Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Rain fell in sheets across the open yard, each rumble of thunder rattling the metal door, adding to the tension already charging the air. A flash of lightning brightened the storm-bruised sky, dulling the blinding white lights glaring from inside the shed.
Buck stood ankle-deep in the mud, his rifle at the ready, doing his best to shield Tierney from Pike’s gaze. Not that it worked. With double the fire power staring them down, all he could do was wait to see who made the first move.
Pike grinned, teeth glinting in the harsh light. “Don’t look so grim, pet. You made it to the final boss level. No one’s ever done that.”
Tierney shouldered up beside Buck, head high, not an ounce of fear showing in her eyes. “We had a deal. We held up our end.”
Pike laughed. “Then, consider this an audible. That is what you Yanks call it, yeah? A chance for the ultimate showdown.” He winked. “I know you’re itching for some payback.”
“I’ve got nothing to prove to you.”
“I see. Then how about a deal? You tell me where you hid the other strays, give up the two you’ve got stashed in the machine, and I’ll let one of you live long enough to fight in my next hunt. Who knows, maybe you’ll win, again — earn your freedom.”
Tierney merely stood there, rain dripping off her ponytail, weight on her toes, ready for a fight.
Pike sighed. “Loyalty, cute. Tell me, Tierney, how much do you trust these new friends of yours? Because the last time you trusted someone, they led you right into my lap.”
Tierney stiffened beside him, fingers white knuckled around her weapon, chest rising and falling faster than usual. She shifted her weight, her hands shaking ever so slightly.
Pike smiled. “I’m sure you already deduced that we didn’t simply stumble upon your JSOC route.
That no one was supposed to walk away from that ravine.
But then, we saw you, and we knew…” His grinned widened.
“You were just too good to pass up. It’s a shame you’re gonna die without knowing who sold you out. ”
Buck inched closer. “He’s talking so you’ll start firing. Don’t let him inside your head, sweetheart.”
Her gaze slid toward him before she swallowed, held her position.
Pike tsked. “You had a good run, pet, but all good things…”
His mouth twitched, gaze focused on Tierney, when a shadow detached from the roofline above them, Dalton dropping down silently behind the mercs on the right. He lunged forward, snapped one of their necks before shoving a knife in the other’s shoulder, yanking it free as the two men hit the gravel.
Pike lit up his machine gun, sent Dalton diving for cover as Buck emptied his rifle, catching Pike twice in the vest, scattering his remaining forces.
A shot cracked from the tree line, hitting the generator fueling the lights, killing the power as they surged to twice their brightness before shattering in a shower of glass and filament.
The men on the perimeter turned, peppered rounds at where Nick must have been nesting, chewing through branches and needles as the entire yard erupted into a war zone.
Buck grabbed Tierney, tackled her behind the excavator a second before a string of heavy caliber rounds ate up the mud and steel where they’d been standing, sparking off the treads and punching holes in the doors. The gun roared, drowning out the next roll of thunder, making Buck’s skull rattle.
He rolled, dragging Tierney with him, racing to the next rusted hull as Pike walked forward, laying down sweeping arcs of massive fire.
Tierney took a risk, popped up long enough to plant three bullets in the center of Pike’s chest, but he shook them off, cutting a line through the loader behind her as she hit the ground.
She scrambled to her knees, moving with Buck as he circled the loader, keeping as much metal between them and Pike’s machine gun as possible. “He’s wearing armored plates. My Sig didn’t even faze him.”
Buck nodded, mapping out a way to get behind him, catch the guy in the crossfire, when one of his mercs materialized out of the dark, carbine barking, the muzzle flash lighting up the rain.
Buck took a couple in the vest shoving Tierney under a massive truck chassis before diving under another wreck, popping up the other side then vaulting over the top, landing on the guy as he turned.
The bastard got off one more round, knocked the wind out of Buck as they hit the mud. Pain punched through his ribs, fraying his vision at the edges, his next, wheezing breath like liquid fire.
The guy rolled, muddy water splattering their clothes, gravel biting into his skin.
He straddled Buck, got in a couple hard punches to his jaw.
Black dots danced behind his eyes, his ribs crushing beneath the guy’s weight.
A flash of lightning glinted off a knife as the guy ripped it from his sheath, used both hands to drive it toward Buck’s chest.
He caught the merc’s wrists, blade scratching at his vest, the tip already cutting a line through the fabric.
Time slowed, Pike’s rifle still rattling in the background, the rounds eating through the truck’s side panel, pinning Tierney beneath it, every crack a reminder of all Buck had to lose.
He cinched his hands tighter, bridging his hips as he twisted his shoulders, took a deep slice along his ribs in order to launch the asshole over his shoulders.
The guy rolled with the force, gaining his feet, spinning and drawing his sidearm just as Buck stepped into him. He caught the slide in his palm, shoved it back — ejected the round as he headbutted the jerk, following with two quick throat strikes.
The merc reeled backwards, weapon pointing at the ground, eyes wide as Buck drew his KA-BAR, ran it through the creep’s chest. The merc stilled, back arched, mouth gaped open before crumpling to the ground.
Buck palmed the machine beside him, sucking in some air, when more gunfire whizzed past, sending him scrambling for cover.
He hopped into a cab, slid across the peeling, vinyl seat, then out the other side, landing in a spray of mud and gravel.
He quickstepped toward the rear bumper, got a bead on Tierney still pinned beneath the crumbling chassis.
She didn’t have much cover left, half the frame lying in tattered ruins on the ground.
He searched the yard, ready to simply launch himself at Pike, when an idea slammed into his head. He darted out, stayed one step ahead of the brass stitching through the air behind him as he sprinted across the open space, slid behind the massive crane on the other side of the shed.
Rounds pelted the cab, shattering the glass, rocking the whole thing sideways before Pike stopped, tossed the spent machine gun on the ground, swung his carbine around to his chest.
Buck used the two second lull, to plant three more rounds in the guy’s armor, knocking him back a few feet. Pike shook it off, returned more fire, the damn gun smoking and sizzling as it barked out rounds.
A few more feet.
That’s all Buck needed to put the last part of his plan in action.
He waited, listening for the hollow click, before jumping out, hitting the guy again. Pike stumbled back, a bullet slicing across his thigh before he snarled, lighting up the crane with a full mag of brass.
Buck looked up, judging the distance between the heavy roll of cable swinging beneath the crane and Pike’s position. But between the rain and the darkness, all he got was the occasional glint when another fork of lightning brightened the sky.
Either Tierney had the same idea, or she’d logged the way Buck kept pushing Pike over because she scooted out, took a huge risk breaking cover, stepping into Pike’s line of sight.
She raised her Sig, hit him twice in the back of the helmet. “Pike.”
He tripped forward as the shots bounced off the plates, his name echoing across the yard, before turning — firing off more brass as he lunged toward her. “Clever, lass.”
Tierney tumbled back, one round hitting the upper corner of her Kevlar, knocking her into the mud a second before Buck stepped out, emptied the last of his mag at the hitch holding the spooled cable in place.
Sparks cracked off the metal box, half of the rounds punching through the surface, twisting the unit counterclockwise.
An eerie screech whined through the air, the remaining metal crumpling from the strain before the entire unit snapped.
Pike froze, looking up as the cable fell, the line emitting a loud twang as it whipped skyward, curling around the arm, cracking in the wind.
The unit hit the ground, crushing half Pike’s torso, knocking the gun from his hand as mud and gravel shot into the air, obscuring the scene until everything settled, the rain needling off the metal casing.
Buck checked his six, then darted over to Tierney, heart thrashing, his chest squeezed tight. She pushed to her feet, another round embedded in her vest before she waved him off as she aimed her Sig at Pike, slowly closed the distance.
Buck stayed on her six, switching to the spare in his ankle holster, sweeping the tree line, looking for any stray mercs his buddies hadn’t finished.
Tierney stopped several feet away from Pike, kicking the weapon off to the side, her barrel pointed at his head, hands shaking.
Rain ran off her skin in rivulets, but she simply stood there, staring.
Pike coughed, spitting up blood as he looked up at her. He focused on the gun, grinning. “Go, on, pet. Finish it.”
Tierney inched forward. “Where’s Grieves?”
Pike laughed, the sound morphing into a gurgling rasp. “Vaughan? He’s rotting in a ditch in Medellín. Cartel got him six months after you escaped. I took over the business. And I made it better.”
“You’re lying. I heard his lighter.”
“You mean the one in my pocket?” Another laugh, only it sounded harsh. Cruel. “I took it. He didn’t need it anymore.”
“Who sold out my team?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” He coughed again. “Better watch your back, pet. I’m not the only one who knows you’re alive, now, and they might come looking to finish the job.”
He laughed, gaze locked on hers before his head sloughed off to one side, his chest stilling.
Tierney stared at him, gun still aimed between his eyes, muscles locked.
Buck moved in close, ribs screaming, hyperthermia shaking his hands, when a boot splashed in a puddle behind him.
He spun, blocking Tierney, his sights set on the asshole emerging from behind the bulldozer, when a round cracked the air, knocking the mercenary backwards into the mud.
Buck glanced over his shoulder as Dalton ghosted out of the shadows, dried blood smeared across one cheek.
He kept the rifle notched in his shoulder, his gaze searching the dark.
There was a coldness about him, a detachment he’d kept hidden, that rolled off him, giving Buck a glimpse of the man who’d stepped out of the compound.
Nick appeared a moment later, blood staining his pants, what looked like a graze in his upper thigh. “That should be all of them.”
Dalton grunted. “I’ll make another perimeter check.”
Nick sighed as Dalton vanished — just disappeared into the night like a wraith.
“Looks like this mission’s hit a bit too close to home.
But, he’s right. We can’t be too careful.
” He waved his fingers at Buck. “Shoot me the coordinates of the other hostages, and I’ll have Foster’s crew start rounding them up.
You two have done more than enough tonight. ”
Buck rattled them off. “They’re armed and panicked. Make sure Kash and Zain announce themselves before rushing in.”
Nick nodded, hopped over to where the other two victims were still huddled in the cab, then ushered them out, already talking to Bodie now that the jammer was down.
Buck moved in behind Tierney, laying a protective hand on her shoulder. “Other than the obvious hits to your vest, are you okay?”
She stiffened beneath his touch, gaze still locked on Pike. “I thought it would feel different. Lighter, maybe, but I look at him, and I still can’t breathe. Still feel those walls closing in on me. The ache in my leg that never goes away.”
He sighed, wrapping her gently in his arms. “I know. Just, give it some time to sink in. To quiet the voices.”
She glanced back at him. “I honestly don’t know if anything ever will.” She stepped out of his embrace. “When they finally move him, I want them to check that he has the lighter. Just to be sure.”
Buck nodded, watching as she drew in on herself, finally sitting down in the mud beside Pike, her gaze absently straying to him. Not that Buck blamed her. After all she’d been through, the taunts the man had lobbed at the end, she had every reason to be distant.
A steady strum pulsed through his chest a moment before Foster’s chopper crested the trees, flaring into the clearing like a hurricane. The side doors opened, Greer and Avery jumping out with a handful of agents. The lawmen secured the area, started hanging tape, as Avery jogged over to them.
She studied Pike for a few seconds, her gaze drifting to Tierney then back to Buck. “You know vests aren’t supposed to take that many hits, right?”
Buck chuckled, grabbing his ribs when the movement stole his breath. “I’ll remember that.”
“How bad?”
“Enough that I’ll feel it for a while. Not so bad I won’t walk my own ass out of here.” He inched closer. “Can you do me a favor?”
Avery grinned. “Name it.”
“I know Sloane will tear the dark web apart looking for answers for everything Pike said tonight, but can you ask around some of your… connections if there’s any truth to what he said about Grieves?
That he died in a cartel hit in Medellín six months after Tier escaped? Might help give her more closure.”
Avery glanced at Tierney sitting in the rain and the mud, seemingly oblivious to everything else. “I’ll see what I can find out. Though, if it really was a cartel hit, there’s a good chance Pike might have been the only person who knew the details.”
“Understood. And thanks.”
Buck waited a few minutes before closing the distance, standing beside Tierney. “You’re soaked, hurting, and your lips are blue.” He offered her his hand. “C’mon. Foster’s here. Let’s go home.”
Tierney stared at Pike for another thirty seconds before taking Buck’s hand, pushing to her feet. She didn’t talk, just moved in close, leaning into his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her, headed toward where Nick and Dalton waited beside the landing zone.
The nightmare was over.
Now, all he had to do was convince her they were worth the risk.