Page 39 of SEAL by Fate

“If we don’t go to the hospital, then you’re okay with dying?” She looked down at him with disgust, putting pressure on the wound, but knowing it wasn’t enough.

“This is your fault,” he growled.

“My fault?” She lifted a brow.

“I gave you the fucking gun. You should have shot him!” He took another long swig of whiskey. Between his copious sweating mixed with stale liquor and the sight of blood, she felt like she was going to throw up.

“He jumped on me. When was I supposed to shoot him?”

“Pfft. My mistake was ever bringing you with me. We lost our chance to get him.” His skin was white and his eyes red-rimmed.

“Maybe this is a sign that you need to move on. If you weren’t so hell bent on seeking some effed-up justice on him, this wouldn’t have happened. We could be anywhere right now besides this Godforsaken mountain.” The entire towel was now covered in blood and her fingers were turning pink. She tossed it to the floor and grabbed another.

“I won’t stop until I see that bastard buried. The entire Ghost Hawk Ops unit. Why can’t you get that through your fucking head?”

“Fine.” She jumped up, looked down at her crimson hands and felt her stomach roll. She forced her gaze back on him. “Let’s go now. We can set fire to their cabin and be done with him once and for all.”

One corner of his mouth lifted. “You twat. Don’t you have sense in that pretty head? That won’t work.”

“Why?” She went back to putting pressure on his wound. “Because you’re shot? Man the fuck up.”

He gritted his teeth. “He’ll be on the defensive. With me wounded and you worthless with a weapon, he’ll take us both out. I know him, how he thinks. He’ll get her off the mountain. That’s the thing with good guys. They think of others instead of themselves.” He laughed, but it lacked humor. “But in the end, I’ll get the upper hand again. I’ve snuck one right under his nose and he doesn’t even expect it,” he slurred.

“Unless…”

“Stop! Neither of them will suspect anything until it’s too late. I knew she would be as powerful a weapon as any bomb I’ve ever made. Yes, my plan is a bit skewed, but this will be even better.” He reached over, turned on a monitor and a map came up with a tiny red dot moving across the screen. “See, what did I tell you. They’re already on the move. Thankfully we have the tracking system on the snow mobile.”

“There’s not enough gas for them to get off the hill. They’ll go to the vehicles. I’ll go and kill them both.”

“Rest yourself, pretty. I have this covered. Watch and see.”

She handed him a leather belt. “Here.”

“What’s this for?”

“I’m going to have to remove the bullet or you’re going to bleed to death,” she said.

He hissed out a long breath and grabbed her wrist harshly. She jerked and lifted her wide eyes to him. “Listen. I don’t plan on losing one of my legs or bleeding to death. You fuck this up and we’ll both go down. You hear?”

She nodded once and prepared the tools she needed. Once he bit down on the belt, she took the pliers in her shaky hand. She was shaking too much. “Give me a drink of that.” Grabbing the bottle from his grasp, she chugged.

“Hey there. Enough.” He grabbed it back. “Drink when you’re done.”

Steadying the tool above his leg, she warned him, “This is going to hurt.”

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