After placing a call to both Duncan O’Hare and Mike Callahan and giving the phone to Olivia, Ryker returned to his hiding spot at the top of the hill. He watched the two men dressed in black, carrying small handguns, as they made their way down the trail. It hadn’t taken them long to figure out where he and Olivia had gone.
When they’d paused at the fork, he’d held his breath, as they exchanged a short, terse discussion.
As he’d hoped, they’d split up. The taller of the two headed down the path, the shorter guy nimbly climbing up the way he and Olivia had.
That meant he only had one to deal with for now, although he suspected it wouldn’t be long before the taller guy realized he’d been duped and joined the shorter man who was now hot on their trail.
With all the patience and skill embedded in him from his time in Afghanistan, Ryker watched the shorter of the two mercenaries cautiously approach. He could tell, even from this distance, the guy was nervous.
Ryker knew the guy he’d knocked out must have managed to see them getting into his SUV and leaving town to have found them so quickly. This time, he needed to make sure he did something more to ensure them a getaway.
There were moments when he lost sight of the approaching mercenary, but waited without moving for him to reappear in his line of vision.
As the guy approached the landing point Ryker had identified as the target spot, he readied himself. Three. Two. One. Without a sound, Ryker launched himself off the hill, landing on top of the mercenary with a loud thud.
They rolled together, precariously close to the edge, with Ryker managing to come out on top. He pressed against the guy’s carotid arteries until he passed out, then quickly used the plastic zip ties he always carried in his pockets to bind the man’s wrists and ankles.
Once he had the mercenary trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey, he dragged him off the trail, deep into the brush. The whole takedown had gone off without either man saying a word.
For a moment, Ryker peered into the man’s face, trying to remember if he’d seen him before, in those days before Christmas when he’d helped Hawk and his family escape from similar mercenaries sent by the Blake-Moore Group.
But the guy was a stranger.
For a moment he sat back on his heels, trying to understand how the Blake-Moore Group had managed to recruit more soldiers. The entire operation should have been broken up by the capture and imprisonment of Todd Hayes from the Department of Defense.
Ryker went through the guy’s pockets searching for an ID but found nothing other than a password protected phone, which he tossed into the ravine. More proof, at least in his mind, that the two men were sent from the Blake-Moore Group. When he had the guy well hidden, Ryker took his weapon, tucked it into the waistband at the small of his back, then stood.
One down, one more to go.
He made his way back up to the hilltop. He wanted to go back to the large boulder where Olivia and Aaron waited, to check on them and reassure them, but he needed to keep his eye on the trail below.
There was no telling how long he’d have to wait before the second mercenary showed up. He was a patient man by nature, but couldn’t help being concerned over Olivia and Aaron.
As if on cue, he heard Aaron telling his mother he was tired of playing hide-and-seek and wanted to go home. She reassured him that they’d be leaving soon, but Aaron wasn’t buying it. Their voices weren’t too loud; he was listening intently, which was why he’d heard them, yet he couldn’t deny the sound could carry all the way down to where the second guy was lurking on the trail.
Once he might have prayed for strength, but that was before he’d lost his girlfriend and her daughter. Before his entire world had turned upside down. Right now, all he did was try to ignore their voices.
Just a little longer, he hoped.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, he heard the sound of heavy footsteps on the trail. Thankfully, he no longer heard Olivia and Aaron. The taller guy wasn’t as stealthy as the first was, maybe because he was growing tired of chasing shadows through the woods.
A fact that would work in Ryker’s favor.
“Steve? Where are you?” The mercenary’s voice was full of annoyance and the fact that he’d called out to his buddy made Ryker smile.
Steve, huh? These guys wouldn’t have lasted long in Afghanistan. It seemed the caliber of the soldiers the Blake-Moore Group recruited had gone downhill.
As before, he waited with infinite patience for the mercenary to get into position. As the guy approached, he slowed his pace, as if sensing danger. Ryker gave him points for realizing something wasn’t right.
Just a few feet more...
Now! For the second time that day, Ryker launched himself from his hiding spot. Unfortunately, at the last second, the mercenary turned and lifted his hands in a defensive move as Ryker landed on him. They rolled over and over, Ryker’s head hitting a rock and sending shards of pain lancing through him.
Darkness threatened, but he refused to give up. He tightened his grip and fought with every ounce of strength he possessed, finally gaining the upper hand.
The mercenary grunted and let out a harsh expletive. Ryker pressed harder on the guy’s neck, willing him to surrender to unconsciousness.
A minute later, the mercenary went slack. Still, he didn’t release the pressure, fearing a trap.
Finally, he eased up and hung his head for a moment. The base of his skull throbbed, but he ignored it. Once again, he reached for the plastic zip ties, and bound the second guy’s wrists and ankles.
“Ryker? Are you okay?”
Olivia’s voice had him spinning around so fast, the landscape dipped and shimmered. He
