Chapter 70

While Ash rolled,slid, and banged his way down the steep ridge, he wondered if he should’ve taken his chances with the armed men on the trail.

His momentum came to a jarring halt when he landed with a splash in the rocky creek bed. Spring water flooded his clothes and swept over his face, giving him a jolt, the arctic equivalent of a defibrillator. He flailed to his knees, then his feet, sluicing water off his face in order to assess his situation.

The pain in his shoulder made him nauseous, but he ignored the sensation as he slogged his way out of the knee-deep water. Something thrumped near his left foot milliseconds before he heard the muffled echo of suppressed fire.

He zigzagged to a rock outcropping forty yards away, reaching for his sidearm, the only weapon that survived his tumble down the mountain.

After doing a quick equipment and ammo check, he braced a hand against the cold gray stone protecting him from becoming Swiss cheese. He leaned out to get a handle on his enemies’ location and drew back immediately, when more bullets rained down on his location.

He waited for their heavy volley to stop, but they continued on and on. Then he realized something crucial—the bullets were no longer drilling into the earth around him.

Confused, he chanced another look. Four individuals in dark clothing were descending the ridge, like giant spiders emerging from the mist to secure a juicy morsel hung up in their web.

He aimed his Glock at the nearest mercenary. His eyesight kept blurring out, making it impossible to get a good bead on the dark figure against a gloomy background. Blinking rapidly, to help clear his vision, he pulled the trigger. The man went down and the other three raced for what little cover they could find.

“Hold your damn fire,” a familiar voice yelled.

“Zeke?”

“Yeah, and the others.”

“The two mercenaries?”

“Got away.” He spit the words out like a mouthful of livermush.

A VW-sized boulder lifted off his chest. He might survive this night, after all. Using the outcropping to steady himself, Ash gained his feet and staggered toward his brothers.

Rohan knelt beside Zeke and looked to be assessing his left thigh. The boulder returned to crush his chest.

“Did I hit you?” It would be a marksman miracle if he had, considering he was even now having trouble keeping his brother in focus.

“Lucky for Zeke, you’re a shitty shot in the dark,” Rohan said, not lifting his head. “The bullet grazed his thigh.”

Ash didn’t bother explaining about his warped vision. ”Do you have first aid supplies?”

“Of course.”

Rohan started to bandage Zeke’s leg, but his impatient brother grabbed the gauze out of his hands and wound the white material around the wound several times before tying it off.

“Not that I’m complaining,” Ash said, “but how did y’all find me?”

“By accident,” Cruz said, “we were coming up the trail at the same time you took a header over the side.”

“Why were you on the trail?”

“Liv couldn’t find Kayla,” Zeke said. “She texted her, and Kayla explained what the two of you were up to. Liv got worried.” He leveled a stare at Ash. “For good reason.”

“All we intended to do was check out Sybil’s guesthouse, then ask her a few questions.”

“But all hell broke loose?” Phin supplied.

Ash nodded.

“What’s wrong with your shoulder?” Zeke asked, eyeing his bloody sleeve.

“Flesh wound, same as you.”

“You look like you’ve been on a bender for a week.”

“And you look like Mt. Vesuvius on the verge of eruption.”

“Boys, now isn’t the time to get into a pissing match,” Phin said. “What can you tell us?”

Ash summarized the events of the last two hours, starting with his and Kayla’s decision to confront Sybil about Victoria’s death, Elsie’s shocking revelation about her part in the governor’s assassination, his death walk, and Elsie’s endgame.

“Elsie intends to kill Kayla and her mother, then frame Sybil for everything.” Ash used his sleeve to wipe sweat and grit from his eyes. “I have to get back to Sybil’s before it’s too late.” He didn’t voice the fear that Elsie had already put her plan in action. He couldn’t face that possible truth.

Zeke grabbed something off the ground, then used Rohan’s shoulder to leverage himself up. “You’re not going anywhere alone.” He tossed the object from the ground to him. “You dropped this.”

With one hand, Ash caught the rifle he’d taken from the dead guard.

“Let Rohan take a look at your shoulder.”

“No need. The bastards stuffed the wound with combat gauze to staunch the blood. Shot was through and through.”

“It appears you lost a significant amount of blood before they plugged the holes,” Cruz said, a warning in his voice. “And from the way you’re squinting your eyes, I’m guessing you sustained a head injury, too.”

“I’ll be fine.” He started up the ridge. The pressure in his head pulsed with each sluggish beat of his heart. “A little lost blood and a bump on the head are nothing compared to the fate awaiting Kayla and her mother.”

He sniffed the air and caught the acrid scent of smoke.