Page 41 of Raider Unleashed

Piper bit her lip and stared at him. He gave her a nod of encouragement, but she still didn’t move. He was watching Chambers get closer and closer.

“Come on, Piper, get down. What I say, when I say it, right? That’s what you agreed.”

She nodded and then started to move but grunted in pain. “Raider, in case things go badly?—”

“It’s gonna be fine. Just get on the floor.” He was losing his patience.

“Raider,” Piper said again, her tone was odd, so he turned to glance at her. “I love you,” she declared and then did as she was told.

Raider didn’t have time to process those words. He was out of the SUV and standing with the driver’s door open behind him facing Chambers. “Stop right there,” he said. He didn’t bother to raise the gun. He knew he could shoot the other man before he could get his gun out of wherever he’d stashed it.

Chambers crashed to a halt about twenty feet behind the SUV. He raised his hands. “Kasinski is dead,” he called.

Raider didn’t respond.

“I need your help.”

Raider still stayed silent. Whatever this was, it wasn’t what it appeared to be.

“Seriously, I need your help.” Chambers’ face was beet red, and he was sweating profusely. “I have to give my boss the thumb drive or he’ll kill me.” Chambers holds out his hands. “I didn’t have a choice in any of this. I mean, I was stupid and I accepted some money for some information and it all went south from there.” Chambers pointed to his own chest. “I tried to get out of it, I did. But they threatened my children.”

Raider kept his gaze on a swivel. From the set-up he was pretty sure he knew what Chambers was trying to do. “Who’s your boss?” he finally asked playing along.

“What?” Chambers called back.

“Who’s your boss?”

Chambers’ face went blank and Raider’s instincts juddered. Chambers hadn’t thought Raider would ask about his boss. Now, the jerk was trying to recover.

“I…I can’t tell you. He’d kill me for that, too.”

“Then I guess you’re gonna die,” Raider responded calmly. He was calling Chambers’ bluff. If the man told him who his boss was then he thought Raider was going to die. If he maintained the secret then he wasn’t confident in his plan.

Chambers growled, “Come on, Raider, you don’t know what these people are like. They’re stone-cold killers, and they have no problem killing my family.”

“I don’t really care, Chambers. You can tell me who your boss is and maybe I won’t shoot you, or you can keep your secret and die. Either way works for me.”

“Asshole,” Chambers said in a much quieter voice, but Raider caught it anyway. Chambers shrugged, and Raider knew that he’d decided to share the boss’s name which meant he was pretty sure of his plan to get out of there alive.”

“Senator Josh Atlee.”

Raider vaguely knew who Chambers was talking about. His talk with Lane made him think it would be someone high up. No one has access to military-grade weapons without having some kind of connection. In the end, it didn’t really matter. Chambers had told him so now as far as Chambers was concerned, Raider and Piper’s death warrant was signed.

“I need that thumb drive,” Chambers called.

“You’re not going to get it.” Raider was done playing.

Chambers' face hardened. “Just give me the fucking drive. You can’t open it anyway. It’s encrypted.”

“Imay not be able to, but I sure know some people who can and they’re going to be very interested in what’s on it. I’m guessing Atlee isn’t the only politician on the list. I bet there’s all kinds of interesting names on it.” A sudden thought hit him.“That’s what this is all about, isn’t it? You were getting the list for yourself. You planned on blackmailing all the other SOBs whose names are on the list.”

Chambers’ face suffused with color and then it turned pale.

Bull’s-eye.Raider snorted. “Where did you think you were going to hide out?”

“Give me what I fucking want right now,” Chambers yelled, frustration dripping from every word. He was royally pissed now. His body was vibrating. The man was starting to lose it. Then his head turned slightly to the right and his right hand closed into a fist.

Raider immediately turned to his left and fired through the SUV. He hit Kasinski in the middle of his forehead as he approached Piper’s side of the vehicle. Then Raider swung back and aimed at Chambers’ forehead.

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