Chapter Thirteen #2
confident that he could hit a man’s T-zone from that
distance?
“Then we need to take him
out of the equation, but not kill him,” Dev said. “Marcel, you and
I need to get up onto that ridge as soon as Reaper takes the shot.
We can’t risk him getting a hold of that gun and taking shots at
Aiden.”
“Copy that.” Marcel’s
voice was barely a whisper.
“Marcel’s been doing his
sneaky shit again,” Reaper said. “He’s only about fifty feet behind
Muir.”
“Great, saves me a trip up
the ridge,” Dev responded, amusement in his tone. “Hit him low in
the abdomen, Reaper. I want him hurting and bleeding badly. Finn
baby, I need you to contact the authorities.”
Nick knew the plan as soon as Dev
started talking. “As soon as we hear that shot, we’ll get to Aiden
with his Leatherman, he’ll get the vest off and then all of us will
high tail it out of these woods until the bomb squad can come in
and dispose of the rest.”
Nick ignored Aiden’s protests about
time running out and it being too dangerous and waited for the
shot. At Dev’s quiet, “go” the shot rang out and Nick and Sam were
on the move. They both burst out of the treeline and sprinted for
Aiden where he sat tied to a garden chair. Although there was fear
and frustration evident on Aiden’s face, Nick couldn’t help but
recognize the relief that shimmered there also.
“You never fucking
listen,” Aiden groused, and Nick grinned back at him.
“Nope, not when it comes
to you telling us to leave you for dead.”
“And we never will,” Sam
said as he moved behind Aiden. “Fuck, your wrists are bleeding. Let
me get this rope off. We’ll have to get the blood off so that you
can work.”
Nick looked at the vest and swallowed
the lump of fear that rose in his throat. The vest was an ordinary
looking flack vest but had wires running along the seams and down
the front. Wires flowed into each and every pocket of the vest, and
Nick knew there was C4 or something similar in each compartment.
There was a small screen in the center that was all lit up, and
Nick thought that if this was a movie, there would be a clock
ticking down on the display.
“Right,” Aiden said calmly
as he used Sam’s shirt to wipe the blood from his palms, his gaze
locked to the vest. “Hand me my Leatherman, and let’s see if I
can’t save the fucking day.”
Nick watched as Aiden calmly began to
assess the vest in more detail, trailing each and every wire he
could reach and asking Sam or him to trace those that ran around
his back. He worked methodically, separating wires, and cutting
some almost immediately, and he continued to talk to himself as he
worked.
“Sam,” Marcel’s voice came
over the comms, and the three of them stilled.
“Yeah?”
“Muir doesn’t look so
good,” Marcel advised. “His breathing is shallow and his skin has
an odd pallor to it.”
Sam frowned. “Check his pulse. Is it
slowing down?”
There was a pause for a moment.
“Negative, it’s racing like crazy.”
Sam cursed. “Fucker’s having a heart
attack. Go faster, Aiden.”
This time Aiden cursed, and his
fingers began to move faster on the vest. There were still way too
many wires on the vest for Nick’s liking
“I’ve disconnected the
circuit to the IED’s on the path up here,” Aiden said, his voice
sounding a little ragged. “But I can’t disconnect the damn
explosives on the vest because I can’t find the connection to
Muir’s heartbeat.”
“Then just take the
fucking thing off,” Nick snapped.
Aiden’s head shot up. “What if that
sets it off? I can’t see if he’s set anything beneath the
vest.”
“We don’t have a choice,”
Sam said as he dropped to his knees beside Aiden. “Take it off,
then let’s get outta here. Either way, we go together. Three of
us.”
Nick dropped down next to Sam, putting
one hand on Aiden’s knee and wrapping his other arm around Sam’s
waist. “Just as it’s meant to be. The three of us, together to the
very end.”
Aiden met his gaze, and Nick read so
many emotions in his eyes it was hard to name them all. “Okay. You
ready? Once I get this off, we run.”
Nick nodded, standing up so that he
could yank Aiden from the chair and physically carry him from this
place if necessary, and Sam followed suit on the other
side.
“I love you, both of you,
with everything that I am,” Aiden whispered. Then after two quick
deep breaths, he ripped the seam that ran up his right side until
the garment hung from him, and then he yanked it over his head and
threw it as far away as he could.
Nick was about to yank Aiden up and
into his arms, but Sam beat him to it.
“Run!” Sam yelled and then
all three of them were sprinting for the relative safety of the
trees. They were about ten feet from them when a blast behind them
threw them into the air, and Nick could feel the heat of it as the
percussion wave hit them. He hit the ground and grunted in pain as
the shock rocked through his already abused body. He lay there for
a moment, and just as he was about to lift his head, another
explosion sounded, followed by a further three in quick
succession.
Nick dropped his head to his arms and
waited for it to stop, the sound of debris falling all around them
the only sound he could hear over the slight ringing in his ears.
When it seemed to have stopped, he lifted his head to look at the
carnage around them. Trees were burning, embers and debris littered
the forest floor around them, and he could hear sirens off in the
distance that said help was on its way.
He looked over to where Sam and Aiden
lay, both of them looking around just as he was. “You two
okay?”
Both nodded.
“What the fuck was that,
Aiden? I thought you said you had that circuit closed off and those
other three wouldn’t explode?”
Aiden sat up, rubbing his sore wrist
and shrugged. “What can I say? The prick must have had a failsafe
timer in that last one. I’m not fucking perfect, you
know.”
Sam laughed as he wrapped an arm
around Aiden’s shoulder. “Oh, I don’t know. I think you’re pretty
damn perfect myself.”
And Nick couldn’t help but
agree.