Buried Flames (32 page)

Thwack!

Mason had gracefully squeezed his trigger, forgetting all the stress and angst he’d been carrying up to this point as he did what came naturally to a predator. The round discharged in the chamber and caused the pressure to rise to sixty-two thousand pounds per square inch resulting in the bolt cycling. This ejected the spent Norma .308 casing up and away from the rifle.

The bullet flew through the air at 2,724 feet per second, passing 6.34 inches over Brenna’s left shoulder, 4.75 inches from her ear, and .055 seconds later hit Taible directly over his right eyebrow, causing the back of his head to explode outward like a fountain under extreme pressure, blowing red mist into the falling ash.

Taible’s body collapsed where he stood, taking Missy down with him who was scrambling to get out from under the weight of his arm. This only served to twist her around to look directly into his dead eight-ball hemorrhaged eyes as he dropped.

Mav quickly came forward from his position off to the left, aiding Missy and helping to readjust her gasmask as she screamed into it, having seen death face to face. Prue immediately took off uphill into the falling ash to locate Paige, who must have finally made her way to the entrance of the bunker once she was free of Taible. Mason wanted nothing more than to pull Brenna into his arms, especially knowing she wouldn’t be able to hear much over the high-pitched ringing of her ears, but at least she was alive. He’d deal with the coiled up anger at the fact that she’d put herself in danger once he and the team had this camp on lockdown, safe from all these assassins.

Mason spun Brenna around, who was holding the left side of her head and wincing through the plastic lens of her facemask. He signaled that he was going after Prue, not understanding where the bag of explosives was since it didn’t appear to be with Taible. He indicated he wanted her to follow him, not wanting her to stay out here on the open forest floor.

“Mav, advance forward!” Mason jogged ahead, weapon at the ready for whomever else was in the area. He scanned the immediate region as he headed farther uphill toward the bunker. They’d taken all the other tangos out who’d been flanking the entrance downhill of the bunker. It was only then that Owen, Ann, and Tank had headed out, sweeping up past the lodge, now knowing full well that Dylan would be dealing with a couple of tangos up near the natural springs. “Where the hell are the explosives?”

They had their answer when they practically ran into the back of Prue, who had brought herself up short from the large entrance to the bunker. She was cursing under her breath and it didn’t take long to figure out why. Mason held out a hand behind him, not wanting Brenna to continue past them.

“Paige?” Mav started to separate from Mason, putting distance between them to pull her attention in multiple directions.

“Take one more step toward me and I’ll detonate this pack and the entire area with it.” Paige stood several feet away from them holding a detonator, a small radio transmitter with a blinking red LED light, not really looking like a woman who was ready to die. Where the hell was the sweet woman Berke had talked about for an entire week of one of their annual visits? Did Paige’s involvement mean that Truman was in on this too? Mason didn’t like being kept in the dark or knowing that Ann was with Tank and Owen. Would she kill them when their back was turned? “Tell whoever is behind those doors to open the entrance. I know you have contact with them.”

“Paige, it’s over,” Mason called out, normally allowing Mav to handle this type of situation, but he was occupied trying to get into a position to take Paige out without her finger flipping that little silver switch. “Taible’s been eliminated and so have all his men.”

Mason purposefully left out information about Truman, not wanting to show his hand and the fact that he was holding nothing. Zero. Nada. He caught sight in his peripheral vision of Mav still edging farther left, but it was the lack of heat from behind him that had him worried. Brenna had initially rested her hand on his jacket, but it was now gone.

“All you had to do was follow our tracks,” Paige insisted a little desperately, holding the detonator close to her chest with her thumb hovering over the switch. She’d traveled such a long distance that her hair color was camouflaged by the amount of ash intertwined with her strands. It was also hard to see her facial features behind the plastic shield of her M50 mask, but that didn’t stop him from recognizing the anger in her tone. “We need this area.”

“Why?” Mason asked, buying more time for Mav to get into a better position. “Because Berke told you about the bunker? Has Taible been working for you this entire time? Berke trusted you, Paige.”

“Which is why I told him the truth about Yellowstone erupting when he called me. I’m sure all of you are very nice people, but the location north of here where the provisions and supplies were was compromised.” Paige pointed a finger Mav’s way, stopping his progression. “Don’t. I have nothing to lose by setting off these explosives.”

“Why didn’t you just fucking ask?” Leave it to Prue to keep the conversation civil. Mason shot her a sideways glance, but she was too busy glaring at Paige. Son of a bitch, but she was pushing buttons right now that could lead to one hell of a detonation. “We most likely would have said yes, but I’d say that’s off the table now that we know you’re a psycho bitch.”

“Jesus Christ, Prue,” Mason murmured, stepping forward while lifting the stock of his M1A up to his shoulder so that he could bring both hands up in a soothing gesture. This was Berke’s ex-lover, which put an entirely different spin on things. Mason trusted Mav to take her out the moment she moved her thumb away from the toggle switch. “Paige, we can still negotiate. Taible is dead and so are his men. Why is the bunker so important to you?”

“You don’t understand,” Paige said, her words flowing together rapidly as she started to fully comprehend that she was the lone survivor. At least, Mason hoped that was the case, because if Truman really was working with her, they were all truly fucked. “Taible and I worked together for years to secure those locations. Someone or some group has raided the majority of those sites and we’re too far west to get to the specific location needed to monitor the caldera’s area of effect. Fairfax was Taible’s objective until we got word last night that the northern site had already been raided. We need this bunker, along with its resources. Unfortunately, we need the space for the scientists and technicians following us.”

“And Truman?” Mason might as well find out who was working for who before Paige pressed that damned switch. She was keeping too close of a tab on Mav’s movements, but that didn’t mean Mason wouldn’t be able to pull off a snap shot and lay one into the middle of her forehead. It wasn’t something he wanted to do, but the lives of those inside were what mattered now. “Where does he stand on all of this?”

“Kellen wasn’t even supposed to have been here,” Paige said emphatically with a shake of her head. Mason inwardly cringed at how her thumb came very close to nudging the trigger. “Why do you think Taible and I went to all that trouble to make it look like I was taken? He has every right to stay here, helping guard those that are coming and the resources that will help us sustain life after this incident has passed.”

“You think mighty highly of yourself and that of your employer,” Mason said, knowing full well that Mav had just positioned himself to get the perfect shot in to stop Paige from doing anything that would cause harm to those around her. There wasn’t any other choice but to end this before these other people she spoke of descended on the town and the entire camp was outnumbered. “I’ll be sure to let Berke know that you—”

Thwack!

Mason shouldered his rifle and spun the moment Paige’s face drew a blank as a bullet pierced the high side of her neck and came out her ear on the other side. Blood splattered, but the ash wasn’t like snow where red spray would have made a pattern. All the thick liquid managed to do was darken the already grey ash. The detonator fell to the ground, along with the black canvas bag packed with forty kilos of C4. Mason was more concerned about where that shot had come from, knowing it came from his left.

Brenna stood there, her eyes wide behind the shield of her gasmask as she stared at Paige’s body now lying limp on the ground. She lowered her weapon and brought one hand up to her mask, as if she were preparing to throw up. She most likely was. Taking a human life wasn’t an easy thing to do and nothing ever justified the means, regardless that she had just saved them and many other lives because of it.

“Henley, did you—”

“Yes, I notified Dylan before we were ever attacked,” Henley told them, her trembling voice coming over the radio with murmurs of others in the background. “He was able to take higher ground and eliminate two sentries who tried to take a stand. No one else is in the area.” Henley paused as if to double-check her monitors and then said with relief, “We’re secure.”

Prue leaned down and rested her gloved hands on her knees, swinging her M4 over her shoulder. Mav moved closer and rested a hand on her back, praising her for the courage she’d shown throughout the assault. He was also speaking to Brenna, but she wasn’t paying attention. Mason knew this from the way she was looking at him, and he tried to steel himself for the massive blow to his chest as she physically laid both palms on his chest and pushed with all of her might.

“You asshole!”

“W
hat the hell
was that for?” Mason barked, stepping forward to most likely try and embrace her, but Brenna wasn’t having any of it. She’d just shot a woman whose intention it was to kill numerous people and while it was the right decision, she couldn’t accept the leniency in which human life was so easily discarded. “You’re the one who went and put yourself in danger while I was—”

“Don’t,” Brenna warned as she tried to keep her composure, wanting to say so many things while doing her best to control the violent trembling that had taken hold of her body. She held one hand up to keep him from coming forward. “You don’t believe in me.”

Brenna wasn’t certain where that had come from and it was clear that Mason hadn’t expected it either. Maybe it was easier to deal with something as superficial as how Mason thought of her than it was to deal with the fact that she’d taken multiple lives tonight.

“Is that what you think?” Mason asked, securing his weapon while never looking away from her. Brenna didn’t have that problem. Her gaze kept sliding over to where Paige lay on the ground with sightless eyes. Mav was carefully disengaging the strap of the black bag containing the explosives. “I was trying to keep you safe, Brenna! You have no idea the thoughts and images that went through my head while I was trying to get to you in time, so don’t you fucking go there with me. I told you how dangerous this was going to get. You don’t have—”

“Experience? Were you afraid I would hesitate like I did when Truman pulled a gun on me?” Brenna finally looked directly at Mason, whose anger was clearly showing through the shield of his mask. Well, he could go ahead and express it. She wasn’t walking away from this…from them. Something good needed to come from such a miserable and deathly state their lives had become. There needed to be an understanding. “You can’t trust.”

“Trust you?” Mason took one step toward her, closing the remaining distance between them and caused her to have to look up to see him through her gasmask. The corded muscle along his jawline appeared to be made of stone. He wasn’t holding back the way he usually tried when he got angry with her, but Brenna never once feared he might cross that line. “I wouldn’t have turned around after having cleared so many damned miles in the beginning. I wouldn’t have taken your dog, I wouldn’t have dragged a man’s ass for hundreds of miles, and I certainly wouldn’t be fucking second guessing every decision I make because of what you might think. So don’t you dare stand there and think you can tell me what’s going through my head when you haven’t got the slightest clue.”

“Which is all the more reason to be honest with me when it matters most!” Brenna shot back, refusing to back down. He didn’t get to monopolize the entire corner on feeling put out by what had transpired between them. It changed everything, but what he didn’t quite understand was that she wouldn’t have had it any other way. “I can pull my own weight here, Mason. It’s time you accept that and treat me as an equal. I made a mistake and while I know all it takes is one to end things, it didn’t. It made me stronger and you need to face that I can be by your side throughout the rest of this godforsaken life we’re still fighting for. Not only that, but that I
choose
to be with you…the man you are now, not the boy you were.”

“Where the hell have you been the past month?” Mason shouted, his intensity level not coming down the way Brenna’s had. “You’ve been by my side, you’ve been in my bed. You can handle a weapon as well as anyone here, which is why I’ve given you complete access to the whole operation. I’d say you’re bloody well treated like a damned equal, Brenna.”