Page 14 of King of Obsession

‘Are you, though?’

I aimed and fired so fast; he’d zero reaction time.

The bullet got him dead center of mass, and he lurched, then flailed from the power-driven shot through his upper body.

Crimson bloomed on his trunk as he fell so close to me that his hand bounced off my leg.

I scrambled away, blood pounding in my ears.

Silence settled, my torso heaving.

I took quick stock of the fallen bodies on the roadside, thinking quick.

I needed to hide the evidence of the ambush.

Scouring the area, I undertook a few assessments.

In minutes, I was moving fast to roll the remains downhill.

The steep ravine made my work easy, and I used my boots to nudge the unexpected guests into the brushwood.

All in all, the four corpses disappeared, aided by gravity and my sheer doggedness.

Next, the reason for my mission.

It was imperative to findher.

Scanning the lay of the land, I deduced she was close by, regrouping.

Crouching to the ground, I crept through the underbrush in the direction I’d seen her disappear.

The scent of dirt and leaves filled my lungs with each breath.

I headed up the gradual slope toward the rocky outcropping.

Gritting my teeth, I drew down on my wilderness stalking skills from my time with the Italian army, running over the Alps, training in high altitude in ferocious weather, from sunto snow.

Dappled sunlight played across my taut shoulders as I moved in stealth, sensing she was close, lurking.

At one point, a sharp ache blossomed on my shoulder.

Glancing down, I pressed my lips as a gush of crimson stained my sleeve.

Merda, I was bleeding.

I had to find her, even more so now, aware I was in desperate need of medical aid.

With a suck of my teeth, I pushed forward, refusing to let the injury slow me down.

The pain worsened and was excruciating, radiating across my chest with every labored breath, but I couldn’t stop now.

A sudden noise broke through my haze - the unmistakable scuff of a foot against a stone.

I froze, muscles coiled and ready to spring. Straining my ears, I waited for it to come again to pinpoint the source.

I gauged the wind direction and ascertained a location.

Without a sound, I rounded up on her, hiding behind a tree.

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