Chapter 12
Twelve
Mackenzie hadn’t rallied much of an argument against his plan to reclaim his Jeep, and he wouldn’t have listened anyway.
The freedom Bullseye had to terrorize people into complying was out of bounds, and like Mackenzie, Gideon was tired.
His muscles ached, his shoulder was screaming at him, and he was cold down to his core.
One guy or three, didn’t matter. He was going to retrieve his property one way or the other.
He explained how he intended to go about it.
Mackenzie grinned. “I like it. Am I the carrot or the stick?”
Either would carry risks, and he wished she didn’t have to be involved at all, but it would take both of them to pull it off.
“What do you prefer?”
“Carrot,” she said after a moment. “They won’t kill me until they’re certain you’re apprehended too.”
“I agree, but it’s not comforting somehow.”
“You’ll live with it.”
He sighed. “I should have figured out Kevin sooner.”
“Me too. At least he’s got a good reason for his betrayal, and he did fish us out of the river without any coercion, so he gets points for that. Unless he’d been assigned to stay on the bank and watch Jerry and Al run us off the bridge, but that doesn’t seem likely, does it?”
“No. I think he intervened not knowing we were wanted people. I’m sure he’s a regular stand-up guy underneath the cowardice.
We’ll send him a Christmas card.” The leaves skimmed their shoulders as they pressed through the foliage that bordered the trail, not concerned that their progress would be overheard by the scout since the river was roaring.
Their pace slowed until they were moving at a crawl, practically on their heels due to the decline as they squelched their way to the bottom.
The flattened mud trail led to gravel and finally the asphalt road.
Just before they reached the paved part, they stopped.
One remaining thicket was all that stood between them and the Jeep.
Once they committed, there would be no going back.
A careful search with the binoculars didn’t reveal any other watchers besides the one Mackenzie had already identified.
If he was wrong, the consequences would be quick and deadly.
One last chance to walk away . . . but he wouldn’t, and neither would she. The rhythm of the rain was frenetic.
“You sure you want to be the carrot?” Gideon whispered, his cheek grazing hers, causing him to pine for all kinds of strange things.
He wished it was all a game, a survival exercise he was enjoying with her.
In his imagination, they didn’t have to be adversaries or vulnerable, isolated personnel.
If he had his way, it would be a fun adventure like they’d experienced in their teen years with Aaron, hiking in the woods, scouring the rocks for hidden caves, fishing in secluded pools.
Reality soured his daydream. This was anything but playtime.
If they were wrong and the guy reacted by shooting first, Mackenzie could be dead in minutes.
She combed her wet hair from her face. “I’m the carrot. Ready?”
“Hold a minute.” He looked again, panning the binoculars slowly, making sure there was no detectable gleam to give them away. He caught the scent of tobacco smoke. Rookie move. Gideon continued to scan patiently.
The watcher was barely visible in the branches, palm cupped over a cigarette as he tried to keep it alight in the rain and exhaling a stream of smoke while he waited for his prey.
He wasn’t a professional, by any means, but he looked fit and there was a bulge in his jacket pocket that indicated a weapon.
“Zee, I changed my mind,” he said. “Let’s—”
But she’d already stepped out from the shrubbery, tiptoeing, shoulders hunched. Tentative steps took her to the bridge approach as if she was making her way covertly, intending to cross the bridge on foot.
He watched the man, who he could now see had red hair under a black baseball cap. The instant he saw Mackenzie, the stranger erupted from his hiding place and yanked out a revolver. Gideon bit back a curse and wormed his way around the shrubs toward his attacker’s flank.
“Stop right there!” the man shouted, completely focused on Mackenzie, the cigarette slipping from his mouth to the ground.
Mackenzie screamed, a feigned look of surrender on her face, her hands up. An impressive performance.
“Where’s your partner?” the guy said, scanning behind her.
“Kevin killed him, but I got away,” she called over the rain. She was convincing when she rattled off the story they’d concocted. “I . . . I was trying to get to Gideon’s Jeep. I have to get out of here. Please help me.”
The man’s eyes narrowed and he moved closer, gun trained on Mackenzie. She stepped backward, and he countered, which put him closer to the dripping shrubs on the side of the thicket where Gideon crouched, a stout branch in his fist.
The redhead grinned. “Sorry to disappoint, but you’re not going to make it out of here.
I get a nice finder’s fee for taking you out.
Better payout if I got two of you, but I’m tired of getting soaked, waiting around here until the dam blows up.
” He was moving into point-blank shooting range when Gideon emerged from the thicket and slammed the branch on the back of his head with a satisfying thwack. The man dropped to the mud.
Gideon chuckled and tossed the branch aside. “Finally, one phase of this plan goes off without a hitch.” He patted down the fallen man’s pockets, took a pack of gum, his cell phone, and the weapon, which he stuck in his waistband, along with an extra clip.
Mackenzie snagged a plastic bag from under the tree where the man had been smoking. “Things are looking up. Care for half a cheese sandwich, extra pickles?”
His stomach rumbled. “Exactly the way I like my cheese sandwiches, but we’ll eat on the go.”
They paused long enough for one more sweep to make sure there were no other eyes on the bridge, but he could detect no one. He took her hand, and surprisingly she let him.
“Ready?”
She seemed to understand. There was a possibility that a concealed individual would shoot them the moment their feet hit the paved surface.
She laced her fingers with his and gave him a confident smile, a bright light in the gloom. “Race you.”
She let go and took off ahead of him. Two separate running targets would be harder to handle than if they’d stayed together. He couldn’t believe how fast she ran, even though the ground was slippery. His body clunked along like a clogged-up engine as he struggled after her.
A few feet apart, they sprinted onto the bridge and moved as quickly as they could to his vehicle. Their pace felt like slow motion as they each fought off their fatigue, injuries, and dehydration. The Jeep was slick with rain, parked in the exact same position he’d left it.
He checked behind them again while Mackenzie looked inside. “Keys still there?” he called.
“Nope,” she said with a groan. “I’ll have to hotwire it.”
“No need. I never go anywhere without a spare set.” He pulled the keys from his backpack, unlocked the passenger side, and flung open the door for her before he went around to the driver’s seat.
“Chivalry,” she said, sliding inside. “Perfect.”
It felt amazing to be out of the downpour, even better when the engine fired up.
Before they took off, he examined the phone he’d taken, which was locked with a security code. “Shame it’s probably got a tracker on it,” he said, before rolling down the window and lofting it over the side into the bubbling water.
“This town is murder on phones,” Mackenzie said, checking her own. “And there’s still no signal.” She snapped his photo.
He blinked. “That better not be going up on your Instagram.”
“Just capturing the moment so I can remind myself later.”
“Remind yourself what?” He reversed and guided the Jeep onto the steep trail they’d used earlier, heading away from town.
“Um . . .” She shrugged and looked away. “How you helped me and stuff. You are quite a man.”
Quite a man? He had no idea what to say in response.
Mackenzie became very busy keeping watch out the side mirrors. “No one in pursuit yet.”
“The farther we get away from town, the better.”
“But Kevin knows we were heading for the airstrip.”
“And he’ll squeal like a pig as soon as he gets the chance, but hopefully we’ve got enough of a head start.”
A flying branch smacked against the windshield.
She fell silent, and he knew she was thinking she should have gone alone.
She didn’t want the guilt of adding another potential victim.
He’d probably have felt the same way in her shoes, but he wasn’t going to let her walk into a firing squad by herself, even if she was determined to.
She was coming into sharper focus for him, the vulnerability under the ferocious determination, the softness lurking beneath the silvery eyes.
What would it be like to be forever partners with a woman like Mackenzie? Exasperating, no doubt, with her will and her refusal to bend. But if she decided to love someone, there would be no end, or bottom, or edges to it. Fathomless. Wild. Soul deep.
He blinked and squeezed the wheel. This trauma-bonding stuff was really messing with his head. They drove past Kevin, who was still trussed in the back seat, seemingly having made no progress on freeing himself. Gideon gave him a thumbs-up.
Kevin’s eyes bugged out.
Mackenzie giggled. “Almost feel bad for the guy.”
“I don’t, and he isn’t trying hard enough if he hasn’t gotten loose by now. It would have taken me ten minutes, tops.”
“You have an unfair advantage, grasshopper eater.”
“Praying mantis,” he corrected. “The downside to driving is we’ll be easier for Al and Jerry to spot, but it’s worth it to be reunited with old Fluff.” Gideon grinned as he patted the dashboard and blasted the heater. “Missed me, didn’t you, girl? Sorry it took me so long to get you back.”
“Wait a minute. You named your Jeep Fluff?”