From a few yards away he heard a cell phone’s ring tones. His eyes had long ago adjusted to the dark and he could clearly see the panic in Kinsley’s features. He squeezed her hand to offer some measure of reassurance.
He’d seen a small mound near a creek about twenty yards in the direction from which they came. That would be the best place to seek cover if they could make it back unnoticed.
Gabriel took two steps and Kinsley snapped a twig. Damn. He was used to moving around in the woods unseen. This was her first rodeo. He could carry her if he was in better shape, but he’d lost too much blood and he needed to conserve what was left of his energy.
He needed to regroup. There was another spot about twenty-five feet back that had a broken tree trunk. He could make do with that until he could get his strength up. A thirty-minute power nap could do wonders. He could rally with that kind of a break.
First things first, he needed to get them to the tree trunks.
They moved achingly slow, but patience won battles and Gabriel had that in spades. He wasn’t a hotheaded kid who ran off before he understood the situation clearly. He’d wasted a lot of time being angry and licking wounds in his youth that, based on what Kinsley had said, never needed to be there in the first place.
If only he could go back.
A noise to his left had him freezing in his tracks. He waited, perfectly still, barely breathing, listening.
After several seconds he determined the sound came from an animal. He pressed on. Fatigue was weighing his limbs.
The tree trunk intersection was just off the path he’d set. He hollowed out a spot and pulled a cloth from his rucksack to cover the area. The cloth had been treated with a special bug repellent that would keep away most insects. It should get them through the night without getting eaten by too many critters if they needed to be there that long.
Whoever was in the woods was near them now should move on within the next half hour to hour. That would be the best time for him and Kinsley to make their move considering his condition and the fact she had no experience.
It only took a few minutes to finish the set up. Kinsley curled inside first and he joined her. He put the Sig in her hand, so she’d be ready, and he kept his Glock in his. And then he closed his eyes and listened. He’d always found it strange how closing off one sense, like closing his eyes or covering his ears, made the others so much stronger.
There wasn’t much going on except for the sounds of insects and that was reassuring.
Gabriel woke with a start. He didn’t dare check his phone or move. He barely gave himself permission to breathe. He’d fallen asleep. He had no idea how long he’d been out. Based on the steady rhythm of Kinsley’s breathing she was out cold. He’d tucked her behind him so he could be first to move if someone got the drop on them.
And someone had done just that.
He silently cursed himself for needing rest. His weakness might just get the one woman he loved killed. Loved? There was no point denying what the heart already knew. Gabriel loved Kinsley with all his heart and he’d tell her the minute he got them out of this mess and put a certain Russian behind bars or in the ground.
Gabriel listened for the sounds of footsteps, anything. Based on the location of the moon the sun would be up soon. Twenty minutes? Thirty?
He prayed Kinsley would stay asleep.
Because he heard a noise and realized it had woken him up moments ago. He’d been half-asleep/half-listening before.
He put his ear to the ground and listened. The earth would tell him everything he needed to know.
Whatever made the noise was coming his way. In fact, unless it turned it would walk straight over him and Kinsley.
Gabriel assessed that there was only one person in the area, which didn’t mean there weren’t others. It just meant they weren’t within grasp. A shout for help could bring any number of helpers. But Gabriel would deal with Walkman first. There was a chance that this guy had gotten away from the group or that he could just be a solitary entity. Not a likely scenario but he could hope.
Walkman wasn’t far away. It was still dark enough for him to have difficulty seeing much in front of his face. Gabriel eased toward the tree trunk, using it to shield them from view. Kinsley was still asleep and if she woke at the wrong moment it could be game over.
Gabriel aimed his Glock in the direction of the footsteps. He kept it hidden underneath a piece of cloth. A glint of metal at the wrong time and he’d be toast. A thought struck that Walkman could be there to help find Gabriel and Kinsley.
Jaden or Daniel would’ve used the code by now. They could’ve sent someone else to help. If Gabriel could check his phone, he could be certain. There’d been no activity and he’d turned it on Mute at the onset of the walk.
The best bet would be to tackle Walkman and then Gabriel would have a few seconds to decide if he needed to pull the trigger or not.
Walkman’s footsteps came closer. Thud. Thud. Thud.
In one motion, Gabriel jumped to his feet and then dove at Walkman from behind. The guy’s knees buckled. Gabriel, still weak, used his adrenaline spike to dive on top of Walkman. Gabriel recognized the man who was called by the name, The Russian.
At five-feet-eleven inches he was several inches shorter than Gabriel but the man was deadly. The Russian had come to personally collect Gabriel’s head in return for Gabriel having killed his brother, Boris Petrov.
