Page 91 of Silent Target

“No.”

“What are we doing?”

“We’re taking the seventh drive.”

Cobra grins. “I was hoping he’d say something crazy.”

Rook looks toward the western ridge. “Plan?”

“We don’t attack Graves’s convoy. We reach the trail ahead of him.”

Mac shakes his head. “There are federal teams on every road.”

“We aren’t using a road.”

I point toward the ridge.

The climb is steep enough to be nearly vertical.

Rook follows my gaze. “That looks unpleasant.”

“It will be.”

Cobra adjusts his pack. “Better than prison.”

Evie moves toward the slope.

I catch her arm. “You stay between Fathom and Mac.”

“I can climb.”

“That isn’t why.”

“You’re worried about me.”

“Yes.”

The answer stops her.

I don’t soften it.

Don’t take it back.

Something warm enters her eyes.

Then a rifle cracks above us.

The round strikes the rock beside Rook’s shoulder.

Two more shots follow.

Not kill shots.

Barriers.

The enemy isn’t trying to eliminate us.

They’re steering us.