CHAPTER 83
Laney and Tom moved through the enclosure, evacuating the men who’d been pinned down in the trenches when the attack began.
Carefully, she approached another trench, Tom beside her. Her nerves were taut, her finger on the trigger of the Beretta she'd confiscated off a guard.
A guard sprinted up the ramp with a yell.
She opened fire, catching him at the waist. He screamed and toppled off the ramp, landing back in the trench below.
She peered over the edge. His neck sat at an unnatural angle, his eyes stared up, seeing nothing. Her pulse spiked and she fought the urge to be sick. How many had she killed now?
Tom stepped next to her, his hand briefly resting on her shoulder. “It’s okay. It had to be done.”
She looked over at him and nodded. He was right. She might not want to do this, but it was necessary. Her eyes searched the trench, falling on the five men hunched against the far wall. Two of them didn't look like they could walk under their own power.
She glanced back at the guard sprawled unmoving below her. He was part of this. He wasn’t the one who deserved her sympathy.
Tom gestured towards the men. “I’ll go."
She nodded, taking point at the top of the ramp, as Tom headed down it. A movement out of the corner of her eye drew her attention. She trained her gun to her right.
A noise directly behind her caused her to whirl around. A guard was charging, his gun aimed straight at her. She raised her weapon, but knew she would be too late.
Two bursts of automatic fire barked and the guard’s chest bloomed red. He crashed to the ground, a look of surprise frozen on his face.
Jake and Yoni appeared thirty feet behind him, scanning the area as they moved. They moved quickly, but she could tell they were missing nothing, moving in tandem.
She drank in the sight of Jake. He had some scrapes on his arms and neck, but otherwise he looked fine. Hell, he looked gorgeous and dangerous. Relief and need coursed through her. She felt an almost overwhelming urge pulling her towards him. She forced herself to look away from him and her eyes lit on Yoni. She smiled. They were both okay.
She dropped her gun to her side as they approached, barely registering the men who were scurrying out of the trench behind her. Jake stopped when he was a foot away and looked her into her eyes.
“You okay?” he asked gruffly.
She nodded, taking a step towards him.
Yoni grabbed her in a crushing bear hug. “I knew you’d be okay!”
Laney couldn’t stop laughing, while she struggled to breathe. “It’s good to see you, too, Yoni.”
“Jake?”
Jake turned. Tom stepped off the ramp. Laney could tell Jake was jolted by Tom’s ragged and bruised appearance. But then Tom gave a tentative smile and even Laney could see the little boy who had been Jake’s brother and friend.
“Tom.” Terror, relief, and love were wrapped in that single word. Jake reached over and pulled Tom to him. Tom hugged him back, his shoulders shaking.
Laney turned away, tears stinging her eyes. Wiping them away, she saw movement over by the beat-up trailer. She squinted and saw the Senator appear, followed by Priddle, and then Gideon.
Gideon ushered the Senator and Priddle out into an open space beyond the trailer. He held an object about the size of a softball in one hand and a gun in the other.
Her chest felt tight. “Guys? I think we have a problem.”
Jake turned at her words.
She gestured towards the trailer. “It’s Gideon. I think he has the Belial Stone.”
Two hundred yards away, the three men had stopped. Gideon gestured with the gun for Kensington and the professor to move back. The two men looked terrified as they backed up against the wall of the enclosure. Gideon tucked the gun into his belt and raised the Belial Stone to the sky.
“What on earth is he doing?” Yoni asked.