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)
Axel shrugged. “So, I wanted the bragging rights when we went back to Dad.” When Larsen continued to stare at him, he nodded. “You’re right, I shouldn’t have taken the shot. It doesn’t matter now, you got her. We can pack up and go home.”
Larsen shook his head. “No, read the signs, Axel. I had her in my sights and then another woman stepped in front of her. This is her blood. We’ve still got it to do. Your father made that clear. Don’t come home until she’s dead. You don’t want to piss him off.”
Axel wiped his forehead with his forearm and swore softly as he jerked his chin toward the two packs lying on the trail. “They did run like the little scared bitches they are.” He stalked over to Stella’s pack and lifted it as if to hurl it over the edge of the cliff.
“We need that. Do you ever listen to me? Before you get rid of it, look inside and see who she is and what she is to Mortenson. You always want to know everything you can about your enemies.”
Vienna could hear the irritation and growing contempt in Larsen’s voice. He had Raine’s pack in his hands and he jerked it open.
“This is bullshit, Larsen, and you know it,” Axel snapped back, grabbing at Raine’s pack and yanking it out of Larsen’s hands. For the first time he sounded as if he was in charge and not Larsen. “I shouldn’t be out here. I send men out to do whatever I want done and to kill who needs killing. I’m too valuable to be running around in the heat after a bunch of whiny little girls and you know it. Dear old Dad wants to prove some point to me.”
Larsen reached for Stella’s pack and drew it to him. He sighed and turned to look back up the trail straight at Vienna. She was low to the ground, in the shadow and staying very still, but he paused all the same.
Should she call out to them before she fired? If she did and she didn’t kill both men, they would be pinned down for certain. Raine didn’t have time for negotiations. Shabina had heard two rifles firing simultaneously, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a third man. She didn’t just want to kill the men in cold blood. Was this considered self-defense? A million questions ran through her mind. All the while her heart went wild, but her grip on the gun never once wavered.
“I don’t think they ran, Axel,” Larsen said softly. “I think they’re right up there because their little friend is still alive and they’re bleeding hearts and won’t leave her behind.” He shouldered Stella’s pack. “Walk back to the nearest bend, Axel. I think Mortenson has balls after all and she’s got the drop on us.”
Axel threw Raine’s pack onto the trail behind him and whipped out a semiautomatic pistol, lifting and spewing bullets at the rock sheltering Vienna. She squeezed the trigger without hesitation as Axel stepped back, tripped on Raine’s pack and staggered dangerously close to the edge. The bullet caught him just to the left of his heart. He screamed and staggered back, a look of shock and horror on his face. One foot went off into empty air.
Larsen made a lunge toward Axel in an attempt to stop him from falling just as Vienna pulled the trigger a second time, switching her aim to Larsen. Larsen abandoned his attempt to save Wallin’s son and Axel fell, screaming, bouncing off rocks to the churning river below.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Larsen rolled over toward the rock side of the trail, dragging packs around him for protection even as he scooted backward toward the safety of the bend. He didn’t return fire. There was no wild shooting. He just kept moving on his belly as Vienna tried to find a target. He scraped Raine’s pack back and forth over the trail to kick up dirt and dust as he fishtailed his legs, kicking rocks and debris into the air as he scrambled for the safety of the bend.
Vienna took her time, concentrating on his motion, and then rapidly firing three bullets at his scissoring legs. She knew one bullet splintered rock, but there was a distinct possibility that one or both of the others scored. When the dust and dirt settled, there appeared to be splashes of blood on the trail.
“I’m going to hunt you down,” Larsen called. There was no anger in his voice, only a quiet menace. A promise. “I will hunt you to the ends of the earth. There is nowhere that you can go that I won’t find you. And your little friends? I’ll kill every single one of them. The woman you call mother? She’s dead.”
Vienna remained silent, waiting to see what he would do or say next. He had both Stella’s and Raine’s packs. She couldn’t leave him out there to keep the helicopter from coming to get Raine or to get to her mother.