Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
“I need more gauze and something stronger to put pressure on the wound,” she said aloud. She could only hope her lifeline, the man or woman on the other end of the Garmin, was taking everything she said seriously.
Supervisor. I have this correct. Active shooters. Trail to Pate. Switchbacks. One wounded. Military personnel.
Correct. Call this number as well. She gave them Sam’s number. Advise of situation. I will find a way to clear the shooters if possible to put helicopter down in nearest open terrain available.
“Vienna, someone’s moving on the trail. I can hear them coming,” Harlow said.
“I need you here with Raine, Harlow,” Vienna said decisively. “If anything happens to me, you take charge. Stella, you’re going to have to do the updates. I sent them Sam’s number and told them to advise.”
She took gauze from the outstretched hands of Shabina and Zahra. Both women had packed small medical kits. She wrapped Raine’s wound tighter and used the tape they gave her.
“As soon as you can finish stabilizing the leg for travel, get something together to carry her out of here.”
She took the gun and ammo, attaching the ammunition to the vest, and scooted on her hands and knees to the very edge of the bend where she could see their back trail. She could hear the sound of boots on rock. Shabina flattened herself against the rock and then held up two fingers.
Vienna gestured behind her toward the other women. “Tell them to get ready to leave as fast as possible. If necessary, you and Harlow can take turns carrying Raine.”
Shabina nodded and slipped back as quietly as possible. Vienna stretched her body out so she lay on her belly. Digging the toes of her hiking boots into the ground, she waited, gun ready. Her hands covered the grip of the pistol, stabilizing the weapon as she’d been taught so there was little recoil.
Small rocks slid, displaced by someone hiking the trail. The sound of male voices whispering was carried on the slight breeze fanning her face. Vienna took slow even breaths. She’d practiced hundreds of hours on a range, shooting at targets, never a human being. She was a nurse, pledging her life to saving others, and yet she was here, lying on the ground, ready to kill someone, something innately abhorrent to her. The terrible feeling of wrong didn’t lessen her resolve.
She caught a glimpse of a man as he rounded the bend of the switchback below the area where they’d been shot. He was medium build and was wearing a ball cap and hiking clothes. He looked familiar to her. She knew she’d seen him before. She studied the confident way he walked up the narrow trail of rock. Something about the way he moved caught her attention.
He turned his head to look back at someone just out of her sight. Again, she heard the low whisper of words, but couldn’t quite catch what was being said. The two men were still a distance away. But that movement, that head turn and the confident way he seemed to flow over the uneven rocks, triggered her memory.
Vienna knew she had seen him before. Not once, but twice. He had come into the coffee shop and sat behind them when her friends had discussed this very trip. He had also walked right on past the boulder the women were climbing. He’d been with another man, and neither had been friendly when she’d called out a hello. Not only hadn’t they answered, but they barely glanced her way. Their reaction had triggered a little red flag that noted the odd behavior in an otherwise friendly community.
The second man came into sight and she recognized him immediately as Axel Wallin, Daniel Wallin’s son. He had no backpack and sweat poured off him, darkening his shirt. He also wore a ball cap to shade his face, but there was no mistaking his features, even with the dark sunglasses.
Her heart began to pound and her mouth went dry. This was really happening. These men had come to kill her.
“Damned hot, Larsen,” Axel commented.
Larsen didn’t turn around to look back this time. They rounded the switchback, coming to the spot where Raine had been shot. Larsen took a long look upward, toward where the women had disappeared, before he proceeded forward until he reached the precise location.
Axel broke into a huge smile. “Yeah, you got her. There’s too much blood for it not to be a kill shot. Look, they dropped their packs and ran like rabbits.”
Larsen examined the ground carefully. “How many times have I told you to look at everything before you make up your mind? We’ve gone over this a million times, Axel. You didn’t wait to take the shot when I told you to. You were so afraid I’d kill her instead of you.”