Sniper Fire (Love in the Crosshairs) (23 page)

Kyle waved a hand at Farrah, hoping she’d stay calm and stay in the truck. He didn’t want her to draw the criminal’s fire. “Good morning,” Kyle said. He lowered his gaze to the bloody rag tied around the man’s right leg. “Looks like we have something in common.”

Craddoc didn’t answer, just motioned with the barrel of the gun. “You, lady, out of the truck.”

Kyle took a step forward. “Do you need a ride? We’d be happy to give you a lift down the mountain.”

“Shut up! Lady, out of the truck, now!” he yelled when she didn’t move right away.

Kyle ground his teeth as Farrah shut off the truck, opened the door, and climbed out. She moved slowly around the front of the vehicle until she stood between him and Craddoc. He silently let the cuss words flow.

Brave, but stupid, Farrah.

Did she really think being a woman would slow a man like Craddoc for an instant? He’d shoot her in a heartbeat. He probably planned to shoot both of them.

He glanced at the drop off at the edge of the road. Only one way out, and it was three feet away. Now if Farrah would just move back a couple more steps…

His muscles tightened as she did just that. Launching an attack at Craddoc was no longer an option, not with Farrah standing in plain sight. She had nothing between her and a possible bullet. The only escape was down.

“Stop right there,” Craddoc ordered. He licked his lips. Kyle saw him dart a quick glance up at the smoke darkening the sky. The fire was bearing down on them fast. Shit if this situation wasn’t getting worse by the second.

“Now here’s the thing,” Craddoc said. “I’ve been having a devil of a time getting out of this damn state. You,” he motioned to Farrah with the gun, “are going to be my ticket out of here.”

“And me?” Kyle asked. He shifted forward a little, trying to get closer to Farrah and out from behind her at the same time. He wanted to be able to grab her before he flung them both off the road, but if Craddoc decided to take a shot at him, he didn’t want her in the line of fire.

Craddoc raised his gun. “Stop right there, hero. I need her. I don’t need you. I could shoot you right now.”

“I’ll do whatever you want if you let him go,” Farrah said.

“You’ll do what I want regardless.” He leered at her. “Though maybe if you ask real nice, I might just leave him here bullet free. Like me, he’s not going anywhere fast under his own power.”

“If you leave him, it’s the same as killing him. The fire is moving too fast.”

She took a step away from Kyle and toward Craddock. “Please, let him ride in the back of the truck until we get further down the mountain.” She took another small step. He had to get her to stop.

“Farrah.”

She held out a hand to Craddoc. “I promise I’ll get you out of the state if you just let him ride with us.”

Craddoc shook his head. “Can’t do that. We might run up on someone, and he’ll be in the back, free to holler for help.”

“No, he won’t,” she assured him quickly. “Think about it. You’ll have your gun on me, right? He won’t risk you shooting me. He’ll be quiet.”

Kyle groaned quietly. Giving the bad guy ideas was not a good thing.

“I’d like to, lady, I would, but I just can’t take the chance.” Craddoc straightened his arm, bringing the gun up so he could sight down the barrel at Kyle.

“No!” Farrah screamed and spun around, trying to put herself between them at the same time. Knowing he had no choice, Kyle dived to the side, giving Craddoc a clear target. He hit the edge of the road just as the gun barked. Heat brushed his shoulder as he threw himself into a roll. He heard Farrah scream again. Rocks and limbs dug into him as he barreled down the steep hillside. Pain shot through him as his body flipped and rolled, coming to a stop with a bruising jolt.

“Kyle! Kyle!”

Her screams tore through him. He wanted to answer her more than anything, but knew he didn’t dare. If he moved or made a sound, Craddoc might decide to finish him off. If he stayed down, the chances were good he might walk away from his alive. And staying alive was plan A. Getting Farrah away from Craddoc? That was everything else.

Above him, he could hear Farrah’s sobs. “No, let me go. He could still be alive. I have to—”

The crack of a slap against flesh almost made him sit up. A second slap. Kyle bit his tongue to keep from roaring out his rage. Craddoc was a dead man, he just didn’t know it yet. Kyle took a chance and cracked one eye open, searching for the top of the hillside through his lashes. He saw Craddock and Farrah outlined against a dirty sky. Craddoc had the barrel of his gun shoved under Farrah’s chin.

“Now you listen to me, bitch. I’m you’re new boyfriend. I could shoot your old one again or not, makes no difference to me. Either way, you’re going to drive me down this mountain and right into the next state, you hear me. We get stopped, you’re going to be convincing as hell. If not…” His arm jerked, shoving the gun into the soft spot under her chin. “You understand me?”

Silence.

“Answer me,” he said harshly. “I want to be sure you understand. Wouldn’t want you meeting St. Peter by mistake, now would we?”

Kyle didn’t hear her answer. He hoped she said yes. He hoped she wouldn’t do anything foolish.

Then they were gone.

Kyle lay still. He wasn’t a religious man by any stretch of the imagination. What he was, was a man who had been raised in a God-fearing household. A man who had been on a first name basis with Jesus Christ since he was ten, though they seldom spoke nowadays. Now, all he could do was hope that long-distance relationship didn’t get in the way of his prayers.

God, please watch over Farrah. Please,
please
, don’t let me be too late.

And please, by all that’s Holy, let my leg hold out long enough to save her.

Said leg throbbed like a son-of-a-bitch, and the rest of him wasn’t far behind. The idea of moving didn’t thrill him. Yet, he couldn’t stay motionless for long. Craddoc had Farrah. He’d heard the truck start up and drive off. That meant he didn’t have much time. He knew this road, knew it went on for another couple of miles before hitting a switchback that took it back in this direction. That was the nature of mountain roads. They wound their way like a snake. Right now, he was grateful it took thirty horizontal miles of asphalt to traverse ten vertical miles of mountain. His only problem was getting down to the next coil of road before Farrah and Craddoc.

Slowly, limb by limb, he moved, wincing as muscles protested and branches dug into his back and side. When he was sure nothing was broken, Kyle pushed himself up and looked around. Rough terrain surrounded him. Rocks and boulders sprinkled the hillside along with pines and a few oaks and evergreens. Bushes, like the one he’d landed on, grew in profusion, filling in spaces.

He looked around closer until he caught sight of the shiny knob of his cane. He leaned over and snagged it, then used it to push himself to his feet. He took a step on the uneven ground. Pain shot up his leg, worse than usual, but still bearable. Now all he had to do was keep putting one foot in front of the other. What was he going to do once he reached the road? Well, the old limb across the road trick had worked once, hadn’t it? Maybe it would work again.

Chapter Thirteen

Getting down the hillside was a nightmare. To make matters worse, Kyle kept having stupid flashbacks of missions. The damn memories popped up in full blood and gore color; images of men he’d killed, of men,
and women
, he’d seen killed. Farrah’s face kept superimposing over the female bodies, blood turning her burnished gold hair a nauseating red. Kyle swore and jumped, landing hard enough that the pain wiped his mind clean for a moment. He had to save her. Somehow, he had to trick Craddoc into letting her go without hurting her.

The woods suddenly ended. Kyle stumbled onto flat road, leaning heavily on his cane, not sure how he’d gotten there. It didn’t matter. He shoved the throbbing ache of his leg back and looked around. No handy dead limb presented itself. He cursed a blue streak, glancing up and down the road, running a hand through his hair in frustration. There had to be some way to stop the truck. Some way…

His gaze lit on a pile of scree blanketing the downhill side a few yards to his left. The pile began at the edge of the road and flowed down in a static cascade. Nothing there. On the uphill side, however, was the other half of the slide. The tight jumble of rocks looked promising. One good-sized boulder, about five feet in diameter, sat perched on several smaller rocks, the larger one acting as a dam for a pile of rubble just begging for a nudge. Why it hadn’t already been cleared, he didn’t know or care. All that mattered was that it was there. Kyle limped over, eyeing the rocks through years of mountain experience. He’d seen slide traps like this before. If he could just shift that one boulder enough, the whole thing would give way, sending it all tumbling into the road. He looked around and spotted the stub of a pine sticking out of the dirt nearby, probably a victim of the original slide. He stuck the end of his cane into the ground and tugged, pulled, and twisted until at last, what remained of the broken off tree came free in a spray of dirt. He hefted the small trunk, thankful it still felt solid. The sturdy young pine made the perfect lever.

Kyle jammed the end not encased in old roots beneath the keystones and leaned hard. Wood creaked and popped. The boulder sitting on the keystones shifted slightly. Kyle leaned harder, putting his whole weight into it. The bullet burn across his shoulder stung as sweat rolled into the wound, but he ignored it. Rocks above shifted. Dirt, shale, and small pebbles rained down. He’d have to be careful not to get caught in the slide when it happened. Another good shove. The keystones moved. One popped out and landed on the road. More rocks swiftly followed. With a muted rumble, the boulder broke free and started to roll.

Kyle threw himself back, stumbling and landing on his ass as the miniature rockslide tumbled past him. The large boulder rolled ponderously into the road, coming to a weighty stop almost in the middle. Other rocks slid down in a dusty torrent, rolling and bouncing into the road like happy children, creating a half-decent roadblock. Not perfect, but it would have to do. Kyle picked up his cane and levered to his feet. Brush was thicker on the downhill side, and he quickly made his way to cover, making sure to wipe out his tracks as he went. Now, he just had to wait. Wait and pray that he’d made it to the road in time.

The wait wasn’t long. The dust hadn’t even settled good when he caught sight of the truck a few seconds later. Relief flooded him. He had a chance, one chance. Damn if he wouldn’t make it count. He didn’t move an inch as the truck slowed and came to a stop opposite him. He could just see Farrah through the driver’s side window. She looked scared, her eyes red. She’d been crying. Still was, he realized as he watched her wipe away tears. He heard Craddoc’s voice. Farrah shook her head and said something in reply, motioning to the rockslide. Craddoc barked again. Farrah winced, as if she’d been struck. Kyle bit back a growl. Damn Craddoc. He’d kill the bastard for touching Farrah.

The truck shifted into park and turned off. The driver’s door opened. Kyle had hoped Craddoc would get out and move the rocks himself. Should have known better. He thought about grabbing Farrah and making a run for it, but that would be too dangerous. Craddoc still had that pistol. He watched Farrah survey the mess in the road. If the big boulder could be moved to the right a couple of feet, the truck would be able to go around it, over the smaller rocks.

Craddoc rolled down his window. He hit the side of the truck with something, probably the gun, breaking the quiet of the mountainside. Farrah jumped.

“Hurry up,” Craddoc shouted. “We ain’t got all damn day.”

“Ignore the pine, Farrah,” Kyle whispered urgently. “Pretend you can’t move the great big rock.” He needed Craddoc out of that truck.

As if hearing him, Farrah walked past the tree Kyle had used, placed both hands against the boulder and pushed. The thing barely rocked back and forth. She pushed again, still with no results.

The truck door opened. Kyle tensed when he saw Craddoc crawl from the cab. The scumbag spewed insults. “You stupid bitch. You’re worthless.” He limped angrily to Farrah and gave her a shove. “Stand over there and don’t move.” He waved the gun at her. “If you run, I’ll shoot you.”

Farrah nodded and backed away. She glanced around, her gaze darting from side to side as if looking for a way out.
Don’t run. Not yet, honey, not yet.
If she ran now, Craddoc would shoot her down in cold blood. Under the felon’s harsh gaze, she shifted her feet, crossed her arms, and stood stiffly, muscles tight, ready to run. Kyle watched Craddoc stuff the gun into the front of his pants, then use both hands to pick up the pine. As soon as he had it wedged under the rock, Kyle moved.

If he’d had the full use of his right leg, he could have cleared the distance before Craddoc could turn. He knew, because he’d done this kind of ambush before. As it was, he barely made the road before Craddoc swung around, one hand going for the butt of the pistol. Farrah screamed. Kyle swung his cane, hitting Craddoc’s arm a glancing blow. The gun fell to the ground. Kyle plowed into Craddoc, shoving him back against the boulder. He hammered a punch at the criminal’s face. Craddoc grunted and shoved him back. They rolled off the boulder and onto the ground. Stones ground into Kyle’s back as Craddoc landed on top of him. Craddoc closed a hand around Kyle’s throat and squeezed. Kyle gasped for air. He tried to get leverage, ignoring the screaming pain from his leg and shoulder. His hand found the bandage around Craddock’s thigh and he squeezed.

Craddoc screamed. He punched wildly at Kyle. “I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!”

One of the punches caught Kyle a glancing blow to the temple. Black dots danced through his vision. He shook his head and jabbed his straightened hand into Craddoc’s throat. The man choked and coughed then pulled away. Kyle tried to hold on to him, but Craddoc’s shirt slipped through his fingers. Kyle pushed himself up, diving for Craddoc. He had to put the guy out. Craddoc kicked and scrambled away, almost running into Farrah in his frenzy to evade Kyle. Craddoc saw her and made a grab for her ankle. She skipped away.