Echoes at Dawn (KGI #5)(12)

She went quiet, resting against him. One hand curled against his shoulder and she seemed to be concentrating hard.

“He’s on post,” she said quietly. “He’s pissed because it’s just him and one other guy who he thinks is inferior. They were told to take position. Their goal is to form a triangle and pin us in. I don’t know how many, but there must be enough to stagger men over a wide area.”

“That’s good,” Rio said approvingly. He reached behind him to squeeze the hand that had dropped down his back. “That’s information we can use. I can take two out before they ever know what hit them. We punch a hole in their line and slip through.”

He felt her sudden surge of excitement. She straightened against him, her hand squeezing his. It was as if his matter-of-fact way of laying out his plan had infused her with confidence and renewed hope.

“I’m ready.”

The quiet tone was far different from the defeat he’d heard earlier in her voice. This time there was fierce determination.

“How far, do you know?”

“No. I’m sorry. Not far, though. He’s very loud in my mind.”

He turned and eased her into a sitting position against a large aspen. “Stay here. Don’t move.” He took the pistol from his holster and handed it to her. “Use this if you have to. I’m going ahead to take care of the two men. I’ll be back, ten minutes tops.”

She nodded and a9;ssccepted the gun. Her hands no longer shook and she gripped it like she was well acquainted with how to use the weapon.

He turned then, not wasting another moment. He melted into the darkness, heading in the direction that Grace had pointed him. Stealthily, he moved through the trees, able to move faster and more quietly now that he didn’t have Grace behind him.

Slinging his rifle over his shoulder, Rio quickly shimmied up an aspen that was sturdy enough to bear his weight. More than midway up, he paused, locked his legs around the trunk and pulled his rifle over his shoulder to do a quick scan of the area.

He was quickly rewarded when he found the first target in his sites. Before disposing of him, he found the second, made sure there were no others in the immediate area and then squeezed off the first shot.

It was easily a three-hundred-yard shot, but he was deadly accurate. The first victim dropped like a stone. Within two seconds, Rio had the second man in the crosshairs and dispatched him just as swiftly.

He slid down the tree and hurried back to where he’d left Grace. She looked up when he approached and he was pleased that she leveled the pistol in his direction.

“It’s me,” he called softly.

She lowered the gun and shot to her feet. “Are they dead?”

There was no regret, no anxiety in her voice. Nothing but hope that he’d accomplished what he’d set out to do.

“They’re dead. Let’s get moving. We’ll only have a short time to get beyond them before they’re discovered.”

As soon as he turned, she grasped his belt loop and all but pushed him forward. He picked up his pace, trusting that she’d keep up. She didn’t disappoint him. They hurried through the trees, descending the mountain once more.

He took her directly by the downed men, not to horrify her or cause her distress, but because he dared not take a wider circumference. He didn’t want to engage with Grace at his back.

She didn’t flinch. She didn’t react. She didn’t even slow her pace. He began to wonder just how much she’d endured. He knew it was bad, but he was beginning to think he had no grasp at all of the horrors she’d suffered.

They didn’t slow, and in fact, once past the dead men, Rio put on more speed, pushing Grace relentlessly. She stumbled more frequently and he knew she was tiring, but he pressed on. He’d push her to her limits and then he’d carry her the rest of the way if he had to.

He slowed to check his GPS when suddenly Grace shoved him hard. A shot sounded as they both went down, and the handheld unit went flying. Before he could react, another shot sounded in his ear and he realized Grace had yanked the pistol from his holster and had fired.

Instantly, he rolled, taking her underneath him even as he positioned his rifle to pick off any threat. Only silence greeted him and then the soft groan in the distance.

Holy f**k. She’d shot someone.

He scrambled up, keeping his rifle trained as he crept forward. He barked a command for Grace to stay down as he headed away from her.

Fifty yards away, a man lay sprawled on the ground, his rifle just inches from his fingers. Rio bent and did a quick assessment in the dark, but the man was no longer breathing. Grace had nailed him right in the neck.

He glanced back in Grace’s direction, stunned that she’d just saved his life. He hadn’t heard the man, and with Grace holding on to him, his reflexes wouldn’t have been as quick. He would have likely gotten shot before he’d have had time to react.

Instead, Grace had shoved him down and taken out the target with a single pistol shot.

He hurried back to Grace, kneeling to help her up.

“Are you all right?” he whispered.

“Fine. You?” Her voice sounded strained and he knew it had to have hurt her when he shoved her to the ground.

“I’m great, thanks to you. How the hell did you do that?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I just reacted.”