Page 32 of Zero Visibility

Rage rose inside of Ben. No matter what the circumstances, you didn’t betray the people who had your back.

Several armed men approached. They couldn’t be taken prisoner.

“They’ll kill you once you’re no longer of any use to them.” Ben whirled on the advancing men and opened fire while Peter and Will did the same. Two men dropped to the ground without moving. The remaining two men dove behind their vehicle.

“Shoot her and them,” one of the men yelled at Tegan. “Do it or we’ll kill you, too.”

While Peter and Will covered him, Ben advanced on Tegan with his gun pointed at his friend. “Let her go. We can help you.”

“Shoot them or you’re dead along with your brother,” the same man yelled.

“It’s too late. Look what I’ve done.” Tegan’s hand shook. Ben’s gaze latched onto his wife’s terror. One false move and she’d be dead. He couldn’t let that happen. Couldn’t lose her.

“Tegan, you don’t have to do this. Let us help. Please, don’t take her from me. Don’t take my child,” Ben begged the man he thought was a friend while Jen’s eyes clung to his.

“We have backup on the way here now,” a second man yelled from behind the vehicle and fired off several shots.

Everyone ducked. Ben did his best to shield Jen while several rounds flew past him. “It’s only a matter of time before they arrive. It’s over for you. Put down your weapons and get your hands in the air.” The second man tried another tactic. “We’ll see to it that you’re all treated fairly.” More lies spun by Legion’s minions.

“Tegan, we’re running out of time.” Ben did his best to keep his voice level. “Let me help you. We can find your brother before he’s no longer of any use to Legion. They’ll kill him, like they will you. You know I’m telling the truth.”

Seconds slipped by like hours while Tegan kept the gun on Jen. Ben held out his hand. “Give me the gun, Tegan.”

With a wounded cry of an animal, Tegan finally lowered the weapon. Jen closed her eyes and breathed out a breath. Tegan let her go and she slumped to the snowy ground.

Ben flew to her side and helped her to her feet. All he could think about was how close to dying she’d come. “Are you okay?” His worried eyes searched her face.

She seemed incapable of speaking, so she nodded.

“Go back to the SUV and get down low.” Ben gave her a gentle push in the direction of the vehicle before he faced the man who had betrayed more than just their team. He’d betrayed their friendship. An angry flush crept up Ben’s neck as he resisted the urge to slug Tegan. He had to keep his head about him. They needed to escape before more of Legion’s goons arrived.

“I’m so sorry,” Tegan blurted out with tears rolling down his face. “They told me they had Andrew, and I couldn’t reach him, so I believed them.”

“We’ll deal with this later,” Ben said through bared teeth. “Right now, we need to disarm those men and get moving, because if they’re telling the truth, then it’s only a matter of time before more men come after us.”

Tegan nodded eagerly. “Anything. I’ll do anything to make up for what I’ve done.”

Ben struggled to control his anger. “On my signal.” He counted down to one and all four men moved into the open.

Legion’s two remaining men leapt from the cover and returned fire, forcing Ben and his team to duck.

Ben fired from beneath the vehicle. One of the men yelped as the bullet splintered his ankle. The second man took off running toward the woods opposite the road.

“Get your hands in the air,” Ben ordered. The man froze and slowly placed his weapon on the ground, then raised his hands.

Ben covered the space between them and patted the man down. Once he was satisfied he had no other weapons, he grabbed the man’s arm and led him back to his vehicle where Peter and Will had the second man cuffed while Tegan stood staring at his hands.

“What do you want to do with them?” Will asked.

“Cuff this guy and put him in the backseat with his buddy. Destroy their phones. We don’t want them calling anyone should they get free.”

Ben went to the driver’s side and removed the keys.

“You can’t leave us here,” the man who was shot said.

“I’m not. You said yourself your men were coming after you. You should be warm enough for the time being until they get here.”

Taking the keys with him, Ben went over to Tegan. “I want your weapon, too.”

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