Page 53 of Centurion

“Stop and go another direction.” Con’s voice rose a bit in tenor.

“Not likely,” she said. “I’m going to be busy for a hot minute. I’ll get back to you.” She hit her earpiece and accelerated, which was not what the men had anticipated. They dropped into firing positions. Bullets bounced off the bulletproof glass of her car.Thank you, Daddy.

Gabby hit the button to roll down her window and grabbed the Mac 10. She hit the brakes and cranked the wheel, sliding the vehicle with her window now open toward the men with the weapons. She pulled the trigger, and the spray of forty-five caliber bullets sent the men scrambling. Gabby slammed on the brakes and opened the car door, jumping from the car and rolling into the ditch alongside the road. She was on her feet and sprinted toward the van as her car came to a rest facing the other direction.

She pulled her katana and charged up the bank as the men regrouped. The person closest to her turned at the sound of her footsteps. She jumped into the air, her katana posed perfectly to sever his head from his body. His skull bounced by her feet as she landed, and one of the men fired a shot at her. The bullet hit the van but was close enough to singe her cheek. She rolled under the van and hustled behind the tire while grabbing her ankle weapon. Without hesitation, she rounded the hood of the van and fired point-blank at the man heading in her direction.

An explosion of force of being pushed from behind her sent her to the ground. She felt someone grab at her arms. Curling in on herself, she shifted her weight, sending his center of gravity off her. She grabbed the heel of her boot and slashed back atthe man. His screams told her she’d hit pay dirt. She twisted, so she could see her target and lodged the knife in the man’s chest where his heart should be. She stood up just as a fist caught her on the jaw.

Gabby saw nothing but black spots as she hit the ground. But training and instinct kept her moving. She was up and facing the man as he approached. She flicked her wrist and brought up her fists.

The bastard smiled at her. “You think you can fight, bitch?”

He swung, and she ducked, shoving a right hook into his gut with every ounce of her power behind the brass knuckle punch. When he doubled over, she whipped the garrot out of her belt and circled the man’s neck. He went to his knees and clawed at the wire, but Gabby put her knee in the man’s back and pulled as she pushed him away. The sluicing sound of tendons slicing and the release of air from the man’s lungs told her she’d killed him. For good measure, she tugged again. The wire cut its way back to the spinal column. She dropped one end, and the man sank to the ground. She coiled the garrot and looked around. Fuckers.

Patting each body down, she grabbed anything on the men and then did a quick search of the rented van before gathering all her weapons, leaving nothing to tie her to the scene. She ran back to her car, put it in gear, and carefully drove around the van, inching carefully so as not to drop into the ditch. The wheel had to be hanging on by a fraction of an inch. Once she got the nose of the car past the van, she hit the gas and flew from the location. She hit her earpiece. “CCS, I need a cleanup crew. Four dead. Three miles from turnoff to the airstrip.”

“Copy.” Con’s voice was tight.

“Sit rep,” Fury growled over the connection.

“They pulled into the middle of the road. I didn’t feel inclined to stop for them. They had guns and were trying to stop me. Justified response to their use of force.” She’d write up herreport later and describe the blow-by-blow, but right then, she wanted distance between her and the scene.

“CCS, clear her route in the camera system,” Fury commanded.

“Not my first rodeo,” Con snapped at Fury.

Gabby tapped her earpiece, so she was talking to Con alone. “I’m fine.”

“I’m fucking not!” She jumped at his yelled reply.

“You will be,” she said and hit her earpiece again. She drew a deep breath and then another. She needed to slow down and drive like a normal citizen. She put the vehicle’s cruise control on and breathed through the adrenaline coursing through her veins. “Turning onto a main road in thirty seconds.”

“I’ve got you,” Con said. “You’re clear. I’ll erase you on each camera system as you pass through them. Your trip to the strip has been erased.” After he paused, he said in a steadier tone, “Archangel is online.”

“You have the device, correct?” her Uncle Jason asked.

“Yes, sir. Secure and heading to Con.”

“Were you injured?”

“A little banged up, but nothing serious.” She glanced at herself in the rearview mirror. Crap. Her cheek and jaw were turning black and blue, and there was a red mark on her other cheek. That bullet had been closer than was comfortable; that was for sure.

“I copy. Con, we have several things moving at warp speed here. I need that information as soon as you get it.”

“I can open it in real-time on a video chat, so you have it the second I do.”

“That works. What do you need from me?”

“Nothing, sir. I will set up a link when Centurion gets back with the device.”

“Include Fury, Alpha, and Jewell.”

“Affirmative,” Con said.

“Archangel clear.”

She tapped her earpiece again to talk privately to Con. “Are you more settled now?”

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