Текст книги "Wicked for You"
Автор книги: Shayla Black
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She watched in fascination, then felt her body ping when he stood beside her again. The ledge was narrow. They had to stand close. Axel didn’t touch her, but she wished he would.
She sent a smile up his way before she felt heat rush through her, and she pretended to look up as if studying the next part of the climb. “Now what?”
“This part is a bit trickier . . .”
But like before, he coached her up, holding her by the hips and lifting her when the rocks beneath her felt a little crumbly and unstable. They repeated that twice more before she stood at the top of the hill and glanced at the outcropping as he pulled himself up beside her, slinging the last pack onto the ledge below her feet.
“Here we are. You did great.”
She loved the way he encouraged and praised. It seemed unusual for a soldier to be so good at what her father would call touchy-feely stuff. Even his communication skills were amazing. Mystery wondered where he’d learned and gotten so much practice that it seemed as natural as breathing to him.
“With a lot of help from you, thanks. The rescue was harrowing, but the journey since could have been grueling and terrible. You’ve made it really . . . all right.”
He nodded her way, pretending to tip his imaginary hat at her. “Just doing my job, ma’am.”
She giggled. “That is the worst cowboy accent.”
“We all have our limitations.” He shrugged.
In her estimation, he didn’t have many. He’d make a great husband and father someday—if he wasn’t already. OMG, she hadn’t even considered that. She’d been mooning over him and crushing hard, and he might already have a significant other in his life. The thought deflated her. He was too awesome to be alone, and imagining him with a wife or girlfriend tugged her into a sad little exhaustion.
“Here’s our home sweet home for the night.” He pointed to an alcove under an overhang of rock. Another outcropping protected them from the fierce oncoming wind swiping at them up this high.
It didn’t look like much, but it certainly beat dropping onto the sand and trying to drift off, she supposed. She ducked under the overhang and started to lower herself to the cold rock below.
“Wait.” He fished through his pack and extracted a flashlight, quickly scanning the area. Seemingly satisfied, he flipped it off, then pulled out a thin, khaki blanket with a tinfoil-looking lining. “We’re clear. I needed to check for scorpions and any other venomous creatures that like warmer, dark spaces.”
Yikes, she hadn’t even thought of that. “I’m glad we’re alone. I don’t like pinchers.”
“It’s not just the bite, but the venom. Bark scorpions lurk around here. I know a guy who got stung once. He said it was the most painful seventy-two hours of his life. They’re hard to see because they’re about a third of the size of the desert hairy variety, but those suckers can be lethal. We’ll start a fire to keep them away. They burrow. They like warmth but not flames. So now we just need to be careful of rattlers doing their equivalent of hibernating. They’re too sluggish to move this time of year because they’ve already hunkered down against the cold, so if you disrupt them, they’re more likely to strike.”
He knew everything about the landscape and the wilderness. Again, he filled her with total awe. Kind, smart, built, manly . . . “Is there anything you don’t know and can’t accomplish?”
Axel looked taken aback. “I don’t think I’d do too well if you tried to put me in a ballet.”
Mystery tried to picture him in a tutu and burst out laughing. “Probably not.”
“But I cook a lot, sew when I have to, keep things tidy because I don’t like clutter.”
“The woman in your life is really lucky. My dad can’t boil water. And he won’t pick up after himself. I’m constantly moving his stuff out of my way.”
He shrugged, and she held her breath to see what his answer would be. The whole fishing expedition was a little silly. He probably had no interest in her, but that didn’t stop her from wishing.
“I probably have it easier since I live alone,” he said. “I only have to keep up with myself.”
He sounded single. That made her sizzle. He might not consider nineteen grown up . . . but she was pretty mature by virtue of being an only child and having grown up in Hollywood. Dad tried to shelter her but she’d experienced more than a few adult vices. She wasn’t an innocent kid. Maybe if Axel saw that, he’d see her as woman enough for him.
“Let’s get settled,” he suggested before she could continue their conversation.
That would probably be best. She felt a bit tongue-tied, and the wind was picking up. Alvarez’s jacket blocked some of the cold, but her exposed legs were freezing.
Axel spread out his blanket, then crawled in and bunched his jacket into a makeshift pillow. He set it against the rock behind him and eased his head back. Then he patted the spot beside him on the odd silvery material. “C’mon, princess.”
Sleep curled up with him? She flushed hot. No, it wasn’t exactly a sex invite, but lying beside him, sharing blankets barely big enough for two, entwined together all night . . . it seemed so intimate. She wasn’t a virgin but she’d never actually shared a place to sleep with anyone of the opposite sex. Her heart stuttered.
“Something wrong?”
Mystery wished she could have a minute to herself, but where? The little ledge on which they slept wasn’t big. Two steps in any direction and she’d be falling down the mountain, probably to great injury or death.
“No. I’m good,” she lied, then dropped to her knees beside him. She couldn’t stop herself from looking into his eyes as she slid under the blanket. It was a buffer from the wind, but Axel was far warmer. Being against him was like cozying up to a blast furnace. After hours of feeling her hands stiff and tingly from the chill, she breathed a contented sigh.
He dragged his pack into his lap and unzipped a bulging pouch. It tipped over and into her lap. Holy cow, that sucker was heavy. And he’d been carrying it all day? Slinging it around like it weighed nothing?
“Sorry,” he muttered, then righted it again, delving inside.
“It’s fine. I guess we’re going to be really close up here. Not a lot of space.”
“Roger that.” Moments later, he withdrew two brownish plastic pouches from his backpack and handed one to her, along with another bottle of water. “I want it all gone.”
Mystery held the little package and tried to read the black writing in the dark. She didn’t have a lot of luck. “What is this?”
“MRE. I think you’ve got the meatballs in marinara sauce.”
She tried not to wince. How was that going to work without a microwave? But she knew soldiers survived on these all the time. It fueled them while they defended the country, so she could swallow it down and just thank God she was still alive. “Good. What about you?”
“Scalloped potatoes with ham.” He smiled at her in the darkness. “They all suck. You get used to it.” He bumped his MRE with hers. “Bon appétit.”
“Bon appétit.”
As she pulled her meal open, a little glow warmed her inside. They felt a bit like a couple on a camping trip, having an adventure for the hell of it. With Axel, she could almost forget that someone had gone to a lot of trouble to abduct and keep her hidden from her father and the world. Beside Axel, she felt safe again.
Oh, she had it for him bad.
In silence, they ate. The dehydrated meals tasted like cardboard, and she’d be damn glad to get back to some of her favorite restaurants. She’d certainly never look at a ham sandwich again without thinking about her terrifying days at the shack.
“How did you find me in the middle of nowhere?”
Axel swallowed a bite and washed it down with some water. “The club had a parking lot cam that captured footage of your abduction. We noted the license plate of the van. Whoever pulled the job either didn’t know he was being taped or didn’t care if we caught the plate number. We managed to pick up that same plate number on freeway cams on Highway 14 heading north out of Palmdale, so we knew the general direction he’d headed. The last place we picked him up on camera was on the 395 junction with 190, and he headed east. From there, we worked with the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office. We did a thermal sweep of the area, and they were able to tell us where the heat signatures from towns and settlements should be. We started investigating anything that didn’t belong, which led us to you.”
“Wow, you made quick work of finding me.”
“We got a couple of lucky breaks, and your father moved mountains to make it happen.”
Money talked. It always had, and Dad was never afraid to throw it around if he believed in the cause. “I’m so grateful to everyone involved. I’m particularly sorry for Carr’s and Alvarez’s families. I feel awful that my stupidity caused their deaths.”
He took her hand in his. “You weren’t stupid, and nothing you did caused their casualties. You were being a teenager, Mystery. Which meant you were sneaking away to do typical stuff teenagers do. You didn’t ask to be kidnapped. When Carr, Alvarez, and I took the job, we knew the risks. We plan as much as we can for every eventuality and all do our best not to get dead. Not every mission goes our way. It’s something you accept as a soldier.”
“Carr and Alvarez did something for me I can never even thank them for. I feel terrible for the wives and children they left behind.”
“Carr only had a mutt I’ll probably inherit. His parents passed away last year. He never married or had kids. Alvarez’s wife, Rose, will take it hard. They’ve only been married two years. Their son is six months old.”
Hearing that was like a stab in the heart. She had to talk to her father when she got home, see if he could do anything to help the poor woman who’d just lost her husband and become a single parent.
“But if I hadn’t gone to that awful club . . .” she choked out.
“If the asswipe who took you hadn’t accepted that job, if someone with cash and a nefarious purpose hadn’t contracted your abduction . . . Mystery, it’s really not your fault. Don’t beat yourself up.”
“Do we have any way of knowing whether the guy you killed outside the shack is the same one who took me?”
Axel nodded. “Yeah. That’s him. I pulled off his ski mask and saw the same prince charming who appeared on the traffic cams. I got a good look at his face on some footage from a gas station where he stopped to fuel up.”
That was a terrible relief, to know that the bastard who’d forced her into the van and taken her away couldn’t do that to anyone else ever again. But that presented another problem. “Do we have any idea who hired him?”
Axel looked reluctant to answer. “No. It will take a little longer to identify this guy and comb through his finances, see if we can track the mastermind that way. Your captor was a pro, though. Whoever hired him wasn’t an idiot. I’m not expecting to find anything but a dead trail.”
Anxiety seized her. “So that means whoever wanted me kidnapped in the first place could do it again. He could hire someone else to—”
“Maybe. But you’re more aware now. You know better than to have your head in your purse while you’re walking through a dark parking lot. When I get you home, you need to take self-defense classes. When you go out, observe some basic safety precautions—go out in groups, always be aware of where you are and who’s around you.”
“My dad will hire a bodyguard, I’m sure.” The idea depressed her a bit. This whole incident smacked her again. It represented the end of childhood, freedom, and in an odd way, innocence.
She’d grown used to the idea of her father being so public and everyone wanting to talk to him. Mystery had always regarded herself as a mere curiosity in the white-hot realm of his spotlight. But the paparazzi had never focused on her as an individual. Axel had warned her the abduction would change that. He was probably right.
“I know it’s inconvenient, but it’s not a bad idea. I’d rather have you safe and slightly annoyed than fighting for your life again.”
He was right about that, too. She nodded. “Do you have any idea why all this happened? I’d thought it was to extract money from my dad, but the fact that he never received a ransom note makes me wonder.”
Axel shook his head, directing a concerned gaze down at her. “Sorry. You might find out as the investigation continues. But if you don’t learn who engineered your kidnapping, you may never know.”
That would be a bitter pill to swallow. And she had to believe that if her father had managed to pull the right strings to find her, then he’d find out this madman’s reason for taking her in the first place.
The wind picked up, whistled past her as if singing an eerie tune. In the distance, a coyote howled. Mystery curled her arms around her knees and froze.
Axel slung his arm around her. “It’s okay. The wind is normal. The coyote sounds miles away.”
“Everything makes me jumpy right now, I guess.”
His face softened. “That’s normal, too. Close your eyes and try to relax.”
Their faces were so close. His body was plastered against hers from shoulder to knee. Her heart thumped. Desire was probably the wrong response to this situation, but she couldn’t deny it existed as she blinked up into his face.
“Go on,” he urged.
She was still wearing Alvarez’s jacket to ward off the cold, so she had no pillow. Axel made up for that by cradling the side of her face in one of his large hands and leading her cheek down to the slab of his chest. Mystery went willingly, her eyes sliding shut. His heart beat a steady rhythm in her ear.
He wrapped her tighter in his arms. “You’re safe, princess.”
Yes, she felt that. “I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done.”
“You don’t have to thank me. Just close your eyes and rest.”
She was never going to sleep on a rock, against an unfamiliar man, with the wind whipping around her. She wasn’t comfortable and wasn’t sure she could get tired enough to stop the terrible abduction from playing in her head over and over like a bad horror film. The drugs her captor had given her left her in a groggy waking state for the most part. She hadn’t really slept, just been out of it. When she had drifted off, nightmares had plagued her. Terror crept in and disturbed her. She wouldn’t sleep tonight, but Axel had done so much. She would humor him.
“Sure,” she murmured and closed her eyes to play along. “I’ll try not to hog the bed.”
He chuckled in her ear. “If you do, that’s all right. I’m just happy you’re safe.”
* * *
HEAT overwhelmed her. Suddenly, Mystery felt sweltering. Sweat broke out along her hairline, between her breasts, along her back. Sleep dragged her back down, but the need for cooler air and a bathroom brought her back.
She cracked her eyes open. Sunlight sliced at them like a pickaxe. She gasped. Where was she? What time was it?
The last few days came rushing back to her, then she realized that the rock at her back was moving gently, a rise and fall that emulated breathing.
“Hold still,” he muttered in her ear.
Axel—beside her with his arm around her waist, holding her against a body that felt hard everywhere. But something in his voice warned her.
“What’s wrong?”
“I heard a helicopter fly overhead. It could be one of the good guys or nothing to do with us at all, but . . .”
It could also be whoever had paid for her kidnapping wondering where his investment had escaped to. She swallowed. “What do we do?”
“We wait. When daylight wanes, looking for us on the desert floor will be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Whoever it is seems to be flying pretty low, which tells me it’s either a search-and-rescue mission or someone determined not to let you get away. The less we move now, the more we look like part of the scenery. The more likely they simply fly over us and away.”
That made sense, but her heart beat a hundred miles an hour. The distant sound of chopper blades seemed to get closer, closer. Axel tensed.
“Son of a bitch,” he breathed. “That’s the third time I’ve heard them fly overhead. I’d hoped the wind would blow away some of our tracks in the sand, but I’m guessing not enough.”
What if the helicopter landed? What if someone got out with guns and hunted them down? Axel was good, but he was still one man with one gun against people who would be better rested and prepared . . . It sounded like a recipe for death.
To her right, the helicopter swerved and headed straight toward them.
Chapter Four
WHAT are we going to do?” she asked. “Tell me how I can help.”
Axel pulled the desert camo blanket over their heads and tightened his hold around her waist. “Right now, we’re just laying low and hoping they go away. It’s about noon, maybe a little after. We might be hanging here for a while. It depends on how determined they are.”
That wasn’t good news. She wasn’t sure she could lie in this same position for the next five hours and wait for night to fall. For starters, her bladder was full. Worse, fear spiked her bloodstream. She wasn’t ready to face danger again. She certainly didn’t want to die.
And somehow, above all that, being pressed up against Axel aroused her.
Beside him, she breathed hard, trying to steady herself.
“You’re shaking,” he murmured. “Slow your breathing down. I’m going to do everything in my power to keep you safe.”
Mystery didn’t doubt that for a minute. She gave him a little nod. “What if they land? What if they come looking for us? What if—”
He shifted slightly, cupping her cheek. “I’ll handle it. I’m armed. I’m trained.”
But these ruthless people chasing her had already eliminated two of his comrades. How did Axel expect to take out whoever was in the helicopter by himself?
He pried open one of the Velcro pockets in his fatigue pants and thrust a gun in her hands. Mystery shrank back as if it was an enormous hairy spider come to eat her.
“Take it,” he demanded. “The safety is on. To turn it off, you flip this switch down.” He demonstrated, then quickly flipped the lever back in place. “Once the safety is off, squeeze the trigger hard. The gun will kick you back good, so be ready or it will knock you on your ass.”
He was preparing her to defend herself in case he couldn’t. And she could only think of one reason he’d be unable to keep her safe.
Panic surged. She rolled closer and lunged, throwing herself against his chest. “No.”
He grabbed her chin. “You have to be ready. If that chopper lands, there are anywhere between two and four men on board. They will split up and search for us. If your abductor sent them, I’m extraneous. They’ll simply kill me. What happens to you depends on their orders.”
“Meaning?” Her voice shook.
“Either they’ll take you to a new location to finish what your captor started or they’ll end you. In either event, you need to be prepared to defend yourself.”
“I don’t know how to use this.” She didn’t even want to touch the gun but it was sandwiched between them, sitting on her chest, seeming to weigh a thousand pounds.
“I’m telling you,” he bit out.
The helicopter drew closer, hovered not far from their location. She risked a peek over the top of the blanket and saw the vehicle make a slow sweep over the landscape.
Then it drew closer to the ground, kicking up sand and spewing it everywhere. Mystery gasped, tensed. They were coming for her.
Beside her, Axel clenched his jaw. When he turned to her, his expression looked bleak. “Listen to me. We’re going to get off this rock. You’re going to run ahead of me. I’ll stay and fend them off.”
“No!” Splitting from him terrified her.
She could get lost. She could die. Funny that her biggest fear was never seeing him again.
He went on as if he hadn’t heard her objection at all. “Go west southwest.” He pointed that direction. “Keep walking. I’ve told you about some of the dangers around the landscape. Take your pack. I’m going to give you the water. Keep walking as long and as fast as you can. You should come to a town named Keeler. Not many people there, but find someone who has a phone. Call 911.”
“I’m staying with you.”
The helicopter went vertical, setting down beyond the next ridge, just out of sight. As soon as the sound of the blades slowed, Axel took that as his cue to stand. “You’re going. That’s final.”
He grabbed her pack, took the water bottles from his and shoved them into hers. Then he wadded up the blanket and jammed it into one of the pack’s side pockets. It wouldn’t zip but he deemed that good enough because he dragged her to her feet, thrust the gun on top of the pack, shoved it into her hands, then gave her a jerk of his head. “Go.”
Mystery froze for a moment. “What will you do?”
He reached for his rifle, then withdrew a scope from his pack, along with extra ammunition. He slithered to his belly along the top of the flat rock. “I also went to sniper school.”
As he started assembling his weapon and lining up shots, he completely tuned her out. His breathing evened. He looked utterly focused on the ridge ahead.
She couldn’t fall apart. It wouldn’t help either of them.
Dragging the overstuffed pack onto her back, she sucked back a groan at the additional weight. Already, her feet hurt from yesterday’s trek and were protesting now. But she heard the helicopter’s engine cut off. Adrenaline shot through her, and she welcomed the chemical. It staved off pain, made her sharp, gave her courage.
She slid off the rock just as Axel began wrapping his finger around the trigger.
On her trek down the first tier of rocks, she scraped her leg. Damn dress. The silvery sequin fabric had looked awesome catching the light in the club she’d gone to. It hadn’t held up at all in a survival situation. It certainly hadn’t protected her skin as she’d slid down the stone facing.
As Mystery brushed the debris from her thigh, her hand came back slightly wet. Blood. She winced, remembering what Axel had said about injury, but infection wasn’t her biggest threat now.
She moved on and clawed her way down the next face of the rocks, holding on by her fingernails. As she dangled, she looked down—and gulped. The ground seemed too far away, like she might hurt her leg or break an ankle if she simply let go. Shaking, scared, she forced herself to study the stone in front of her for any foot or handholds. Nothing.
If she remained hanging here, she was easy bait. Dead meat. Closing her eyes and saying a prayer, she released her hold. The ground rushed up to meet her with a thud. Thankfully, the soil just around the rock seemed a bit more sandy than the hard-baked soil of the dried-up riverbed. Though the landing still jarred every bone in her body, the loamy quality of the dirt immediately below cushioned her fall enough. Juggling her pack on her back again, she darted away from the outcropping, hugging the sides of the hill, clinging to what was left of the shadows.
She’d barely taken five steps before Axel’s first shot rang out above her.
Mystery tensed. That would certainly give away their position and send whoever was in that chopper running after them. What if they were another search-and-rescue sent by her father? Then again, if Axel was shooting, he must have reason to believe they weren’t.
A second shot rang out less than twenty seconds later. She swallowed, paused. He’d told her to go, run to the nearest town.
But she couldn’t leave him.
Mystery took the gun from her pack and headed back to Axel. This weapon would be far more useful in his hands.
Just as she reached the outcropping again, she saw him sliding down the facing of the rock as if his ass was on fire. The second he landed, he turned to find her. He barely had time for a glower before he rushed over and grabbed her arm, staying her.
“I picked two of them off. There were two others. The first headed back to the chopper before I even fired a shot. The second scrambled down the hill. I expect him to try to hunt us down.”
She put her hand in his and tugged in the direction he’d told her to trek. “Let’s go.”
Axel yanked on her hand and shook his head. “This way.”
Mystery frowned. She hadn’t misunderstood what he told her previously. When he turned and pulled on her hand, she got the picture immediately. “Toward the helicopter?”
And the bad guys? Was he crazy?
“With one guy searching the valley for us, we might be able to sneak our way past the other and either radio for help or get the hell to civilization. Walking through this valley without anywhere to hide or adequate camouflage isn’t my first choice. But if we run toward civilization, they head back to the chopper and find us in five minutes. We don’t have better options.”
The idea filled her with fear. Dashing across the valley was risky, probably close to insane. But Axel knew far more about staying alive in a combat situation than she did. He’d gotten her this far. She trusted him with her life.
“All right.”
Nodding, he pulled her along as he hugged the outcropping of rock. Before he rounded the corner, he grabbed his rifle, at the ready, and peeked at the vast expanse beyond.
Her heart thrummed as she waited for him to say something—anything. The interminable seconds slid by in silence.
“We’re going to make a dash across the long stretch of nothing between us and that hill. They’ll probably see us and give chase. Or shoot. Keep running, no matter what. Got it?”
She nodded frantically.
“Answer me,” he demanded.
“Yes, Axel.”
He let out a sound that was a cross between a sigh and a curse. “Follow me.”
They stepped out from behind the stone facing. Instantly, sun beat directly on them. Intense heat shimmered up from the hard-baked ground. Mystery didn’t bother wishing she had sunglasses or a hat, but she blessed Axel for insisting they cover as much ground as possible at night.
“Any idea where they are now?” she murmured.
“Nope. One will probably head in our direction but climb that northern ridge to get above us for a better shot.” He pointed. “The other will probably stay by the helicopter. He’s likely the pilot. They’ll have some comm device going between them to keep tabs on us. We have to stay alert for surprises. Ready?”
No. “Yes, Axel.”
He grabbed her hand. “Go!”
They set off across the dusty, brush-dotted landscape at a full run. Mystery gazed frantically between the rocks littering the ground beneath her feet and the endless desert in front of her, shielding the men likely trying to kill them. Her breath rushed out of her chest. Terror crowded every part of her body. And she clung to Axel, knowing he was the only way she’d possibly survive this.
As they ran, time had no meaning. A few seconds? A few minutes? Then a shot rang out, skipping the dirt directly in front of Axel. She yelped.
He jerked on her arm and sent them running in a random zigzag pattern. Not a single hill, tree, bush, or rock to shield them in this low, brush-scrubbed valley. A few hundred yards in any direction would take them to some sort of shelter, but that might as well have been a million miles. As another shot rang out and kicked up the soil less than a foot from her, she wondered if there was any chance they’d make it to safety alive.
“Keep running!” he called over his shoulder.
It was either that or die. “I’m with you.”
More shots echoed through the canyon, sounding as if they came from above and to their left. Mystery tried not to scream. Axel didn’t let up, just kept charging toward the ridge in the distance. He dragged her to an angle slightly right but still toward the rise in the distance—their only chance at freedom.
As another bullet dive-bombed the ground just behind them, she kept chugging, one foot in front of the other, the impact of each step booming through her body. The watery mirage of the landscape in front of her began to come into sharper focus. A stitch ticced in her side. Her lungs felt ready to burst. But she didn’t stop, wouldn’t drag Axel down.
They sprinted closer to the ridge, still taking a slight angle to the right. The shots behind them sounded farther away, missed them by a wider margin.
“Almost there,” he shouted.
Mystery hoped she made it that long. And that no violent gunmen awaited her.
Finally, they reached the base of the hills flanking the valley on the right, and he dragged her into shadow. He slowed their pace to a jog. She had a thousand questions, but now wasn’t the time. Besides, she was panting too hard to talk.
He took a path between two hills, rounded behind one, then began ascending, staying out of sight of anyone in the valley.
“We’re going to use the cover of these ridges to creep closer to the chopper. Stay right behind me.”
Compared to her, he didn’t sound winded at all, but like he’d simply been taking a leisurely stroll. If she made it out of this, she would get in better shape and learn to use a freaking gun. And she’d thank Axel profusely.
The ascent up the hill wasn’t necessarily easier than the sprint across the valley. Her thighs ached and her lungs burned by the time they reached the last hill. The pilot sat in the chopper, walkie-talkie in hand, looking around nervously.
Axel knelt on the uneven ground and tried to get a steady stance as he lifted his rifle and aimed, but not toward the pilot. Mystery looked in the direction Axel pointed his barrel—and caught sight of the man who’d been shooting at them earlier. Or rather, she saw the business end of his rifle. He’d set up behind a rock, his weapon peeking over the top as he waited for them to come into view so he could pick them off.
“Stay here,” he demanded. “I’m going up.”
He’d be visible and vulnerable on top of the next rise. Mystery hated that she had no idea how to help him. “Be careful.”
“If something happens to me, you know what to do and where to go.” Then he grabbed his weapon, shirked his pack, checked the ammo in his pockets. Then he was gone.
In less than a minute, she heard multiple shots ring out. The reverberation of some were really close. Axel’s rifle, she supposed. Others echoed around the valley.
The two exchanged gunfire for tense minutes. Worry gripped her. What was going on?
Mystery crept up the hill just a bit, enough to see the bottom of Axel’s boots, toes down.
“I hear you.” He didn’t sound pleased.
