Page 2 of Montana Manhunt

Five minutes later, a deep male voice came through the comm devices nestled in the ears of Artemis members. “Echo One to Artemis. We’re one minute behind you. Don’t shoot us or gut us with your fancy knives.”

Iona snorted. “As long as you don’t sound like a herd of elephants like the cartel soldiers, you’ll be fine.”

Seth, Echo’s leader, chuckled. “Thirty seconds.”

Soon, five men emerged from the shadows of the Ceiba trees.

“Need a hand?” Noah Mann asked Violet.

She nodded. “She has a through-and-through gunshot wound to the right side. Although I’ve patched her up for now, Taylor needs a smooth ride.”

“Got it.” Noah smiled at Taylor. “Need a lift, Taylor?”

“I wouldn’t say no.”

Teagan stepped aside, and Noah scooped Taylor into his arms. “I don’t know about you, ma’am, but I’m tired of this humid jungle.”

“Right there with you,” she huffed out.

With Taylor in Noah’s arms, the teams picked up their pace. Violet and her teammates surrounded Noah and Taylor. Seth Dixon and Elias Knight led the way, with Andre Marsh and Grant Bowen bringing up the rear.

Fifteen minutes into their run, Seth held up a fist. He glanced at Marsh and Bowen, pointing to the right. The two men merged into the shadows and disappeared from view.

Noah carried Taylor into the deep shadows of a clump of trees to their left and waited for his colleagues to return.

Violet checked the bandages on Taylor’s torso, pleased to see the bleeding had stopped. Now, if the Fortress Security operatives could make it to the vehicles and then to the airfield soon, Taylor had a good chance to survive.

Yards away, a man’s shout cut off abruptly. Seconds later, bushes rustled as someone ran through the brush, heading toward where the operatives waited for Marsh and Bowen.

Violet and Teagan stepped in front of Taylor and Noah. Both women drew knives and waited.

A dark-haired man raced into view, the scowl on his face deepening when he saw the operatives. He opened his mouth to alert his fellow cartel members. Teagan’s knife sank into the cartel soldier’s throat. Violet’s knife drove deep into the man’s heart. The soldier dropped to the jungle floor, unmoving.

Marsh and Bowen emerged from the trees. Marsh’s eyebrows rose. “That makes six men on our tail.”

Taylor’s eyes widened.

“Let’s move,” Iona said.

Seth signaled for Knight to join him, and the two men took point. The rest of them fell into formation, with Noah and Taylor in the middle.

Twice more, the operatives paused their journey to take out more enemy soldiers. After two more miles covered on the run, Seth held up his fist. He and Knight melted into the shadows to check the SUVs before the rest of the group brought Taylor from cover.

The men returned two minutes later. “We’re clear,” Seth said. “We need to go. My skin is crawling.”

“Ditto,” Bowen muttered. The rest of his teammates exchanged grim glances.

Not good. If Echo’s members felt danger nipping at their heals, you could count on trouble finding them sooner rather than later.

“You heard them,” Iona said. “Let’s move.”

The operatives covered the last few hundred yards on the double with Noah in the middle holding Taylor, Violet by his side.

Noah laid Taylor gently on the backseat of a large SUV and stepped back to allow Violet to climb in with her patient. Soon, the operatives drove three SUVs from the cover of the trees, with members of both teams split between the vehicles.

Seth drove the middle SUV with Teagan riding shotgun and Noah in the cargo area, watching behind them for trouble.

Violet squeezed Taylor’s hand. “Hang in there. We’ll be at the airstrip soon.”

---