AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You know, you look pretty hot in all that combat gear,” he said, hoping to leave her with something other than the doom and gloom he was feeling. “Maybe later, we can do some role-playing.”
She attempted a smile. “Only if you wear just your boxers. That’s the best role play for me. Stay safe, Jericho,” she added in a whisper.
Hell. That grabbed him by the throat. By the heart, too. “You stay safe,” he said right back to her.
He wanted to linger. Wanted to kiss her. But he’d save the kiss for later. And that role play. He refused to believe they wouldn’t both make it out of this alive.
Jericho got out of the van, immediately stepping into the cover of the thick woods. Purposely not looking back. He figured Rachel was doing as planned and moving from her seat to behind the wheel. Seconds later, he got confirmation of that when he heard her drive toward the compound.
That was his cue to move fast. And he did. He hurried, cutting through the woods so he could reach Stronghold about the same time Rachel did.
Along with each step, Jericho kept his eyes and ears open, listening and watching for any sights or sounds to indicate someone was tracking him. If someone was, they were damn good at it since he didn’t see or hear anything.
However, he picked up a scent.
Gasoline.
That had to be Marco’s doing. Well, hopefully it was, and the killer wasn’t planning some kind of incendiary device of his own.
He hurried even faster, racing toward the area he’d already scoped out in his mind. It was a cluster of live oaks that were so close together they practically formed a wall. That would not only give him cover but a solid line of sight of Rachel and the others.
Jericho found the spot easily enough. That came from having roamed these woods when he’d been a kid. He knew every tree, every large boulder and every decent place to hide and lie in wait.
He slid behind the tree on the end of the cluster since that would also put him in position to run out to Rachel if needed. He hoped though that it wouldn’t come down to that.
Glancing around, Jericho had no trouble seeing the four people, and he’d been right about the human shields. The two hostages were down on their knees as they had been in the other drone footage, but now they were to the east of the gate with their captors squatting behind them. The captors had the hostages in chokeholds.
“Cowards,” Jericho grumbled. He hated chicken-shit cowards.
“I’m in place,” he heard Marco say through his earpiece. Something Rachel would have been able to hear as well.
“In place, too,” Jericho whispered back to him.
The timing was spot on because he saw the headlights of the van, and several moments later, it came into view. Just as Rachel had been instructed, she stopped right next to the gates but didn’t get out. However, the headlights were aimed at the four, making it seem as if they were on a stage.
“Get out of the van, Rachel,” one of the cowards shouted.
Not Paulie, Manson or Jason. So, this could be the henchman. Or else they’d been way off in their lists of suspects, and this was someone they hadn’t known about.
“Doing a voice comparison now,” Ruby said through the earpiece. “I already had voice samples of all the players added into the database. It’s Daxton McMichaels,” she added a moment later.
“The man who’d been with Manson,” Rachel murmured. Even though she’d whispered it, Jericho heard it loud and clear, which meant Marco and Ruby had, too.
That could mean Daxton was merely a hired gun, or it was possible that he, too, was in on the avenge Marla’s death team. It could especially be true if Daxton and Manson were a couple.
But who was the other masked person?
Jericho just didn’t know. He couldn’t see enough of him or her to determine much of anything. Except, of course, that he or she had plans to kill. Jericho though, had plans of his own.
“Move now, Rachel,” Daxton shouted.
The van door opened, and Jericho watched as Rachel stepped out. Not hurrying but doing just as she’d been instructed. Slow, easy movements. Drawing this out to give Marco and him the time to do what they needed to do.
Despite the helmet, Jericho could see her face well enough through the clear front visor, and she wasn’t showing much fear. Definitely not a coward. She had to be terrified though, and he was terrified for her. Terrified that this plan was going to fail.
But he couldn’t.
He just couldn’t lose Rachel.
