Page 77 of Iron Willed Warrior

With the map of the facility laid out in my head, I cut across the dark rows of solar panels.

There was a bend in the central path through the property. A brief span that would be out of sight of both Building B’s guard and Building A farther on. That’s where I waited, drawing my weapon and getting ready.

Minutes later, I heard the whirr of the golf cart’s motor.

I stepped into the path, aiming my gun. Shock rippled across the driver’s features. He braked hard, swerving to the side. Grabbed for his radio with one hand, gun with the other.

But before he could get hold of either, Brynn popped up from the back of the golf cart. As the smaller between the two of us, she’d hidden inside the cargo compartment at the back of the cart.

She pressed the muzzle of her gun to the man’s head, murmuring quietly. He snarled and went again for his weapon. Brynn smacked him in the nose. He shouted, but she muffled the sound by covering his mouth. I dashed forward, coming around the driver’s side of the cart. Plucked his radio and his weapon. Blood gushed from the guard’s nostrils.

Brynn shifted to the man’s side, keeping her weapon on him.

“You’re dead,” he said thickly. I caught a faint accent, though I couldn’t place it. “No chance are you getting out of here alive.”

“If I were you, I’d be more concerned about myself,” Brynn replied. “Hands off the steering wheel. Unless you’d prefer to end it all right here.”

Of course, he wasn’t going to live either way.

Spitting blood at my feet, the guard raised his arms. Brynn wrenched them behind his back and bound them with ties from our gear, while I tied his ankles. She stuffed a dirty rag into his mouth. No clue where she’d gotten it, but maybe it had been in the golf cart’s storage compartment. Probably didn’t taste so good.

I jumped into the driver’s seat and steered us off the path, veering down a narrow gap between the solar panels. I parked the cart behind a ventilation shaft, out of sight and earshot of the buildings, but that brought us nearer to the fence line.

Brynn checked her watch. “We’ve got three minutes until the next patrol drives by.”

“Keep an eye on the time for me? We’ll let it pass. Then I’d love first crack at this guy.”

“Wilco. Be my guest.” She smirked.

We dragged the Stillwater guard out of the cart and onto the dirt beneath a solar panel. Laid him flat on his back. Theguy tried to wriggle away. Brynn sat on his legs, and I held my gun beneath his chin.

He stopped moving. Stared with empty eyes. Breathed wetly through his damaged nose. I doubted that was pleasant.

Every Stillwater mercenary I’d faced had been well-trained. Unlikely to break under interrogation or torture. Especially not quickly, and we didn’t have all night. But sometimes people gave away things that they didn’t intend.

I kept the gun on him for a while. Three long minutes. Brynn counted them down.

The jeep’s engine started as a faint growl. Grew louder as its lights came into view. Brynn and I didn’t take our eyes off our prisoner. If he was going to escape or get the attention of his fellow guard, it would be now.

The jeep got closer. We weren’t right at the fence line, but if there was a loud noise or a flash of sudden movement, the driver would probably notice. Assuming he wasn’t an idiot.

With a violent burst of energy, our prisoner tried to buck Brynn off, shouting around his gag. I grabbed his damaged nose and squeezed.

The jeep drove past.

Once it was gone, I sat beside our prisoner’s head, my knees bent and the gun aimed casually near my feet. Then I tugged the rag from his mouth.

“Fuck you,” he spit out. “You’re getting nothing from me.”

“We know this is a Stillwater facility and that Garon Westwick visited earlier today with a friend of his. Eric Masterson.”

No reaction.

“I want to know what you’re guarding here. What did Westwick and Masterson come here to see?”

“If you know about Stillwater, you know they’ll hunt you down.”

“What’s underground here?”

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