I’ll be there.
That three-word reply was the only response to Xander’s message, and Connor couldn’t even be sure it had come from Hudson. Still, that hadn’t stopped him from boarding the chopper, from flying straight into city airspace and risking getting shot down by an air patrol.
But the risks didn’t matter. Nothing mattered if Hudson wasn’t with him.
The scream that suddenly pierced the air was not shrill. It wasn’t even loud. But Connor felt the muffled, shock-laced sound right down to his bones.
“It’s her,” he murmured to Rylan, whose shoulders had stiffened at the sound. The men had stayed hidden for the past twenty minutes, after spending an hour scouting out the area to ensure they weren’t walking into an ambush.
“Could be a trap,” his friend murmured back.
He didn’t give a shit if it was. He’d recognize Hudson’s voice anywhere. She was here. Somewhere in the woods.
Under attack.
Pike spoke up from Connor’s other side. “Gotta check it out either way.”
It was only the three of them, because Reese was an obstinate bitch and she’d refused to let anyone else accompany Connor on his mission, claiming that the added weight on the chopper used up fuel she couldn’t afford to spare. She’d allowed Pike to go because he was the only one of the men who knew how to pilot the damn thing, and Rylan, well, Connor suspected she just wanted him out of her hair. But he wished to hell the woman had consented to letting him bring a bigger crew.
“I’m going out there.” Connor raised his rifle and stepped out of the thick cluster of vegetation, Pike and Rylan quickly following suit.
They moved in unison through the brush, their years of hunting and survival skills making it easy to walk without making a sound, without disturbing the forest or alerting anyone to their presence. The farther they went, the closer the voices got. Muffled, hissed. Stilted words Connor couldn’t make out but that sent a chill up his spine regardless.
“Promised… coast… damn well gonna get both…”
Connor’s muscles tensed. A male voice, harsh and furious.
“Make you obey… understand?”
He slid behind a thick tree trunk and signaled to the men. They froze, taking cover nearby. Connor held up his hand to order them to stay put, because there was no point in all of them getting their heads blown off tonight.
If this was a trap, then he’d be the only one walking into it.
Rylan looked unhappy with the call, but a firm shake of Connor’s head had the man maintaining his position.
Adjusting the grip on his rifle, Connor continued forward alone. The voices got louder, a vicious stream of words that became more and more audible.
“… don’t care if I have to beat you senseless every morning – you’re going to do what I say. You hear me?”
There was a moment of silence. Connor eased behind another tree. Waiting. Listening.
“I’ll keep you on a fucking leash if that’s what it takes. Your father and I had a deal! A new colony – for us, damn it. For you and me to mold and enforce and rule over.”
“You’re a delusional bastard.”
Connor nearly dropped his weapon. Hudson. Jesus, he’d been right. It was her. Which meant that the man spitting out venom at her had to be Knox.
“You want to put me on a leash? Go ahead. I’ll still find a way to beat you.” Hudson let out a wild laugh. “I said I’d kill myself before I married you, but you know what? Forget that. I’d much rather kill you.”
A roar of pain sliced the air. It was followed by a grunt, then a fleshy thwack and a loud thud, as if something – or someone – had fallen to the ground.
Connor charged forward without a single thought to his own safety. He burst through the trees in time to see a dark figure launch itself at Hudson’s prone frame. Relief exploded inside him when he realized she was still alive, but the sight of Knox looming over her ignited a different kind of explosion.
Pure rage.
He flew at the other man, smashing the butt of his rifle into the back of Knox’s head as he heaved him off Hudson’s body. But the bastard’s skull was thicker than he’d expected, and the blow didn’t knock him unconscious. Knox fell on the dirt, then bounced to his feet with military speed that caught Connor by surprise.
“Don’t fucking move,” Connor growled as he trained his rifle on Knox’s chest.
The man froze, wild eyes snapping up to meet Connor’s.
Those eyes.
All the breath left his body as he stared at the man who’d murdered his wife. In a heartbeat, he was transported back to that day. Watching from the woods as this man – this killer – had sauntered up to his fellow Enforcers as if he were king of the world. Smirking, bragging about what he’d done.
“Who the hell are you?” Knox spat out.