27. River
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
River
The windows on Brynn’s car spiderwebbed and shattered as she ran for the house. Slinging my rifle around on its strap and flicking the safety, I dashed out to help cover her.
There was movement as two gunmen appeared from the woods. I picked them off.
“Get inside! Go!” I shouted at Charlie, who was hesitating behind me. Reaching out for her friend. Brynn passed me, grasping onto Charlie’s hand.
Still firing, I jogged backward until I’d reached the doorway to the house and ducked inside.
Brynn and Charlie were here. Charlie’s eyes were wide, and she grabbed hold of me as I slammed the door shut. I scanned for injuries.
“You’re alright?”
“Yes. You?”
Adrenaline had me flying, hungry for vengeance and blood. They’d found us. Stillwater had fucking found us.
No—I’d let us stay here too damn long. And now Jud Hale was lying dead because of it. Those gunmen had been kitted out military-style. Stillwater mercenaries. Not just the foot soldiers we’d faced at the botanic gardens in Denver.
Somehow, they’d figured out that we were here. But we didn’t have time to stop and wonder how. Protect Charlie. Get her out. That was my priority.
“We need to keep going,” Brynn said. “Out the back, before they surround us and cut off the exits.”
“Agreed.” The shots had all been coming from the woods on the west side of the property. Stillwater had come up from the valley, avoiding the road and approaching from the side. Probably had determined it would take too long to ascend the mountain and come down on us from above. Which was a damn good thing. We still had the high ground, and we had to keep it.
But they knew for sure that Charlie was here. Because that drone had no doubt spotted her.
“We head for the art studio,” I said. “Get to the ATV.”
We dashed through the living room, making a straight line through the house to the back door. I went out first. We’d left our packs here, so I hauled the heavier one onto my back. Charlie put on the other. Then Brynn and I stayed on either side of Charlie as we ran. I fired my rifle to lay down cover.
I swiveled back and forth, picking off another two mercenaries that came into view. But more replaced them.
Gunshots rained, smacking into nearby tree trunks. Splinters erupted into the air.
Fuck, we couldn’t make it to the studio. We were taking heavy fire.
“Archery range,” I said, signaling to the right. We changed course, sprinting.
Bullets thudded into the wooden beams just as we disappeared behind the sun shelter. We lay flat in the dirt. I grabbed my ammo to reload. “From what I’ve seen and the fire we’re taking, they’ve got at least a dozen operatives. I’ve killed four so far.”
Brynn peered through one of the gaps between the beams of wood. Fired. “Make that five.” She turned away as another wave of bullets smacked into the sturdy shelter.
I cocked my rifle. “Brynn, Charlie, you’ll go ahead to the ATV. They’ve got that surveillance drone, so you’ll have to stay out of the open. Disappear into the woods. Follow the same path we took and head for the 4Runner. I pinned the location in my satphone. It’s in your pack. Brynn, get Charlie to safety and contact Trace Novo in Hartley.”
“What about you?” Charlie asked.
“I’ll find a defensible position and pick off anyone who tries to follow. Make my way toward my cabin from there. Rendezvous with you later. You need to take Jud’s safe deposit key. Trace will find a way to get you to the bank. Get the list. That’s the priority.”
“What list?” Brynn asked.
“Explanations later, Marine. Do what you jarheads are best at. Following orders.”
She squinted like she wanted to flip me off. “We also love blowing shit up. When we get the chance.”
“I’m fresh out of explosives.”
Brynn slid a fresh magazine into her Glock. “Don’t worry, I can do plenty with this.”
More bullets smacked into the wood. Brynn and I used the gaps in the shelter to fire, taking down two more mercenaries.
That was seven. Another appeared. Brynn fired. A red circle bloomed in his forehead just before he collapsed.
Eight.
Okay, there had to be more than a dozen.
We were lucky that Stillwater hadn’t lobbed any grenades our way. That suggested they wanted us alive. Rather, they wanted Charlie alive. Which meant their initial plan had changed. Jud was dead, but they assume Jud had given her the list of their moles in the government. They would torture her until they’d gotten every copy. And then they’d hurt her worse as a sadistic punishment for daring to act against them.
I’d go down in a blaze of hellfire against the Devil himself before I’d let them take her.
“Get ready. When I give the signal, head for the ATV. Ten seconds. Nine?—”
A barrage of gunfire interrupted me. We returned fire. The sounds of battle filled the air. The acrid aromas of gunpowder and smoke. Stillwater had sent a damn army after us.
Shit, they were charging. Trying to take our position. There were too many coming too fast.
“Charlie, stay down.” I signaled for Brynn to defend the east side, while I would cover the west. I rose to a crouch. Readied my weapon.
A mercenary in black tactical gear, grease streaking his face, appeared on my right. He shifted the aim of his sub-machine gun toward me. I was faster. Fired. He went down, and his buddy was there behind him.
Suddenly, the guy seized. An arrow was lodged in his throat.
I followed that with a shot to his head, then looked behind me. Charlie stood there holding a bow like an Amazonian warrior. I hadn’t even seen her go to the supply cabinet.
“Told you this is my weapon of choice,” she said, nocking another arrow from her quiver. “Haven’t had as much practice hunting with these lately, but I can get by.”
There was no time for lectures about what staying down meant .
Brynn was still fending off attackers on the other side. Charlie turned to help her friend, while I dispatched the next guy dumb enough to show his grease-streaked face.
When the assault was over, Charlie and I met Brynn at the middle of the shelter. We brushed off. Reloaded. Nothing but scratches and close calls. But any second that could change.
“Charlie, it’s time for you to go,” I said. “When you reach Trace, tell him everything. Tell Brynn whatever you want too. Answer her questions.” Secrets were all well and good when we had plenty of options. But now, we were out of them. “I’m going to cover you and take out as many of the fuckers as I can.”
Charlie grabbed my arm. “You had better catch up. Meet us at the ATV. Because we’re not leaving here without you.”
Brynn looked on solemnly. She knew there was no arguing with Charlotte. Not with the fierce look in her beautiful eyes.
“Charlie—”
“ No . Absolutely not. We are sticking together through the rest of this. So you’d better just hurry the hell up and get your ass to that ATV.”
“The thing can’t hold all three of us.”
“Then I’ll walk . Stop arguing, River. We’ll be waiting.”
I really wanted to kiss her, but it was going to turn into one of those passionate, I love you with my entire being kisses. And we couldn’t spare a second. So I hoped my expression was enough to convey everything I felt. Pure love for her. Love that couldn’t be denied, that refused to fade away no matter how many years had passed. It would be with me until the day I died.
But that wasn’t going to be today.
I gave Brynn the other pack, which held the rest of the water and first aid. We’d already ditched the camping gear to lighten the load. I kept nothing but some spare ammo for myself. There wasn’t much of it left.
Lifting my fingers, I counted down as I kept watch. We were clear.
Go .
Charlie and Brynn ran.
At the same time, I burst from behind the archery range. Laying down cover fire with my rifle and bellowing a war cry. Brass rained onto the ground. Two Stillwater men jerked, their shots going wide. When my rifle magazine was empty, I unholstered the two handguns at my back. Spun behind a tree trunk.
Breathe .
I popped out and shot a mercenary as he tried to get past me, going after the women. But I didn’t spot a second man until he was too close. He slammed me against the tree. I blocked an elbow, then struck his wrist so he dropped his weapon. I’d lost one of mine. But I couldn’t get the muzzle of the other aimed before he’d grabbed me around the middle. I threw my weight forward. We landed hard on the ground, rolling and fighting over my remaining gun.
He was so close I smelled the cigarettes on his breath. Sweat beads made lines in his grease paint. Teeth bared.
He smacked me hard in the nose. Gah, that stung . I tasted salt and metal in the back of my throat. For a split second, he had control of my gun, so I head-butted him. Wrenched the weapon from his grip, but the force sent the gun flying through the air.
His legs twisted around me, trying to get me in some grappling hold. I slithered out of it as I reached for my lower leg. The knife in my ankle holster.
The blade punched the guy’s ribcage and entered his heart.
His eyes went glassy, but he was still struggling. Fighting me. In the corner of my vision, I spotted a dark blur on the forest floor. The gun he’d dropped. My fingers closed on it.
I hugged him close and pressed the muzzle to his torso. Bam. Bam . He went still.
Then I felt a hot circle of metal at the base of my neck.
Fuck .
The man behind me said nothing. I didn’t expect him to. He had no use for me, and I was too dangerous to do anything but terminate. I was about to execute a defensive maneuver, grasping onto the desperate hope that I could deflect the bullet so it wouldn’t kill me outright. Because as long as I had air in my lungs, I’d keep fighting to get back to Charlie.
I wasn’t fast enough. A gunshot rang out.
But I was still here.
I pushed up to my knees.
“Careful,” said a low voice. “Get up nice and slow. Hands on your head.”
When I turned around, my arms up and elbows bent, I saw a man with salt and pepper hair. Dark skin. More new faces appeared, all with weapons drawn. And all wearing the same windbreaker with yellow lettering.
FBI.
Several agents ran toward me. One patted me down roughly. Another yanked my arms behind my back. Cuffed my wrists.
“Where’s the lieutenant governor?” asked the man who’d spoken before.
Like I was going to tell him. “Why should I trust you?”
He huffed. “Because you’re still breathing, Mr. Kwon.”
My captors marched me over to him. “You know my name. How about you share yours?”
“Special Agent in Charge Michael Stanford.”