Echoes at Dawn (KGI #5)(8)

“Where will we go?” she asked.

Her head rested on his shoulder again as if she no longer had the strength to hold it up. He could feel her breaths huff out in tiny little bursts against his neck.

It was then he felt the desolation and…the acceptance. Her acceptance. She’d resigned herself to death. Embraced it even. Sorrow surrounded him, pulled at him. She knew she was dying but she didn’t want to die out here in the cold. In the unknown. Afraid. She didn’t want to die afraid.

Rage blew through him. Helpless rage. He wanted to hit something but he remained still, not wanting to add to her pain. He met the gazes of Diego and Terrence.

“We don’t have much time,” he said in a low voice. “We need a backup plan yesterday.” He stared hard at his teammates, his lips curled up in a snarl. “She’s not dying on my watch. Split up. Find us a place we can hunker down and give her some time to heal. We’ll figure out a plan after she’s taken care of.”

“We need to find a place for you to stay with Grace while we scout,” Diego said. “That’s our first priority.”

Terrence nodded his agreement.

Rio glanced over his shoulder but he sensed that Grace had slipped under again, no longer aware or maybe no longer caring of her surroundings. He knew he had to move fast. He didn’t have much time because she was fading more rapidly by the minute.

“You hang in there, Grace,” he said fiercely. “Don’t you dare give up.”

She didn’t even stir. Rio’s men gathered in a tight perimeter and they struck out again, this time heading back up in elevation and away from where the SUVs were parked.

Terrence fell in beside Rio and murmured in a low voice, “I can radio Sam. Tell him what’s up. Ask for backup. He could send a helo in. Might take the better part of a day but we’d be out of here.”

Rio knew the best thing, the right thing, was to report back to his boss. If he had such a thing. True, he worked for KGI. His men technically worked for KGI. But Rio was his own man and his men were loyal to him. They went where he went. Followed his orders.

His gut told him he didn’t entirely trust the situation at the KGI compound. Resnick was involved. Their CIA contact was up to his ears in the mess with Grace and her sister, Shea, only Rio didn’t know to what extent.

But he had a bad feeling, a very bad feeling, and it was why he hadn’t yet reported in to Sam about their progress or that they’d been close to recovering Grace. Part of his reasoning was that he hadn’t wanted to get Shea Peterson’s hopes up. She was desperate to locate her sister, and Rio had made her a promise. Her. Not Sam. Not KGI. He’d promised Shea that he’d keep her sister safe.

He blew out his breath. If he called in KGI, they’d most assuredly come. But he couldn’t rid himself of the feeling thatelyfeeling it wasn’t what was best for Grace. Each time he started to agree and tell Terrence to check in with Sam, get the ball rolling, his stomach coiled into a knot and his instincts screamed at him to stand down.

“I’ll make the call,” Rio finally said. He had to talk to Sam himself. Had to know what was going on and why he was so reluctant to relinquish Grace into someone else’s care.

Right now he only wanted a place he could make Grace more comfortable and hopefully start the healing process. She wasn’t going to give in. He’d bully her mercilessly if that’s what it took, but over his dead body was he going to lose her now that he’d finally taken her from the people who’d done so much damage to her body and mind.

For the next hour, they climbed higher. The sun was starting its slow descent and the air grew cooler the higher they went.

“There,” Diego called, holding his hand up to halt the others.

Diego pointed to a series of large boulders jutting upward from the ground. Resting against the side of a steep cliff, the boulders provided a natural shelter. The cliff wall provided cover from behind with no possible access. The only way in or out was the front and Rio could easily pick off anyone coming hundreds of yards away.

“Help me get her down,” Rio said, crisp urgency in his voice.

Browning and Alton hurried to unwind the bonds securing Grace to his back. Decker and Terrence lifted her weight and eased her away. Rio stretched his aching shoulders and then hurried into the natural enclosure.

Diego tossed him his pack holding medical supplies and two canteens of water. Terrence pulled the sat phone from his pack and laid it on the ground beside the sleeping bag Browning tossed down.

Rio quickly arranged the bedroll, and Decker and Terrence eased Grace down on it.

“We’ll do recon and find a place we can squat for as long as we need it,” Terrence said. “Be back soon.”

Rio nodded and his men melted back into the trees, leaving him and Grace alone.

His first order of business was to make sure she was protected. Then he’d see to her comfort. Dead was pretty uncomfortable by his standards.

He took his rifle and made a slow sweep of his surroundings through the scope. He took his time, noting the locations of markers and memorizing the landscape.

After positioning himself so he had a prime view down the incline, he propped his rifle so it would be in easy reach, and then he took out several grenades and lined them meticulously against the base of one of the boulders.

Both the knives he carried came out and were placed beside the grenades, and his handgun came last and he put it on his opposite side. Satisfied that everything was close enough for him to grasp in an instant, he turned his attention back to Grace.