Exit Strategy, page 26
part #1 of EXIT Inc. Series
“How do we know when to leave our position?” She kept her gun steady on the trees, hoping she’d get a chance soon to join the fray. Hiding behind a log while others risked their lives for her totally sucked.
“We wait for the signal,” Ramsey said.
“What signal?”
“You’ll know it when you hear it.”
A few minutes later, a loud boom made Sabrina start.
“And that would be the signal,” Ramsey added.
Mason suddenly leaped over the log and ran toward the trees, his pistol aimed in front of him, his crossbow and arrows on his back.
“Wait.” Sabrina started to jump up.
Something cold and hard clamped around her wrist, pulling her up short. “Sorry, ma’am. I can’t let you do that.”
She blinked in surprise at the handcuffs on her right wrist. They dangled from a small chain that led to another handcuff around Ramsey’s left wrist. She jerked the chain, tugging on Ramsey’s arm. “You’re clever, and fast. I’ll give you that. But if you don’t unlock those cuffs right now you’re going to regret it. I promise you that.”
He dipped his head as if he were a cowboy tipping his hat, except that he wasn’t wearing one. “I imagine you can make good on that promise, but keep in mind I’m just following orders. Mason doesn’t want you in the middle of a gun battle. And if he’s worrying about protecting you the whole time he’s out there, it’ll just distract him.”
“If he’s really that worried about me, why didn’t he stay with me while you went with the others?”
“I asked him the same thing. He feels it’s his duty to put his life on the line since everyone else is risking their lives.”
“I couldn’t agree more. And that’s precisely why I should be out there fighting.” She jangled the chain between them. “Take these off, Ramsey. It’s not right for me to sit and do nothing. I’ve got a gun and I know how to use it.”
“Sorry. I really am. But I’m more worried about what Mason would do to me if I let you go than what you’ll do to me if I don’t. Like it or not, we’re stuck together until this is over.”
MASON STEADIED HIS crossbow and squeezed the trigger. The arrow zipped through the trees in a beautiful, straight line, slamming into his target. The man screamed and fell to the ground. In spite of the arrow embedded in his back, he twisted around, bringing up his gun. But Mason had already notched another arrow. He let it fly. His aim was true. The gun dropped from the man’s lifeless hand.
A twig snapped behind him. He whirled around, raising his pistol.
“Hold up, Mason,” a voice called out as a man ducked behind a tree. “It’s Devlin.”
Mason lowered his gun. “Next time announce yourself before you sneak up on me.”
Buchanan stepped from behind the tree and strode over to him. “I was about to call out when you drew your gun.” He nodded toward the dead man, the black and yellow feathers on the haft of the arrow ruffling in the breeze. “Good shot. I always wanted to learn to use one of those things.”
“It’s handy if you don’t want to make noise and have time to reload. What’s our status? Any casualties?”
They stood beside each other, an oak tree at their backs. Mason slung his crossbow over his shoulder and kept his pistol trained slightly to the right while Buchanan kept his trained slightly to their left. They both kept an eye on the trees around them.
“A few cuts and bumps but so far our team is intact. The tide is turning in our favor. I got three of the bastards. You?”
“Four.”
“Overachiever. We got a handful more when we got here, a few since. It’s hard to find the little cowards. They won’t come out and play face to face. We’ve spotted some of them running away, abandoning ship. Don’t be surprised if you see some of them handcuffed to trees here and there.”
Mason half turned. “Handcuffed to trees?”
Buchanan winced. “That would be Pierce and Logan’s doing. They both brought cuffs and chains with them. They prefer the catch-and-release method.” He shrugged. “What can you expect from a chief of police and an FBI agent? They’re really touchy about using lethal force.”
“You have some odd friends.”
“Since one of them is my brother, it’s not like I can dump them. They got the idea when I told them about EXIT’s cleanup crews. They figure Cyprian will have to sweep these woods when this is over so none of the tourists or local LEOs stumble across any evidence that might point back to EXIT. The crew can deal with letting the fellows go, after we’re long gone. You ready to find a few more of these cowards?”
Mason popped the magazine out of his pistol and checked the loading. “I’m almost out of ammo. Been using my bow and knife mostly, to conserve rounds.”
“I’m getting low myself. Ramsey might have some.”
“He’s watching over Sabrina.”
“Good. I wondered where she was. I’m sure Logan has plenty of ammo to go around. He’s the epitome of being overprepared. We’ll have to keep an eye out for him. If we don’t run into him you’ll have to go all Robin Hood on anyone we see. Or we can do some hand-to-hand.”
“Either is fine by me. You heard about Ace?”
Buchanan’s jaw hardened. “I’m keeping an eye out for him. I sincerely hope we run into each other.”
“Has anyone gotten Stryker yet?”
“No. He’s like an oiled pig. Keeps slipping away. We’ve only caught glimpses of him here and there, trying to rally his troops. Last I heard he was heading due north, which seems odd since that’s deeper into the mountains and he’ll just be trapped that way.”
Mason stiffened. “North? Exactly where was he when you saw him heading in that direction?”
“About five hundred yards southeast of this point. Why?”
Mason did a quick mental calculation of the possible destinations Stryker might have in mind, then swore and took off running.
Buchanan took off after him. “What’s wrong?”
“Stryker’s heading to the cavern.”
“Why do we care about a cavern?”
“That’s where I told Ramsey to take Sabrina.”
SABRINA KICKED ONE of the rubber rafts against the wall and aimed an irritated glance at Ramsey on the other side of the cavern. “I appreciate that you took the handcuffs off me, but I’d appreciate it even more if you let me out of here. We should both be helping everyone else instead of hiding.”
“Sorry, ma’am.”
She put her hands on her hips. “You say that you’re sorry but I don’t see you unlocking the door.”
“No, ma’am. Mason’s orders. I’m to keep you here until it’s safe to go back outside.”
“Can we ditch the ma’ams please? If I had to guess, I’m about five years younger than you but you’re making me feel ancient.”
“Yes ma— ah . . . Miss Hightower.”
“Sabrina. And why are you taking orders from Mason anyway? Aren’t you an enforcer like him?”
“He’s my best friend. Has been since he joined the army. A lifetime ago, before EXIT. I’d do anything for him.”
She nodded, fully understanding his loyalty. “I’d do anything for him too. I’d probably do it much better if I still had my gun—which you took—and if I was out there fighting alongside him.”
“Sorry, m— Sabrina. He told me to take your gun or you’d probably shoot me trying to get away. And I’m sure he can fight much better not worrying about you out there in the crossfire,” he reminded her.
She sighed. He had a point. She certainly didn’t want to distract him and get him hurt. She didn’t know how she and Mason had slipped into such an easy relationship so fast. And she had no idea what to expect down the line. All she could hope for was that they survived. Then she’d take everything else one day at a time.
Since there weren’t any chairs, she was about to slide to the floor when a knock sounded on the door.
In the space of a breath, Ramsey’s entire demeanor changed. Instead of the laid-back, lighthearted rogue he’d been since she’d met him, he was suddenly on full alert, his face grim, his pistol out and aimed at the door.
He motioned for her to back toward the cavern wall. Obviously he didn’t believe that whoever had knocked was Mason. Maybe the two of them had agreed on a specific signal instead of a regular knock.
The lights went out.
“Get down!” Ramsey yelled.
Sabrina lunged to the floor just as a gunshot boomed through the cavern, sounding impossibly like it had come from behind her. An answering shot echoed from where Ramsey had been standing, the muzzle flash illuminating his taut face like a macabre strobe light. More flashes lit the back of the cavern where a dark hole had appeared in place of the wall that had been there moments earlier. Sabrina covered her ears and scrambled away from the muzzle flashes behind her.
A grunt sounded from Ramsey. The sound of his body falling against the door and slumping to the floor was almost as terrifying as the complete silence now that the gunshots had stopped. She had to get to him, see if she could help him. And if she could retrieve his gun, maybe she could keep both of them alive. But where was the shooter?
She ducked down, her hands out in front of her so she wouldn’t run into a wall as she hurried toward where she believed Ramsey had fallen. The room was pitch black and as quiet as a tomb. No, wait, there—a slight wisp of sound, a shaky breath, coming from in front of her toward the floor. Ramsey, it must be. She dropped to her knees and crawled until she bumped into him.
Running her hands up his torso, the rise and fall of his chest beneath his bulletproof vest reassured her that he was still alive. The dents and tears in the fabric told her he’d been hit several times, but it seemed as if the vest had protected him. That left only one terrifying possibility for why he was now unconscious. He might have been shot in the head. She shied away from that thought and focused on what she had to do—try to protect him until she could get help.
She listened intently for the gunman, trying to locate him while gently sliding her hand up Ramsey’s neck, searching for injuries. With her other hand she patted the floor, trying to find where his gun might have fallen.
When her hand touched his scalp, it came away wet and sticky. Oh no, Ramsey. She pressed her palm to the wound to staunch the bleeding and ran her hand on the rocky floor all around him. Where is that gun?
The lights switched on.
“Looking for this?”
She jerked her head up and stared into the dark maw of a pistol muzzle just inches from her face. But it wasn’t the pistol that terrified her, or even the familiar face behind it that had her shaking so hard that her teeth were chattering.
It was what he held in his other hand.
Chapter Twenty
Day Five—8:30 a.m.
Mason slammed his body against the door to the cavern again. Pain radiated up his shoulder but he refused to give up. The steel door wasn’t going to break but the door frame would have to give way eventually, even if it had been reinforced. Buchanan was off trying to find another way in, but Mason didn’t remember seeing another exit when he’d been inside.
Neither Ramsey nor Sabrina had answered when he’d done the special knock that he and Ramsey always used, so he knew something must have gone wrong. Though what that could be with the door still locked, he didn’t know. He just knew that he had to get inside, as quickly as possible, to check on Sabrina. And Ramsey, of course.
“Sabrina,” he called out again. “It’s Mason. Sabrina? Can you hear me?”
He backed up to charge the door once more.
“Hold up,” Buchanan yelled, jogging through the trees to stop beside him. “I found another way in.”
They took off running. A few minutes later, after a steep climb up some rocks and then a sharp descent on the other side, they were at the hidden back doorway to the cavern.
Buchanan waved at the body lying just outside the open doorway partially obscured by a rock wall and thick bushes. “I probably never would have found the opening because it blends in with the rest of the mountain except that I saw the white of Stryker’s sneakers poking out. Looks like he was stabbed multiple times before his face and throat were mutilated. Overkill. This was personal. Whoever did this knew him, and hated him.”
Mason pushed past Buchanan into the cavern, sweeping his pistol out in front. His insides went cold when he saw Ramsey lying near the front door, a pool of blood beneath his head. He steeled himself against the sharp pain of grief and sorrow that slammed into him. Later. He would grieve for his friend later. Right now he had to keep his focus. He had to find Sabrina. When a quick search of the cavern didn’t reveal her lifeless body, relief swept through him—but only for a moment. Whoever had killed Stryker and Ramsey now had Sabrina.
A groan had him whirling back toward Ramsey. To Mason’s surprise, his friend was blinking his eyes and trying to push himself up off the ground. Mason shoved his gun in his holster, grabbed Ramsey beneath the armpits, and hauled him into a sitting position against the wall. He probed his head wound, trying to see how bad it was.
Ramsey hissed in a breath and knocked Mason’s hand away. “Save the torture for the bad guys, will ya?”
Mason crouched in front of him, swallowing against the thickness in his throat. He squeezed his friend’s shoulder and had to take a moment before he trusted himself to be able to speak. “Looks like you got lucky.” His voice was hoarse. “The bullet grazed your scalp.” He flicked Ramsey’s dented and torn vest. “You were in a hell of a shootout. What happened? Where’s Sabrina?”
Buchanan joined them, swearing softly before heading to the boxes and supplies stacked on the other side of the room.
“Sabrina’s missing,” Mason said, lightly shaking Ramsey. “Tell me what happened.”
He blinked, looking glazed and pale. “I’m not sure. I don’t . . . We were waiting for you. I took off the handcuffs and she wanted me to open the door but I wouldn’t. That’s . . . that’s all I remember.” He looked around. “My gun. Where’s my gun?”
Buchanan returned with a handful of the bright green EXIT T-shirts that they passed out to clients. “I know it sucks to use one of these but this is all I could find to bind your head wound.” He pulled out a knife and proceeded to cut up strips of the cloth.
“He must have lost consciousness, doesn’t remember what happened.” Mason let out a shaky breath and whispered a silent prayer of thanks that Ramsey was okay as he pushed to his feet. “Whoever took Sabrina had to have gone east, downstream back by the river. It’s too rocky here to head deeper inland. And any other direction would have taken them back toward us and the others.”
“It has to be Ace,” Buchanan said. “None of those mercenaries would have been able to get the drop on Stryker. And it’s unlikely any of them knew him well enough to have some kind of vendetta. But what did Ace have against Stryker? I always thought of Stryker as a lone wolf kind of guy. He doesn’t associate with any other enforcers that I know of.”
“I’m not really sure. But Ace was bruised up like someone had beaten the pulp out of him. Maybe Cyprian thought he needed a lesson and ordered Stryker to be his teacher. I don’t give a damn. I just want to find Sabrina.”
Buchanan wrapped a long strip of cloth around Ramsey’s head and tightened it into a knot. Ramsey hissed with pain.
“Sorry.” Buchanan reached for another piece of cloth.
“I can’t wait around here. I have to find Sabrina.” Mason hefted his pistol, remembering he was almost out of ammo. He spotted Ramsey’s gun and took it, along with an extra magazine from his pocket. He decided to take Ramsey’s phone too, since his own phone had been ruined in the river. He spun around and headed toward the back exit.
“Wait,” Buchanan called out. “I’ll get the others to help us search for her. Don’t go looking on your own. It could be a setup.”
He paused at the doorway. “Of course it’s a setup. But I can’t wait around here while Sabrina’s out there alone with a psycho like Ace.”
“What makes you think she’s even still alive?”
He winced. Because he couldn’t bear the thought that she might be dead.
“If that was Ace’s only goal he’d have killed her and left her body in the cavern with Ramsey while he hightailed it out of here. He’s definitely got something else planned. And I have to find him before he does whatever sick, twisted thing he’s probably wanted to do all along. I have to find him before he gets holed up somewhere.” He started to turn away, but hesitated. “If I don’t find a trail to follow, I’ll head toward the river. Tell the others to head that way too and I’ll meet up with you if I haven’t found her. But you should stay here with Ramsey.”
“I’m not a baby,” Ramsey muttered. “Give me a gun and I can help too.” He tried to push himself up but Buchanan shoved him back down.
“Save the heroics for the ladies,” Buchanan said. “You don’t need to impress us. You aren’t in any condition to go anywhere.” He looked back at Mason. “You’re just worried that Ace will be gunning for me.”
“If he gets you in his sights I can’t imagine he’d miss the opportunity to end your feud once and for all. Like I said, you should stay here.”
Buchanan shook his head, clearly exasperated. “You’re not worried about Ace hurting me. You’re worried about me hurting him. You want to make sure that you get to take him out.”
Mason narrowed his eyes. “Can’t I be worried about both? I’m going to save Sabrina. But after that?” He clenched his jaw. “I guarantee Ace won’t live to see another sunrise.” He headed out the back of the cavern, ignoring Buchanan’s shouts to come back.
