Burned (17 page)

Amir crashed through the underbrush, intent on getting around and ahead of his prey. It was so dark he could barely see. Those bullets had missed him, but not by much and it terrified him how close he’d just come to dying without realizing it. Not only was Zahra’s bodyguard armed, he was a lethal shot even in near total darkness. The likelihood of killing both targets seemed improbable. But he had to try.

He ran along the inside of the tree line, intending to take a shortcut down a path he’d traveled earlier, when he heard the sound of a vehicle moving down the road. Surprised that anything was working in the area, he realized it must have come from outside the weapon’s radius. A plan formed in his mind. He’d carjack it and head for the next road over. Sooner or later his prey would have to cross it if they were to get to the main highway.

He changed direction and headed for the vehicle but stopped as it turned up an access road and disappeared in the screen of trees. From the track of its headlights he could see where it was and it was driving toward the weapon. Amir ran toward it at an angle so he could jump out in front of it, his pistol held steady in his good hand. Just as he was closing in on it the vehicle—a dark minivan—picked up speed. Cursing, he changed direction again and charged after it. Up ahead somewhere he lost sight of it and soon the engine stopped. He rushed on anyway, needing the mobility that vehicle would provide him. A possible getaway car if all else failed.

He was in mid-stride, jumping over a fallen log when he heard the sound of the van’s hatch shutting. Skidding to a stop, he dropped to his knees and stared in suspicion at the scene before him.

Someone had retrieved the weapon.

Unless someone else had managed to find out where it was, which he doubted, as far as he was aware only three people knew its location. Fear twined its icy fingers around the base of his spine. There was only one reason a team would be sent in to recover it now. A cleanup operation, meant to sterilize the area and remove all evidence of the plot.

Amir’s heart seized for a moment as he realized that Zahra Gill and her bodyguard were no longer the only prey in this dark forest tonight.

Chapter Sixteen

Zahra smothered a gasp when Sean stopped abruptly and crouched down. She sank down beside him, finally understanding what had alerted him. A vehicle driving nearby. The screen of trees was too thick for her to see it but it sounded fairly close. Pulling in slow, silent breaths despite the pounding of her heart, she waited beside Sean, wondering if this was a new threat. Were others coming after them now?

Moments later she heard the sound of a door or hatch shutting, then silence. No one started the engine again, which didn’t bode well because they were in the middle of nowhere.

At a sharp tug on her hand she followed Sean away from where the vehicle was. The sounds seemed augmented when everything else was so hushed and still. She was amazed at how quiet he was, while she felt like a hippo bulldozing its way through the woods.

Moving so stealthily was agonizingly slow, especially with potential shooters so close. Placing each foot carefully where Sean stepped she stayed close behind him and tried to keep her breathing quiet. The terrain dipped into a wide hollow. Three steps down, her foot caught on something and she slid. Catching herself on Sean’s shoulder, she winced at the noise she’d just made. He was preternaturally still, no doubt trying to determine if her bumbling had just exposed them. Her heart shot into her throat when she heard loud whispers behind them in the darkness. Two people, the low timbre suggesting they were men. Her heart knocked against her ribs. Would someone coming after them risk blowing their cover that way? Either they weren’t a threat at all, or they were so confident in their ability that giving themselves away didn’t matter.

Sean pulled on her hand and she obediently went to one knee beside him. When he put a solid hand against her back she understood what he wanted and laid flat on her belly. He pressed his palm between her shoulder blades once, hard, in a silent command to stay put. In the natural depression she had better concealment than she had before. It still went against every instinct to lie there while Sean moved away from her.

Reminding herself that whoever was in the screen of trees wasn’t necessarily a threat, she tried to relax and slow her heart rate. In the near darkness she barely caught sight of Sean as he crawled out of the gully and disappeared over the far edge. The moment he did, fear began to take hold. She reached one hand back and withdrew the gun from her waistband, holding it the way Sean had shown her in that lightning fast tutorial before they’d left the cabin.  

The blood rushed loudly in her ears and her palms turned cold and damp. She had no idea where Sean was now, or when he’d be coming back. A slight disturbance in the undergrowth caught her attention. She turned her head to the side, holding her breath as she tried to ascertain the source. Was it one of the men? It took all her self control to remain there, flattened against the damp ground. Her jeans and sweater were soaked through. She shivered in the cool damp air.

There it came again, off to her right. She tracked it, every second feeling like an eternity. Then something else moved just out of sight, but almost directly in front of her this time.

Two of them. Circling around. Her fingers tightened around the cool grip of the pistol. She fumbled to get her finger gingerly in place around the trigger, her heart somersaulting in terror. Thankfully whoever it was kept moving, she hoped because they didn’t realize she was even there. But where the hell was Sean?

Both men continued past her position, seeming to move deeper into the trees. Her muscles, already sore and tight from the accident, began to knot from the strain of holding still for so long. She bit down on the inside of her cheek and squeezed her eyes shut to hold back a groan when her right hip grabbed suddenly. Sweating and panting in the grip of the excruciating spasm, Zahra struggled to stay silent. She rolled a little to one side in the hopes of easing it and jerked when a branch snapped to her left. Focusing on that sound, she breathed through her mouth and didn’t dare move.

She jumped when shots cracked through the night out in front of her. Farther away than she would have expected. Three more quick shots followed from the right, then the deeper bark of a rifle answered with two closely-spaced shots. A muffled grunt of pain followed. Had Sean hit one of them? Was he okay?

No sooner had the thought formed than more shooting erupted. Two separate weapons, the shooters moving constantly. Her heart thudded painfully in her chest. She tried to comfort herself with the knowledge that it was so dark they likely couldn’t see Sean any better than he could see them. All the while she was aware of the other person creeping up to her left.

Sean fired again, the muzzle flash hidden from view. The other shooters returned fire, shooting sporadically. Had they seen Sean’s position when he’d fired?

Another branch snapped beside her. She almost stopped breathing when a figure emerged out of the trees at the edge of the hollow, less than twenty feet to her left. Terror flooded her system, flashing hot then freezing cold over her skin. Her instincts screamed at her to run, but she knew that would be suicide.

The man moved slowly and when the clouds broke for a moment she caught sight of his silhouette outlined against the sky. He was holding a pistol in one hand, his face looking straight ahead. She held her breath as he paused. But when shots sounded up ahead once more, he crouched low and kept moving as though he meant to pass her.

He hadn’t seen her.

Relief crashed over her in a dizzying wave, but it quickly faded as he continued toward where Sean had gone. She cast a desperate glance ahead of her, her line of sight completely obscured by the edge of the small gully. Everything in her told her to scream a warning. She refused to cave in to that need, knowing she’d be shot dead before Sean could even move.

The gun felt cold and foreign in her grip. But there was no other option for her now. She had to shoot this enemy down before he could pose another threat to Sean. More shots rang out in the trees ahead and Sean’s rifle answered from a different position than last time.

Shaking, she raised the pistol and curled her finger around the trigger, applying pressure. She must have made a sound because the man whirled, his gun trained in her direction and Zahra’s mouth went dry. Aiming it at his torso she pulled the trigger, the gun kicking in her hand as he fired back. She cried out at a burning sensation in her left calf and rolled to the side in reflex just as his strangled shout of pain registered. He dropped heavily to his knees and Zahra took her chances.

She got up and ran for her life.

The burn in her leg barely registered as she careened up the far bank of the gully. With every step she expected a bullet to plow into her spine, but there was no way she was stopping. “Sean!” she yelled.

Seconds later a pair of steely arms grabbed her around the ribs and a hard body tackled her to the ground. Opening her mouth to scream, a rough palm clamped over her lips.

“Zahra,
shh
.”

She froze at the sound of Sean’s voice, not even caring that from his tone he was beyond livid with her. She shoved at his hand, aware for the first time that no one was shooting at them.

“Another shooter,” she blurted out in a whisper. “I hit him but he’s right behind me.”

He tensed and jerked his head up to scan behind her but nothing disturbed the silence. “Just run,” he ordered, dragging her up.

“What about the others?” she whispered back, running as fast as her abused legs would carry her.

“Down,” he snapped, and kept running.

The adrenaline flooding her body lasted for another few minutes before it began to wane. Pain shot up her calf with every step, the muscles in her right hip screaming at her to stop.
No way in hell.

Soon her strides faltered, her wounded leg too weak and painful to carry her. She gasped and shot a hand out for Sean before she fell.

He slowed and steadied her. “Are you hurt?”

“A little,” she managed through gritted teeth, determined to keep going. The road was up ahead somewhere, they had to be close.

Before she realized what he was doing Sean pivoted and set a solid shoulder into her stomach, lifting her right off her feet. She gripped the back of his shirt to balance herself and hung on, biting down on her lower lip to keep from crying out every time his running gait jarred her wound. Silently she urged him to run faster, to escape the shooter still waiting behind them in the trees.

****

As the running footsteps traveled away from him, Amir staggered upright and braced his weight against a tree. His belly burned, blood streaming from the bullet wound, leaving him nauseated and dizzy. She’d shot him. That bitch had damn well gut shot him. He couldn’t tell how far in the bullet had gone but it hurt like hell and he was bleeding like crazy. How had he not seen her lying there? He’d been so intent on escaping Abdullo and “Bob” that he’d run straight past her without realizing it.

Gasping for air, he forced his rubbery legs to carry him through the trees toward the road. He’d been lucky her bodyguard had been too busy picking off the others to get a clean shot at him. Either Amir kept moving or he’d eat a final bullet from him.

Behind him he could hear the sound of footsteps following him. Whether it was Zahra or her bodyguard or one of the others, it didn’t matter. His only chance now was to get to the road and hope someone found him before his enemies did.

He barely felt his feet moving, too consumed with fear and the hellish burning in his gut. If he didn’t stop the bleeding somehow he’d probably die before he reached the damn road. Hard pressure against the spot made sparks dance before his eyes. He
had
to keep moving, no matter how much it hurt. Blindly he pushed himself, losing track of everything but the pain and the direction he needed to go in.

He struggled onward for what seemed like forever before the trees began to thin. His feet touched grass. Blinking, he realized he’d finally made it to the road. With a strangled groan he sank to his knees and prayed for a passerby to come along.

He didn’t know how much time passed. At first he thought he was hallucinating when he spotted the headlights approaching. Bracing himself against the pain, he struggled to his feet and lurched a step out onto the asphalt. The vehicle’s headlights hit him, lighting him up from head to toe. He didn’t have the strength to hold up an arm to flag them down, and remained standing in the middle of the road. Ahead, the vehicle began to slow.

Relief trickled through him, overwhelming the fear and pain. He didn’t even care about going to prison anymore as long as he got medical treatment. The vehicle was close enough now for him to see it was a dark SUV. Totally different from what the other cell members had picked up the weapon with. His muscles began to sag.

The SUV roared up and screeched to a stop in front of him. But Amir’s relief was short lived when the doors popped open. Instead of a good Samaritan, three big men holding weapons exploded from it and bore down on him.

“Freeze!” one of them barked.

He weakly raised one hand to show he was unarmed but couldn’t speak. As the men closed in on him he saw their faces in the beam of the headlights and his brain suddenly cleared. The other three members of the Titanium team. A hysterical, ironic laugh bubbled up. Rescuers or executioners? While the two white men held him at gunpoint, the one with darker skin stalked over and roughly slammed him face first onto the road. He hit with a grunt that turned into a guttural shriek of pain as the bullet wounds seared him. The sniper—Ellis, he remembered blearily—shoved his arms behind his back and dug his knee into Amir’s spine.

He patted him down and then hauled him upright once again. Amir swayed in the man’s grip. He heard Ellis speaking to the other two, felt himself being dragged toward the vehicle and couldn’t summon the energy to fight. Ripping sounds followed and someone pressed a dressing to his belly.

Distantly he caught the sound of another vehicle. More doors slammed. Voices swirled above him, around him. Then someone snatched him by the front of his shirt and snarled in his face. “Where’s Zahra?”

His eyes snapped open. A man with graying hair and deadly silver eyes stared back at him, his face pinched with fury.