Page 29 of ELITE Protection
Smart woman. They had no idea if Aziz had backup or a sniper hiding in the trees.
Isaac shot both men in the neck. They were down and not ever going to move again.
Running, he grabbed his skis and threw them on the ground, stepping into the bindings as he slid on his backpack. When they had practiced this in Alaska as SEALs, he never imagined he’d be running from the enemy on his home turf.
He took one last look at Aziz as his blood turned the pristine snow a deep red. His gun was ten feet away. Isaac considered for a moment leaving him so he could bleed out slowly. He would remain conscious for several minutes knowing he was going to die. The final torture seemed appropriate for everything he knew about the man.
Instead, Isaac put a bullet in his heart.
Isaac didn’t bother checking for a pulse. He had to get to Hannah. She could ski like the wind. They had to cross an open snowfield where they would both be vulnerable, and he wanted to be there to protect her in case there were other tangos nearby.
“Three dead at the cabin including al-Habib,” Isaac reported to Atlanta Center. “I’m trying to catch up to Hannah now. We’re back on Plan A.”
“Roger that,” Karl acknowledged.
Bending his knees and tucking in, Isaac chose the straightest path possible through the dense forest. Keeping her ski trail in sight, Isaac emerged from the woods and immediately stopped. He scanned for the double line in the snow.
She had vanished as though into thin air.
“Isaac.” Hannah’s voice was filled with relief as she stepped out of the shadows and skied toward him. He had never seen anything more beautiful in his life. She didn’t stop until she ran into his body, her skis sliding perfectly between his.
She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him close. “Thank God. I was so worried. I heard several more shots.”
“They’re all dead,” he reassured her. “Now let’s get the hell off this mountain and back to Atlanta.” He kissed her hard one more time. The wordsI love youwere right there on his tongue. They just wouldn’t come out. “I know that wasn’t easy to shoot Aziz.”
She smiled back at him. “Yes, it was. But I guess I’m better at long-distance shots than I am up close. I wanted to shoot his dick off.” She walked her skis backward then turned her tips down the wide-open slope.
Isaac could do nothing but follow her in wonderment. He already knew he was in love with her, but he had just fallen a little deeper.
They were more than halfway down the half-mile-wide swath of deep snow when the crack of a rifle shot broke through their peaceful trek. Isaac looked over his shoulder to see Aziz three hundred feet down the slope from the tree line, a sniper rifle at his shoulder. He had something tied around his upper thigh.
Isaac cursed himself for not checking for a pulse. In retrospect, of course the man was probably wearing body armor. The direct shot to his chest no doubt broke a few ribs, but obviously hadn’t killed him.
Hannah had already folded her body into a tuck and pointed her skis straight downhill.
The sound of a second shot bounced off the trees.
The earth beneath Isaac shook.
Avalanche.
Isaac immediately looked for Hannah. She had already kicked off her skis and her vest was inflating. He looked up the mountain to see the snow crack a hundred feet above Aziz.
Good. He had caused this avalanche and hopefully, it would kill him.
Isaac reached to pull the cord for his own airbag when he was hit by a wall of snow. Training took over, and he slammed his hand to activate his location transponder.
Cold. That was the first thing Isaac realized as he came to. He thought he heard his name, but it was so faint. He pushed his hands up toward his face to dig out space to breathe as he’d been taught in avalanche school. He had no idea which way was up or down. He wondered, obviously too late, if activating his airbag would give him more space.
“Isaac. Can you hear me?”
This time he was sure he’d heard Hannah’s voice.
Creating an air pocket in front of his face, he called out, “Hannah, I’m here.”
Snow moved around him. When he tried to kick to give more room for his legs, pain shot all the way through his body. He wiggled his toes. Thank God they worked. When he tried to move his ankles, the pain was so great he almost passed out.
Weight lifted above his belly as light filtered through. He was obviously lying on his back. He punched through the snow and waved his hands.
