by Paula Graves
J.D. shook his hand and handled the introduction of the others. “Cody Bollinger said you might be able to transport us to Flat Rock.”
McElroy nodded. “I’ve got a big Ford Explorer. I can take all of y’all where you want to go.” He slanted a look at the bulge of their concealed weapons visible under their clothes. “I’m assuming, since I know Cody pretty well, that he didn’t send a bunch of thugs down here for me to haul around. But for a bunch of day tourists, y’all sure are packing a lot of heat.”
J.D. and the others looked at Megan, leaving it up to her how much to share with the farmer. J.D. seemed to trust Cody Bollinger. And Bollinger apparently trusted McElroy.
“We’re expecting an ambush,” she said aloud.
McElroy’s brows ticked upward. “So why are you going?”
“Because someone murdered my husband four years ago and got away with it. And we think the person we’re going to meet can tell us who and why.”
McElroy gave her a thoughtful look. “Why aren’t the cops involved in this, then?”
“Nobody else thinks it was murder.”
“And you’re sure it was?”
“Yes.”
His eyes narrowed slightly, as if he was weighing what she’d told him against the risks of getting involved. “Where did the murder take place?”
“Kaziristan,” she answered bluntly. “My husband was a sergeant in the army on a peacekeeping mission.”
As she expected, his eyes narrowed farther. “And you’re sure it’s murder and not combat-related?”
She thought about Evan’s conviction, about all they’d learned over the past few days, and nodded. “Positive.”
He seemed to give it another few seconds of thought. “Okay. I’ll take you. But I’m not dropping the bunch of you off to fend for yourselves in the middle of the woods. Let me fetch my rifle and I’ll come with you.”
“I’m not sure—” J.D. began.
McElroy stopped him with a fierce look. “I spent five years in the Marine Corps myself. I know what I’m doing and I damned well know those woods out there better than any of y’all.” His expression softened to an almost boyish grin. “And frankly, farming ain’t exactly the most exciting way to pass time. I could do with some mixing it up.” His grin faded. “Suppose you’d better tell me what we’re up against.”
While J.D. explained the situation to McElroy, Megan walked away and pulled out her cell phone to call Evan.
He answered on the second ring. “You’re on the ground?”
“Just a few minutes ago. We’ve picked up another warm body.” She told him about Duncan McElroy. “He knows these woods, so we thought it would be best to bring him in.”
“Does he know what he’s getting into?”
“He’s finding out.” She looked over her shoulder. McElroy hadn’t started running yet, at least. “Have you heard any more from the other helicopter?”
“They flew south.”
“Toward Pilot Mountain?”
“In that general direction.”
They hadn’t seen the helicopter again, but he could have passed too far north or south of their landing spot for them to be able to get another visual. “It could be a coincidence.”
“You think?”
“No,” she admitted. “Where are you now?”
“I’m off the interstate, heading east of Pilot Mountain. I’m passing through Flat Rock right now.”
She was surprised. He must have made good time, or else their detours to avoid the other helicopter had slowed them down more than she realized, because he was a lot closer than she thought he’d be. “If you see anything hinky at all on the way here, get the hell out of there and call us for backup.”
“Will do.” He paused a second, then started again, his voice lower and more intimate. “Megan, about last night—” There was a shattering sound over the line, and his voice cut off abruptly.
Her heart jumped. “Evan?”
When he spoke again, he was out of breath. “Someone just shot out the back window. I think I’ve run into our ambush.”
“Get out of there!”
“I’m trying! I may have to ditch the truck. I’m a smaller target on foot.”
“You’re safer in the truck!”
“I have to get off the phone. I’ll call when I can.” The line went dead.
Megan ran back to the others, her heart in her throat. “We have to go now! Evan’s taking fire!”
* * *
EVAN SPOTTED A LARGE BLACK Hummer barreling up the two-lane road in front of him, and warning bells rang in his head immediately. On instinct, he whipped the truck off the road at the first turnoff into the dense woods and gunned it as fast as he dared up the dirt road, praying he wouldn’t come across hikers or catch an ATV rider unaware.
Dust flew up behind his truck, hiding anything that might be coming behind him. But all his pursuers had to do was follow the dust cloud to find him.
He had to leave the truck and go on foot.
Back in Alabama, Megan had eluded their pursuers by taking unexpected turns at the last possible moment, but there were no easy turnoffs on this dirt track. In fact, he was terrified he was going to come to the end of the road any minute.
But as he heard the sound of vehicles gaining ground behind him, he saw his best chance—a grassy trail ahead to the left, just wide enough for the truck to handle, at least for a short way. He waited until the last moment and jerked the wheel to the left, fishtailing on the dirt road but somehow managing not to roll the truck. Dust clouds shot up behind him, and he used the cover to brake and slam the truck into Park. He rolled out the passenger side, using the truck for cover, and darted into the woods, zigzagging as they’d done during their race down Gossamer Mountain.
The trail was uphill most of the way, through dense scrubby underbrush on hard-packed, rocky soil. Ahead, a large boulder loomed out of the woods, providing natural cover he couldn’t turn down. He bolted behind the outcropping and listened for sounds of pursuit.
He could hear them crashing about the woods, not even bothering with stealth. The Coopers had said the SSU agents had learned from their previous skirmishes to be prepared, but they weren’t in Gossamer Ridge anymore, and Evan wasn’t a Cooper. He had never been in this part of North Carolina before, and for all he knew, one of the men down there chasing him was a native.
His cell phone rang, making him jump. He jammed his hand into his pocket and put it on vibrate before he pulled it out of his jeans. Megan, of course.
“Bad timing,” he answered in a whisper.
“Are you okay?” She sounded scared. He found comfort in her obvious concern for him, given how bone-headed his decisions had been over the past twenty-four hours. He wouldn’t have blamed her if she’d hopped on that bird in Wytheville and headed back to Alabama. The last thing he’d wanted to do was cause Megan Randall more distress.
“I’m safe,” he answered. “For now, anyway. But I had to ditch the truck.”
“Damn it, I told you—”
“Trust me, I’m safer on foot.”
She released a huff of frustration. “Where are you?”
“In the woods somewhere off Sweeney Road, east of Flat Rock. I turned to the right off on a dirt road about a mile east of three tall towers—maybe broadcast towers?”
He heard the muffled sound of Megan talking to someone else. “Any idea how many people are following you?”
“Two vehicles, at least. Whoever was shooting at me, plus a black Hummer coming from the opposite direction. How many in each vehicle, I’m not sure.”
“Someone’s bound to call the police if they hear gunshots,” she murmured, sounding worried.
“They’re using sound suppressors. I didn’t hear a thing until the bullet hit my back window.”
“Are you sure it was a bullet?”
“There’s a big hole in the dashboard that says yes.” He sneaked a peek around the boulder hiding him and spotted a man wearing old woodla
nd camouflage, carrying an M-16 with a sophisticated-looking sound suppressor screwed onto the end of the barrel. His gut tightened.
The man started to turn toward the boulder. Evan hunkered down again, trying not to make a sound.
“Evan?” Megan’s breathless query buzzed in his ear, but he couldn’t answer. He listened to the sound of the man’s footsteps crunching past him. So bold. Not even trying to be stealthy. Clearly confident that Evan couldn’t get away.
There were houses somewhere over the hill. The area where he’d pulled off the road had been densely wooded, but it wasn’t uninhabited. What would those camouflaged men do if they stumbled across some poor farmer or hiker in the woods?
He dared another quick look. The man had his back to Evan now, moving deeper into the woods. He topped the rise and disappeared down the other side.
“Evan!” Megan repeated.
“Sorry,” he whispered into the phone. “Just had a close call. I’m hidden for now, but I don’t know how long that’s going to last.”
“We need to get you out of there.”
“I’ll agree with that.”
Her voice went muffled again, then came back clear and strong. “We’re coming to get you.”
“Not you.” The words came out before he could stop them.
“Not up for a vote,” she answered flatly. “My cousins are going to draw them away from you. We’ve already figured out your position—”
“How?”
“The cell phones we borrowed came from Cooper Security, remember? They had trackers in them so Jesse could locate us in case we needed help. He just called with the coordinates.”
“Son of a bitch.” He didn’t know whether to be pissed or relieved. “Just so I don’t overreact to whatever y’all are going to be up to—what are y’all going to be up to?”
“Luke looks the most like you, size-wise and in general coloring, so he’s going to try to draw them after him.”
“That’s crazy.”
Megan sighed. “That’s Luke.”
He didn’t want anyone else putting his neck on the line to save his skin. But he supposed Luke Cooper of all the Coopers had a bone to pick with the SSU. “Okay. But hurry.”
“We’re already on Sweeney Road, coming from the east,” she told him. “I spotted one of the broadcast towers you were talking about just a minute ago. We’re pulling over right now to let Luke get the show on the road.”
This was insanity, Evan thought. But he was in no position to question whatever help he could get.
“Gabe and Jake are going to trail Luke in case he gets in trouble,” Megan told Evan. “You still okay? Need to hang up and move to a new position?”
“I’m okay for now,” he assured her, looking around for another place to hide if his position became compromised. About fifty yards away, a canopy of kudzu draped a couple of trees, offering a possible hiding place. Edging to the other side of the boulder, he took a quick peek. He saw two more men in camouflage, talking into shoulder-mounted radio receivers. Suddenly they bolted east. “Hmm, looks like the distraction ploy may be working.”
“Great. I’ll be with you in just a few minutes.”
“Wait—what?”
But she’d hung up already.
He muttered a silent oath and flattened his back against the rock. Why the hell couldn’t she be the “wait in the car” type of woman?
If she was, you wouldn’t be falling in love with her, answered a voice in the back of his mind.
* * *
IT’S JUST LIKE THE WOODS back home, Megan told herself as she started hiking a circular route through the woods. She sneaked another quick look at the GPS map on her phone. She was still heading toward Evan’s position, more slowly than she liked, perhaps, but she was closing in.
To the east, she heard distant rustling noises in the woods. She hoped it was coming from the SSU agents being lured away from Evan, but she couldn’t be certain.
Ahead, she saw a canopy of kudzu draped like a blanket over a pair of damaged trees. The leafy vines blocked her view of the hillside, forcing her to slow her forward movement. For all she knew, a couple of SSU agents were camped out on the other side, waiting in ambush.
J.D. and Duncan McElroy had both wanted to accompany her, but she’d refused their help. One person sneaking through the woods was going to be trouble enough to conceal. Two or three would almost certainly draw at least one or two SSU agents back toward Evan’s position.
She edged forward, staying low, moving one silent step at a time toward the wall of kudzu. She was mostly camouflaged, having pulled on one of Vince’s old camouflage-patterned T-shirts, the one she wore as a sleeping shirt. She’d covered her black jeans with dirt as soon as she exited McElroy’s SUV, creating a more natural camouflage for her bottom half. Her red hair was tucked up tightly under a camouflage cap she’d borrowed from Jake, and her bare skin was dirt-dusted, too. Not perfect concealment for a stealthy approach, she supposed, but good enough in a pinch.
She was almost at the kudzu when she heard a snapping sound somewhere behind her. She froze in place, listening.
Suddenly, sound rushed toward her, rustling, crackling, like a whirlwind loosened in the woods only a couple of feet behind her. She reached to her hip for her Ruger, but it was too late. Steel-hard arms wrapped around her, crushing her back against a warm but rock-hard body. A hand clamped over her mouth, cutting off her gasp.
Please be Evan, she thought, her heart racing.
But her body told her the truth long before she heard the unfamiliar voice, low and harsh in her ear.
“Not a sound. They will hear you.”
Her captor grabbed her gun from her holster and whipped her around to face him, holding her wrist to keep her from running. Haggard gray eyes met hers, dark with desperation. She recognized the lean features, though the lines and creases in his face were deeper and there was no sign of the smile he’d worn in the photo that even now sat tucked inside her wallet. Snapped a few weeks before his death, the photo depicted Vince, his unit, and their captain, Elmore Gantry.
The same Elmore Gantry who now stood before her, holding her gun in one hand and her life in the other.
Chapter Seventeen
“Don’t make a sound.”
Gantry’s whisper buzzed in Megan’s ears as she tried to focus her scattered wits enough to make the right choice. He had her gun but not her cell phone. If she could lead him away from Evan’s position—
“You know who I am, don’t you?” he asked, his voice barely audible.
She nodded, willing her pulse down to a bearable rhythm. “You set us up.”
“Not on purpose,” he said. “Where is he?”
“I’m not telling you that.”
“I have to find him before they do.”
“They? Who’s they?” She knew the answer, of course, was more convinced than ever that former MacLear SSU mercenaries had been hired by someone—most likely Barton Reid—to systematically erase all the evidence of his crimes. But she wanted to hear Gantry admit the truth himself.
“Barton Reid has rehired elements who had earlier worked for MacLear Security. I’m sure you know all about them—your brother was a MacLear agent.”
“He never worked for Barton Reid.”
“Good for him.” Gantry’s tone was bleak. “I can help Pike, but you have to get me to him.”
“You’ve found me.”
Megan whirled around to see Evan move out from behind the canopy of kudzu, his pistol leveled with Gantry’s head. She jerked her hand away from Gantry’s grip before he could react and moved out of Evan’s line of fire.
Gantry held up both hands. “I’m not here to hurt anyone.”
“Drop the weapon. Kick it over to Megan.”
“We can’t play these games—there’s no time!” But Gantry did as Evan asked, lowering the Ruger to the ground and sliding it through the underbrush toward her.
Megan bent to pick it up and heard a thud and a
loud grunt. Gantry pitched forward into her, knocking her to the ground.
She gripped her Ruger and stared at Gantry, who lay half atop her, his eyes wide with pain.
“Stay down!” Evan growled, crawling toward her on his hands and knees. He crouched behind her, guarding her body with his.
“He’s been shot,” Megan hissed, seeing frothy blood bubbling around Gantry’s lips.
“That was sniper fire,” Evan said, his voice tight. “We’ve got to find cover—now!” He tried to pull her to her feet, but she resisted, holding on to Gantry’s arms.
“We can’t leave him here—”
“He made his own choice. He got what he deserved.”
“Reid—” Gantry gasped. “He made me do it—”
“He can testify against Barton Reid,” Megan said fiercely. “He can put that bastard away. We can’t leave him to his fate. He could be dying!”
Evan gave a low growl of frustration and pulled her up. “You stay low. Go over the rise and find us cover. I’ll bring Gantry with me.”
“Put me over your back.” Gantry’s voice was thready, tight as if he were struggling for air, but the blood around his mouth wasn’t any worse—perhaps he’d simply bitten his tongue?
“You can’t walk at all?” Evan asked.
“Put me over your back—body armor—”
Evan exchanged a glance with Megan before looking back at Gantry. “Are you even hurt?” he asked the man.
“I think the impact broke a rib—maybe pierced—lung—”
“Put him over your back,” Megan said. “See you on the other side.” She didn’t waste a second, springing up the incline, haphazardly changing her direction as she ran. She heard a bullet whistle past once, making her stutter-step, but she kept going, not looking back, until she had topped the crest and was scrambling down the other side.
Ahead she saw a grouping of boulders that could give them cover. She raced toward it, ducking behind the larger of the four rocks. Hearing the sound of rocks and dirt tumbling down the mountainside, she risked a quick peek and saw Evan sliding down the incline, dragging Major Gantry behind him.
She waved her hand at him, hoping he could see, for she didn’t dare risk calling out. He gave a wave back and somehow kept his footing long enough to join her behind the boulder, pulling Gantry to the safety of cover.
