Chapter Four

The Great Escape

Tucker

Adrenaline coursed through Tucker’s veins as he raced toward the bastard who’d spotted them, sharpening his laser-focused senses. His knife was already poised in his hand, but when the red-haired jerk pulled what looked like a semi-automatic weapon on him, there was no choice but to dive for cover.

Anger flared as he hit the deck, and rounds of bullets punctured the air overhead, littering the place he’d once stood. If he’d delayed by only a few seconds, he would have received his fourth, fifth, sixth, and possibly final gunshot wounds.

But what about Ella?

Instinctively, his thoughts returned to his little girl. He’d left her behind the relative sanctuary of a nearby tree, and he had to pray that, for once, she’d done as she was told and stayed out of the line of bullets. As far as he could tell, the idiot with the gun was only after him, so as long as she stayed out of the redhead’s way, she’d be safe.

For now.

He’d promised to protect her, the vow echoing around his head like a blood oath, but right now, the only way to keep that pledge was to eliminate the threat with the gun and get her out of the forest before the rest of his troop descended on them.

“Was that gunfire?” A voice he didn’t recognize burst from a radio the idiot with the gun was carrying. He forced his breathing under control as he listened. “Damn it, who’s firing?”

“Control, over.” His new, red-haired target replied, but the volume of his voice told Tucker that the guy with the gun was even closer than he realized.

Rising slowly to his feet, Tucker grasped the blade carefully as he peered around the tree that had sheltered him. Just as he’d imagined, the aggressor had momentarily lowered his weapon to answer the radio. He was less than a few feet from where Tucker stood. It was the sort of distance Tucker could cover in only a few strides, but any attempt to reach his target would run the risk of taking a bullet at point-blank range.

“Johnson?” came the aggravated male voice from the radio. “Is that you?”

“Yep, it’s me,” Johnson replied, peering around quickly before his concentration slid to the device in his left hand. For one heart-stopping second, Tucker thought he’d caught sight of him, but the fact he continued speaking into the radio reassured him otherwise. Clearly, the guy was trigger-happy but not observant.

“I told you!” Johnson sighed, apparently still unaware as Tucker slipped from behind the tree and hurried past another huge trunk so he could attack from the side.

This was his opportunity.

Tucker had to take the aggressor down before he disclosed their location. One guy with a gun was easy to eliminate, but a band of them would not be.

“I saw two targets. One m—”

The asshole’s sentence was never finished as Tucker reached his blade around him and slipped it adroitly across the enemy’s neck. An old familiar exhilaration rained over him as the life slipped rapidly from the moron, his body slumping to the earth below as the radio slid from his fingers.

“One what?” the impatient male voice demanded. “Christ, Johnson. What is it with you today? You’d better not be pulling my fucking chain…”

Tucker scanned the blood-stained terrain beyond his feet. Johnson’s lifeblood decorated the nearby earth, but fortunately, very little had covered his hand. He found a neighboring leaf and wiped the blood from his digits before cleaning the blade.

Slicing a man’s throat wasn’t usually his style, but needs had dictated that he acted. He’d done what he had to do to keep Ella safe. Now, thanks to Johnson’s sloppiness, he had an even better means to protect her, and although he loathed the look of the weapon lying by his feet, he knew he’d use it. If he had to.

“Oh my God!”

He spun at the sound of Ella’s strangled gasp, finding her mouth hanging open as she surveyed the mess.

“Didn’t I tell you to get down?” He wasn’t surprised that she’d disobeyed his order. Ella had been pushing boundaries from the first moment he’d collected her, but the idea that she’d have put her life in jeopardy riled him. “You could have got yourself killed, Ella.”

“By you, you mean?” Her gaze fell to the blade still in his hand. “I heard the gunfire and kept out of the way, but when it stopped, I crept out to see what was happening…” She hesitated. “I saw what you did to him.” Her expression crumpled as she turned away from the corpse. “How could you?”

“Sir.” His fist tightened as he fought to control his irritation. He ought to take her over his knee again right there in the woods, but they had no time. Ella should have known better. He shouldn’t need to remind her. “Don’t forget your manners.”

“My manners ?” Disdain oozed from her voice. “You just slit a man’s throat, and you’re worrying about my decorum?”

“He was going to kill us.” Compelling his words to slow, he slipped his blade back into his pocket. “And he has friends who still might if we don’t move.”

“But to kill him that way?” Her hands rose to her mouth as her gaze flitted back to the aftermath. Tears filled her eyes as she met his, and for the first time, he recognized the shock etched into her pretty features. “I’ve n-never seen a dead body before.”

Shit, of course, she hasn’t.

Years of immorality and assassinations had hardened Tucker to the point that he sometimes forgot what normality looked like. Normal people didn’t think the way he did; they wouldn’t respond the same way, and in all probability, they’d have been the ones lying on the cold, hard ground in Johnson’s place. It was only his training and experience that had kept them alive.

“It’s okay.” Whatever remained of his conscience pulsed in his chest as he moved in her direction, but to his dismay, she recoiled from his hand.

“Don’t touch me!” Heaving in a breath, she stumbled backward, her face ashen as she nearly lost her footing.

“Little girl.” He let out a sigh, conscious of her vulnerability as well as the possible danger of loitering there with the dead man’s body. “I’m sorry you had to see what happened.” His brow furrowed as he imagined what she’d witnessed. A woman like Ella would never have encountered such brutality before. “But we do have to keep moving. There are plenty more men out there with guns like that one.” He motioned to the weapon on the ground. “They won’t think twice about using them.”

“They won’t sh-shoot me.”

She still hadn’t used his title, the thought reigniting his annoyance as he ushered her toward the tree he’d asked her to shelter behind.

“They’re looking for me, aren’t they? Alexander wants me back.”

“But you don’t want to go with him.”

He presented the statement as a fact rather than a question, but as it left his lips, he wondered; perhaps what she’d seen had frightened her so much that she’d changed her mind.

Maybe even Bennett looked good in comparison to him?

“I don’t know.” She pulled in air as her feet tangled in the tree’s roots, and her back grazed its trunk. “After what I just saw, I don’t know, Tucker…” Fear flashed in her eyes as she gulped back her trepidation. “How can I trust you?”

Trust me?

He wanted to balk at that. He was literally the least trustworthy man on the planet, but if she wanted to stay alive, she had to stay with him. Sure, Bennett wouldn’t have ordered his daughter’s death, but he was a man who’d already been prepared to give her away to Tucker. She certainly couldn’t trust him !

Anyhow, who was to say Bennett was in charge? The dead guy behind him hadn’t been taking instructions from Bennett before he died. Tucker would have recognized his dulcet tone. Whoever had been on the radio was someone else—someone he was yet to encounter…

As if the device had heard his thoughts, the radio burst into life behind them.

“Johnson!”

Tucker’s heart accelerated at the sudden ferocious tone bursting from it.

“Fuck.” Glancing at the radio, his jaw clenched.

“Johnson, come in! Are you there?”

“See…” The angry voice had more than proven the point for him. “These guys aren’t going away, little girl, and I know you might think you’re safe from them, but…” His voice trailed away as he examined her stunned face. After everything he’d put her through, could he truly be the one to tell her that her own father might allow her death?

“You think I’m in danger.” Her eyes widened as she rationalized his conclusion. “Is that what you’re saying?”

Sir. He bit down on the urge to correct her.

There would come a time when he’d address her disrespect, but this was not it. His only concern at that moment was persuading her to cooperate. Their progress would be a lot slower if he had to carry her kicking and screaming.

“Look at the facts, little girl.” He pressed one palm into the bark by the side of her face. “He already gave you to me. I wouldn’t exactly call Bennett loyal or caring, and whoever is using that radio seems to be in charge. Neither of us can trust in that.”

“Shit.” Her eyes fell closed as she took in his words.

“We need to get away.” He leaned closer, fighting the urge to kiss her. “I know you’re upset, but I swear I only killed him to keep us safe.”

To keep you safe.

He hoped the look in his eyes revealed his final line when her gaze flickered open. He couldn’t bring himself to admit it.

“I know.” She pulled in what looked like a painful breath. “It’s horrible, but I know you had to kill him.” Once more, her gaze darted to where Johnson’s body was strewn.

“Don’t look at him.” His voice was gentle but insistent as his free palm moved to the other side of her face. “Look at me, little girl.”

“I’m sorry, sir.” She returned his soft tone, though her chest still rose and fell rapidly. “I didn’t expect any of this.”

His heart swelled as she finally referred to him properly. “Fair enough.”

Even he hadn’t envisaged such a bloody diversion, but as he stared into her green eyes, he was surprised at how the compulsion to punish her ebbed with her conciliation. The push and pull between them had always seemed so stringent before, but in the cold light of day, all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her and offer comfort.

“We’d better go.” She pressed her lips together as though she also felt the shift in dynamic.

“Yes.” He straightened, offering her his hand. “Let’s keep moving.”

“Wait.” Her focus flitted to the ground. “I left the water here somewhere.”

“You grab it then.” Smiling, he withdrew and allowed her space. “We still have a long journey ahead.”

“Don’t say that,” she murmured as she clutched the plastic to her chest. “I’m not sure how much more I can take.”

“It’s okay,” he reassured as his gaze returned to the man he’d slain. “I’ll look after you, but perhaps it will be better to take his gun to defend ourselves. These guys aren’t taking prisoners.” He recalled how close he’d come to proving the point.

“Really?” She wrinkled her delicate nose. “But I hate guns, sir.”

“I don’t like them, either.” He sighed. “But I’m determined to keep you safe, and like it or not, it’s a lot easier to achieve that with his weapon than it is with my knife.”

“You seemed to do okay, sir.” Her voice was dry.

“I was lucky.” He smirked, having never really believed in luck. In Tucker’s experience, the phenomenon commonly known as luck was little more than opportunity meeting preparation. “We might not be next time.”

“Okay.” She squeezed her eyes closed with the verdict. “But please, keep it away from me.”

“Don’t worry.” He had no intention of letting her anywhere near the weapon. “I will.”

Striding toward the body on the ground, he lowered to grab the weapon and engage the safety before he slung the strap over his shoulder. He considered taking the radio with him, too. It would be useful to know what the enemy was thinking, but the risk that the device could be tracked prevented him. Tucker had enough know-how to get them out of the forest, and the gun would take care of any other strays who crossed their path.

“It’s only for close encounters, I promise.”

“Right.” Her tone was skeptical, but she said nothing more as he walked to his pack and collected the rest of their gear.

“Ready?” He reached for her hand again, leading her away from the bloodied mess of Johnson’s body, but they’d only taken a few strides before the unknown voice exploded from the radio again.

“Johnson!”

She gasped at the abrupt noise, her fingers gripping his tighter.

“If you can hear us, we’re on our way to your last-known location.”