“The trunk’s smashed,” Rosario called out.“I’m going to try to get in through the back seat.”
While he waited, Jackson’s thoughts tracked back to the collision.It happened so fast, it was little more than a blur.But the fact Navarre was nowhere to be seen made it clear that this was no accident.His friend never would have left them down here without at least checking on them first.It went against everything he stood for.
It was safe to assume that Sierra Page was the intended target of the attack.Boy, were those assholes in for a surprise when they learned it was actually Sloane in the car with Navarre.How would they react?Probably not well.Possible scenarios raced through Jackson’s mind, not a damn one of them good.But he also reminded himself that Navarre was one of the best in the business.He’d been in far worse scrapes than this and made it out just fine.
Eyes still closed, Garrett groaned.
“Hey, buddy,” Jackson said.“Welcome back to the land of the living.Do you feel as bad as you look?”
One of Garrett’s eyes—the one that wasn’t swollen shut—cracked open.“That depends on how bad I look.”
“Well, it’s an improvement over how you normally look,” Rosario said as she approached.Her voice was light, but worry bracketed the corners of her mouth.She held a first-aid kit in one hand and a small metallic case containing the sat phone in the other.
Garrett let out a low chuckle and winced.“Jeez, don’t make me laugh.That fucking hurts.”
Add broken ribs to the list of probable injuries.
Rosario crouched beside them and handed the first-aid kit to Jackson.“The box is pretty beat up, but phone seems okay.Do you want to make the call, or should I?”
Finally, something to be thankful for.He unzipped the first-aid kit and took out a pack of antiseptic wipes.“Call it in while I work on Garrett.Let them know we need immediate medical assistance, a Cat One search and retrieval team, and a heavy-duty tow truck for the rental.”
Jackson’s thoughts tracked back to Navarre.They’d worked countless ops together, both in the military and at Six Points.He knew from firsthand experience just how lethal Navarre could be.But he was only one man against an unknown number of assailants.Plus, he had an unarmed civilian to protect.
Fifty bucks said Navarre mopped the floor with them.
Chapter 11
SloanestruggledtomatchNavarre’s blistering pace through the rugged terrain.She wasn’t accustomed to this level of physical activity.They’d been climbing this hill for what seemed like forever, and all the muscles in her legs felt as though they were on fire.It didn’t help that her boots weren’t designed for this sort of activity, without any kind of support or protection for a hike over uneven ground.
She tripped over a tree root and almost fell flat on her face.“Will you please slow down?I can barely keep up.”
He did better than that; he stopped dead in his tracks and rounded on her, the lines of his face tight with tension.“In case you’ve forgotten, we’re being pursued by multiple armed hostiles who may have already killed three of our teammates.We’re outmanned, outgunned, and running out of daylight.Our prime objective at this moment is to put as much distance between us and them as humanly possible.Find a way to move faster.”
He turned back around and resumed his pace, leaving her no choice but to trail after him at a near-jog.All the while, she couldn’t stop thinking about Jackson, Rosario, and Garrett.Last she saw, their car had plunged down into what looked like a pretty steep ravine.How deep or what was at the bottom, she had no idea.The vehicle’s armored plating might have provided some measure of protection, but she doubted they’d walked away from the wreckage unscathed.They probably needed medical attention, and with no phone reception in the area—
She refused to entertain the possibility, though she was pretty sure it was living rent free in Navarre’s head.From what she’d heard, the personal protection division was a close-knit group.His connection to Jackson ran even deeper.They’d been friends for a long time and had served together in combat.If she remembered correctly, they were also roommates.It only made sense for him to worry.No wonder he was in such a foul mood.
When Navarre finally stopped at the edge of a clearing, she almost barreled right into him.He shrugged off his pack and reached inside for what appeared to be a satellite phone, but it looked like a chunk of it was missing.He frowned.“Shit, my phone caught a round.”
“You got shot?”
“No, my pack got shot.”To make his point, he poked his finger through a hole in the fabric near the top of the bag.
“Were you wearing it at the time?”
“Yeah, I think so.”He said it casually, as if that kind of thing happened to him on a regular basis.Who knew, maybe it did.“It must have happened when I left the car to find you.Can you see if your phone has a signal?”
Her pulse skipped, because she knew he wasn’t going to like her answer.“I can’t.It’s in the car.”
For a few long seconds, he just looked at her, disbelief clear on his face.“You left your phone in the car?”
“It flew out of my hand when we crashed.What was I supposed to do, stick around and paw through the wreckage until I found it?That would have been kind of hard with all the bullets flying around.”
He made a rude noise as he pinched the bridge of his nose.“Please tell me it’s password protected.”
It was all she could do not to smack him upside the head.“Of course it’s locked.And no, the password isn’t something simple like 1-2-3-4-5.I’m an IT professional.What kind of idiot do you think I am?Don’t answer that,” she quickly added.
“For fuck’s sake,” Navarre muttered.He dragged a hand through his sandy brown hair as he stared straight down at his shoes.“If you’d been trained for this sort of situation—”
