Page 67 of Avenging Angel

Standing still, I wait for any sign that I’m not alone. It could have been a squirrel, but the sound of the cracking wood was sharp, as though something heavy had broken it.

“Is someone there?” I ask, removing my sidearm and keeping it in the high-ready position as I cross one foot over the other to keep my footfalls soft. By rolling my feet slowly from side to side, I can feel an object under my boots before I break it.

Another cracking stick and a grunt of pain. “Don’t shoot!”

“Come out, and I won’t have to!”

Two large hands covered in blood appear from behind a tree, and the person who follows is none other than Kenneth Johnson.

He’s armed, but his rifle is slung over his shoulder. “Eva’s missing, and I didn’t know who else to turn to. She says that I can trust….”

The moment Kenneth’s eyes roll back in his head and he collapses, I holster my weapon and rush over to him. Dropping my pack, I grab the first aid kit I keep at the top. In an emergency, seconds matter, and the last thing I need to be doing is digging for medical supplies.

I relay the situation to my team, who are already well aware of what’s going on and en route to my location.

In triage mode, I quickly note that the source of the blood is a bullet wound to Kenneth’s arm. But when I cut away the sleeve, I’m perplexed by what I find. It’s not a superficial wound by any means, but it certainly isn’t deep enough to cause fainting.

Since his chest is rising and falling, I don’t have to worry about performing CPR for the second time in the span of 24 hours. I clean the wound with saline from an irrigation bottle, then patch him up as best I can in the field.

Angel arrives and looks at the man on the ground, then at the rifle in his own hand. It’s one of the new Noctira SMART rifles like the one I used on him. “Wow! It works! I’ve used simunition rounds before, but never at 800 yards.”

Then I see it: a glimmer of gold buried under some leaves. I reach for it and inspect the emptied bullet tip, which, until a few minutes ago, contained a paralyzing agent. That toxin is now coursing through Kenneth’s body.

“I can’t believe you shot him! He needs our help! Eva’s missing!”

Angel taps his ear to remind me that he could hear everything. “And he’ll get it, Daisy. But not here, and not right now. Once we have him secured for questioning, he can tell us who shot him and took Eva. We’re not mounting a rescue without facts.”

“Well, we’re going to have to wait four hours until he comes to.”

We drag Kenneth through the woods for nearly half a mile before we find Vinny waiting by our SUV. He helps load Kenneth into the back of the vehicle. Once he’s done, he hands me a set of keys. “Daisy, take my vehicle, go back to your cabin, and get some sleep. Angel and I will take care of Kenneth.”

“And by ‘take care of,’ you mean you’ll stitch up his wounds, right? Not give him new ones?” I ask.

Vinny shrugs. “I guess that depends on how cooperative he is.”

Angel laughs when he sees the worried look on my face and then walks with me to Vinny’s vehicle. He waits while I put my rifle and pack in the back seat and then holds open the driver’s door, leaning his elbow against the frame while I buckle up. He presses his lips to mine briefly before smiling. “I hope you know that Vinny’s only kidding. If Kenneth needs our help to find Eva, then he won’t need prodding to divulge information.”

“I hope you’re right because I can’t stop wondering if Kenneth came here looking for our help, or if someone made sure he would.”

Leaving Angel and Vinny to take care of the situation, I drive back to the cabin lost in my thoughts. The entire time, one question keeps turning over in my mind.

What if I’m next?

Chapter twenty-seven

Daisy

Afew hours of rest are all I get before the old-school digital clock on the nightstand goes off. I was expecting him to sneak in quietly and take a quick nap next to me. The idea of him being a willing participant as my human body pillow brings a much-needed smile to my face. It’s probably for the best that he didn’t because neither one of us needs the temptation of passionate kisses fueled by fear of the unknown.

Angel is likely at Vinny’s cabin that’s been turned into our command center, where the two of them are interrogating Kenneth. It’s also where I need to be. All it takes is a few minutes for me to get dressed, then I’m knocking on the door to their cabin.

“Please tell me there’s fresh coffee brewed,” I say after two quick raps on the door just before entering. “I need a caffeine IV stat!”

Angel looks up from the table, his rifle broken down into several pieces in front of him and Owen’s computer to his left, with the screens flipping between the different camera views of the Stillwaters Campground. There are several flickers of flames from bonfires, marshmallows roasting, and people gathered around wearing their winter jackets and sock caps.

He drops the oil rag he was using to grease the bolt elements before reassembling the gun. “You’re in luck. It just finished percolating. Did you sleep well?”

“Well enough.” I pour myself a mug and one for Angel before joining him. “Where is everyone?”