Page 38 of A SEAL's Protection
I glance at Allegra, and she’s peering up at me; her face pale and anxious.
“Are you okay?” she calls.
She should be worried about getting herself to safety, not me.
“Keep moving,” I call down.
Bracing myself against the pain, I climb as fast as I can to reach the top.
We’re easy targets here. The shots at Allegra were warnings, but the shot at me was to kill. If someone killed the daughter of Ralph Simpson, there’d be too many questions. But I’m dispensable.
I make my moves erratic and as fast as I can with a useless arm, not giving them a still target to aim for. I swing out wide just as a bullet hits the rock where I was a few seconds before.
Allegra gasps, and I risk a quick glance down. She’s halfway up the cliff face, concentrating on her climbing.
If they’re not aiming to kill, then what is he doing? Why shoot at her now? The answer comes like a stone to my gut. We’re being herded. At least Allegra is. Which means he’s not working alone. His directive was probably to eliminate me and herd Allegra to whoever’s waiting for us at the top of this cliff. They’ll take her samples and leave her broken and alone.
Not on my fucking watch.
As I make my last move, I reach into the pocket and close my hand around my handgun.
I reach the top of the cliff and give a final push. My shoulder flares with agony, but I ignore it. I roll over the top of the ledge and straight into a crouching position with my piece drawn.
There’s no time to unclip the rope before a figure lurches at me. His weight slams into me, and I cry out as my shoulder erupts with new pain.
Allegra calls my name with fear in her voice, but I have no time to reassure her.
I scuffle with the man, trying to pry him off with one hand. I try to wrap my arm around his neck and find my arm limp and useless.
My good arm holds the weapon, but I can’t bring it around to take the shot. The man’s bigger than me, and his weight crushes me against my backpack. But he’s clumsy, relying only on his weight. He’s trying to maneuver me to the edge of the cliff to throw me off.
He doesn’t realize I’m still clipped in.
The backpack on my back gives me leverage, and I swing my hips up to hook around his waist.
The man grunts, and spittle lands on my cheek.
“Who do you work for?” I already know the answer, but I want to give this fucker a chance to speak.
He just grunts, trying to throw me off, but I cling on, my leg muscles straining. I swing my hips and spin us around so we’re balancing on the cliff edge.
The man’s eyes go wide with surprise, and he pulls a knife from his sleeve. The knife edges towards my throat, and I’m reminded of the last time I had a knife to my throat. But I have no doubt this guy isn’t afraid to use it.
His hand inches forward, and I use all my strength to heave my legs around, and with my good arm give him a shove. We both tumble over the cliff, and I unhook my legs as we fall.
His eyes go wide as I release him, and his arms flail as he falls down to the rocks below and lands with a sickening thud.
Allegra screams, and I swing out wide to be thrown against the cliff for a second time.
This time I brace myself and move as soon as I hit the cliff face. I’m not waiting around to be shot at.
“Keep moving,” I call to Allegra.
She’s close behind me as I pull myself over the edge for a second time.
I have time to unclip my harness and move toward the tree line, scouting to see if there’s another perp. My instincts tell me they’d work in threes. One to herd and two to take down. That’s what a SEAL team would do.
Behind me, I hear Allegra pull herself over the edge.
