Page 36 of SEAL by Fate

A lot became clear to Gray as he crouched in the tree. Dory was working with Phantom and Gray had been so close to the terrorist today. Had Phantom planned to take Gray out? He had a feeling the bastard wanted to prolong things, maybe because he enjoyed the power of the chase.

Importantly, the only way the terrorist would have known Gray was on the mountain was if the informant had set him up.

Fuck! How could he have been so stupid?

The duo grew closer.

Perched on a branch, Gray remained still as a statue. One shift would cause the snow to fall and alert the riders to his presence. It took all his strength not to slip on the slick wood. His biceps ached and his forearms cramped in this position. His knee became wobbly. He couldn’t even reach around to grab his gun.

The couple moved slowly, looking around as they went, but both were clumsy. They passed the tree where Gray was hidden and continued following the path of his tracks and then he heard the woman say, “The footprints end. Where is he?” She turned, her head bobbing as she searched the woods.

The man responded, “He’s here somewhere. He couldn’t have just disappeared. He went back.”

“I don’t care! I didn’t agree to hiking in this shit.”

“Shut up!” the man whispered.

“Don’t tell me to shut up. I’m going back to the snowmobile,” she snapped.

“Like hell you will,” the man growled.

“Easy for you to say. You’re carrying the gun.”

“Fine. Take it. Just make sure you don’t shoot yourself, or me. You hear?” The man handed over the piece. Gray guessed if he could see the man’s face, it would be flushed in red from anger.

The couple moved back toward the tree like two ungainly elephants. This would definitely work in Gray’s favor, yet as clueless as they were, it wouldn’t take long for them to find him.

Quickly weighing his options, Gray knew he couldn’t wait in the tree for them to find him. He’d be a sitting duck. He could take out the man, but the woman held the gun, and the way her hand shook she could easily shoot Gray unintentionally.

As the couple grew closer, Gray realized he had only one option…

He jumped from the branch, landing on the woman, easily knocking her to the ground, her head hitting the snow. The gun fired but missed hitting anyone except for the poor ancient oak that sent an avalanche of snow from the branches. Gray hissed as he was hit with the wetness and ice, but he recovered quickly. The woman screamed which was muffled by her helmet as Gray grabbed her slender wrists, hit her hand hard against his knee and the gun dropped from her grasp, skidding across the icy snow. From the corner of his eye, Gray saw the man running for the clearing.

Grabbing the woman’s gun, Gray gave it a toss into the ravine, then made chase for the man.

The cold seeped into his lungs and his boots sunk in the snow which made running almost unbearable. He grabbed his gun from his waist and once he reached the clearing, he pointed the weapon at the man who jumped onto the snowmobile. “Stop or I’ll shoot!”

The snowmobile took off, sending snow flying in the air.

As a sharp shooter, Gray could have easily taken the man out from the distance that separated them, but without knowing for sure if the man was Phantom, Gray couldn’t risk killing an unidentified man. However, he could make it harder for the runaway.

“Last chance. Stop or I’ll shoot!”

When the snowmobile kicked up clumps of snow, he pulled the trigger and blood splattered from the man’s left thigh. A loud howl came from him, but he didn’t stop as the vehicle took off from where they’d come.

“Fuck!” Gray jumped on the woman’s snowmobile and took off in chase.

The snow hit Gray’s face like pea rocks and he could barely see because his eyes were blurred. He relied on his hearing more than his vision as he held down the gas and kept steady pace with the vehicle ahead. The man was bleeding hard, leaving a trail of red in his wake.

Several miles passed and Gray continued speeding behind the man until a thought hit him like a hammer to his temple. Gray was being led away from the cabin where Stormy waited. This could be a trap. After all, none of this had been a coincidence. He’d left the woman who called herself Dory in the snow and by now she would be up and realizing she was alone without transportation. Would she go to the cabin? Was there a third person involved?

With a curse, Gray slowed the snowmobile and came to a sudden stop, spewing snow like the tail of a peacock. He watched with regret as the other vehicle disappeared until nothing remained but tracks. “Shit!” Looking down, Gray saw the radio hooked to the vehicle. Grabbing it, he pressed in a button and said, “Phantom, I’ll catch you, and when I do, you’ll pay for all the lives you’ve taken. Mark my word.”

He didn’t get an answer in return, not that he expected one.

Turning the snowmobile, Gray raced back to where the ambush had happened, hoping to find the woman, but she was gone. Her tracks headed west, but Gray didn’t waste time in going after her, not when he had no idea if this was all a strategy to get him away from the cabin. Would Phantom go through Stormy to get to Gray?

He now had a snowmobile and a radio, even if the bastard Phantom escaped.

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