Page 38 of Rough Choice

“Yes?”

“Well, she’s here.”

“She?”

“Yeah. She. And she’s at the front gate. She’s saying something about Max.”

“Grier, I want you on my left, Luca is operating the remote machine guns we left mounted on the gate. Douglas is on the patio with a rifle, and Russell is on the ground scouting for an ambush. Let’s get out there, see what she wants, and get back inside. The storm isn’t going to hold off forever.”

“Let’s go.” Grier and Kye turned to see Eliana descending the stairs wearing jeans, a thick sweatshirt with a hood, and holding a gun in her right hand.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Kye asked.

“You’re not coming,” Grier added.

“Like hell I’m not,” Eliana protested. “Max is hunting all three of us. If this is some assassin or bounty hunter, I’m not hiding inside waiting to be killed.”

“Suppose the moment we get to the gate, she puts a bullet between your eyes?” Kye asked angrily.

“Suppose she’s perfectly harmless and desperately needs a place to get shelter from the storm? We can stand here making suppositions all day, but I’m going out there with you. I’m done being left behind, and I’m sure as hell not going to cower in a panic room while my home could potentially be getting attacked,” she said in a very matter-of-fact tone.

“Eli…” Kye had started to warn, but she cut him off by chambering a round in her handgun.

“Let’s go,” she repeated and stepped toward the front door. Kye looked to Grier for assistance, but the taller man only shrugged and followed after Eliana. Clearly, this was an argument he wasn’t going to win and didn’t have time to fight anyway. Reluctantly, he trailed behind the two of them.

Grier opened the front door, and the black night slapped at them like a whip. The rain came down in long, pelting drops that flung themselves from the sky in a fury. The wind was a mixture of long gusts and short bursts that nearly knocked them over. The ground was slick and muddy, but they managed to stay on the path.

Kye took the lead when they reached the gate. Even over the storm, he could hear the woman at the gate shouting at the security camera. Dressed in all black, he couldn’t make out a single distinguishing feature. Her anger was as potent as the hurricane. Her hands were clutching the steel bars, and she was yanking on the door trying to emphasize the point that she wanted to be let in.

“And I swear on my mother’s grave if this door doesn’t open in the next ten seconds, I’m going to blow the damn thing open!”

“I’d rather you didn’t,” Kye said, standing opposite her, but out of her arm’s reach. “Who are you?”

“Who am I? I’m the person who’s been screaming at your camera for damn near thirty minutes. I’m soaked through, and the wind is about to blow me away. Let me inside!” Her voice was shrill, but not in an obnoxious way. She was clearly a dominant personality and used to getting her way. The presumptuousness in her demeanor gave that away.

“Who are you?” Grier called again, his voice firm and unwavering. He and Eliana were standing eight paces back from Kye, guns drawn and aimed. She might have been imagining it, but Eliana felt Grier tense and straighten just a little more than usual.

“Open the door, you bloody bastard,” the woman snapped and shook the bars. While not entirely accented, there was a hint of the United Kingdom in her voice, and it gave Eliana pause.

“Not until you tell us who you are and why you’ve come here,” Kye retorted. “Before you argue, just remember that I have no problem leaving you out here to die.” As if adding a deeper level to his threat, the wind picked up suddenly, and they all had to shield their eyes from the rain that stung like needles.

“I’m not here to kill you, if that’s what you’re wondering,” she answered finally. “I’ve been scouting your base for the last week trying to find a way in…”

“We know, we saw you on infrared.”

“Damn,” she muttered, wiping a gloved hand down her masked face. It didn’t escape anyone’s notice that the black bandana over her mouth was similar to the ones the men in Jeeps wore when they were shot at in Monterrey. “I just need to speak to Grier. If I’m not mistaken, that’s him standing just out of sight!” Kye and Eliana both turned to look at Grier who didn’t lower his weapon in the slightest.

“Grier?” Eliana asked in a soft voice she hoped he could hear over the storm. He didn’t change his posture, but glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

“You say you’re not here to kill us, but Max sent you?” Eliana asked, taking a few steps forward. “Is Max alive?”

“Listen,” she said, clutching the bars tighter and pressing her face between two of them. “I will tell you everything. Please, just let me inside. I’ve been out in this storm for hours, and I can’t feel my legs anymore.” Her tone had gone soft, and her pleas made Eliana feel guilty. She looked at Kye with concern.

“Kye, let her in. We can talk to her inside…”

“No,” he said firmly. When a crack of lightning struck overhead and the sound of tree limbs snapping in the wind echoed, he sighed and pulled the walkie talkie from his belt. “Open the door, Luca. Russ, Douglas, I want you at the main house.”

A squawked reply came back over, and a second later the door began to move. The woman stepped back enough to avoid the door, and the moment it was open wide enough for her to enter, she slipped inside and stepped past Eliana and Kye.