Page 98 of Out of Control

He froze, caught in limbo between hiding and moving, out in the open and forced to use utter stillness as his only cover. He could only pray these assholes didn’t have night vision equipment and that he wasn’t a sitting duck.

He waited a long time but heard no more.

Be alive, Spencer. Be alive, you beautiful, glorious man.

SPENCER PULLEDhimself along on his elbows, making like a worm and inching away from the log while staying as low as possible. The good news was he was now covered in dirt and dead leaves that could only help his camouflage.

Where are you, Dray? Be smart. Keep your wits about you. Back out of that firetrap. Stay on the move. No fixed targets, now.

God. If only he could send the message to Drago telepathically.

Their third fallback position was to rendezvous on the north side of the hut. He paused long enough to glance up through a gap in the tree branches. Quickly, he oriented himself. That way was north. He was on the west side of the structure. He struck off to his right, still crawling like a bug. It was a shitty way to get anywhere fast, but it was better than giving Hamza’s men an easy target.

Hang on, Drago. I’m coming.

WHERE AREyou, Spencer?

Drago crouched in the lee of the hut’s north wall, hating the lack of cover while he waited for Spencer to show up at their appointed rendezvous position.

The minutes ticked past, and now and then he caught a glimpse of a hostile crossing one of the shooting lanes in front of him. He didn’t fire back, however. The first order of business was to make contact with Spencer. Then they could go hunting together.

Without warning, three men burst out of the woods in front of him, all with rifles pointed at his chest.

He didn’t even try to pull off a shot. He’d be dead before his finger even flexed. Very carefully, he laid his weapon down on the ground in front of him, stood up, and raised his hands over his head.

He called out, “Don’t save me, Spencer! Save yourself!”

He meant every word of it. He was okay with dying right here, right now, if Spencer got away. He didn’t hesitate to die, in fact, if he could draw all the hostiles to him so Spencer could slip off to safety.

The hostiles raised their weapons. Took aim at his chest.

He stared down the black bores of their muzzles, and a strange calm came over him. This was it. He was about to meet his maker.

Run, my love. Live, Spencer. Have a full life. Find joy.

Chapter Nineteen

SPENCER FROZEwhen Drago’s voice rang out, echoing through the forest. Don’t save Drago? What crap was that? And why had he yelled it out? Why not transmit it over their radios—

Oh shit. The guy was drawing in the bad guys to himself. He was going to commit suicide by getting himself shot in some crazy plan to save Spencer.

This was not his first firefight by a long shot, and he knew better than to stand up, to reveal himself to whoever Drago was luring in. He continued to crawl, making maddeningly slow progress toward the hut. That was where Drago’s voice had come from.

The good news was no gunshots rang out. If they’d meant to execute Drago before they found Spencer, they’d have done it by now. Buoyed by that conclusion, he crawled grimly on.

It took a couple more minutes, but finally the hut came into view through the underbrush.

Five men ranged in front of Drago, firing-squad-like.

Damn. Spencer couldn’t take out that many targets before they took out Drago. He would have to create some sort of diversion. He had the wireless detonator that would blow up the hut, but he couldn’t very well do that with Drago standing against the damned building. But if he could get Drago to drop… on a coordinated command from him… it could work.

It would be risky. The timing would be critical. And he was too damned close to the five armed men to whisper instructions in Dray’s ear without giving himself away.

So be it. If everyone heard him, turned, and mowed him down, Dray could at least make a break for it while they were distracted.

He whispered, “On my command, drop face-first. Cover your ears and close your eyes.”

Sure enough, the hostile closest to him lifted his head sharply, obviously listening.

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