Page 83 of Raven's Curse
They hit a gap, jumped, caught their balance on the other side and kept going, that damn car picking up speed. Shaking the structure as it crested the top of the hill — slipped down toward them.
They reached the truck and fanned out, Zain and Kash on the driver’s side, Chase heading for Greer’s silhouette on the other. He stopped short of touching the vehicle, peering in through the window, instead. Head bowed, uniform dark with blood, she looked like Rhett had when Chase had found him. Alive, but barely.
A collar around her neck clicked on, the green light casting an ominous glow across her face.
“Don’t touch anything.”
Buck’s voice rose above the wind and the rain, the whine of the metal wheels chugging along the tracks. He motioned to her vest. “There’s something off with her vest — that wire snaking down her leg. Let me check the chassis, first.”
Chase frowned. “You think Carver rigged it?”
Buck kneeled in front. “He’s like the voices in my head, always nattering away. Doing two things when they only need one.”
Buck ducked down, crawled under the front end.
That train car moved faster, looming closer as Buck cursed underneath then popped back up. “That wire’s being fed by a metal plate. We need to move the truck a foot, but only that or it hits another, and then…” He made a gesture with his hands. “Boom.”
“You sure?”
Buck looked at Chase, then Zain and Kash, eyes wide. He started hitting his head with the heel of one hand, mumbling under his breath.
Chase grabbed his shoulders. “Buck. Greer’s counting on you. We just need you to hold it together a bit longer. Semper Fedelis, brother.”
Buck snapped his focus to Chase, glancing at the truck before visibly pushing it all down. “One foot.”
He dove under the truck again, calling it out as Chase and his buddies manned the bumper — started pushing. The vehicle shook, barely inching back, extra resistance holding it in place.
Kash grunted. “Bastard probably engaged the parking brake. Wants us to use too much force — hit that next plate.”
They dug in, giving an extra boost, when it gave — damn near rolled right past the mark. They switched their grip — stopped it just shy of going too far.
Buck accepted Chase’s hand as he crawled out. “We’re good.”
Chase darted to the side, ignored the increased rumble as the freight car hit the bottom of the hill, started eating up the distance. He yanked on the handle, slammed his shoulder against the door when it wouldn’t budge, then tried again.
The hinges creaked, the door finally wheezing open. He slipped in, checked her vitals. Pulse fast, thready. Skin so damn white he wasn’t sure how she’d survived this long.
Their collars blinked, then shut off, the ends popping open. Chase glanced at hers, its green light openly mocking him. What Chase suspected was Royce’s contingency plan. That he’d had no intention of letting the two of them walk away.
Chase ripped off his collar, then opened her jacket. That vest glared up at him, wires and putty in a patchwork across the fabric. A thick rope looped around her waist, disappearing beneath the seat. He rummaged through his bag — grabbed a scalpel.
Buck crowded in the other door, tracing the wires. “I need something to cut these.”
Chase coughed. “Let’s just get her out.”
“I told you. He did it wrong. It won’t shut off like the others. I can fix it.”
Chase grunted, then handed him some surgical shears. “Don’t blow us up.”
Buck went to work, looking way too calm considering the circumstances, cutting three of the wires while Chase hacked at the rope. He shrugged. “Fixed.”
Chase glanced up. “What about the collar.”
“It can’t do anything to her, now.” As if to prove his point, Buck grabbed the ends and popped it open, dropping it on the floorboards with an audible clatter.
“Thanks, buddy. I owe you.”
Buck turned to his own vest, fiddling with the lines when Kash moved in behind Chase, that car howling along the tracks, rolling onto the bridge.
