Chapter 18 #2
Wynn stared at her as she packed up her rifle, opened one of the adjoining windows. “Neve? What are you doing?”
She slung the rifle across her shoulders, muscling the pane up enough she could slip through. “Those assholes have a higher position. They’re going to walk their rounds down the ladder the moment he reaches the last section before our level. Tear him apart. I can’t let that happen.”
Wynn hooked her arm. “If you step out there, you’ll have zero cover. You’ll be an open target.”
Neve checked her mag. “I know.”
“They have a marksman. Maybe not as good as you, but at this distance, he won’t miss. The math says you take a round.”
Neve looked her dead in the eyes. “The math also says Coulter dies in the next sixty seconds.”
“Then, I’ll come, too. Lay down cover fire.”
Neve stopped trying to pull free. “I need you here.”
Wynn tightened her grip. “Neve…”
“If you go out there before I take them down, we’ll both get hit. But if you wait until after I fire, I might have a chance.”
“A chance at what? You’ll be dead.”
“For you to drag my ass back in here and keep me breathing long enough to see his face, again.”
Wynn pursed her lips, shaking her head before she cursed, nodded. “You better make both those shots count so I don’t take a round in the ass dragging yours back inside. And you better not give up on me.”
“I won’t.” She ducked under the frame, pausing to lean back in. “If anything goes wrong…”
“See that it doesn’t.”
“But if it does, tell Coulter I love him. That I would have waited forever.”
“You can tell him yourself because dying on me isn’t an option.”
“Roger. Stay safe. I’m counting on you to save my ass.”
Wynn grabbed her med kit, pulled out trauma shears, sponges, clotting powder, and a pressure dressing.
Neve took a breath, then crept out, staying low as she moved along the metal grating, placing each footfall carefully — avoiding the telltale clang.
She reached the ideal position, then dropped to her belly, the cold steel biting into her elbows.
The rain had kicked up, the fog already cresting the upper bench.
The rifle seemed heavier, the scope practically bruising her eye as she scanned up the cliff and settled on the men zeroing in on Coulter. She made the necessary adjustments, aware she’d only have a few seconds to cycle the next round and hit the second guy before he fired down at her.
A determined calm settled over her as she put the first man in the crosshairs, her finger finding the trigger as she took a breath, released it.
The suppressed thut sounded loud in the eerie stillness, the first shooter jerking from the impact before tipping forward and dropping out of sight. The second guy snapped his aim toward her. Either the hushed thump or her muzzle flash had given her away.
She shifted her aim, got that asshole in her sights, then fired, a puff of smoke curling up from her weapon a split second before the other guy fired, the flash insanely bright against the midnight sky.
Her bullet hit the mark, dropping him off the side a breath before his high caliber round slammed into her side, punching through the Kevlar like a sledgehammer.
The violent force threw her backwards, tumbling her over a few times as she slid across the wet steel grating, finally stopping several feet back.
Pain, white and hot, seared through her chest, stealing her next breath as she stared up at the rain. The steel grating pressed against her back, the uncomfortable bite dulling into an odd numbness. Blood soaked through her gear, a deep chill settling into her bones.
“Neve.”
Wynn loomed overhead, already cutting through Velcro and nylon, before clamping her hand around the wound. “Just keep breathing. I’ve got you. You hear me? I’ve got you.”
She slapped on a bandage, then grabbed the handle on the back of Neve’s vest, started dragging her toward the container.
The metal bumped across Neve’s back, everything fading to gray, when someone started clapping, the echo sending shivers down Neve’s spine.
She blinked, trying to focus, as a figure appeared on that raised platform behind them, the man’s silhouette more than familiar.
Ramsey cracked open a flare, lighting up the area in a crimson glow.
He tsked when Wynn spun, her weapon trained on him.
“Nice idea, but I have the higher position, not to mention this…” He held up his hand.
“It’s a dead man’s switch hooked up to an insane amount of explosives.
Kill me, and this entire compound goes up like napalm. ”
Neve squeezed Wynn’s arm, shook her head.
Ramsey grinned. “Good call. Now, leave her. Let’s see how much she bleeds before her boyfriend gets to the top of the ladder. Soldiers operate so much better with clear motivational goals.”
Neve reached for her sidearm, but the messages weren’t getting through, her fingers barely moved before everything just stopped. A heavy clang sounded behind her, what she knew were boots pounding on a ladder.
Coulter had reached the top. And she wasn’t the only one who’d marked his arrival.