Page 58 of Falling Fast

Her jaw set. “Yes.”

“Okay,” he said to Easton. “You count it down.”

Not wasting a second, he yanked Charlie with him and rushed behind the cover of the rear tires, barely making it there before more rounds peppered the rear of the truck, kicking up sprays of dirt and gravel.

As soon as it stopped he darted a peek around the back end of the truck. Baker was indeed hauling ass across the road and into the field beyond it, where the helo waited, rotors turning.

Jamie reached back, grabbed Charlie’s left hand and placed it on his right shoulder. “You tell me when you’re ready.”

She shifted behind him, then squeezed, signaling her readiness.

“Three,” Easton said behind them. “Two…one…Go.”

His teammates stood up and rained a stream of suppressive fire at Baker’s men, keeping them pinned behind the car. Jamie burst out from behind the truck and ran after Baker, his focus divided between shielding Charlie and not losing sight of his target. The son of a bitch was already partway across the field, the sloping terrain making a shot impossible from this distance.

Charlie was two steps behind him, running flat out in spite of her bare feet, while Logan and Easton kept the shooters busy.

Jamie locked his attention on Baker, his gaze glued to the back of that white tux jacket that stood out like a flag of surrender, and charged forward, weapon at the ready.

Time’s up, asshole.

Chapter Fifteen

Dean crashed through the tall grass at the edge of the field, the breath sawing in and out of his mouth as he ran. Nothing could have prepared him for what had just happened.

One minute he’d been savoring the demise of the two people who were responsible for sending him on the run, and the next, two men had burst out of one of the concrete trucks and opened fire on him and his men.

It didn’t matter now. As long as he got away.

His helicopter sat in the middle of the field, rotors turning, his pilot ready to whisk him away and out of range of fire.

He risked a glance behind him, his heart stuttering when he saw Jamie and Charlie chasing after him, armed with rifles. They were both covered in concrete, looking like gray ghosts coming to exact their revenge. Either one of them could easily have killed him from this distance, but that’s not what they wanted.

No, they wanted to capture him and hand him over to the feds so he could be interrogated and imprisoned.

He refused to let that happen.

Whirling, pistol in hand, he fired off three shots.

Jamie ducked but didn’t slow, just kept coming after him, and Charlie stayed right on his heels.

Dean fired three more times, then turned around and veered to the right, heading down a small incline in the terrain. A hot, searing pain bit into his left shoulder, an instant before the rifle’s report rang out. He yelled as the agony spread through him, fell to his knees and struggled up once more, determined to get to his chopper.

The field dipped, allowing him some measure of protection as he ran, the pain making him light-headed. Close now. All he had to do was make it another fifty yards.

He veered left, then left again, before turning right and zigzagging his way toward the aircraft, hoping it would make him too difficult a target for his pursuers.

Up ahead, the details of the helicopter became clear. The gold stripe along its side became distinct, along with the letters painted onto its deep red body.

Another shot rang out behind him.

He cringed, heard the whine of the bullet as it sizzled past him, a leap of terror stealing the breath from his lungs.

He couldn’t stop. Couldn’t risk slowing down or turning around to fire again, and he was almost out of bullets now. Might have one or two shots left, he wasn’t sure, and he needed to conserve them.

His legs were curiously numb, the pain in his left shoulder like fiery needles tearing into his flesh.Almost there. You can make it.

The pilot became distinct to him in the cockpit. He could see the man’s face clearly, and a measure of relief shot through him. Allan had been his private pilot for years, would get him out of here.

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