Page 108 of Second Chance Savior

“No. Absolutely not. We are sticking together through the rest of this. So you’d better just hurry the hell up and get your ass to that ATV.”

“The thing can’t hold all three of us.”

“ThenI’ll walk. Stop arguing, River. We’ll be waiting.”

I really wanted to kiss her, but it was going to turn into one of those passionate,I love you with my entire beingkisses. And we couldn’t spare a second. So I hoped my expression was enough to convey everything I felt. Pure love for her. Love that couldn’t be denied, that refused to fade away no matter how many years had passed. It would be with me until the day I died.

But that wasn’t going to be today.

I gave Brynn the other pack, which held the rest of the water and first aid. We’d already ditched the camping gear tolighten the load. I kept nothing but some spare ammo for myself. There wasn’t much of it left.

Lifting my fingers, I counted down as I kept watch. We were clear.

Go.

Charlie and Brynn ran.

At the same time, I burst from behind the archery range. Laying down cover fire with my rifle and bellowing a war cry. Brass rained onto the ground. Two Stillwater men jerked, their shots going wide. When my rifle magazine was empty, I unholstered the two handguns at my back. Spun behind a tree trunk.

Breathe.

I popped out and shot a mercenary as he tried to get past me, going after the women. But I didn’t spot a second man until he was too close. He slammed me against the tree. I blocked an elbow, then struck his wrist so he dropped his weapon. I’d lost one of mine. But I couldn’t get the muzzle of the other aimed before he’d grabbed me around the middle. I threw my weight forward. We landed hard on the ground, rolling and fighting over my remaining gun.

He was so close I smelled the cigarettes on his breath. Sweat beads made lines in his grease paint. Teeth bared.

He smacked me hard in the nose. Gah, thatstung. I tasted salt and metal in the back of my throat. For a split second, he had control of my gun, so I head-butted him. Wrenched the weapon from his grip, but the force sent the gun flying through the air.

His legs twisted around me, trying to get me in some grappling hold. I slithered out of it as I reached for my lower leg. The knife in my ankle holster.

The blade punched the guy’s ribcage and entered his heart.

His eyes went glassy, but he was still struggling. Fightingme. In the corner of my vision, I spotted a dark blur on the forest floor. The gun he’d dropped. My fingers closed on it.

I hugged him close and pressed the muzzle to his torso.Bam. Bam. He went still.

Then I felt a hot circle of metal at the base of my neck.

Fuck.

The man behind me said nothing. I didn’t expect him to. He had no use for me, and I was too dangerous to do anything but terminate. I was about to execute a defensive maneuver, grasping onto the desperate hope that I could deflect the bullet so it wouldn’t kill me outright. Because as long as I had air in my lungs, I’d keep fighting to get back to Charlie.

I wasn’t fast enough. A gunshot rang out.

But I was still here.

I pushed up to my knees.

“Careful,” said a low voice. “Get up nice and slow. Hands on your head.”

When I turned around, my arms up and elbows bent, I saw a man with salt and pepper hair. Dark skin. More new faces appeared, all with weapons drawn. And all wearing the same windbreaker with yellow lettering.

FBI.

Several agents ran toward me. One patted me down roughly. Another yanked my arms behind my back. Cuffed my wrists.

“Where’s the lieutenant governor?” asked the man who’d spoken before.

Like I was going to tell him. “Why should I trust you?”

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