Using his good arm, Brandt braced his upper body as he pulled his legs into a crouch. It hurt like fucking hell, but he would take the progress. Panting low and fast, Brandt prepped for the pain that was sure to come.
On the tenth breath he lurched upward. Unable to hold in a scream, Brandt found his feet. For a second. He fell heavily to the side. The wall the only thing stopping him from hitting the floor again.
But hey, he was vertical. Nearly blinded by those damned sparkly light blobs that insisted on blocking his vision, but vertical.
Now to get moving...
As the room lurched first to the side and then up and down, maybe he better take another ten breaths before putting one foot in front of the other.
Rebecca ran, wiping the tears from her eyes, hauling Bunny behind her. The world was a blur of white. The compact floodlights the Disciples had posted around the temple left very little room for shadows, or cover.
She felt any moment a bullet could fly out of nowhere and strike her down. Which wasn’t her imagination running wild. No matter how far she got from the temple, Rebecca was pretty damned sure that sniper could get her. Get both of them.
Bunny was nothing more than a rack of sobs on the move.
That had been Rebecca’s ex-fiancé back there. If anyone should be a wreck it should be her. But they just didn’t have the luxury of Rebecca losing her mind in grief. Even if she wanted to, she could hear Brandt’s voice loud in her mind.
Get your ass far away. Hide. Let us do our job.
Rebecca stumbled as she choked back a sob. Would she ever have that voice yelling at her again? For real?
Bullets peppered the wall next to her. Rebecca dove toward a cart in the road and rolled underneath of it. Bunny stood frozen though as the shots struck all around, creating a halo that outlined her frame. It wouldn’t be long until one hit her. Rebecca gathered her courage to dart out and somehow drag the woman to safety when a figure hurled himself in front of Bunny.
He took three shots to the back as he blocked Bunny with his body, pulling her down. The two hit the ground hard.
“That fucking hurts,” Brandt gasped as he looked over to Rebecca.
Brandt was alive!
How she wanted to rush across those few feet and hug him. But those few feet were deadly. And if the shooter repositioned at all, he’d be able to pick them all off.
Rebecca looked up to the towers surrounding them.
Where the heck was Davidson?
Davidson held pressure on his wound as he climbed the last of the stairs. Was it the blood loss or were the towers really getting taller? As much as he’d dreaded it, he’d had to reposition. The sniper had pulled up stakes, which meant Davidson had to do so as well.
Hefting his rifle up onto the window’s ledge, Davidson surveyed this new territory. They had moved deeper into the city, farther away from the SUV, farther away from the only known exit.
This however was the direction Rebecca had run off. Not exactly strategic, but Davidson couldn’t blame her. Without a weapon, he’d probably have run off in any direction that got him away from the sniper as well.
Luckily he was far from defenseless.
A noise drew his attention back toward the temple. A man burst from the doors, rushing down the stairs. Davidson took only a moment to confirm it wasn’t one of their men and took his shot. The man was dead before he hit the bottom of the steps.
Another figure rushed out of the temple. Davidson pulled up short as he made out Lopez. Harvish wasn’t far behind. They must have taken care of the rest of the Disciples’ assault team. When they hit the main street, they turned left, heading in the direction of the SUV.
No, no, no. Rebecca and Brandt went the other way. But how could Lopez know that?
Davidson shot...right at Lopez’s feet. The corporal skidded to a halt, raising his weapon, looking for the shooter. Davidson shot again, this time at his other foot. The corporal put his hand over his brow, trying to look up into the bright lights near Davidson’s nest.
This time Davidson shot farther down the road, at a steep enough angle to kick up plenty of dust. Lopez took a tentative step in that direction. Davidson shot again, even more down the road, guiding them toward Brandt and Rebecca.
Lopez picked up speed, following the trail as Harvish lagged behind. The guy’s sleeve was saturated in blood, and it looked like he’d taken a pretty good blow to the head. None of that mattered though as Davidson swung his scope toward the other side of the city where the sniper was holed up. In the labyrinth of streets, the rest of the Disciples rushed toward Brandt and Rebecca’s location.
He swung the scope back to check on Lopez’s progress. Davidson shot at the corner of a building to indicate they should turn right. Which Lopez did with Harvish limping to catch up.
Swinging back, Davidson watched the Disciples gain speed, hurling headlong toward the rest of the trapped team. There was no way Lopez and especially Harvish would make it in time.
Gulping back despair, Davidson brought his scope around to the sniper’s new perch. It was way, way, way outside Davidson’s range. The man had picked wisely too. There were several other objects between Davidson and the nest. No way he could knock the gun from the sniper’s grip.
No, Davidson was going to have to get inventive.
Brandt shielded Bunny as best he could with five cracked ribs. He should get her up and out of there, but he just didn’t have it in him. He barely had getting his diaphragm to move up and down, let alone running faster than a sniper could fire.
Looking across the kill zone, Brandt’s eyes locked eyes with Rebecca. He tried to hide the pain. He tried to hide just how tapped he was. But this was Rebecca. Of course she saw it. She saw it all.
Her eyes brimmed with tears. She knew he’d stay and protect Bunny until he didn’t have breath left in him. Just as he knew Rebecca would try to do something about it.
“No,” he whispered. He wanted to shout, but the best he could do was a harsh whisper.
“Get ready,” she answered with a sad grin.
With her fingers she started counting down. Five. Four. Three. Brandt had no idea what she was doing or what he was supposed to be ready for. He was usually the on the other side of the countdown.
Two.
One.
With a heave, Rebecca put her back into the bottom of the cart and pushed forward. To Brandt’s amazement the wheels rolled forward. Slowly and only about an inch, but the damned thing was on the move! Every inch Rebecca moved the cart, the closer it was to Brandt and Bunny. They wouldn’t have to run to safety. Safety was coming to them.
The sniper, however, wasn’t taking this development lying down. He began shooting at the cart. Then as the forward movement began crumbling the wheels, the sniper took full advantage of it, shooting at the spokes.
A shadow passed in front of them. Rebecca had gotten the cart close enough to provide cover. Brandt shoved Bunny forward. The woman crab-walked the short distance, diving under the cart as one of the wheels collapsed, tilting the cart. There was barely enough room under it for the women to lay flat.
Which was probably just as well. Brandt didn’t think he could get off his belly if he wanted to. Army-crawling, he made his painful way to join Rebecca. Once he was secured underneath, Bunny tried to help Rebecca move the cart, but it was a nonstarter. With one wheel completely damaged and another crumbling before their eyes, they weren’t going anywhere fast.
The shots came more and more rapidly as the sniper now concentrated on blowing huge chunks of the cart away at a time. Methodically the sniper was destroying their cover.
“How can he shoot that fast?” Bunny asked, her hands over her ears.
“He isn’t,” Rebecca stated, pointing back across the city to the temple.
Brandt followed her gaze, but even once he found the huge bull god statue rising far above the temple, he didn’t understand what she meant. Then he saw it. A piece flew off the side of Moloch’s hip. And anoth
er. As a matter of fact, a large chunk of the guy’s side was missing.
But to what effect? Did Davidson just feel the need for some target practice?
“Oh no,” Rebecca moaned.
She wasn’t talking about the fact the wheels were almost gone and soon the very weight of the cart could crush them before or after the sniper chewed through the salt to fire on them directly.
Nope, Rebecca was talking about the five Disciples who turned the corner, racing in their direction.
That was the “oh no” she was talking about.
And for all his wanting to, Brandt could give her no comfort.
Rebecca refused to give up hope. Basically it was the only thing they had left. She trusted Davidson. He had to be up to something. But could he get whatever it was done before they were, like, executed?
The sniper stopped shooting, which wasn’t a good thing. Why should he waste bullets when a woman led four men down the street toward them? No, she didn’t actually lead the men, she sauntered in front of the men.
Rebecca was surprised to find the woman who had held her at gunpoint to be so young. It felt like anyone who had it in them to hound the crap out Brandt would have more years on them, or at least wrinkles. She was pretty, supermodel pretty except for that glint in her dark eyes. The cruelty there kind of took her from a ten to a three.
The smile played at the edge of her lips like this was a game and she’d just aced them. And perhaps the woman had, but no one should enjoy it this much.
The woman came within twenty feet of them and then stopped.
“I am Aunush de Verante, and it is normally polite to greet one another standing up.”
Great, and she thought herself a comedian.
“Why don’t you come out?” Aunush asked. “You will die either way. It might as well be with dignity.”
Rebecca looked to Brandt. While he did not meet her gaze, the edge of his eyes crinkled. The good kind of crinkled. Even Bunny must have noticed his expression because she stopped shaking.
“If it’s all the same,” Brandt answered, “we’ll stay here.”
Aunush bent her knees, lowering herself to nearly their level. “And why exactly would that be?”
“Because,” Brandt said, “it’s about to get very interesting.”
Davidson loaded his rifle as fast as he could, dropping shells in his haste. But how could he not hurry? The Disciples had Brandt and the others cornered, and Lopez was at least a minute away.
Jerking his rifle upright, Davidson took only a moment to aim and shot at the base of the huge Moloch statue. He’d already dug out a good chunk, but clearly it wasn’t enough. Who knew salt had such a high tensile strength?
Obviously God, Davidson reminded himself.
Right now though Davidson really need that tensile strength to give out. Another three shots, then four and five and six. He only had fourteen more before he had to reload, and by the set of the woman’s shoulders it didn’t look like Brandt had that much time.
Taking a precious moment, Davidson shed his fear. Shed the danger to Rebecca and the rest. Instead he sent up a prayer. A simple one.
Let me hit true.
He opened his eyes, found his spot, and fired.
It only blew a few inches of base away, but it was a vital few inches. The top-heavy statue listed ever so subtly. Then with a deafening crack, Moloch tilted precariously as his weight came down on the damaged base.
As hoped, the pedestal could no longer hold and gave way. With a lurch the bull god fell to the right, slamming into the closest tower, sending a spray of salt and debris in all directions.
Davidson swept his scope to the rest of his trapped team. Everyone looked to the toppled statue.
Wait for it.
That statue wasn’t just a distraction.
It was a weapon.
Brandt watched as that first tower broke off from the weight of the statue, then it hit the next tower, and then the next tower and the next. Davidson had set up a deadly game of dominoes. Better yet, this crashing tower of death was coming straight at the sniper’s nest.
The guy must have figured that out. Just like he must have figured out there was no way in hell he was going to make it down the staircase in time to avoid being crushed. Instead, he hauled ass onto the ledge and just as the other tower was hit, launched himself toward the roof of an adjacent building.
Brandt couldn’t see if the guy made it, although taking a wild guess he’d assume that the guy did, as the sniper’s tower tilted awkwardly, then broke off, scattering Aunush and her henchmen.
Davidson was a fucking genius, all except for the little problem that the tower was now coming straight at them.
Rebecca covered her head, although she wasn’t quite sure how that was going to help. Bunny had tried to crawl out, but Brandt had stopped her. That was only death. The only chance they had was for the cart to break the tower’s fall. To hope the half-wheels held.
Bracing, she felt the impact in her belly as her eardrums threatened to rupture. Rebecca pulled her body into a ball as the cart’s wheels shattered, sending the cart’s weight against their backs. But it held. Their little cart held.
It was the little salt cart that could.
Then Rebecca saw why. The tower had been long enough that its roof had landed against the stable next to them. It had taken the brunt of the tower’s fall.
The only problem? That roof was about to give and the entire weight of the tower was about to come down on them.
Going forward wasn’t an option, and getting out backward seemed impossible. As the trickle of salt down the stable’s wall became a torrent, Rebecca felt something on her ankle.
A hand!
It hurt like hell as she was dragged backward, but Rebecca wouldn’t complain. Just as the tower’s roof gave, Rebecca, Bunny, and Brandt were pulled past the cart. The tower crashed down on the cart, shattering it beyond recognition.
She rolled over to find Lopez giving Bunny a hand up. With the other arm, the corporal aimed in the direction Aunush and her men had fled. Rebecca got her knees just as the firing started. They had the rubble of the demolished tower between them, but that wouldn’t last long.
“Go!” Brandt ordered Harvish and Lopez. “Don’t stop!”
The two men hustled Bunny around the corner. Rebecca was halfway there when she realized Brandt wasn’t following them. As a matter of fact, he was still lying on the ground. Why wasn’t he up? Why wasn’t he firing?
As bullets flew overhead, Brandt looked straight up at the ceiling of the cavern. The salt had created its own pattern up there. The crystals swirled and seemed to almost flow into more and more intricate designs. It was quite beautiful. Which was kind of nice since it was the last sight he would ever see.
Two bulletproof vests or no, his body had taken more punishment than he had any right to ask it. Plus, he felt the pooling of blood underneath of him. One of those bullets must have skirted the vest and actually hit flesh. It felt like a through and through, but who really knew. The bullet hadn’t hit his spleen, that was for sure, since it had been removed after the last time he’d been shot.
At least he could die knowing that his son would be taken care of and that Rebecca was alive.
Then someone was at his side. Rebecca.
“Get out of here,” he said, trying to sound authoritative, but knowing he missed by a mile. A little hard to go all alpha when you were laid out flat on your back.
“How badly are you injured?” she asked, and then her eyes dilated as she must have spotted the blood.
Rebecca reached down to remove his vest, but he clutched her hand. “No.”
It was the only thing keeping his ribs together. Without the support of the Kevlar, he could kiss his lungs goodbye.
Her eyes rapidly scanned the area, trying to find something to help get him out of here. But Brandt knew she couldn’t. He wasn’t getting up without a gurney. Period.
“Go!” he urged, shoving her awa
y as hard as he could, but clearly not hard enough.
She just wouldn’t leave.
Even when a bitter laugh sounded from the other side of the debris.
Rebecca knew she should leave. Get going while the getting was good, but she just couldn’t leave Brandt here. Not like this.
Besides, Aunush would just hunt her down. She had what they wanted. And not just the tablets in her backpack, but the knowledge of the secret they held. There would be no more dodging bullets now.
The woman mounted the ruined tower, domineering over them.
“Does your sniper have any more tricks up his sleeve?” Aunush asked.
Rebecca seriously doubted it. Davidson had long arms, but his sleeve and his tricks could only go so far.
“You know?” Aunush asked. There was no doubt what the question was.
“Yes,” Rebecca answered, not bothering to hide the fact. She bent over and gathered the pack and something she thought might be good to borrow. “I have the tablets here.”
Even though Aunush tried to act calm, her eyes dilated to near black. Her hand clenched at her side as if she could already feel the cool stone in her hand. She meant to possess them.
“I’ll give them to you if you let us go,” Rebecca bargained.
That harsh laughter again. “And why exactly would I do that? When I can just take them from you?”
No reason.
“You were ready to fire, right?” Rebecca whispered to Brandt.
He struggled to rise up onto an elbow. “Yeah, why?”
Rebecca brought his gun up behind the backpack. She’d never shot a gun before and had no idea where the safety was. Not that Brandt hadn’t begged her to learn how to shoot. Back then though she’d given up religious mysteries. She’d given up being shot at. She’d given up watching the man she loved bleed to death.
A gun was a reminder to her of all the pain and horror of the last year. So she’d sworn off guns as well.
Betrayed 02 - Havoc Page 33