As they took off to follow his orders, he removed his jacket and turned to their new asset. He’d heard the others introduce themselves to her earlier through his earpiece. “Hi, Mallory, my name’s Tristan McCabe. Put this on over your coat; it looks like the temps are going to keep dropping.” She shook her head, and he stopped what was sure to be a protest from spilling from her lips. “It’s fine. My men will be back in a few minutes with another jacket for me.” While she wouldn’t miss the blood on his replacement jacket, she didn’t need to know in advance where it was coming from.
Taking it from him, she gave him a grateful smile as she put it on. With the size difference between him and her, it swallowed her. At least it would keep her warm. “Hi. Thanks for this. And like I told your teammates, thanks for rescuing me.”
“No thanks are necessary. But I do have a few questions for you. Do you have any idea which direction you came from, and how far you’ve come from where they grabbed you?” he asked as Foster stepped over, unfolding the map they’d brought along. If this had been a real mission, they would have had an extra sat phone as well as a tablet or laptop with GPS capabilities. But Boss-man had limited their gear so they had to work together, using all their training, to get to their intended destination.
While Foster held the map for her to see, Mallory studied it a moment, then pointed at a spot. She’d had to push the sleeve of his jacket up to get her finger out. “This is Lower Blue Lake where I ran into them. The lot where I parked my car is about two miles north of that. I know we went east for about two or three hours before we made camp. Then yesterday, we hiked for several hours—southeast, I think—but I have no idea how far.”
“You covered quite a bit of distance since then.” McCabe ran his finger up from where she’d indicated the men had taken her to their current location southwest of there. “This is where we are now, just below Potosi Peak.” It was basically a lopsided triangle, with approximately the same distance to get to either where she’d left her car or the town of Ouray. Since heading the way she’d come increased their chances of running into the other two suspects, it was best they continued on their planned route. While there would be some obstacles, they didn’t have to rappel any more cliffs. But they would be spending one more night out here unless they managed to make contact with the outside world.
Morrison and Mancini returned and the latter handed him the red-stained jacket with a bullet hole in the front and an even larger exit hole in the back. Mallory’s eyes widened as he put on the garment. “Th-that was the last gunshot we heard?”
Darrell stared at Tristan in confusion for a moment before the blood registered. “You bastard! You killed my brother! Jessup! Jessup!” With his hands at his lower back, he struggled to get to his knees, but Foster prevented him from standing. “You fucking bastards! You’ll fucking pay for this! If it’s the last fucking thing I do, I’m going to kill all of you! You hear me? All of you!”
During Darrell’s rant, Morrison had reached into his deployment bag’s outside pocket and pulled out a roll of silver duct tape. Ripping off a strip, he slapped it across their prisoner’s mouth. With his other brother and father still out there, they didn’t need him announcing their movements.
Mallory glanced in the direction Morrison and Mancini had come from moments before. “Did he have a scar on his cheek?” she asked quietly to no one in particular.
“Yes,” Tristan responded.
“Good. I hope he saw the bullet coming, the bastard. He’s the one who couldn’t wait to rape me.”
Knight cupped her chin and gently forced her to look at him. His voice was tender as he told her, “He’s dead, and we’ll keep you safe. The others won’t get to you, because they’ll never get past us first. Understood?”
A tear of relief rolled down her cheek, but she quickly brushed it away, before squaring her shoulders and standing straighter. “I know I keep saying it, but thank you. I told you my dad’s a retired Marine; he taught me how to survive out here and how to follow orders in emergencies. I won’t slow you down, and if you say jump, I’ll ask how high.”
Grins spread across the faces of Omega Team, and Lindsey stepped over to the younger woman who had shown more strength in that one declaration than most people her age had shown in their whole lives. The sniper jerked a thumb toward Reese who was keeping his gaze on the woods to her left. “Cowboy and I are both Marine Corps, too. Stick with him and me, and we’ll show the grunts, frog, and secret agent man over there how we get things done. Oohrah.”
Tristan chuckled as he grabbed his deployment bag. “Just don’t forget the frog is the one who’ll be dishing out the shit details on this mission. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, and the snow is going to slow us down even more. Batman and Shades, you’ve got the asset. Romeo, you’re with me on the redneck. Let’s move out.”
His teammates knew what he hadn’t verbalized—keep their eyes peeled for the other two tangos. Batman had told Mallory the truth in cold, hard facts—those bastards weren’t going to lay a hand on her again. Not while Omega Team was guarding her.
*****
Trudging behind his father, Billy Ray tried to figure out how to convince him they were going in the wrong direction. Nothing he’d said earlier had worked. When Jessup woke up, he’d been so furious the girl had gotten away that he’d smacked his youngest brother across the face. Billy Ray had clenched his sore jaw and fists while the bastard had screamed at him—as if it were his fault Susan had gotten away. Well, actually it had been, but he’d never admit it.
It would’ve been futile to fight back, since he always lost quickly against Jessup or Darrell. They were a lot bigger and stronger than he was … and apparently smarter since it hadn’t taken them long to figure out the direction Susan had taken. She’d been easy to track at first, but then she’d managed to throw them off a few times, giving her a little extra time to evade them.
Ross and Darrell had been just as pissed when they’d returned to camp at the same time as the other two. Grabbing their gear and rifles, they’d quickly set out after her. From what Billy Ray figured, she’d had about a half hour head start on them. But as Darrell and Jessup went east, directly after her, Ross had ordered his youngest to stay with him as he headed more east than south. They knew once she reached the river, a few miles away, she’d follow it back to civilization like Billy Ray had told her to. He was doing his best to slow his father down but it wasn’t working. It just got him yelled at some more, and he knew they were closing in on her again. A few times in the last ten minutes, he’d heard Jessup taunting her.
As much as he wanted to see her again, he didn’t want his brothers and father to rape and kill her. She was too nice and pretty for them to do that to her. While they’d hiked to the second camp yesterday, she’d talked to him as if they were friends, telling him about her family, school, and photography. They’d tried to keep their voices low so his father wouldn’t tell them to shut up again.
She had a sweet smile, and it reminded him of his mother. What Lara Greenly had seen in her husband, Billy Ray didn’t know but he may not have existed if she hadn’t loved the man. His mother had died of pneumonia when he was nine years old. All he had left of her was a couple of pictures he’d taken from the garbage after his father had thrown them out in a drunken rage one night.
“God damn it, Billy Ray,” Ross hissed. “You got lead fucking feet? Fucking move it. We lose that girl, and she’ll tell fucking everyone we’re out here. I’m not going to fucking jail because of some dumb bitch.”
“Yes, Pa.”
He took three, maybe four, more steps when a single rifle shot pierced the air. Billy Ray and Ross froze, and moments later another shot resounded, followed by silence.
“Dumb shits!” Ross whispered harshly. “What the fuck are they shooting at? I’ll kick their fucking asses.”
Billy Ray didn’t answer. Anything he said would surely have the man’s ire turning on him. He’d learned over the years it was
best to remain silent when his father was pissed.
From the sound of it, they were approximately a mile north of wherever the shots had been fired, and Ross hurried south with his youngest son on his heels. Billy Ray prayed his brothers hadn’t killed Susan. Maybe it was a bear or cougar they’d shot at. God, he hoped so.
The gray clouds finally released their soft, white flakes which floated down to the ground. Billy Ray inwardly cursed. When the snow started to stick and then thicken, it would be even easier to track Susan. He was also worried she’d freeze with the drop in temperatures. She hadn’t been dressed for the colder weather which had moved in after several warmer days. Following his father, he racked his brains, trying to come up with a way to help her escape, but everything he visualized would wind up with him getting his ass kicked. Fuck.
CHAPTER 11
The snow was getting deeper, but they would keep moving until they absolutely had to stop and make camp. If they were lucky, they might be able to find a natural shelter somewhere so they could dry off by a fire.
Reese, Foster, and Darius were guarding their prisoner and Mallory during their trek east, while McCabe and Abbott were a klick to their north, and Morrison and Mancini hiked a klick to the south. They’d spread out to see if they could spot the other two men still out there somewhere—they had to be cautious of an ambush.
Darius had to hand it to the young woman—she was a hell of a trooper. He wondered if she’d ever thought of enlisting in the armed forces because she had the smarts and gumption for it. Never once had she complained about the hike, the snow, or the cold. After Duracell had given her his jacket to wear, Darius had removed his knit cap and placed it on her head. The team had needed to keep their gloves on—in a high-risk situation, having your trigger finger numb from the cold was not a good thing—so Costello had dug out an extra pair of socks she’d stuffed into her deployment bag. Mallory now looked like a homeless bag lady with the wool socks covering her hands, the oversized jacket she was almost drowning in, and her wet, blonde hair sticking out of the cap.
They had a few instant heat packs between them, but they were saving them in case of an emergency. Right now, they were a luxury they couldn’t afford to waste. They might be out here longer than expected and they had to conserve their resources. They had enough MREs to feed everyone tonight, but they’d be sharing the remainders in the morning. Darius was tempted to feed their prisoner the one cheese omelet meal he’d spotted in their stash, and let the man suffer for the rest of the hike to Ouray. Lord knew the rest of them weren’t going to eat it.
As the snow continued to fall, they stayed under the trees as much as possible. The wind wasn’t blowing too much at the moment, and the canopy of pine branches high above them prevented the snow from building up too fast around the tree trunks. In the three hours since the storm had settled overhead, about four to five inches had been dumped on them.
Directly in front of Darius, their prisoner—Mallory had told them his name was Darrell—tripped on a snow-covered root or rock and pitched forward. Reese’s hand shot out and grabbed the man’s arm before he fell to the ground. With his wrists still restrained, they couldn’t have him breaking something in a fall. No one wanted to carry his sorry ass if came down to it.
“Darius?”
“Yeah, Mal, what’s wrong?” They’d been chatting in low voices for the better part of their journey about a variety of things, and it’d felt natural to shorten her name in conversation. She hadn’t objected to it so he assumed it was a nickname she’d been called by her family and friends.
“Nothing’s wrong.” Even though her cheeks were red from the cold, he could tell she was blushing. “I just really need to pee again.”
That wasn’t a surprise. She’d been a little dehydrated when he’d found her and had drank quite a bit of water from his supply. Replenishing it wouldn’t be a problem between the snow and the river Romeo and Morrison were walking near.
“Guys, hold up,” he called out to Cowboy and Shades who came to a halt a few feet ahead of them. “We need a quick pit stop.” Glancing around, he pointed to a nearby thicket just past a large, downed tree. “That should give you enough coverage. We’ll wait here. Keep your eyes and ears open.”
“I will. Thanks.” She hurried over to where he’d indicated and skirted around the huge root ball that had been yanked from the earth when the nearly hundred-foot-tall pine tree had fallen at some point in the not so recent past.
“I gotta piss too,” their prisoner whined. They’d ripped the tape off his mouth earlier when his breathing got heavier from the highs and lows of the hike. However, they’d warned him it would be no skin off their backs to slap it back on if he didn’t stay quiet.
While Foster aimed his weapon at Darrell, Reese pulled out the blade of his Leatherman tool. “Turn around, and remember we’ve got no problem shooting your ass if you try to run. Make it fast.” He cut the plastic tie, freeing the man’s hands, then reached into the pocket of his cargo pants where he had several more zip ties and pulled one out.
The sounds of the forest around them had been muted by the snowfall. Darius glanced around. He estimated the remaining distance to the outskirts of Ouray would take about four hours to cover, maybe five with the snow slowing them down. With the sun above the thick layer of clouds, darkness was approaching earlier than it had yesterday. They’d have to start looking for a place to bed down for the night.
When Darrell zipped his fly back up, Reese restrained his wrists again. A soft, undistinguishable sound reached Darius’s ears. His eyes narrowed and his gaze returned to the fallen tree as he tried to figure out what he’d heard. “Mallory? You okay?” She didn’t answer him, and the three operatives immediately went on alert. Reese automatically shoved their prisoner to the ground so he wouldn’t be a distraction or try to run away. Darius took several tentative steps toward where she’d disappeared behind the flora. “Mal?”
From the thicket, a man stood from a crouch holding a 9mm pistol to Mallory’s temple with his other hand around her throat, holding her in place. Dressed in camouflage, he’d blended in with the surroundings. Appearing older than their prisoner and the man they’d killed, he had to be their father.
Darius cursed inwardly. How the hell had the bastard gotten close enough to grab her without us hearing or seeing him? It was a thought he pushed aside; now was not the time to analyze how they got to this point. The three Omega teammates had their weapons trained on what little of the man wasn’t being blocked by Mallory. There were too many factors preventing them from shooting him without risking her getting hit as well. Where the hell is the other brother?
As if answering Darius’s unspoken question, a kid barely out of his teens stepped out from behind a tree to the right of his father, his rifle aimed at Reese, who had one boot on Darrell’s back. Their father glared at his opponents. “Let my boy go or I’ll fucking kill her right here.”
Yeah, neither of those things were going to happen if they had anything to say about it. Standing between Reese and Darius, Foster had shifted his weapon and was aiming it at the kid, as the other two kept the older man in their sights. Darius took a few steps to his right, trying to find a better angle in case he had to shoot. He did his best to ignore the terror in Mallory’s eyes. “You know how this goes—you shoot her and we shoot you.”
“You assholes won’t let me shoot her and you know it. Darrell, get your ass up.”
Reese put more of his weight on the prisoner’s back, eliciting a string of curses and some struggling. “Stay put, Darrell, or I’ll blow out the back of both your knees.”
They were in a Mexican standoff—a stalemate where neither party had the advantage until something happened to tilt it in one direction. There was no way to alert the rest of Omega without giving away the fact they were out there. Darius had no idea if these men knew four more operatives were with them, but at the moment, it didn’t matter since they were a good distance away to the north and south.
<
br /> “Where’s Jessup?” the older man spat.
“They killed him, Pa! They fucking murdered him!” Darrell shouted before Reese pushed the air out of his lungs.
The hand around Mallory’s neck tightened as the man’s angry expression turned thunderous. He waved the gun in their direction, pointing it at one and then the other, then back again. “You fucking bastards! I’ll fucking kill you all! Darrell, get your ass up!”
The youngest son’s head zipped back and forth between all the parties involved. Darius was surprised to see he appeared to be as afraid of what his father might do to Mallory as he was of the men he was confronting. She’d told the team how one of the men had let her escape, and it wasn’t hard to figure out it was him. His rifle wasn’t aimed at anyone in particular anymore. Instead it was pointed downward, and if fired, the bullet would hit the snow-covered dirt a few feet in front of Foster.
Darius took a chance and looked Mallory in the eye, willing her to be courageous enough to give them a hand in saving her. He saw the moment she drew strength from his stare and blinked three times in rapid succession, acknowledging her understanding of his unspoken command. They needed a diversion, a split second distraction to get her out of harm’s way so the team could take their shots, and she was about to give it to them. Darius hoped like hell it worked.
As the father yelled more demands, Mallory pulled the socks off her hands and dropped them in the snow. Darius took careful aim as she threw her hands up and back, scratching and clawing at the guy’s face. Several things happened at once and seemed to move in slow motion. The man cursed and shoved her straight out and away from him, causing her to remain in the line of fire. He brought his gun hand up as Darius shifted for a better shot. Foster dove for Mallory, knocking her down and covering her with his body.
Mountain of Evil_Trident Security Omega Team_Prequel Page 10
