Page 64 of Outlaw Ridge: Ryker
Ryker scanned the trees as they moved, adrenaline cutting a path through the chill. He motioned to the first wide trunk just a few yards ahead, and they slipped behind it, crouched and still.
He risked a glance at the drone feed on his phone. Ethan was still crouched behind that thick oak, weapon held steady like he was waiting for a target to present itself. But Ryker didn’t believe Ethan had the angle to shoot them from here.
No, not unless Ethan had someone else.
Another player. Someone with a scope and a clear line of fire. And if that someone was Charlotte…
Ryker didn’t finish the thought. Just shifted slightly so his body shielded more of Emma’s. He kept low, eyes sweeping the snow-covered ground as the freezing wind needled through his gear.
He crouched close to Emma, his voice a whisper against the hush of the trees. “Watch your step. Check for tripwires, ground triggers, anything that smells wrong.”
Emma gave a small nod, her eyes already scanning as they moved.
They veered right, angling into the denser cover of cedar and scrub oak. Ryker moved ahead just slightly, taking the lead as they crept in a tight line, their boots barely disturbing the snow.
The drone feed showed Ethan still behind that same tree. Still motionless. Still waiting.
Ryker narrowed his eyes. Ethan was too calculating to think they’d just march up front and play his game. He’dexpectthem to flank, to try to come around behind him and get the drop. Which meant Ethan had either planned on this or was counting on them to second-guess themselves and come at him head-on.
They had to be ready for both options and anything else Ethan threw at them.
With Emma right next to him, they kept moving, but every step forward made it harder to breathe. Not from the cold. From the knowledge that one misstep, one twitch of a wire, one breath too loud, could be the end of them all.
They moved in silence, the crunch of snow beneath their boots muffled by the thick trees and steady wind. Ryker signaled for Emma to halt when they reached the cover of a wide cedar. Through the tangled branches to their left, they caught a glimpse of the hostages.
Janette was still kneeling, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed against her gag. Dr. Colvin leaned toward her, murmuring through hers, soft sounds of comfort.
Good.
Let them keep making noise. Let their voices carry. Any sounds from them might cover Emma and him moving in.
Ryker shifted his weight and leaned just enough to scan the tree line beyond the hostages. His breath hitched as he saw him.
Ethan.
Still crouched behind a tree. Not as relaxed now. He was watching the clearing with sharp intent, the barrel of his rifle resting steady on a branch as if he were waiting for the signal. For the moment he’d decided wastheirsto die.
Ryker silently cursed.
The man was a ghost from another life. A brother-in-arms once. Now just a sniper with blood on his hands and revenge in his eyes.
Ryker narrowed his gaze, shifting just enough to study Ethan more closely. The rifle was steady, but Ethan wasn’t. He was leaning against the tree, not with the precision of a trained shooter, but with sagging posture of a man holding himself upright because he didn’t have a choice. His buckskin coat was darker at the chest, stained a deep, sticky red. Blood.
FromEmma’sbullet.
Ryker’s pulse kicked harder. Ethan was pale beneath the wool cap, face tight with pain, his jaw clenched like he was holding something in, or barely holding himself together.
No way in hellhad Ethan dragged two hostages into these woods alone. Not in this condition.
Which meant he wasn’t working alone.
Ryker turned slightly toward Emma, his mouth opening to whisper what he’d just realized.
But the silence was shattered by the blast of a gunshot.
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Chapter Seventeen
