Chapter 13
MAVERICK
Son of a bitch. My strides shortened to accommodate Reed's extra weight on my shoulder.
He heaved forward, grunting and cursing. “Of all the fucking shots, I had to take one at the end.”
“Better the end than the beginning.” I tossed him ahead, dragging him over a snowdrift as we ducked beneath an overhanging limb that might provide enough shelter to keep us out of sight for a second.
Reed needed to catch his breath, and I needed to make sure we were still going in the right direction.
He wiped a hand over his face and smiled. “Went off without a hitch, though. Caught them with their pants down on that second blast.”
“Yeah.” I chuckled at his rush of euphoria over blasting the mercenaries to hell and back. “I’d have liked it better if you stuck to the plan.”
Reed tried to shrug, but the wound in his shoulder prevented him, the rush of pain drawing out a long hiss.
“Can’t be perfect all the time, Mav. That’s part of the fun after leaving the rangers.”
“Wouldn’t have anything to do with getting to set off booby traps and blow shit up?” I scanned our surroundings, checked the angle of the sun, and set off again.
We were making decent time, but we needed to get the hell out of range before the men we’d fought off recovered.
Reed slapped my back and pushed away from me, making his way around the tree trunk without looking back.
“Oh yeah, that’s the best part. My skills were never put to good enough use back then.”
Blood ran down Reed’s back from his shoulder wound.
He’d let me help longer than I thought, and I had no choice but to let him move ahead under his own steam. “What made you go back?” I launched the question at his retreating form. We’d been in the clear. “What in the hell went through that hot head of yours? Why be so damned reckless?”
I’d tried to get used to Reed’s ability to launch himself into danger a long time ago.
I hadn’t expected it to be an issue today.
Fucking bloodlust. Reed had too much of it, so much that it ripped his control away and left him without a shred of common sense.
Reed tensed and drew his injured arm across his stomach, holding it in place with his other hand. “It was him.” He whirled to face me, a snarl of anger and pain twisting his face. “Jack fucking Wilson.”
The name hit me with a one-two punch that stopped me in my tracks. “What?”
Reed snorted and trudged ahead.
The snow hindered his progress, and he punched a fist into the nearest tree, sending snow crashing down on his head.
I halfway expected it to sizzle as it made contact with his raging anger.
“You’re sure?” The commander who left me to die was part of the team who kidnapped Payton?
Reed punched the tree again. “I’m sure. Not like I’d forget his face. I’d heard he went mercenary after leaving the Rangers. Didn’t think we’d ever have the misfortune of running into him again.”
“His misfortune.” I punched my fisted hand into my open palm. “You should have told me.”
“No time.” Reed fumbled his next step and stopped to lean against the tree.
The blood leaking from his shoulder took the color from his face and left him wavering on his feet. “Stupid bastard. Only he would sink low enough to command a group of men willing to kidnap an innocent woman and hold her hostage.”
I caught up to Reed when he stumbled again and yanked his good arm over my shoulder. “Stop being such a macho prick and let me help you before you fall down.”
“Stupid idiot.” Reed continued muttering. “I called his name. Needed to make sure it was him and not my imagination.” He shook his head, giving a hateful laugh that roared to the sky. “I called his name and he turned around. That’s how I got shot.”
“Now who’s the idiot?” I pushed a limb out of our way and hauled us around another snowdrift.
“Sorry, man. Been wanting to kill him for years after what he did to you. Kind of lost my head. Heat of the moment and all that.” Reed thumped me on the back. “He deserves to die for what he did. Someday. Someday.”
I tightened my hold on the back of his coat to keep him from stumbling and falling. “You’re a hothead, but a loyal one.”
I’d been frustrated with him for throwing himself into danger when we were safe and free.
Knowing why he turned back and ended up shot didn’t make it right, but it helped me understand. “Come on. We’re almost there.”
“Almost.” Reed hustled forward a step. “I almost had a shot at him, Mav. Almost had him dead and out of our lives once and for all.”
Once and for all. It was a nice idea. “Reed, he’s an asshole and a horrible commander, but I don’t want you to put yourself in danger for me. Not for this.”
“It’s justice.” Reed had his mind made up.
I could talk all night and into the next day, and I wouldn’t change his mind.
Reed might be the most stubborn of all three of us. Once he locked onto an idea, nothing deterred him.
The danger to himself didn’t matter.
The court-martial never bothered him the way it did me.
Sunlight cut through the trees and glittered on the heaps of snow all around us.
I changed our angle of approach and stopped to check behind us.
“They’re not going to find us.” Reed winced and tried to move his shoulder.
“We’ll take a break once we reach the snowmobiles. Tarron will take care of that shoulder when we catch up to him and Payton.”
A hitch in my heartbeat sent a tremble into my fingers. I clenched them around Reed’s jacket to stop the shuddering feeling.
“They’ll be waiting for us.” He sounded so certain that I grinned.
We continued forward, every step taking us closer to safety. My stomach twisted. Jack Wilson was behind us. What if…
No.
I couldn’t leave Reed behind and go back to do exactly what I told Reed not to do.
Payton was counting on us to meet up with her and Tarron.
She deserved to have all of us protecting her.
“We can’t stay much longer, Payton.” Tarron’s words were so low I almost missed them.
The last of the light faded from the trees, leaving us in a perpetual gloom. I longed to rush forward and shout that we were almost there.
“I’m not leaving.” Payton’s voice had a tone I already recognized.
I imagined her squared off with Tarron, arms crossed and eyes flashing.
The thought brought a grin that pinched my frozen cheeks.
My orders to get her to safety took precedence over everything else I might want.
“I have orders to get you to safety,” Tarron tried. Bless him, the poor man tried to use reason.
Payton was having none of it. “You’ll have to knock me out and kidnap me all over again.” A crush of steps gave away her location as she moved in the snow. “Are you willing to do that, Tarron?”
Reed and I shared a look. Tarron would die before he did anything to hurt a woman. Especially a woman like Payton.
My heart thundered, the swelling appreciation for Payton making my coat stretch taut over my chest as I tried to breathe.
“Give them a few more minutes.” Payton cajoled with a quiet and watery plea that tore at my heart. “Can we go back to check on them?”
“No need.” I let my voice carry to them.
They should have heard our approach in the thick snow, but I couldn’t blame them for being too locked in their conversation to pay attention.
Then again, Tarron was supposed to keep Payton safe. He should have been on alert.
Branches cracked as footsteps pounded our way. Payton appeared in a flash of white camo, moonlight painting her face as tears streaked her cheeks. She threw herself between us, slinging an arm around each of our necks and kissing our cheeks. “You’re okay.”
“Not exactly.” Tarron took in the situation with a slow blink. “Careful of Reed’s shoulder, Payton.”
“What?” She leaned back, her face going pasty in the moonlight when she caught sight of the blood on Reed’s coat. “What happened?”
“You tell them, Mav. I’m too tired.” Reed sank onto a thick branch that had fallen and made a bench seat.
He pressed a hand to his shoulder and panted. “Getting a bit lightheaded, Tarron.”
“On it.” Tarron leaped into action as I gave them a rundown of the situation.