Page 34 of Raider Unleashed

Raider shrugged. “I hope not, but there’s always a chance.”

No sooner had the words come out of his mouth than the sound of gunshots reached them.

“Shit,” Piper said as she bit her lip. She hoped Wells and Baker were okay.

Raider grabbed her hand. “We’ve gotta move.” He pulled the pack off her back and put it on his own.

Piper started running behind him through the trees. How the hell had it come to this? Fucking Fielding. She’d see that man behind bars. If she lived long enough.

14

Raider cocked his head and listened to the silence. It didn’t make sense to take chances, so he kept Piper moving. His goal was to put as much distance between them and Kasinski and Denlo as possible. According to the map in his head, they were in the Pu’U Maka’ Ala Natural Area Reserve. He had no idea if there were any cabins or anything, but he was counting on finding someplace to hunker down.

An hour later, clouds had moved in and between those and the ash filling the sky, they no longer had even a hint of light. Navigating a run through the trees was already hard enough and when it started to rain, he had no choice except to slow their pace to a walk. Raider brought out his cell and used the screen to light a path for a bit. He didn’t want to do it for long because he wanted to conserve the battery, but it was hard to move in the pitch dark in the rain forest. They’d been following a game trail and suddenly they came to a clearing. A small ramshackle cabin sat on one side.

Raider motioned for Piper to wait while he did a three-sixty circuit around it and then hurried back to her side. “It’s empty, but I’ll go in first. Wait here.” Relief filled him when shenodded. Apparently, she’d taken to heart his request to do as he instructed, when he instructed.

She remained hidden among the trees while he approached carefully. He looked in the windows and then picked the lock hanging from a hasp on the door. He waved her over.

The cabin was a one-room affair with a cot in the far corner. There was a small table in front of a stove. There didn’t appear to be any running water.

“At least we’re not getting rained on anymore,” Piper said as she sat down at the table. The rain pinged on the tin roof of the shack, sounding like tiny hammers striking metal.

Raider took off the backpack and took out the laptop. He dried the exterior on a bit of his shirt that wasn’t too soaked, then booted it up. “Crap, it’s password protected.”

Piper rubbed her face. “Well, that sucks.”

Raider pulled out his cell and made a call. “Waylen, I need your help.”

“Dude, are you okay? Been hearing you’re with your ex. Never a good thing.”

“You heard right,” Raider said but didn’t elaborate.

Waylen wasn’t wrong. All this time with Piper hadn’t been good for him, but he’d stuck to her side like they were still married. He’d deal with the fallout later. “I have a laptop that I need to use and it’s password protected.”

“I can help,” Waylen agreed. “Where are you?”

“In a cabin, I think in the middle of the Pu’U Maka’ Ala Natural Area Reserve.”

Waylen snorted. “All hell’s breaking loose and you’re sightseeing. Typical Raider, just typical.”

“Funny. How do I get into the laptop?”

Waylen spent the next ten minutes explaining how to get in. Raider executed each step exactly as Waylen directed.

“Yes,” Raider said when the desktop appeared on the screen. He inserted the thumb drive. Then double-clicked on the icon for the USB stick when it appeared on the screen. “Shit,” he mumbled.

“What?” Waylen demanded.

“It says it’s encrypted. Any idea how to break it?”

Waylen’s laugh was curt and sardonic. “Sure, no problem, why don’t I solve world hunger while I’m at it? You’re in the middle of a freakin’ rainforest with no internet. No, I can’t break it.”

“Just thought I’d ask.”

“Do you need to be picked up?” Waylen asked.

Raider leaned back in the chair and glanced at Piper. She looked spent. And soaked. And so damn sexy. “Yeah. I’m guessing it won’t happen tonight though.”

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