“Where did you learn that?”
Jake shook his head. “Nowhere. It’s just logical, right?”
Durrie responded with a grunt and a nod. Then he said, “We’ll go back down the dirt road a bit. I spotted a small clearing not far from that ridge you climbed up. We can use that.”
The mention of the ridge caused Jake to ask, “Why did you follow me?”
Durrie frowned, then slung the rifle back over his shoulder. “Don’t make me regret it.”
Without another word, he jogged into the woods.
For half a second, Jake thought again about getting into the car. He could get away not just from Larson now, but Durrie, too. He could bring the authorities back here. He could show them the woman, and where he’d buried the remainder of her face. But the thought passed as quickly as it came. He was staying, and he knew it.
He didn’t dwell on the reason why. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
So he headed after the man who had been holding him prisoner, the man who had just saved his life.
30
By the time they reached the clearing, twilight had settled over the mountains. There, on the eastern side of the range, the shadows were deep and black, as if night had fully engulfed the ground but not yet the entire sky.
Durrie halted next to a downed tree, setting his pack on it. From inside he pulled out a pouch, then removed two items and handed one to Jake.
“So we can stay in touch,” Durrie said.
“We’re splitting up?” Jake asked, surprised.
Durrie looked at him for a second, then nodded at the gear in Jake’s hand. “I’ll leave it up to you to figure out where the earpiece goes. That little square piece attaches to your collar. See the switch on the bottom?”
Jake twisted it around until he found what Durrie was talking about.
“Flip it into the other position. That turns everything on.”
Jake did so.
“On the side’s a pressure button. In, your mic’s on. Out and it’s off. Since you’re not used to the equipment, just leave it on at all times.”
Nodding, Jake activated the mic, then attached the square to his collar. Once that was done, he inserted the earpiece. “You didn’t answer my question.”
Durrie had just finished checking the mags on the two handguns he’d pulled out of his bag. As he shoved the last mag back into place, he looked out at the clearing. “I want you to move through the woods and over on that side.” He pointed across the clearing at the side farthest from the dirt road. “When you get there, find a dry branch about an inch thick.” He looked at his watch. “In exactly five minutes, snap it like you would if you’d accidently stepped on it. But only once. Quiet after that.”
“You took my watch.”
Durrie frowned at him. “You know how to count, don’t you?”
“What are you going to do?”
From Durrie’s pause, Jake sensed the man wasn’t used to sharing his plans.
“I’ll be on the ridge on the other side of the road,” Durrie said. “When I see him go by, I’ll follow him. Once he’s between us, we’ll take him down. If you end up firing your weapon, try not to shoot me.” He strapped his pack back on. “You can start counting now.”
He took off.
With little choice, Jake headed around the perimeter of the clearing, counting down the seconds in his head. On the way, he found a branch that would do what Durrie had requested. He reached his assigned position with about thirty seconds to spare.
Propping the branch on a rock, he raised his foot, holding it in the air as the final seconds ticked off. Three… two…one…
Even as the sound was still reverberating across the clearing, Jake started looking for a place to hide. He found a spot about thirty feet away, where he could see both the clearing and the area where he’d snapped the branch.
He wasn’t nervous, in fact, far from it. He was…energized, he realized. Focused, alive, and energized.
Durrie was scrambling up the ridge when he heard the crack. He checked his watch. Right on time. Durrie was the one who was slow.
He saw a shallow depression to his left, and angled over to it. He had barely lain down in it when he spotted a dark shadow race across the dirt road. He brought his rifle around, but was too late.
He quickly got to his feet and started down the hill. As he did, he clicked on his mic.
“Oliver?” he whispered.
“Here,” the kid answered back.
“I just spotted him on the road. He’s heading in your direction.”
“Okay.”
“Don’t do anything stupid. In fact, just stay down. I’m coming in behind him.”
“Got it.”
“I mean it.”
“I said, I got it.”
Durrie clicked off his mic.
When he reached the road, he paused. This was the most dangerous part. Larson could be just on the other side waiting for someone to show up. Though it was now full dark, the mountain sky was full of brightly shining stars, making the road the one place a person wouldn’t be able to hide.
Crouching low, Durrie made a quick dash to the other side. No bullets, no sound of a gun. Just the breeze through the top of the trees, and the underlying buzz of insects.
Durrie made his way as quickly as he could toward the clearing, while being careful not to make any noise that would betray his position.
“I think I see something,” Oliver reported.
Durrie pushed the mic button twice so that the radio would broadcast an audible click. It was a signal to say that he heard, but couldn’t talk. He hoped Oliver would understand.
Apparently, he did. “Movements on the side nearest the road,” Oliver said. “It was in the trees, but I don’t see it now.”
Durrie double-clicked again. He wanted to say, “Get the hell out of there,” but he was too near the clearing to risk it.
He dropped into a half crouch to lower his profile as he weaved through the trees, then stopped when he finally spotted the clearing twenty feet away. He had taken a much more direct path than Larson’s to get there, so there was a chance the assassin hadn’t reached that point yet.
Durrie searched the area, but nothing caught his attention. After several seconds, he rose, intending to move closer to Oliver’s position. That’s when he finally heard a noise. But it wasn’t a footstep or clothes brushing against a tree. It was the
Instinct kicked in, and even as he turned toward the sound, he dropped his head down and raised his arm as protection. The move probably prevented his skull from being crushed, but the glancing blow of the thick branch against the side of his head was enough to knock him out.
Jake heard a noise off to his left. A
