Chapter 10 #2
Another engine idled somewhere in the distance, and as he peered out from behind a tree, he saw a light flash.
A flashlight. No, two flashlights.
The lights bobbed through the forest, faint whispers traveling as the lights moved toward the idling truck.
That was the thing some people didn’t know. Whispers were often louder than simply pitching your voice a lower octave. And there were two men whispering like the dead fools that they were.
Hank and Lane.
He’d given them a chance, told them what would happen if they didn’t listen. And they’d still come after Scout?
Maybe he was losing his edge. Or maybe these two were just plain stupid.
Hudson hated being wrong about people.
Keeping an eye on the bouncing flashlight beams, he moved around them in a big circle, deciding how he wanted to do this. A bullet to the skull would be easiest, but the downside was that he’d leave too much DNA and the sound would carry.
There was no guarantee that Scout wouldn’t come back if she heard the gunshot. And his priority was keeping her as far away from this as possible.
“They must be on foot,” Hank whispered to his partner.
“I say we split up.” This from Lane, who was wearing a similar flannel shirt to what he’d been wearing the night before. “We can’t go back without taking care of them.”
Hank was silent for a moment, but then said, “Fine. You head out from here, I’ll grab the truck and drive up to her place.
I’ll stop halfway down the drive and move in on foot.
Between the two of us, we can take out her and her fucking bodyguard, then burn their bodies.
That bastard messed with the wrong guys. ”
As rage licked down his spine, Hudson called on all his calm and training to guide him. He moved on silent feet after Lane, wanting to take him out first.
Hank was already racing back through the woods like a stupid bull, making all the noise possible.
These two really had no survival skills. Or maybe they’d just convinced themselves they were the scariest predators in the woods. They should have heeded his warning. They weren’t getting another chance.
Lane was slightly quieter, but he kept cursing to himself as he tripped over fallen branches or roots.
Hudson closed the distance between them in under two minutes, managing to get slightly ahead of him.
When Lane’s light passed by his hiding spot, Hudson waited another beat. And as the man moved out in front of him, he slid in behind him like a wraith.
He moved fast, wrapped his forearm around the man’s neck to incapacitate him. Before he’d started the full struggle, Hudson broke his neck with practiced force.
The flashlight fell from Lane’s fingers, casting an eerie glow throughout the woods. Hudson turned it off, took a beat and glanced around, making sure that Scout hadn’t come back.
It wouldn’t do for her to see any of this. She needed full plausible deniability.
And he really didn’t want her to see him kill someone.
He took Lane’s flannel shirt off his body and slipped it on. Then once he’d made a note of the body’s location so he could dispose of it later, he raced back through the woods, heading slightly north of where Hank would have parked their truck on the side of the road.
He wasn’t sure he’d make it in time. If he didn’t, he could still warn Scout and tell her not to go home. There was no way she’d have made it all the way back by now anyway.
He could hear an engine rumbling to life as he neared the two-lane road.
What he was about to do was a risk, but he stumbled into the road, his head cast down and away from the bright lights of the truck as he fell onto the pavement. It was a gamble to pretend he was Lane and injured, but they had a similar build and he was wearing jeans too. He just hoped this worked.
The door opened, then shut. “Lane, you okay?”
Hudson waited a few more beats as the man’s shoes pounded toward him.
“Wait, what—”
He struck out, slamming the sole of his boot into Hank’s knee. A sickening crunch followed.
Hank crumpled with a scream of agony, but Hudson moved fast, jumping up and slamming his fist into the man’s throat. It was one of the fastest ways to debilitate someone and a move he’d made more times than he wanted to think about.
People always expected you to go for the face or crotch, but the throat was a huge weak spot.
Hank fell back again, his head slamming into the front grill of the truck before Hudson was on him, taking him out the same way he’d done with Lane. But this kill was faster.
After dumping the body in the bed of the truck, he steered it off the side of the road and turned off the lights. It would take some time to move Lane’s body as well, and in case someone drove by, he didn’t want them to spot the truck or Hank’s body.
He usually worked completely alone, but this time there was more at stake than his freedom. He needed help.
As he hurried back through the woods, he called his old friend Sarah. “Hey,” he rasped out as he jumped over a log. “I need some help with a disposal, and I hear you’re bored.”
Sarah’s response was exactly as he expected.
“Drop me your location. I can head out in a few.”