12. You Came Back
You Came Back
The first rule of an ambush was simple.Get out of the kill zone.Chris had been trained to do it until the reaction lived deeper than thought.Move.Create distance.Find cover.Call backup.
Survive.The problem was Camila.Chris wasn’t getting out of anything without her.
The black SUV tore through the industrial district with the silver vehicle still behind them.Chris’s eyes moved constantly.Road.Mirror.Camila.Intersection.Pickup.Gun.Escape.
The secure phone vibrated again.Backup was moving.It didn’t matter.They were still minutes away.Chris needed seconds.“Camila.”She looked up from where she’d ducked below the window.“Stay down.”
“I am down.”
“Lower.”
“Chris, I can’t get any lower unless I crawl under the seat.”
“Then consider it.”Despite everything, she stared at him.“Was that a joke?”
“No.”Another impact slammed into the rear quarter.The SUV fishtailed.Camila screamed.
Chris countersteered.The vehicle straightened.His gun remained low against his thigh.
“Son of a bitch.”
“Who are these people?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why are they trying to kill us?”
“I don’t know that either.”
“That isn’t comforting!”
“I’m not trying to be comforting.”
“You’re doing a fantastic job!”Chris almost laughed.Almost.Then he saw the intersection ahead.Railroad crossing.Warehouse district beyond it.And an idea formed.A dangerous one.Naturally.“Seat belt tight?”Camila stared.“What?”
“Pull it tight.”Her eyes widened.“Oh, God.”
“Camila.”She yanked the belt.“Done.”
“Good.”Chris accelerated.“Why?”
“Because we’re going to lose them.”
“You said that ten minutes ago!”
“I was being optimistic.”
“Chris!”The railroad lights ahead began flashing.His eyes narrowed.Perfect.The crossing arms started lowering.Camila saw them.Then looked at him.“No.”Chris accelerated.“No.”
Seventy.“Chris.”Seventy-eight.“Chris!”
“I know.”
“You are not—”
“I am.”The arms continued lowering.The silver SUV stayed behind them.Chris calculated.
Distance.Speed.Angle.Time.He wasn’t racing the train.He wasn’t stupid.The train was still far enough away to be visible down the tracks.He was racing the gate.The crossing arm dropped.Chris moved into the opposite lane, where the second arm hadn’t fully lowered.
“Hold on.”Camila grabbed the door.The SUV shot through.The gate finished dropping behind them.The silver vehicle braked hard.For one beautiful second, Chris thought he’d done it.Then the pickup swerved.It didn’t stop.It went around the barrier.
Chris’s expression changed.“Fuck.”Camila looked back.“They’re still coming!”
“One is.”
“That’s one too many!”
“Agreed.”Chris made a hard right.The pickup followed.The silver SUV was trapped on the opposite side of the tracks.One down.One left.Chris’s secure phone vibrated.He ignored it.
The road narrowed.Old warehouses rose on both sides.Chain-link fences.Loading docks.
Shipping containers.Very little traffic.Good.Chris could work with this.He turned left.Then right.The pickup stayed with them.Too good.Whoever was driving knew what he was doing.That concerned Chris.A lot.“Camila.”
“What?”
“If I tell you to run—”
“No.”Chris glanced at her.“What?”
“No.”
“That’s not how this works.”
“I’m not leaving you.”His jaw tightened.“You will if I tell you to.”
“Chris—”
“Camila.”Something in his voice silenced her.“If this car stops, you get out and you run away from the threat. You don’t wait for me. You don’t come looking for me. Understand?”Her face changed.“No.”
“Understand?”
“What are you going to do?”
“Whatever I have to.”Her eyes dropped toward his gun.Then returned to him.“Who the hell are you?”Chris looked ahead.“Bad time for that conversation.”The pickup struck them.
Not from behind this time.Side impact.Hard.The SUV jumped toward the curb.Chris corrected.The pickup hit again.Metal screamed.“Chris!”
“I’ve got it.”The steering wheel fought him.Something underneath the SUV snapped.
Chris felt it immediately.Front suspension.Maybe steering linkage.Bad.Very bad.
The SUV pulled violently right.Chris fought it.
“Come on.”Another impact.The passenger-side window shattered.Camila screamed and covered her head.Chris instinctively leaned across her as glass exploded through the cabin.The SUV jumped the curb.Chris hit the brakes.Too late.They smashed through a chain-link gate.Metal folded across the hood.
The SUV bounced across broken pavement.Chris turned hard.Nothing.“Shit.”
Concrete barrier.Straight ahead.“Brace!”Chris threw his right arm across Camila.
Impact.The airbags exploded.Everything disappeared into white.Sound vanished.Then returned all at once.Hissing.A horn.Camila coughing.Chris tasted blood.His ears rang.
For several seconds he didn’t know which direction was up.Training forced his mind back online.Threat.Camila.Move.His airbag deflated.“Camila.”No answer.His heart stopped.
He turned.“Camila!”She coughed.“I’m here.”Relief hit so hard it almost hurt.“You hurt?”
“I don’t—I don’t know.”
“Look at me.”She did.Small cut near her temple.Airbag burn.No obvious major bleeding.“Can you move?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”Chris tried his door.Jammed.He looked through the windshield.The pickup had stopped outside the destroyed gate.Doors opened.Two men got out.Fuck.Chris reached for his gun.“Camila, listen carefully.”Her eyes fixed on the weapon.“Chris—”
“Not now.”
“Those men—”
“I see them.”He kicked his door.Nothing.Again.Metal groaned.“Chris.”Again.The door shifted.He shoved his shoulder into it.Pain shot down his arm.“Fuck.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“You just—”
“I’m fine.”He wasn’t.Didn’t matter.The door opened enough.Chris climbed out.
Camila grabbed his jacket.“Don’t leave me.”He looked back.Something in her expression nearly destroyed him.Fear.Not of the men outside.Of him leaving.Chris covered her hand with his.“I’m getting you out.”
“How?”
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“Camila.”
“Don’t leave me.”
“I’ll be right back.”
“You don’t know that.”Chris stared at her.For one second, Roman disappeared.The cover.
The mission.The lies.All of it.“I’m coming back.”Then he moved.Chris stayed behind the wrecked SUV.Gun close to his body.He could hear footsteps beyond the concrete barrier.
Two.Possibly three.His secure phone was somewhere inside the vehicle.Backup knew their location.The emergency signal was active.They’d come.Eventually.Chris couldn’t wait.He looked around.Warehouse twenty yards away.Loading dock.Side door.Shipping containers.Another chain-link fence.If he could get Camila inside the warehouse, he could create cover and wait for extraction.Movement.Chris ducked.Something struck the vehicle.
He stayed low.The situation had gone far beyond maintaining cover.He didn’t care anymore.A man appeared around the far side of the barrier.Chris raised the weapon.
“Don’t.”The man stopped.Chris’s voice was calm.“Back up.”The man stared at him.Then glanced toward the SUV.Toward Camila.That was enough.Chris stepped into his line of sight.
“You’re looking at me.”The man’s eyes returned to Chris.Good.Focus here.Not her.
The second attacker moved somewhere behind the pickup.Chris heard him.Couldn’t see him.Bad angle.Chris backed toward the SUV.The first man moved.Chris reacted.Fast.
The next few seconds became noise and motion.Chris shifted behind cover.Metal cracked nearby.He moved again.He wasn’t trying to chase them.He was trying to create an opening.Then he got one.“Camila!”She appeared at the damaged passenger door.“Run!”
She ran.Chris moved with her.Warehouse.Twenty yards.Fifteen.Ten.Something struck Chris from behind.Not a bullet.A man.Chris went down hard.His gun skidded across the pavement.“CHRIS!”
“RUN!”Camila stopped.Of course she fucking stopped.“Camila, go!”The attacker grabbed Chris’s jacket.Chris drove an elbow backward.The grip loosened.He turned.Punch.
Block.Another.The man was bigger.Chris was faster.Federal training took over.Not pretty.
Not cinematic.Efficient.Chris drove him backward.The attacker swung.Chris ducked.Countered.The man stumbled.Chris saw Camila still standing there.“What part of run don’t you understand?”
“Apparently all of it!”Even now.Jesus Christ.The attacker came again.Chris moved.But he didn’t see the second man until too late.A blow caught him along the ribs.Pain exploded through his side.Chris hit the ground.His vision flashed.Camila screamed.The man grabbed her.Something inside Chris snapped.Not training.Not the mission.Not procedure.Her.Chris pushed himself up.The pain in his ribs disappeared beneath adrenaline.The attacker started dragging Camila toward the pickup.She fought him.
“Let go of me!”Chris ran.He hit the man from the side.Camila broke free.
“Warehouse!”This time she listened.She ran.Chris followed.
The first attacker was recovering behind them.Chris reached the warehouse door.Locked.
Of course.“Move.”Camila stepped aside.Chris forced it.Pain ripped through his shoulder.
Again.The lock gave.They stumbled inside.Chris slammed the door.Darkness.Dust.
Old machinery.Rows of shelving.Camila was breathing hard.Chris leaned against the door.His ribs were screaming now.“Are you okay?”Camila came toward him.“Chris.”
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine.”
“Sure?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”She touched his side.Chris jerked.Her eyes widened.“You’re hurt.”
“I’m fine.”
“You are absolutely not fine.”
“Occupational hazard.”Her expression changed.“What occupation?”Chris stared.
Wrong phrase.Again.Apparently near-death experiences were terrible for maintaining a cover story.“Later.”
“There is always a later with you!”A crash came from outside.Chris grabbed her hand.“Move.”They disappeared deeper into the warehouse.The building was enormous.
Chris led her through rows of abandoned equipment.His breathing became harder.
Probably bruised ribs.Maybe cracked.He’d survived worse.Camila stayed close.
Too close for him to pretend he wasn’t grateful.They reached another door at the rear.