“Any clue who it is?”
“Not a one.” We slowed as we reached the cave, each hugging one of the walls so no one could get the jump on us. “We need to be prepared for the possibility of more than one assailant.”
I gripped my gun tighter. The last thing we needed in this equation was another unknown. We crept down the natural hallway the cave formed, letting our eyes adjust to the lack of light.
“Walker and Tuck to the rescue, huh?” The mocking jeer echoed off the stone.
I froze, betrayal and disgust coursing through my veins. My gaze sought Tuck’s from across the cave. The whites of his eyes flashed with a ferocious rage. We both knew the owner of that voice. Had shared beers with him. I had told my sister what a great fucking guy I thought he was. Had practically shoved her in his direction.
I had to tamp down my fury, get control so that I could get Taylor out of here. Get her to safety. Then, I could lose it.
“You’re too late. I’ve already started my game, and you can’t play.”
My entire body locked. I refused to think about what that might mean. I had to press on, and I couldn’t let Bryce get in my head. I motioned for Tuck to keep moving.
A light shone from somewhere ahead, a flashlight on its side I realized, illuminating a cavernous room at the end of the cave. Ominous shadows danced along the walls, but I only had eyes for one thing. Taylor. Her eyes were closed, and even in the dim light, I could tell she was deathly pale. My heart stopped beating until I saw her chest rise and fall.
Bryce had pulled her against him as he leaned against a boulder in the corner of the cave. One arm held her to him, while the other held a knife to her throat. Taylor’s eyes fluttered, and she let out a low moan when Bryce jerked her against him.
In that moment, I knew I would kill Bryce. There was no way I would let him out of the cave alive. A fire raged within me, my insides burning with the need to get to Taylor. “There’s no way out of this, Bryce, not unless you put down that knife and let us take you in.”
Bryce let out a dark chuckle. “I don’t think so, hero boy. Either both of you put down your guns, or I will slice this pretty little throat in front of me.”
I forced myself to ignore Bryce’s taunt and checked my angles. There was only one option. A headshot. A target that was half-hidden behind the girl I loved more than life itself.
Tuck’s footsteps sounded to my right. “I need you to be real sure if you take a shot, Walk. Because if you miss and hit a cave wall, we could have several tons of rock coming down around us.”
A hysterical yet excited giggle came from Bryce. “Maybe we’ll all die together. That would be a good ending to this little story. Do it. Come on, Walker, end all our misery.”
Bryce was completely gone. There was no talking him down, even if I didn’t want him dead. My eyes darted to Taylor’s face, leached of all color. It was now or never. I breathed in slowly, holding the air at the top of the inhale. Blood roared in my ears as the whole world slowed. I squeezed the trigger.
The crack reverberated off the stone of the cave. Bryce’s head snapped back as he flew back into a boulder. Tuck and I sprinted forward as Taylor’s body crumpled to the ground.
Tuck went for Bryce, knowing I needed to go for Taylor. “He’s dead.”
I already knew it, but I still felt a minor release of tension at the words. I rolled Taylor to her back. “Fuck! Get the flashlight! I need light!” Because what I hadn’t been able to see while Bryce held her against him was that the front of her dark t-shirt was covered in blood. A t-shirt, I noticed absently, that was mine. My chest burned.
Gingerly, I pulled the material away from her middle, the cotton tacky with blood. Tuck shined the light on her stomach and cursed. Her butchered flesh stared back at me, taunting me for not quite being quick enough.
Tuck grasped my shoulder. “We need to get her outside so we can call in a chopper.”
I nodded. I slipped a hand under Taylor’s knees and the other behind her shoulders. Tears stung my eyes. She was so light. My little short-stack. She had to make it. I said the words to myself over and over, willing each sentence into her as though I could make the statement true just by the ferocity of my belief. Tuck led the way out, shining the light to guide my path.
Fading light shone from the mouth of the cave. I gently laid Taylor on the ground while Tuck immediately pulled out his sat phone and began barking orders into it. I quickly stripped off my bulletproof vest, then peeled off my t-shirt. Tuck threw me a water bottle that had been clipped to his pack.
Again, I lifted Taylor’s blood-soaked shirt. I poured water over her wounds, hoping I would be able to better see what needed tending. What emerged had me fighting back rising bile. A crude X marred her beautiful skin. Blood seeped from the gashes, and I pressed my shirt to the wounds.
Taylor’s eyes fluttered again as she let out another low moan.
“Taylor, baby, open your eyes. Come on, Short-stack.”
Her eyes cracked open, just slightly. Her beautiful blue-gray depths were dulled by pain. “Walker?”
“I’m here. I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere.” Taylor’s eyes started to close again. “No you don’t, stay with me.”
Her lids opened once more, just barely, and just long enough for her to say, “Love you.”
Then there was nothing.
44
Taylor
It was the sound that brought me around. That faint beep, beep, beep, that drew me back to the land of the living. The closer I got, the more aware I became of the pain. My head throbbed as if a heavy-metal drummer were practicing on my skull. And there was a hot, burning sensation emanating from my belly.