Page 15 of Lure

“Absolutely nothing,” I said, sobering immediately. Because it shouldn’t be funny. Voodoo was definitely packing and it wouldn’t surprise me if Alphabet was.

Shut. Up. Brain.

As inappropriate and insane as those thoughts were, they buoyed my mood. How much crazier could my life get? Binoculars up, I frowned because the world wasn’t dark through them. If anything, it was?—

“Oh, these are night vision.” That was cool.

Alphabet chuckled then said something in what sounded like Dutch. I didn’t speak that as well as I did German. Hmm, maybe a new language to learn. But rather than ask, I focused.

I caught the dust of their movement first. “Got them.”

“Tell me how many and what the configuration is…”

Didn’t he—No questions, Grace.

“SUV, large in the front, followed by two more, one is an SUV, the other looks like a bigger car. There’s something smaller too…”

Flashes of white popped into and out of view. I backed my head up a little then frowned again. Some flashes of white came from the SUV in the front.

Gunfire.

It was gunfire.

How had they made it all this way shooting at each other? The SUV in the front kept pulling away and the one behind it kept trying to catch up. There were more flashes and the cars behind it dropped back.

That was how.

“Okay, there’s also a motorcycle, SUV and a big car, I don’t know what kind it is.”

“That’s fine,” Alphabet said in a comforting voice. “Hit the right button on the binoculars, it’s going to start giving you numbers. Focus on the closest vehiclebehindthe first SUV.”

That made sense. The first SUV was our guys, I would guess. Lines appeared in my view, then green numbers began to flicker, once I had the feel for it, I shifted the view to the vehicles behind the SUV.

They were definitely getting closer.

I rattled off the first series of numbers. Then said, “They are getting lower. Do I need to count it down?”

“You can,” Alphabet said.

I didn’t make it two numbers before the gun next to me fired. The report of it wasloudand I jerked, but not before I saw an explosion hit the back tire of the vehicle I’d been tracking. Another sharp report and a second explosion hit the vehicle and it was suddenly tumbling.

“Second vehicle.” The command in the snap of his voice had me reversing my attention back to the chase unfolding below.The quake in my hands made focusing harder. Then Goblin laid down next to me and pressed into my side. It wasn’t a lot but it helped.

Mouth dry, I finally got the second car in my sight and gave him the numbers. He did something, I could practically feel the movement next to me, but I didn’t want to look away. This time, I made it four numbers before he fired and there was no missing the way the engine hood blew upward and back toward the car or that it swerved wildly before it too started rolling.

Another report from the gun and there was a bright flash of white from the under carriage as it kept flipping and then the whole car exploded. I could imagine the heat billowing out from it. The motorcycle vanished in the conflagration because there was a sudden bright flash a half mile back. The SUV had gone up too.

My heart slammed against my ribs almost painfully and my skin was tight. “Looking for the motorcycle.”

“Deep breaths, Gracie-girl,” Alphabet said in that same lulling tone he’d used earlier. “We have time.”

Did we? It didn’t feel like it. The shaking seemed to intensify. I was shuddering harder than the van had when we’d been flooring it across the landscape. Sweat trickled between my shoulder blades and I was boiling despite the cold rock below me.

Where was it? Had it actually been taken out with the others? No, I didn’t see it, but would I—there.

“Got him. He’s off road.” Then I gave him the numbers.

“Sneaky little bastard,” Alphabet murmured. “Isn’t he?” Then before I could answer, he added, “Fire in the hole.”

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