9. Lucas
LUCAS
The climb was nearly vertical.
Loose shale slid beneath my boots as Adam, Hawk, and I worked our way up the narrow goat trail.
No talking.
No wasted movement.
Only hand signals.
Only trust.
Machine-gun fire continued hammering the canyon below.
The civilians were pinned.
Exactly where the enemy wanted them.
I glanced down.
Boone and Russ had everyone tucked behind a natural rock shelf while Janice and Wynn moved from one injured civilian to the next.
Even from two hundred feet above them, I found Wynn instantly through my optic.
As if she sensed me watching, she looked toward the ridge.
Only for a second.
Then she returned her attention to a little boy with a bloody arm.
I smiled to myself.
Stubborn.
Brave.
Completely impossible.
Exactly the woman I’d married.
Adam raised a clenched fist.
We froze.
Three enemy soldiers stood less than twenty yards ahead.
One smoked a cigarette.
Another watched the convoy below through binoculars.
The third adjusted the mounted machine gun.
None of them looked uphill.
They never imagined anyone would climb the cliff behind them.
Adam looked at me.
Then at Hawk.
Three fingers.
Two.
One.
We moved.
Hawk reached the machine gun first.
One silent strike.
The gunner collapsed without making a sound.
Adam grabbed the second soldier before he could turn.
A quick struggle.
Then silence.
The third man spun around just as I reached him.
His rifle came up.
Too late.
I drove him backward into the rocks.
His weapon clattered away.
He threw a punch.
I blocked it.
He reached for a knife.
Bad choice.
I trapped his wrist, twisted hard, and sent the blade tumbling down the mountainside.
He stared at me with wide eyes.
I hit him once.
Hard.
His body went limp.
Silence returned.
Hawk examined the captured machine gun.
“I don’t think they’ll be needing this.”
He swung it toward the enemy vehicles below.
Adam smiled.
“Light them up.”
The machine gun roared.
Enemy fighters scattered in every direction.
Shouts of alarm spread through their lines.
They’d finally realized we were behind them.
Panic followed.
Exactly what Adam wanted.
Down below, Russ didn’t hesitate.
“Move!”
Boone immediately began leading the civilians toward the western trail.
The opening we’d created wouldn’t last long.
I scanned the canyon through my scope.
More trucks were coming.
“They’ve got reinforcements.”
Adam nodded.
“I know.”
“They’re not giving up.”
“No.”
“Neither are we.”
Another explosion shook the canyon.
Enemy rounds slammed into the rocks around us.
One ricochet screamed past Hawk’s shoulder.
He didn’t even flinch.
“Little high.”
I couldn’t help it.
I laughed.
Only Hawk could joke in the middle of a firefight.
Then movement caught my eye.
A sniper.
Five hundred yards away.
Hidden beneath camouflage netting.
His rifle wasn’t aimed at us.
It was aimed at the civilians.
More specifically, at Wynn.
Time slowed.
I saw him settle behind the scope.
Saw his finger tighten on the trigger.
Everything inside me went cold.
“Wynn!”
She couldn’t hear me.
The canyon was too loud.
I swung my rifle toward the sniper.
His muzzle flashed at the same instant I pulled the trigger.
Wynn jerked and disappeared behind the rocks.
No.
I launched myself down the trail.
Adam shouted behind me.
“Lucas!”
I was already moving.
Sliding.
Falling.
Running downhill as fast as gravity would carry me.
I didn’t know whether my shot had reached the sniper in time.
I didn’t know whether Wynn had fallen or been hit.
There was only one thought in my head.
Not again.
Not this time.
Not her.
Never her.