they emerge from the trees. If they head for the barns, I’ll call the shots.”
God, it was nice working with a highly trained Special Forces operative. He couldn’t think of anyone he would rather have beside him in a gunfight.
There was one last thing he needed to do before this show went down. He propped his rifle at the ready and went into the kitchen, where Piper was looking out the back door.
“Eyes in the sky have us covered,” he murmured. “They’ll see our hostiles well before you will.”
“I know,” she sighed. “Looking for them just gives me something to do.” She turned away from the door to gaze at him questioningly. “Are you really as calm as you look, Zane?”
He stepped forward and drew her into his arms. “I am. I’ve done everything in my life that I ever wanted to, and I found you. My life is complete. If today’s my day to die, I’m at peace with that.”
He dipped his chin and kissed her reverently, doing his best to convey just how genuinely extraordinary she was to him. Her arms went around his neck and he swept her body up against his, holding her tight as she kissed him back desperately.
Her intensity sucked him in, wrapping him in the scent and feel of her, drawing him into that special magic the two of them created between them. It was a place of trust and safety, where nothing could touch either one of them.
As their mouths joined, so did their bodies, pressed together from chest to knee. Even though they were fully clothed, he felt every contour of her, remembered the feel of her skin against his, her heat embracing his, her arms and legs wrapped around him in the throes of passion. It was all right there again. Everything they’d shared between them last night.
It hadn’t been a dream. It was real, and it was here, right now.
“I won’t let anything hurt you,” he murmured against her sweet lips.
“Same,” she breathed into his mouth. “I’ve got your back.”
He plunged his hand into her thick, soft hair, washed clean by the rain. “Don’t be a hero on me. I need you to come out of this alive. Promise me, Piper.”
“I will if you will.”
“I promise. No heroics,” he said as sincerely as he could. It was a total lie. He would do whatever it took to get her out of this day safely. Including sacrificing himself.
The phone rang, jarring both of them out of the moment.
She grabbed for the phone and he spun away, moving quickly back to his shooting nest and settling in for whatever happened next. C’mon, Mahmoud. Show your face. Give me a clean shot so I can blow your head off.
He ha
d never been more eager to end a mission with a kill than this one.
The house went silent as he and Piper waited, mentally preparing themselves for the chaos to come. He focused on draining all emotion from his mind and becoming cold and calm. A killing machine. He had no doubt whatsoever she was doing the same.
“One minute out,” she announced.
Thank God. Her voice was calm, cool as a cucumber. She was mentally ready to rock and roll.
So was he...almost. Only one emotion refused to go away. Fear. Specifically, fear for Piper’s safety. Dammit.
He concentrated fiercely on transforming it into utter determination to do what was necessary to keep her safe. When it had become a hard kernel in the middle of his chest, he took one last deep breath. He was ready, come what might. Even if that included sacrificing himself for her.
Piper spoke quietly from the kitchen, her voice pure ice. “Here they come.”
Chapter 12
Piper saw the men emerge from the woods at almost the exact same moment that Beau Lambert murmured through the telephone receiver, “Hostiles moving into the open. Inbound to your position. Contact imminent.”
“Roger, I have visual contact. How’s that gunship coming?” she muttered into the receiver.
“Airborne. ETA your position, eighteen minutes.”
“Tell them to firewall it.”
Beau murmured, “You should’ve heard Torsten bully them into launching. They know to get to you ASAP.”
“I’ll keep the line open, but I’m gonna have to put down the phone now and get ready to fire,” she reported to her operations officer.
“I’ll shout if I need to relay information. Good shooting, Piper.”
“Will do.”
She laid the phone receiver in the kitchen sink and took up a firing position, kneeling on a chair in front of it. Mahmoud’s men were moving cautiously, fanning out as they approached the farm. Dammit. Two of the men peeled off to head toward the barns.
The whole game now was to engage in a delaying action until reinforcements could arrive. To that end, she watched and waited as Mahmoud, Hassan and Yousef went out of sight behind a shed.
