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Alex grimaced. In one way, it was a good sign that Lauren was still alive. One of the soldiers had sentry duty over her. “Yes. My friend, Nik Morozov, is the medic for this team. He could be with her.” He couldn’t afford to allow his writhing emotions to rise within him. It would distract him. If it was Nik, that could mean Lauren was safe. Or injured. All Alex could do was hope his friend had the woman he loved with him.
“Would he bring her out to the ambush?” the sergeant asked.
“Doubtful. It is a gun-and-run situation. They cannot move fast with a captive.”
“Would Morozov help Lauren to escape?” Mace demanded.
“If he could, he would,” Alex confirmed. “But we do not know her condition. She could be injured and non-ambulatory.” He hated admitting that as a possibility.
Grunting softly, Killmer nodded. The humidity was heavy. The breeze sluggish. He wiped his camouflaged face lightly, trying to stop the worst of the sweat from dripping down into his eyes.
Alex continued to pan right, wanting to make sure no more heat signatures were in the area. Would Petrov use Lauren as a decoy, possibly? Tied to a tree somewhere? Lure them in and then hammer them? He put nothing past the wily Russian leader. But if that was so? Then where was Nik? Petrov knew they would come for Lauren. Was she hurt? Suffering? Beaten by them? He closed his eyes, battling his anguish and worry. Such emotions had no place here.Not now.He had to think clearly. Killmer was relying on his knowledge of Russian ambush tactics. Alex couldn’t screw this up and get them in trouble.
Suddenly, he halted his pan. There was another heat signature! And it was moving slowly forward, toward the ambush site.
“What?” Killmer asked.
“A fifth person.” His heart sank. Oh, God, no. It meant… he didn’t want to go there.
“Russian?”
“Yes, must be. He is moving quickly toward the ambush site.” His throat tightened and he forced back unexpected tears.
“That means…,” and Killmer didn’t finish the sentence. “Son-of-a-bitch!” he snarled.
Alex continued to pan, battling the possibility Lauren was either dead or tied up somewhere else. There was no one else out here other than these predators. He wanted to scream. He wanted to sob. It meant that the fifth man was Nik Morozov, returning to take part in the ambush, or… and he held onto a thread of hope, that perhaps Nik had hidden Lauren somewhere. But then why was he coming back to this ambush site?
“They might have Lauren detained elsewhere,” Killmer said.
Alex didn’t think Killmer believed what he said. Lauren had been bait, just as Alex had accurately foreseen. They didn’t really want her. They wanted him. God, had she paid that price? For him? He flinched inwardly, barely able to contain his raw, grief-stricken emotions.
Alex froze. “Wait…”
“What?” Killmer demanded.
Blinking several times to refresh his eyesight, Alex stared through the scope. A SIXTH body-heat signature? He stared hard through the scope, his heart starting to pound harder in his chest. His throat closed up. He rasped, “Sixth body-heat signature.”
“What the fuck?” Killmer snarled.
“The signature is running toward the fifth signature. There’s some distance between them,” he murmured.
“Who the hell are they, then?” Killmer rasped, tense.
“I don’t know.”
“Could Petrov have six in his team now? Not five?”
“I don’t know,” Alex wished the hell he did. The person was running. He lost sight of number six for a few moments, and then the heat signature reappeared. There were small hills everywhere around this area that intermittently blocked his view. He moved the scope back to number five. The figure had slowed down and stopped. Waiting. For what?
“Something is not right,” Alex said, and then quickly described the situation to Killmer.
“If he’s part of that team, he would be moving toward it,” Killmer replied. “What’s number six doing?”
Panning, Alex picked up number six. “Still running. Fast. Heading straight for number five’s position.”
“Shit. This makes no tactical sense. Does the other group of four know they are nearby?”
Panning, Alex said, “No. There would be no hesitation for number five if he was part of the team. I do not know why he has stopped.”
