Not after losing her baby sister at two years old, not after failing to recover Samantha Perry before her body was found decimated in that alley. She’d ensured she’d never have to feel that grief again by leaving behind the one man who’d undeniably break her into a thousand pieces if given the chance in order to protect herself. Benning.
She wasn’t going to die out here. Not until she fulfilled her promise.
Using the exterior of the cabin as a stabilizer, Ana hobbled toward the SUV as fresh snow fell from the sky. Her lungs burned, nausea churning in her stomach. She’d already lost so much blood it felt as though ice sludged through her veins, but the pressure of being exposed—out in the open—took priority. Her attacker had taken her gun and nearly her life. She could only do something about one of those things right now. Twisting her head around the corner of the cabin, mere feet from the SUV, she listened for movement, waited for the next ambush. Only the pounding of her own heart behind her ears registered. Exhaustion compelled her to rest here, to close her eyes and wait until her strength returned, but time was running out. She had no idea who that gunshot had been meant for, if Benning was alive, or if Olivia had gotten to safety. And as long as she was conscious, she’d fight to find out.
“Now or never, Ramirez.” She took a few deep breaths, the burn in her lungs a dull piercing now. Blood was still leeching from the wound across her pant leg. It hadn’t slowed, which meant the piece of glass wasn’t doing a great job holding her together. Benning wasn’t the only one out of time. “You didn’t come all this way for nothing.”
She searched the side of the house one more time. Then ran.
A bullet ripped past her left arm, an inch—maybe two—from her heart as she lunged for the tail of the SUV, but she had to keep moving. Her leg dragged behind her, her toes and calf muscles numb. Two more shots embedded in the side of the cabin and another in the passenger-side door of her vehicle as she took cover. Out of breath and ideas, she pulled her injured leg behind the SUV and closed her eyes as another four rounds exploded through the night. Hostia. Bloody hell. She pressed her neck and back into the vehicle’s bumper and got to her feet, compressing the hatch’s lever. Locked. The breath rushed out of her as she scooped a fist-size rock from the snow and shattered the back windshield. She cleared glass from the bottom track, discarded the rock, and opened the hatch from the inside. Crawling inside, she bit back the urge to scream as the glass shifted in her thigh, and she closed the gate behind her. She was hidden. At least temporarily. It wouldn’t do much considering she’d left a trail of blood and glass in her wake, but none of this would matter unless she got the bleeding under control. If she was going to get Benning and Olivia the hell out of here, she had to focus. “Okay, okay. If I were a piece of rope, where would I be?”
Tossing extra raincoats, flares and spare water bottles from the emergency kit, she dumped the rest of the contents into the SUV’s cargo space and nearly collapsed back in relief. She grabbed the single bungee cord, still in its package, from the mess. Closing her eyes, Ana set her back against the second row of seats. She prepared herself for the pain that was coming before pinching the glass between both sets of fingers. She sucked in a deep breath. Pressing her heels into the vehicle’s floor, she locked her back teeth to keep from giving away her position. “Like a Band-Aid. Nothing you haven’t survived before.”
She pulled the large piece of glass entirely through her leg with everything she had left, then tossed it aside. Reaching for the bungee cord, she discarded the packaging and wrapped the braided fibers tight around her leg, above the wound. She slammed her head back into the row of seats as pain exploded through her. Tingling sensations shot like lightning down through her calves and toes as feeling rocketed back into her nerves. Darkness closed in around the edges of her vision, but she had to stay awake. Had to get to Benning.
“I know you’re in there, Ramirez.” Snow crunched beneath heavy footsteps outside the vehicle. “And from the trail you’re leaving behind, it looks like you’re not in very good shape.”
A knot swelled in the pit of her stomach.
Sifting through the supplies she’d dumped across the cargo space, she gripped a screwdriver. The bright orange head faded in and out of focus as she tried to pry open a hidden storage panel beside the tailgate. The plastic cover finally fell away, and she wrapped her hand around the backup piece she’d stored before she’d left TCD headquarters. Always be prepared. That was what her brothers had taught her from the time she’d been five years old. That, and how to disassemble a gun so it’d fit inside any small storage compartment. She made quick work of assembling the pieces into place and loading the magazine as the footsteps pierced through the pounding in her head. “Only eight more lives left. Don’t suppose that means you’re going to cut me some slack—”
Gunshots exploded from outside. Blood burst across the tinted side window of the SUV, and the large outline of a man fell against the side of the vehicle. Ana fell back onto her side and raised her weapon. Waiting. Tension stretched across her shoulders as the seconds ticked by. Maybe a full minute. Slower than her instincts told her to go, she unlatched the tailgate and slid out of the vehicle, gun in hand. Her breath shuddered in her chest. She swung around
