Wild on You (31 page)

He surveyed their surroundings, then indicated that she follow him and crept out. Running over all hunched up like he was came naturally to her, owing to the damned stitch.

They approached a fence that went as far as the eye could see. It wasn’t as high as the exterior fence, nor did it have electrical wiring. Bright orange ribbons made it visible even in the twilight. Risk untied one of the ribbons and tied the ribbon around her arm. Maybe in the dark, they’d look like one of the hunter thugs. She nodded her approval of the idea.

He pointed up, indicating, she guessed, that he wanted them to climb the fence. Great idea. No one would be hunting them in a different quadrant. As they started climbing, she heard footsteps crunching over the ground. A shout. Then a shot. The bullet hit the fence post inches away from her with a clang.

Oh God, more running. Thankfully, danger had an energizing effect on the exhausted human body. Two guys were racing across the ground toward them, separated by several yards. Risk pulled her behind another tree and gestured for her to remain low. He crouched, a tiger in wait.

“Saw them run this way!” the farther guy yelled, breathless.

“They’re over here,” the second man shouted as he neared the tree they hid behind.

She saw his legs first, then the side of his face as he started to turn to them. Risk nailed him with an elbow to the temple, sending him to the ground. Using the man’s own rifle, Risk smashed him in the head as he started to get up. Another shot splintered the gun stock, flinging it out of Risk’s grip. When he went for it, several more shots battered the ground. She could see Risk’s raw desire for that gun. The enemy was moving closer, his boots crunching on the leaves.

So fast that it seemed a blur, Risk snatched the rifle, rounded the trunk, and let off a shot. He pushed a lever, which sent a case flying, and fired again and again without even looking through the scope mounted on top. The shots pounded her eardrums, but she’d never been so happy to be close to a firearm. The other guy fired back, hitting the trunk and the ground only inches from her.

Risk glanced at the guy on the ground. Damn, she should have been keeping an eye on him to make sure he didn’t wake up. It didn’t look like he was going to come around anytime soon. After going through the downed man’s gear, Risk loaded and fired once more. She heard a thump and leaned around the trunk to see a man sprawled on the ground.

“Addie, do you trust me?” Risk asked, drawing her attention from the harrowing sight.

“Yes.”

“Put your hands up and spread them as wide as you can.”

“You’re not—” Oh, but he was. Risk held his gun out at an angle, waiting for her to comply. And she did want these damned things off her. She did as he asked and put every ounce of trust in his abilities.

She shook at the sound of the shot and felt heat near her wrists. Her untethered wrists.

Risk tugged her from behind the tree and led her away. Though she couldn’t hear
anything but a humming, because of all the gunfire, she saw an ATV closing in. The rider no doubt had heard the shooting.

The last vestiges of light were almost gone. Shadows grew longer, darker. Addie followed Risk’s footsteps, her gaze locked on his back.

He slowed to a stop and pushed out words between breaths. “We can’t outrun them. Have to play smart.”

She nodded in agreement, her chest aching from exertion—and fear.

He pointed up to a wooden structure built in a tree. “That there’s a fort, darlin’.” He gave her a smile, his teeth white in the gloom.

It took her a second to realize why the fool was smiling. “A fort, how cute,” she whispered back.

He indicated that they climb it; she would go first. If that meant they could stop running for a few minutes, she was all for it. She scrambled up the ladder on legs as sturdy as cooked pasta, gripping the wood slats as she went. He was right behind her, keeping an eye on their surroundings. Which wasn’t easy to do, since it was almost dark with no moon in sight, only a little light from a sky dotted with twinkling stars.

“Stay close to the ladder,” he whispered.

Up high like this, they were visible from a distance, especially with the goggles. On the flip side, they could get a sense of where their enemy was on the ATVs. She heard two engines in disparate places on the property but saw no headlights.

Once she got into the little building, she dropped down on one of the stools near the slat openings. Risk was a big, scary silhouette who approached like a bear. He grasped her chin, kissed her quick, and ducked back out the opening. She could hear him climbing onto the roof.

For a few moments she felt safe and invincible. Until she saw the first shadow slither through the trees. The man walked into the clearing, and she could tell two things about him: He was built like a block, just like the guy who’d sat on her at the zoo. And he was wearing something funky on his head, which must be the goggles. So he could see everything as clear as day. She kept only her eyes above the ledge and didn’t move.

Keep walking, keep walking
.

He paused, searching the area and maybe even the blind. Then he started moving on.

Thank you
.

Except something small dropped on the ground from the roof and made a soft sound. The block shadow spun around, aiming a rifle at the base of the blind. The man advanced slowly, sweeping the muzzle back and forth.

Then something big fell from the roof.

Risk!

He dropped like a stone right onto the man, sending them both crashing to the ground in a heap. She heard a struggle but couldn’t see what was going on. Panic tripped her heartbeat and made her grip the bottom edge of the opening.

He knows what he’s doing
.

The rifle went off with a crack. One body fell slack. After some rummaging sounds, one man stood and lifted his hand to her. She thought it was a thumbs-up. Which meant it was Risk. Relief surged through her.

He dragged the body to a location two yards away and climbed back up the ladder. She met him at the door opening and wrapped her arms around him, needing to feel that he was alive. She also felt bulky goggles over his eyes and another rifle, which he put into her hands.

He moved her fingers over the trigger guard, down the length of the rifle. “Shoot, push the lever, like I did earlier,” he whispered, so close to her ear that the goggles brushed her hair and his breath tickled her neck. She nodded. “I will identify myself immediately when I come up. Shoot anyone else.”

Something vibrated in his hand. He held up a cell phone with a glowing text message:
Shot fired at deer stand Alpha Blue, I think
. Another text came in shortly after.
On my way over now
.

That one was from Alan, the guy who’d taken a bullet in the shoulder.

Risk turned and was gone, jumping back down to the ground and disappearing
into the shadows. She heard the ATV engine a few seconds later. Still no lights. She hefted the rifle and tried to get comfortable holding it in position. Could she really shoot someone?

Yes, she could shoot these sons of bitches.

Just so long as she didn’t accidentally shoot Risk. Panic plus gun equaled potential disaster. Still, it empowered her to have the gun. And if one of the men came up into that opening, he wouldn’t expect her to be armed.

The ATV drew cautiously closer, then stopped as the driver, Alan, obviously spotted the body. He was probably focused on that form, trying to discern whether it was Risk or one of their own.

Risk crept up and shot him. Alan slumped forward, and Risk pushed him the rest of the way. He waved Addie to come down. She was just about to leave her place when she saw another shadow move a few yards from Risk. Her throat closed up. Her finger tightened on the trigger. And she pulled it.

The shadow lurched back. Risk spun and fired again, and the shadow fell. She scrambled down the ladder, her legs so weak that she slid down the final three rungs. When she reached Risk, he was kneeling next to the man who had been only a shadow. “Good shot, Addie,” Risk whispered. “You saved my ass.”

She only nodded, shock numbing her. He turned back to Alan’s body and rummaged through the clothes. After extracting another phone, he entered a text message:
Got the son of a bitch. Going after the girl
.

She shivered at the phony message. Because that was exactly what Alan would have texted had things gone the other way. Risk settled something over her head, and suddenly the world was a shade of daylight green. So was Risk, who smiled as he held up a black pistol. His Glock, she guessed.

Risk climbed onto the ATV, and she settled behind him, her arms tight around his waist. Maybe they were going to make it after all. But they had hundreds of acres to traverse without a clue how to get out. A border of electric fence. And Elrod out there somewhere, waiting for the chance to gun them down.

There was one thing Risk hadn’t had time to tell Addie. He’d texted Chase while waiting on the roof of the blind to let him know what was going on. Chase had responded that he’d just arrived in Buck, worried when he hadn’t heard from anyone in hours.
With a friend from the FBI
.

But they weren’t home free. Addie riding behind him was a dead giveaway that it wasn’t one of Elrod’s guys on the ATV. Even worse, the engine camouflaged the sound of any other ATV in the area.

He sped through the woods as fast as he could, winding around trees and aiming for the largest gaps so he didn’t lose time. They bounded over rocks and dips, and he hoped this wasn’t the quadrant with the crevices. Having a map of the place would have been a big help. Back in his SEAL days, sometimes they had maps and diagrams of their targets; other times they had nothing more than vague coordinates. He’d work with it. But it wasn’t just his life on the line. He had a woman he’d come to care about a lot. And a tiger cub.

Addie was holding on tight, and he felt her arms tremble. From fear or muscle tension, he wasn’t sure. She’d been through so much. And they weren’t done yet.

Risk spotted a wear pattern up ahead. Not a real road but a frequently used passage. He had to decide: Take it and possibly end up at the compound. Or keep driving blindly through the woods.

He took the road. If he came up on someone face-to-face, the other man wouldn’t see Addie right away. She was that close to Risk.

He leaned back and said, “Stay tight and keep your head down.” She might lean to the side if he stopped.

If Elrod bought Alan’s text message, he’d think Risk was dead. So Elrod should assume any guy approaching on an ATV was one of his own. That was if all went well. Things didn’t always work the way they were supposed to.

Risk saw lights in the distance. Not headlights but steady lights that indicated they were probably nearing the compound.

Fortunately, he saw no one. He started to head past the buildings, continuing on the road he now knew led to the outside gate. Getting out would prove another difficulty: He was sure it would be locked and electrified.

The sound of an ATV behind had him spinning around. Risk snatched the NVGs from Addie’s head and said, “Pretend you’re with me against your will. You watched me shoot Risk and you’re distraught. Exhausted. Still cuffed.” They couldn’t continue with their backs to Elrod, so Risk started to turn around.

She positioned herself to slump against his back. Within seconds, Elrod came into view and headed over. They came to a stop, facing each other.

“Hey, boss, got the girl and brought her back for you,” Risk drawled. Elrod may not be able to tell who he was with the NVGs still in place.

Elrod’s expression went from puzzled to elated and back to puzzled. “Who are you?”

“I’m your favorite.” Risk drew his gun and climbed off the ATV. “Your favorite nightmare. Drop your weapons.”

He wanted to shoot this bastard so bad, his finger was trembling. Something Elrod noticed as he dropped his rifle. Chase had emphasized that shooting a guy without direct provocation made for a messy aftermath. “Keep it clean,” he’d said. “You don’t want that kind of legal trouble, and The Justiss Alliance doesn’t need the press.”

“On the ground. Now.” Risk gestured with his gun.
And try to pull on me. Please try something, anything. Give me a good cause
. He had plenty, but explaining to the authorities how he’d shot a man who was laying down his weapon would be tricky. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that his little Addie had positioned herself next to him, aiming her rifle at Elrod. Damn, he was so proud of her.

Elrod flattened on the ground. Risk pressed his foot down on the center of his back and frisked him. He extracted his KA-BAR and tucked it back into his own waistband.

Suddenly a sound grew loud over the two ATV engines. A black helicopter dragged a huge spotlight along the ground and eventually centered over the tableau they presented. Risk read the words on the side of the aircraft:
BUCK COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPT
.

A voice sounded over a loudspeaker: “Lower your weapons.”

“You’re dead,” Elrod said, cackling.

Risk lowered his weapon but kept it at the ready. Like hell he was going to surrender and put the two of them in the hands of a corrupt sheriff.

The chopper swung around, and a familiar face leaned out of the open doorway. Chase. Only then did Risk lower his gun completely.

“Cover your face, Addie!” he called out right before dirt and twigs went flying.

When the chopper settled, Chase, Sax, and another man jumped down and came running over. Risk pulled off the goggles but kept his foot planted firmly on Elrod.

“Where’s the sheriff?” Elrod screamed, twisting his neck to look for his buddy. Risk stomped down even harder.

The blades came to a stop as Chase neared Risk. He gestured toward the man with him. “This is Special Agent Steve Wilson.”

The two nodded in greeting, a handshake a bit out of the norm at the moment. Wilson knelt down next to Elrod. “Are you Walter Elrod?”

“Yes. Who the fucking hell are you?”

“I’m with the FBI’s Public Corruption Bureau, Mr. Elrod. The sheriff is being questioned by the Georgia Bureau of Investigations as we speak. Both bureaus are very interested in what’s going on in this town. And on this property in particular.” The agent glanced up at Risk. “At ease, soldier. I’ve got him.” He cuffed Elrod and pulled him to his feet.