Page 51 of Shadow of the Moon

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Amberly knew she was fucked.

The Jeep had done them well, but she’d been going too fast as she’d struck Cole Regent when he got out of the ATV. It was worth dying, as long as he was dead. He’d been thrown into the air with the hit, and had landed in a crumpled heap.

Amberly gripped the wheel, fighting to maintain control as the Jeep slid down a rocky incline. Then she hit something hard. Her neck rocked forward and she bumped the steering wheel with her forehead, but the airbags didn’t go off. When she looked up, she saw by the light of the headlights that the Jeep had come to rest against a tree.

Allowing herself to take a breath, she did a quick inventory of herself. Her insides felt like a milkshake from the crazy ride up the mountain, then down, and her head hurt, but overall she was okay. Pushing her door open, she looked up the rocky incline, where Devlin might still be fighting.

“Fuck, this is going to hurt,” she breathed as she shoved her gun in her holster and started climbing. She was only about twenty feet down the embankment, but it was almost vertical, with loose, jagged rocks to contend with.

She heard the ping of bullet on metal and realized Dev was still firing at the chopper. Pouring on the power, she scrambled up the mountain, determined to be there at the end. They needed to confirm that Regent was dead. And if he was in the chopper, Frank, as well. That made her heart ache, but she turned the emotion off. Frank had chosen his side.

As she neared the top, she slowed and removed her weapon, holding it out in front of her. She lifted her head above the line of the rock, scanning for danger.

The helicopter thumped down just as she got into position. Amazingly, it sat and didn’t move, other than the rotors spinning. Dev must have gotten the pilot.

Even as she watched, a big man jumped down out of the chopper, and she recognized him immediately. Frank Callypso. He ran to the crumpled body on the ground, and she knew what he was doing.

Getting her legs under her, Amberly broke into a shambling run across the field. “Frank,” she screamed, taking aim.

Frank went still, leaning over Regent’s body. Amberly assumed she’d killed the fucker with the Jeep, because he was a bloody mess. Frank had to be looking for the phone, though. Did he honestly think it would do him any good now? None of the people were in place. They were all dead down the mountain. The only people he could possibly kill were the family members of the men already dead.

“They’re all dead, Frank.”

The older man peered over his shoulder at her. “I know, Amberly. I saw the bodies on the way up here. How did you do that?”

“It doesn’t matter. How could you do this?”

Frank sank back on one heel. Amberly couldn’t see his hands, but she assumed he’d found the phone. She also assumed Frank had a weapon in his ankle holster, at the very least. He may actually have his main weapon, a Glock, in his hand. She hadn’t seen it yet.

“You’re the one that got Regent out of prison,” she panted. “And Zed. And how many others?”

Frank chuckled. “A few.”

“Do you seriously believe in what he was doing?” she asked, moving carefully around so that she could see his face better.

Frowning, he looked down at the man lying dead in front of him. “In a way, yes. Sometimes, when you’re so close to it, you don’t realize how deep the bullshit gets until you’re almost drowning in it. I’ve been drowning for a long time, so I’ve done my part to keep the bullshit in line.”

“And how is killing family members of domestic terrorists going to help you do that?”

Frank snorted. “I’m not worried about them, although they might want to die just for the hell of it when they realize their family is gone. No, I need the phone to blow up the rest of the devices we’ve already planted.”

Amberly blinked. “What?”

Laughing, Frank pushed to his feet, a black touch screen smart phone in his hand. “Oh, didn’t you figure that part out?”

She shook her head, trying to catch up. There was no mention of other explosive devices. Oh, fuck. “How many?” she demanded.

Frank gave her a sly grin. “Oh, I don’t know. A dozen. Maybe two. You’d be amazed how many places they let an old CIA officer in.”

“And what is your granddaughter going to say when she finds out you were targeting women and children?”

For the first time, she saw some emotion on his face. Sadness, or maybe regret. “She’s never going to know I was involved.”

“Oh, yes, she will. I’ll make sure of it,” Amberly vowed.

Anger clouded his face, along with determination. “Then I’m going to have to make sure you don’t make it off the mountain. Maybe I’ll give you a hero’s ending, dying while killing the notorious fugitive Cole Regent.”

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