"Do you remember taking any other turns? Were there any tunnels or anything?"
"No. No, I don't think so. I remember that bend where we were then it was mostly straight."
Mostly.
Well, there was nothing he could do about that now. Even the light wouldn't help, since he had no fucking clue where they were to begin with.
He reached for Hannah's hand, accidentally hit her arm instead. She made an odd noise then her fingers closed over his and squeezed.
"Ryder, please—" Her voice broke, surprising him. She sounded suspiciously close to tears, which made no sense. Was she really that afraid that he wouldn't get them out?
He braced his back against the cave wall and pulled her toward him. Wrapped his arm around her waist and held her close. He couldn't see her but he didn't need to, not for this.
He released her hand and trailed his fingers up her arm, across her shoulder. Up higher to cup her cheek. Then he dipped his head and brushed his mouth across hers—except no, that was her nose.
Close enough.
"Hey. No crying, okay? I'll get us out of here. Promise."
Her hands trailed across his chest, her fingers trembling as they twisted in the material of his shirt. "I'm not crying. And even if I was, that's not why."
He almost laughed at the stubbornness he heard in her voice. "No? Then why?"
She was quiet for so long, he was beginning to think she wasn't going to answer him. And when she spoke, her voice was so soft, he almost didn't hear her.
"I don't want anything to happen to you, Ryder. Not after—I mean, I know we're not together anymore. I know nothing's going to happen between us when this is all over. But—" She hesitated, only long enough to release a hushed sigh. "I couldn't handle it if anything happened to you, Ryder."
And shit. He hadn't expected that. Maybe he should have, but he hadn't. If he were smart, he'd just utter a quick reassurance then start moving again. That was the smart thing to do. Get them out of here and worry about the rest later—especially that part about nothing happening between them when this was over.
But the truth was, he wasn't sure he could get them out of here. Not a hundred percent sure. Eighty percent, yeah. It was that other twenty percent that was giving him a problem. There were too many unknowns, too many things that could go wrong in the blink of an eye. He had to get them out of the cave. Then he had to get them up that fucking trail, where they'd be completely exposed.
After that—well, he wasn't sure what came after that, not yet. Go back to the compound? Maybe. Ninja would be there. They'd be able to cover each other's six until they figured out what to do.
Or maybe it would be better to take her to the small village. Call the authorities and let them handle things.
Except they'd already done that and the authorities still hadn't shown up.
And then, on top of all that, he had to pray that Miller and whoever else was working with him didn't show up while he was trying to get Hannah to safety.
That meant putting a lot of faith in too many unknowns and hoping the odds were with them. Ryder didn't like playing the odds, not when he'd rather be in control. But he wasn't, not here—and that made him twitchy.
If he were smart, he'd keep his mouth shut and keep going. But he couldn't, not now. She deserved to know. If he failed at getting them out of here, at least she'd know the truth.
He tightened his arm around her waist. Gently ran the pad of his thumb along her cheek. Took a deep breath.
Opened his mouth, then quickly shut it again.
Fuck. Was he really going to do this?
Yeah, he was.
"You remember the day I left? All those years ago?"
Hannah stiffened in his arms and he expected her to pull away. He didn't blame her—that day hadn't exactly been a shining point in his life.
"Um, yeah. Why?"
"I didn't mean to be such a dick. Well, actually, I did. But I didn't mean what I said. All that shit I was spewing? It was just that: bullshit. I didn't mean any of it."
Silence, thick and heavy, wrapped around them. He still expected her to pull away but she didn't. In fact, some of the tension actually left her.
But she didn't say anything. She just stood there, like she knew he had more to say.
He almost didn't. Now wasn't the time. But he had to because if he didn't, he might never get the chance again.
"The truth is, I—" The words stuck in his throat, damn near choking him. He sucked in a deep breath and forced them out. "I love you, Hannah. I never stopped loving you. I just..."
And shit. She'd gone stiff against him, her fingers twisting his shirt so hard he thought she was actually going to rip it. Maybe he was wrong, maybe he should have just kept his fucking mouth shut. He didn't expect her to say them back—too much time had changed. They had changed. But—
"You think we're going to die, don't you?"
"What?"
"This is a dying declaration, isn't it? You don't think we're going to get out of here."
"Hannah, that's not—"
"Yes, it is. It's either that or you're hurt worse than you're letting on."
"I'm not hurt." He forced the words between clenched teeth, which only made his head throb again. Dammit.
He reached up and peeled her fingers from his shirt then started moving. "Come on. Let's go."
"Ryder—"
"I said let's go."
She threw her arms around him, the force of her body hitting his nearly pushing him back against the wall. Then she kissed him. Just a quick meeting of the lips, almost desperate.
"I love you, too."
"Hannah—"
"Just—we'll talk later, right? After we get out of here."
The unasked question in her words hung between them, demanding reassurance. Ryder reached for her hand, squeezed her chilled fingers with his own.
"Yeah. When we get out of here."
He led them forward, each step slow and uncertain. Time tended to slip away in the complete darkness and he had no idea how long they'd been walking. It felt like forever but couldn't have been more than ten minutes.
And then two things slowly dawned on him.
The first was that his head no longer felt like it was going to explode. It still hurt like hell, but not as bad. It was either getting marginally better, or he was just getting used to it. Either one worked as far as he was concerned.
The second was that he could see. Not much, nothing more than shadows, but it wasn't that inky darkness that swallowed everything around it. Rather, it was just a gradual lightening, so faint he almost didn't notice it. And the more they walked, the better he could see.
He stopped and looked around, recognition washing over him. They were just around the bend, in the spot where they'd hidden the other night.
Which meant the cave opening—and potential freedom—was yards away.
He motioned for Hannah to stay back then eased around the bend. The watery light pierced his eyes, caused a splintering pain to shoot against his skull. He blinked, blinked again, letting his eyes adjust.
It was still raining, sheets of it falling from the leaden sky. If it was a bright day like the last few had been, he'd be in trouble, didn't think his head would be able to handle it. Hell, just this amount of light was painful.
Too bad. He'd suck it up and deal.
He inched forward, his eyes scanning the interior of the cave, his ears attuned to any sound. It was silent, except for the roar of the surf and the falling rain.
And even better, there was nobody in sight.
He scanned the cave one more time then looked toward the right wall. There had been three chests the other night when they were here and now—
Now there was only one.
Fuck.
They were moving them. To where, he had no idea. He didn't even know how. Were they carrying them up that fucking hill? No. No fucking way. Not in this weather. That was a lot of weight, it would be too risky.
He kept s
aying they but he didn't know who they were. Miller, yes. But who else? He couldn't be the only one.
Miller's wife? Probably. It was doubtful that the man could be carrying something like this off right under her nose. Not impossible—but doubtful.
The girl, Katie?
No, he couldn't see it. She was barely eighteen and entirely too shy.
Which didn't mean shit. That could all be an act.
So all three of them were presumably involved. That still wouldn't make it any easier for them to move those trunks up that fucking trail. And even if they did get them up there, where would they take them? The island had no airstrip. What were they going to do, hide them again?
Yeah, maybe, if they thought their hiding place had been compromised. But they'd still have to get them off the island.
Unless they were planning to overtake it—and Ryder couldn't see that happening. There was nothing here to overtake.
So how would they get them to wherever they were going? It was an island, they didn't have that many options—
Island.
Yes, it was an island. Surrounded by water. Accessible only by boat.
Everything clicked—probably a lot later than it should have. Fuck. Had he missed anything else?
No, he didn't think so.
He looked back at the crate. Two of them were already gone, which meant they were being moved now. Was there a boat anchored offshore somewhere? Yeah, probably. That's what he would do—commandeer a fishing vessel of some kind and anchor a hundred yards or so offshore. Nobody would pay much attention to a trawler, not around here. Then he'd use a small dinghy to go back and forth.
Now he just needed to figure out where they were. Had they just taken the second crate—or were they on the way back for the third?
Only one way to find out.
He motioned for Hannah to stay put then dashed toward the entrance. Pain hit him, nearly knocking him over, but he ignored it. Ignored it, yeah—but fuck, it hurt.
He paused at the entrance, eyes open to half-slits against the gray light as he studied the horizon. There, about sixty yards out. Closer than he'd expected, especially in the storm-tossed water. He squinted, searching the waves for a smaller boat, finally found it.
Heading toward the bigger boat, not the shore.
Things were finally looking up.
He turned back, swallowed an oath when he saw Hannah making her way toward him. "I thought I told you to stay put."
"I just wanted—"
"Never mind, we don't have time." He held his hand out to her. "Come on."
Her fingers closed over his and he started to lead her from the cave. Stopped when his eyes caught sight of that last crate. Did he have time to check? Yeah, he did. Especially if it meant finding something he could use to protect them.
He pointed toward the horizon. "Do you see that boat?"
Hannah followed the direction of his finger. Squinted then slowly nodded. "Yeah."
"Keep an eye on it. If you see the dinghy heading this way, let me know."
"What are you doing?"
"I'm checking something." He didn't say anything more—there wasn't time. He hurried over to the crate, knelt in front of it, and grabbed the small set of tools from his back pocket. He wasn't as fast as Ninja when it came to picking locks but fast enough.
Less than a minute later, the lock popped open. Ryder pulled it from the clasp and opened the crate—then stared down in disbelief.
Holy fuck. If he'd been anywhere else, he would have felt like a kid in a fucking candy store. But seeing the explosives neatly stacked in the crate didn't fill him with excitement. Not this time.
What the hell were they planning on doing with this shit? Were they selling it on the black market for a quick buck, or had they stumbled into some kind of terrorist plot? And if so, who was the target?
He didn't know. All he knew was that there was no way in hell he could let this shit make it to its final destination.
He carefully studied the contents, moving things around as little as possible. Everything he needed was right here—everything except a timer.
Shit.
He peeled the watch from his wrist and grabbed the small tools, quickly removed the back and went to work. "How are things looking out there, Hannah?"
"I can't tell. It doesn't look the dinghy has moved."
Shit. Not good.
He worked a little more quickly, made some final adjustments then stared at the makeshift timer. What should he set it for? Not enough time, and he risked this whole thing going off in the cave. The fireworks show would be spectacular but what happened after that wouldn't be. If he set it for too long, he ran the risk of it being found.
Would they be able to disarm it if they found it? Maybe. Maybe not.
"Ryder?"
"Yeah?"
"They're coming back. They're already about halfway." Panic laced her voice, made the words tremble in the air between them.
Fuck.
Well, at least he knew how long to set it for now.
He made the last adjustment, closed the lid and replaced the lock, then pushed to his feet. He moved too fast and a small explosion detonated in the back of his head, this one followed by a wave of nausea.
Fuck.
He held himself still for two seconds—that was all the time he could afford and even that was pushing it—then made his way over to Hannah. Shit. He must look worse than he thought because she reached for him, her brows pulled low over concerned eyes.
"Ryder—"
"I'm fine. Let's go."
"Can't we just wait here? They might not even look for us. We could hide. Wait for them to leave."
"Bad idea, sweetheart." Really bad. She had no idea how bad—and he wasn't about to tell her. The last thing he wanted was for her to freak out. "When I say go, we go. Stay down low and move slow."
"Slow?"
"Yeah. If we move too fast, we might actually draw their attention to us. Remember, they won't be looking for us. They think we're still tied up."
She nodded. "Okay. That makes sense. Slow. Um, what if they see us?"
"Then we run like hell."
"Ryder, you can't—"
"I can." He leaned down, claimed her mouth in a quick kiss—and hoped like hell it wouldn't be their last. "We're due to have that talk, remember?"
"But—"
"No buts." He grabbed her hand. "You ready?"
She took a deep breath, nodded, then followed him out of the cave. Ryder moved slow, keeping Hannah between him and the tangle of foliage and rock that lined the cliffside. The minutes dragged out, each one tenser than the one before it. They were halfway there. If their luck held out—
A shout echoed behind them, the sound quickly followed by the sharp retort of a gun. A pistol, not a rifle. They were out of range—for now. That would change in a matter of minutes.
He grabbed Hannah and pushed her ahead of him.
"Run!"
Chapter Twenty-Four
They had just reached the building site when Ninja heard the shot. Years of training kicked in and he dove on top of Allison, pulling her under him when they hit the ground. She screamed—not out of fear but from indignant surprise—then immediately tried to roll out from under him. He tightened his arms around her and held her still.
"Stay down."
She must have heard something in his voice because she immediately stilled. Ninja spared a brief second to give thanks for that minor miracle then lifted his head, his ears attuned for any sound, no matter how small.
Except the fucking rain made it next to impossible to hear anything.
Or did it? He closed his eyes, concentrated—
Shouts, too far away to make out. And was that the sound of someone running? No, it was more than one person.
But who?
He needed to get closer. Whatever was happening was happening down on the beach, too far away for him to figure out. Was it Boomer and Hannah?
Or Miller?
He started crawling backward, dragging Allison with him. The fact that she went along willingly—and quietly—told him that she finally realized something was going on. Something definitely not good.
"Get inside the building."
"But—"
"I can't help Boomer and worry about you at the same time, Al. I need to know your safe."
She twisted her head to the side, stared at him over her shoulder. And damn, what he saw in her eyes made his pulse jump. She was actually worried. About him. The novelty of it surprised the hell out of him. When the hell was the last time anyone had ever worried about him?
Never.
And as much as the novelty amused him, he didn't have the time to enjoy it. Not now. He had to make sure Allison was safe then go bail Boomer's ass out of trouble—
If it wasn't too late.
"When I tell you to, run toward the building. Stay low until you get there. Get to the back corner behind a wall and stay low. Got it?"
She nodded, her gaze still glued to his. He ignored what he saw in the depths of her eyes and eased his weight off her.
"Go."
"Colter?"
Damn the woman! Why wasn't she going already? "Yeah?"
She reached up, gently touched his cheek. "Be careful."
He couldn't help himself—he turned his head and pressed his lips against her palm then smiled. "Always, doll. Now go."
She pushed to her feet and ran toward the building, staying low as he'd instructed. Holy shit, the woman did know how to follow instructions. Imagine that.
Ninja belly crawled toward the cliff, his body slithering through the wet sand and mud like he'd been born to it. He peered over the edge and swore.
A dinghy was pulling up to the beach, helped ashore by the rough waves. One figure jumped out and pulled it further onto the sand then wedged an anchor into the soft ground. What kind of fucking moron would be risking his life in a fucking dinghy in this weather?
A desperate one.
No, make that two.
The person in the back raised their arm. A split second later, another shot rang out, the crack muffled by the distance and rain. Ninja looked to his left, swore again when he saw two other figures running like hell up the trail.
Hannah, with Boomer behind her.
The Defender: RYDER (Cover Six Security Book 3) Page 20