He held his ground, wrapped the rope around a boulder. “Your right shoulder looks a bit stiff. Have you been hurt?”
She forced herself to swallow, his gray gaze focused on her. “You know what it’s like to go up against those men. They tend to leave a mark.”
He moved with her, glancing over his shoulder at her teammates for a moment. “You went toe-to-toe with them?”
“We can discuss this later. Mission. Ramsey.”
He twisted, leaning in as she squeezed past. “I know we want Ramsey alive, that he can’t give us Finch if he’s dead, but if I have to choose between him and any of you…” He eased back. “I don’t care how important he is, the bastard won’t see the bullet coming.”
Coulter waved her ahead, returning to his position as anchor, again, staying close enough he could grab her if she slipped. Scout wove through one more patch of slick scree before raising a fist as she crouched beside a large boulder.
Neve closed in, taking up position on Scout’s left, Coulter shouldering in beside her. Neve peeked over the smoothed edge, staring at the large bowl stretching across the other side — what looked like a graveyard of carbon fiber and scorched foam. The scent of ozone and burnt electronics cut through the thick air, one shredded wing flapping like a dead bird in the wind.
A heavy layer of fog curled through the wreckage, swallowing some of the debris before spitting it back out as the breeze changed directions. Several figures were spread out amidst the wreckage, picking through the twisted remains, tossing most of the broken pieces back on the ground.
A lone shadow moved into view a hundred meters above them, shoulders back, head held high. “Find that damn case. I’ll start sanitizing the debris.”
Coulter stiffened beside her, his breathing kicking up as he clenched his rifle a bit harder. “Ramsey.”
Neve looked from the guy over to Coulter. While she didn’t doubt Coulter’s assessment, the guy’s face hardly registered through the fog. “Are you sure?”
His left eye twitched, his gaze never swaying from the other man’s silhouette. “No doubts.”
Neve nodded, placing the guy’s head in her crosshairs before she scanned the field, put the other men’s locations into her memory. “I count eight other soldiers. And I bet my ass they’re all enhanced.”
Coulter clocked each of their locations. “We need the high ground. So we have a chance at keeping those others at bay once we grab Ramsey.”
Neve nodded, pointing to the far side. “If you and Scout cut beneath, then up the other side, I can climb higher, be your overwatch. I should be able to drop a few of them once you have Ramsey. Even the odds.” She glanced at one of the men already moving toward the lower part of the field. “That guy might be a problem, though. I can drop him, but…”
But stealth was their only advantage and even suppressed, the shot would disturb the air, emit a hollow thump the others might pick up on.
Coulter narrowed his eyes, and Neve knew the man was puzzling it out. “I get these guys shake off most wounds like it’s nothing, but a knife between the eyes?”
“They’re not immortal. Heart and head will drop them, like anyone else. I’m sure a good carotid or femoral bleed won’t go unnoticed either. Harder to hit, though, when they react twice as fast as anyone else I’ve ever faced.”
“I only need a second.”
Neve swallowed. This was the Coulter she remembered. Disciplined. Lethal. Not an ounce of uncertainty. He simply noted a problem, then addressed it.
She nudged him. “You got enough knives?”
A hint of a smile.
She placed her eye back against her scope. “I’ll cover. Just be prepared for company if I have to take the shot?—”
“Hey, boss?” The guy they’d been talking about bent over, grabbed a charred and dented Pelican case out from beneath a chunk of fuselage. “This it?”
Ramsey appeared at the top again, his face misting in and out of the fog as if it bent to his will. “Good. Now burn it. They can send another batch to test. But I want concrete proof we haven’t left anything of value on the board.”
Coulter fisted one hand. “I don’t know what’s in that case, but if Ramsey wants it destroyed, I’m pretty sure we want it intact.”
Neve held firm as the guy slipped a disc out of his vest. “Bastard’s got a thermite puck. If I take the shot, they’ll all know we’re here. Doubt we can grab itandget Ramsey.”
“Ramsey’s our priority. But we need to move, before?—”
“Hello.”
Neve inhaled as she panned toward the side of the debris field. A woman in a light-blue rain jacket stepped out of the forest, picking her way along the boulders. Blonde hair braided at the sides, with a backpack sized for a multi-day trek, she moved with the confident rhythm of a seasoned hiker.
