Chapter Eighteen

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Marise wanted to add a shouted warning to Nash's. A warning for Slade to get out of the path of one of the gunmen. According to the thermal scanner on the monitor, the one on Sonny's right had stepped out from the cover and was taking aim at Slade.

The sound of the shot ripped through the woods and the van and it sent Marise's heartbeat galloping until her pulse was thick and throbbing in her ears. That made it hard to hear, but she could feel and she could see.

Mercy, could she ever.

Marise had to fight off the old images, the nightmares caused by the sound of the gunfire, and she instead tried to focus on what she could see. She knew which heat source was Slade's, and she saw him on the ground.

For a handful of horrible moments, she thought he'd been shot, but then she saw him roll to the side, taking cover behind the tree.

Another shot came.

Not from Slade but rather aimed at him. It was hard for her to tell, but she thought it hit the tree. And that's where the shooter continued the barrage of gunfire that followed.

She saw more movement, this time from the drone side of the monitor. Another man darted out from a tree, running to the other side of the small trail. Mercy. Was he trying to maneuver himself so he could come up behind Slade?

No.

She soon learned that wasn't his plan at all.

He took aim at the van and started firing. Not with a handgun either. This appeared to be some kind of assault rifle.

"Get down on the floor," Nash told them.

He'd barely gotten out that command when the gunman began sending one round right after another into the windshield. She didn't know the strength of bullet-resistant glass, but she doubted it would hold for long.

Again, the old images came. Of a different battle. Still just as deadly.

When she heard her breath gusting and her heart in her throat, Marise forced herself to focus. She had to ground herself, and she could do that by pinning her attention on the monitor. She levered her head up just enough so she could keep watch and see what was going on.

On the drone side of the feed, she spotted more movement. From the thug who was guarding Stephanie and the colonel. The man suddenly pitched forward, and he plunged forward. He went over the side of the bluff.

But not before dragging his knife over the rope.

Oh, God.

If he'd managed to cut one of the ropes, either Stephanie or Rosa was going to fall.

But that didn't happen.

In a blink, Jericho was there, catching hold of the cut rope, and he began to haul someone up. Not an easy task since it appeared the ground around the top of the bluff was slick, and Jericho was having trouble keeping his footing.

Marise's gaze was firing between the two feeds while one of the gunmen was trying to kill Slade. The other was attempting to rip the van apart with his shots. The only time that he stopped was to reload.

She saw Slade move. Saw the hot red image of him lean out again, and he fired at the guy who'd been shooting at him. He didn't miss. The shots must immediately killed him because the guy dropped into a sprawl on the ground.

That helped tamp down some of the PTSD reactions. This was a victory. Not a full-out win but a start in the right direction.

One down, two to go.

But then she saw Sonny's thermal image, and he wasn't running to help his fallen comrade. He was heading in Jericho's direction just as Jericho managed to drag up one of the hostages.

Not Colonel Rosa.

But rather Stephanie.

Jericho didn't free her hands, probably because he didn't want to take the time and because he didn't trust her. He was reaching for the second rope when Nash shouted for him to take cover.

"Sonny's at your nine o'clock," Nash relayed to Jericho.

Jericho moved lightning fast and hooked his arm around Stephanie, hauling her behind a tree with him. Sonny began firing at them and moving closer. Step by step. One shot after another. Pinning them down with his gunfire.

"Hell," Nash muttered. "We've got to get out of here. Now," he added in a shout as he scrambled across the seat and threw open the back doors.

Marise managed to get just a glimpse of the drone feed, and she saw the gun that had been shooting at them no longer had the assault rifle. He'd taken something from his pocket and had hurled it in their direction.

"Grenade," Nash supplied.

Caroline, Nash, and she jumped out of the van and started running. She didn't look back. Good thing, too, since the explosion happened only seconds later, and the debris went flying.

There were the sounds of metal ripping apart. More sounds of the parts of the van smacking into the ground and the woods. It was like being caught in the middle of a battle.

Nash practically shoved them all behind a tree, and they dropped down. Not for long though. Because there was the sound of more gunfire. The thug was coming after them.

"Stay put," Nash told them.

They did, but Caroline whipped out a knife, making Marise wish she had a weapon. Even her paperweight would do, but since it wasn't here, she latched onto a long, skinny fallen tree branch that had a fairly sharp end. She'd use it like a spear if necessary.

Marise lost sight of Nash, and she cursed that she no longer had a monitor. She needed it for grounding, to stave off a panic attack.

"You're in love with Slade," Caroline whispered.

Marise snapped toward her, totally confused as to why Caroline would say something like that now.

"You are. I can see it," Caroline went on. "So, fix Slade's image in your head and use it to try to level your breathing. Try to think only of Slade." She paused a heartbeat. "I have panic attacks, and I recognized the signs," she added in a mutter.

Marise didn't question her about her attacks. She simply did what the woman had suggested. Since she couldn't see Slade on the monitor, she saw him in her head.

And it worked.

Sweet heaven. The man worked even when he was merely an illusion.

Caroline nodded, maybe approving of the fact that Marise was getting control of her breath, but the sound of a shot had Caroline and her whipping their attention to their right. This sound hadn't been like the gunfire from the assault rifle. This was another weapon.

Marise peered around the tree and saw Nash making his way toward them. And he wasn't alone. At first, Marise thought it was part of the illusion, but then she realized Slade was right there with Nash.

"The two gunmen are dead," Nash told them. "And Jericho took care of the one by the creek."

Just as he was explaining that, Marise heard the gunfire. She'd heard it earlier, and now she knew it was coming from the area around the creek.

"Sonny's shooting at Jericho?" Marise asked.

"Yeah," Slade verified. "And I don't have a vehicle to put you in. Caroline and you have to come with us."

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but with you," Marise let him know. "Well, maybe I'd want to be in the hot tub with you," she added, her nerves zinging and making her babble. "But here works since we're together. Now, let's go save the colonel."

Slade's mouth tightened, but he didn't rethink this impromptu change to the plan. The four of them started walking toward the creek.

"Rule one," Slade said, as he kept watching them. "You stay behind me. Rule two, get down once we have a visual on Jericho or the creek. Rule three, find a big tree and stay put."

"That's such a hero thing to say," she muttered.

She was still babbling. God, her nerves were zinging and out of control, but part of her was so damn happy that Slade hadn't been shot. And that he was here.

With her.

That's when something else occurred to her in what had to be the worst timing in the history of worst timings.

She was indeed in love with Slade.

Thankfully, she didn't blurt that out, too, but that was partly because she heard the gunshots over her own heartbeat. No panic came, though. Only the fear that these bullets were being fired at Jericho.

"Stop it," someone shouted.

Stephanie.

"I hired you, you sonofabitch," Stephanie yelled. "So, stop firing now because you could hit me."

Well, that was an unexpected confession, but Marise wasn't sure if the woman was referring to Hutton's murder, the attempts to kill Slade and her, or was Stephanie talking specifically about this attack?

Maybe they'd soon find out.

Slade must have decided it was time for those rules to kick in because he maneuvered Caroline and her behind a tree. Slade and Nash ducked behind, too, but they were in the open enough that they could still be shot.

"I quit. Consider this my resignation," Sonny snarled back. He was behind a tree and peering out in Stephanie's direction. "You're no longer my boss, bitch."

And he fired again.

Stephanie made a feral sound, and Marise watched as the woman bolted from behind the tree. Jericho grabbed for her, but she broke free, ready to make a run at Sonny. She looked enraged, ready to rip him limb from limb despite her hands still being duct taped together.

The moment she reached him, she lifted her arms as if to punch him, but Sonny bashed his gun against her head, knocking her out. In the same motion, he caught Stephanie and held her in front of him. An unconscious human shield. Then, Sonny aimed his gun not at Stephanie. Not at them either.

But at the rope that was still holding Rosa.

"How many shots will it take for the rope to break and for your precious Colonel Rosa to fall to his death?" Sonny asked, grinning. "Let's just see."

And he pulled the trigger.

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