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I slid my knife back up my sleeve, pulled my vest down so that it covered as much of my chest as possible, crept down the hill, and walked out into the clearing.
I kept my pace steady and even, ambling along as though I was out for a nice, quiet walk in the woods, instead of deliberately heading toward a bunch of sadistic psychopaths with guns.
"Excuse me," I called out. "Yoo-hoo. Hello , over there. "
This time, all of the men's heads snapped around in my direction. I smiled and gave them a bright, happy, cheery wave. Their mouths gaped even wider, as if they'd never seen a woman before. Then their eyes narrowed with wariness, and they raised their guns, aiming them at my chest.
"Hold it right there, lady!" one of the men barked, stepping in front of the others.
I kept right on waving and walking toward them, as if their guns didn't concern me at all, making sure that all enemy eyes stayed on me. And it worked. The men didn't notice Sophia start creeping across the pit toward the bank where they were standing - or Owen sliding out of the woods behind them.
I kept my smile firmly fixed on my face as I neared the group.
The man in front thumbed back the trigger on his revolver. "I said stop . I mean it, lady. "
"Whoa, now, boys," I drawled, doing as he asked and faking surprise. "Hold on there a second. There's no need to get violent. I'm just a little lost way out here in the woods, and I was wondering if you could help me. How do I get back to the Bone Mountain trail from here? Because I, like, totally lost my map back in the woods. One second, I had it. The next - poof! - the wind sent it sail - ing right over one of the ridges. "
The leader frowned, his eyes scanning the woods behind me. "You're out here by yourself? Just you?"
"Yup, it's just little ole me," I said, making my voice even more syrupy-sweet and helpless. "All by my lonesome. "
The man lowered his gun, his thumb tapping against the hilt as he tried to figure out whether I was telling the truth. Apparently, he wasn't concerned about one lone woman, because he holstered his gun.
"Did you hear that, boys?" he said, looking over his shoulder at his friends. "This poor little lady is lost. Lucky for her that she wandered into our camp, eh?"
He let out a dark chuckle, and all the men joined in his laughter, no doubt salivating over all the horrible things they wanted to do to me. They wouldn't be laughing in another minute, two tops.
I kept the empty, ditzy smile on my face and sidled even closer to him. "So can you help me figure out how to get back to the trail, then? Because I've got to tell you that it feels like I've been walking around out here in circles forever . "
The man crooked his finger at me. "Sure, honey. come on over here, and we'll fix you right up. "
I went to him, my face all wide-eyed innocence, even as I surreptitiously palmed a knife and dropped it down by my side. Owen crept toward the man standing at the back of the pack, while Sophia eased a little closer to the side of the pit and hoisted her shovel up onto her shoulder, as though she were taking a break.
The leader held his hands out to his sides, like he was welcoming me with open arms. I stopped in front of him and gave him another empty smile. He lunged forward, grabbed my arms, and yanked me up against him, grinding his body against mine.
"Hey!" I cried out in a mock-helpless voice. "What are you doing? Get your hands off me, you creep!"
"Oh, I'll be putting more than my hands on you in a minute. You go ahead and scream as loud as you want to, honey. " The man sneered into my face, his breath smelling of sour moonshine. "We like it better when they scream, don't we, boys?"
"Really?" I purred. "That's funny, because I was thinking the exact same thing about you. No, that's not true. I actually like it better when you just die . "
I brought my left hand up and slammed my knife into his throat. He died with a choking gurgle, spraying blood all over my hand, face, and clothes, but I didn't care. Because the warm, sticky drops told me that I was finally doing something to help Sophia - like killing these bastards where they stood.
I shoved the dying leader away, stepped forward, palmed a second knife, and rammed both blades into the next man's chest. By this point, the others realized that I wasn't the innocent little Bambi that I appeared to be, and they raised their guns once more.
But Owen and Sophia didn't give them a chance to fire at me. Owen put his pistol up against the back of the man's head in front of him and pulled the trigger twice.
Thanks to the silencer I'd given him, the gun barely made a sound, and the man was dead before he hit the ground.
Meanwhile, Sophia whipped the shovel off her shoulder and slammed it into the knees of the guy closest to her, causing him to howl with pain. He toppled over into the pit, and Sophia whacked the shovel against his head, caving in his skull with a satisfying crack .
That left one man standing. He looked around at his fallen buddies, his eyes wide with confusion and fear, wondering how they'd all died so quickly. He drew in a breath to scream, but my knife in his throat cut off that concern.
Less than a minute after it had begun, it was over, and all five of Grimes's men lay dead at our feet. A good start but not enough. Not nearly enough.
I walked over to the edge of the pit, bent down, and held out my hand. Sophia clasped it, and I pulled her up and out of the trench. Up close, the stench was even more putrid and overpowering, the bodies bloodier and more rotten than I'd imagined. How had she managed to stand it? Both now and back then?
Sophia swayed forward, and I held her until she was steady on her feet. Owen stood off to one side, watching our backs.
