Burned (16 page)

He smiled again, this time in that lopsided grin that made her heart squeeze. “In that case, I’d love some pancakes, thanks.”

“Then keep working and I’ll see what I can do.” She rummaged through the fridge to pull out what she needed. Mixing the batter, she looked back at the laptop. “More encryption?”

“Yeah. Hunter and the others are out doing recon on ‘Amir’. They think he’s moving west but they don’t know to where or why, and he didn’t report in to work at the cab company this morning. It’s possible he was in that pickup last night.”

Zahra went cold inside. Putting a name to the shooter last night made it that much more vivid somehow. “Did you hit him, do you think? Maybe he didn’t go into work because he’s wounded?”

“Dunno, but the guys are checking into all that. Alex thinks if I can hack into this forum, we might find some more answers about who Amir really is and who he’s working for. The security on this one’s a bitch, though.”

He didn’t seem overly concerned about the whole Amir thing, so she relaxed and let it go. “Well, shout if you need a hand with that.”

One side of his mouth curved upward, his attention back on the screen as he typed away. “Will do.”

Zahra melted butter in a pan and waited for it to sizzle before adding the first ladle of batter. While she waited for bubbles to appear around the edges she began cutting up some strawberries and bananas Sean had bought them. She’d just flipped the pancake over when Sean’s phone rang. He pushed back from the table to grab it from his pocket and answered.

“What?” he said sharply a moment later.

Zahra turned to look at him, fingers frozen around the spatula. He pushed his chair back with a loud scrape and stood up, the line of his shoulders pulled taut beneath his shirt. Her pulse accelerated.

“When?” A demand, not a question. His face was grim, anger radiating from every line of his body.

Zahra instinctively reached out and shut off the burner, shoving the pan aside. Something told her they wouldn’t be eating anytime soon.

“Yeah, got it. I’ll let you know.”

He disconnected and faced her. “That was Alex. The FBI just contacted him to say they found a solid lead on Amir.”

She stared at him, filled with a growing sense of foreboding, distantly aware of her heart pounding in her ears.

“Apparently he paid your father a visit at the prison this morning.”

Chapter Fifteen

Sean didn’t know what the fuck was going on but he didn’t intend to wait here and see what happened. “Does your father still know about this place?” he demanded. “That you still own it?”

Zahra’s face blanched, her pupils dilating. One hand flew to her throat. “I…maybe. I don’t know.”

That was all he needed to hear. “Get your stuff. We’re leaving.”

She hesitated only a fraction of a second before hurrying toward her bedroom. Sean muttered a curse and ran his hand through his hair. According to Alex, by the time the FBI was alerted about the prison visit and someone had translated the recorded conversation between Ibrahim Gill and Amir, this new threat to Zahra had materialized a few hours ago. They’d talked about a woman, and Amir was desperate to find her.

Even with the last part of the recording unintelligible, Sean and Alex were both concerned that Ibrahim might have given Amir the cabin’s location. Sean was going to move Zahra immediately and head out of state to another safe house. This time they were going dark, as soon as he informed Alex of their final location.

He powered down the laptop and snapped it shut, hurriedly shoving it into its backpack case. He found Zahra in her room straightening the bed and her bag all packed and zipped at the foot of it. “Ready?” he asked.

“Just need to grab a few things from the bathroom.” She hurried away.

Already wearing what he’d brought with him, Sean grabbed the bag and his duffle and started for the front door, pulling out his phone to call Hunter. He explained what had happened and what the plan was. “I’ll text or call you once I know where we’re going.”

“We’ll come to you. We’re only a half hour away from you anyway, following a trail Amir left us.”

He let out a relieved breath, glad to know they’d have back up nearby if they needed it. “All right. We’ll contact you once we’re back on the highway and we can set up a rendezvous point.”

“Roger that. You got enough firepower with you for the moment?”

“Yeah, for the time being—”Just as he gripped the door knob, all the lights went out. He stilled. His phone wasn’t working either. What the hell?

“Sean?” Zahra called out from the bathroom.

“I’m still here,” he answered. A glance out the front windows showed the opposite side of the lake was also pitch black. Unease slid through him. “Zahra, check your phone.”

A pause. “It’s not working. I just charged the battery.”

Just to be sure he wasn’t being completely paranoid, he dug out his laptop and tried to power it up. Nothing.

“Looks like the whole lake’s out,” Zahra commented from the hallway.

Sean straightened. There was only one thing he knew of that would cut power and disable electronic devices. An electromagnetic pulse could be natural, could be from a powerful explosion…and it could also be used as a weapon.

His heart rate accelerated. “Leave all your stuff. We have to go, now.”

“Why, what’s happening?” she asked as she came out of the bathroom.

“I think we just got hit with an EMP burst.”

“Are you serious?” she asked incredulously.

“Yeah.” And if it had been some kind of attack, it was too much of a coincidence to believe it wasn’t to target them. A non-nuclear EMP strike had a limited range, so if it was manmade, the culprits had to be close. Which meant he was getting Zahra the hell away from this cabin. “Come here, quick.”

She came over and set a hand on his shoulder to orient herself. Sean opened his duffle and started unloading his weapons and ammo. He had a tactical flashlight in there as well, but using it now would light them up like a spotlight.

“Sean…”

He heard the fear in her voice and reached up to squeeze her hand once in reassurance. “Take this,” he said, placing a SIG in her palm. She sucked in a breath but before she could argue he continued. “If someone’s waiting out there I need you to be able to defend yourself if necessary.”

He quickly explained how to remove the safety and that a shot was already loaded into the chamber. He ran through how to fire it, placing her hands on the weapon to point everything out as he did so. “If you need to shoot, wrap both hands around the grip and overlap them, like this.” Her fingers were cold beneath his. “Keep it tucked into the back of your pants. When we leave here you need to stay right behind me, I mean right on my ass. Understand?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

He pulled out the M4 and slung it around his shoulders, grabbed several magazines and stuffed them into his pockets. The electronic gear and NVGs he’d packed were totally useless now. Their vehicle was useless. He’d spotted a boat with an old outboard motor tied to a dock about a quarter mile away but using it to get across the lake wouldn’t help them since the power was out there as well.

They were on their own now, cut off from everyone who could help them, and moving blind against an unseen enemy. Even if Hunter figured out something was wrong and came racing to the rescue, Sean wasn’t sure how he’d find his team members without having some form of communication device. “You ready?”

“Yeah.”

“Once we walk through that door talk in as soft a whisper as you can, and only when you absolutely need to.”

“Okay.”

“Get on your stomach and stay down for a minute.” He heard her shifting into position and opened the door. Stepping cautiously out onto the front porch he pressed his back against the wooden exterior. Absolute silence greeted him, only the rustle of the wind in the trees breaking it. A damp breeze ruffled the surface of the lake and brushed across his face. Visibility was the shits, but it wasn’t zero. The darkness could be used to their advantage. Having Zahra with him was gonna be a challenge though. He could move like a ghost through this kind of terrain; she couldn’t, and her limp would make her progress even noisier to anyone with training.

He eased around the side of the cabin, using all his senses to scan the immediate area. When no shots or noises alerted him, he went back to the door and pushed it open. “Okay, we’re clear. Let’s go.” He took her hand and pulled her to her feet. She followed, probably scared but staying put would leave them easy targets. Moving was the only way to protect her now. They’d have to hike out of the area on foot and call for backup once they reached the edge of the damage zone—however big that was.

The wooden steps creaked slightly beneath his weight. He paused to lean down and put his mouth against Zahra’s ear. “Don’t drag your feet when you move. Try to make as little noise as possible.” When she nodded he straightened and took her hand, the other wrapped around the M4.

Skirting the edge of the property, he aimed for a diagonal route to the road through the trees for added cover. Once they were concealed he paused again to assess the road. Nothing moved or carried on the breeze, and any vehicle within range would be out of commission. He tugged on Zahra’s hand. She stayed right behind him as they rushed across the road and into the woods on the other side. He chose a southeast route, the shortest and most direct line to the nearest highway. Placing each step carefully on the forest floor, he led her behind him, wincing every time she snapped a twig or disturbed something on the ground, the noises sounding amplified to his ears.

A hunter would easily pinpoint their location. And the itch between his shoulder blades told him they were being hunted.

Zahra stumbled over something. Sean whipped around to catch her and keep her from falling. No sooner had he closed his arms around her than the sharp crack of a pistol shattered the quiet. Instantly he shoved Zahra flat on the ground and covered her with his body. She was completely still beneath him, hardly even breathing, every muscle rigid.

Sean lifted his head slightly and strained to hear in the darkness. That shot had come from their rear and slightly to the left. Other than the darkness, their only cover was some thin tree trunks, and he wasn’t willing to drag Zahra up to run and make a bigger target for whoever was out there. Shifting slowly, he eased onto his side long enough to bring his rifle up into position and lay flat beside Zahra.

A faint rustle came from the brush up ahead. Sean honed in on it and raised the muzzle, finger resting on the trigger. A full minute passed before he heard it again; a slight disturbance in the underbrush, this time to his ten o’clock. The instinct to move Zahra was strong, but the training ingrained in him took over. He stayed in place, stock still, waiting for the enemy to make a mistake and expose himself.

The sound came again, closer, now at his eleven o’clock. Was the bastard trying to sneak around them on the left? Sean held the advantage now. He was in his element, able to stay still and silent for hours on end. Whoever was hunting them clearly didn’t have either the discipline or patience to do the same. And that would be their undoing.

Whoever it was came nearer yet, less than seventy-five yards away as best Sean could tell. They were still circling to the left, almost at nine o’clock. Leaning over, Sean set his mouth against Zahra’s ear. “Stay here. Don’t move ‘til I come for you,” he breathed, careful not to let his words carry. No telling how many others were out scouring the woods for them. At her nod he inched his way forward on his belly. On a stalk he could sneak up on a trained instructor looking for him with a pair of high-powered binoculars. This careless piece of shit hunting them didn’t stand a chance against him.

Moving slow and stealthily he eased his way around Zahra and took up position between her and the shooter. Normally when he was in combat nothing broke his concentration but part of his attention remained on Zahra, who thankfully hadn’t moved from where he’d left her. Out in front of him the shooter was still concealed and didn’t seem to be moving anymore. Using a thin log as a shooting platform, Sean braced the butt of the M4 against his shoulder and waited.

Moments later, movement in the trees to his left alerted him. Adjusting his aim, he curled his index finger around the trigger. In the thin moonlight a branch moved in the distance, maybe fifty yards away. Sean zeroed in on the spot as best he could and slowed his breathing, getting ready to fire between heart beats. Another rustling sound, followed by the shifting of another branch. Something scurried across the ground behind him, near Zahra. He whipped his head around in time to see a raccoon run past her.

Three shots rang out in rapid succession, close enough that he heard them whizz by before plowing into the earth to his right, way too fucking close to Zahra.

Sean caught the muzzle flash of the last shot, adjusted his aim and squeezed the trigger. Two rounds punched from the muzzle of the rifle with sharp cracks. An instant later the sound of a body crashing to the ground followed. No moans or cries of pain came. Whether he’d hit the guy or just scared him, he couldn’t tell. Was he dead? Sean held his position, ready to fire again the moment he had a target.

He got his answer soon enough when he heard more twigs snapping as the shooter hauled ass away from him. Though he could have tried hitting him again, with hardly any ambient light and Zahra to think of, their best option was to get as far away from the asshole as possible. Alone he could have done things much differently, but not with her here.

In a low crouch Sean rushed back to Zahra and grabbed her by the arm to haul her to her feet. “Move,” he commanded in a whisper, spine tingling in a silent warning that they were still in danger.

“Did you hit him?” she whispered back, hurrying after him.

“Don’t know.” He hoped so, because he liked the thought of the shooter bleeding and suffering for his part in coming after Zahra. “Just run.”

She did, jogging in his wake while tightly gripping his hand. Branches slapped at them as they raced through the forest. Sean didn’t know how far they had to go before they hit a decent sized road where they might be able to flag down help. Until then he’d just have to hope they could avoid detection by anyone else hunting them.

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