Page 1 of Montana Manhunt

CHAPTER ONE

VIOLET TREVELYAN RACEDthrough the Lacandon jungle toward her teammate’s last known position. She hopped over a fallen tree, then twenty feet ahead bent to avoid the low-hanging branch of a massive Ceiba tree. Deftly avoiding the sprawling roots, she pressed ahead faster.

How bad was the injury? She had little time to patch up the principal. Cartel members were scouring the jungle in search of their prize hostage. Soon, one of them would stumble across Teagan, her Artemis teammate, and Taylor.

Violet pushed herself faster, wishing the tropical rainforest wasn’t so thick overhead, blocking most of the moonlight.

Sweat ran down her hairline in rivulets as she sprinted the final few hundred feet. Violet burst into a small clearing.

Riley and Rayne, two more of her Artemis teammates, stood near Teagan and Taylor Hunt, their principal. Sprawled on the ground, Taylor gritted her teeth as Teagan pressed her hands against the other woman’s side.

“What do we have?” Violet slid the mike bag off her shoulder and dropped to her knees beside the injured woman.

“A bullet wound, through and through.” Teagan lifted her hands for Violet to see the injury.

Violet ripped open a packet of alcohol wipes and cleaned around the site of the wound. She scowled. “Help me roll Taylor to her side. Taylor, don’t move a muscle. Let us do the work, all right?”

The other woman nodded.

Once Taylor lay on her side, Violet examined the wound on her back.

Iona, Artemis’ team leader, raced into the clearing. “Violet, you have five minutes, max. Make them count.”

“Copy that.” Without another option available, Violet grabbed two packets of QuikClot gauze and a bottle of saline wound wash. “Taylor, I don’t have time to be gentle, and you can’t make a sound.”

“Go for it. I don’t want to end up back in the cartel’s hands.”

Taking the woman at her word, Violet forced saline through the wound, ignoring the soft moans and hisses from Taylor. Once she irrigated the wound, she ripped open a package of QuikClot and pressed the treated gauze to each side of the wound. “Teagan, put pressure on her back wound. I’ll do the front.” Hopefully, the QuikClot would do the trick in the next couple of minutes. If not, she’d have to improvise on the run.

“Three minutes,” Iona murmured.

At the two-minute mark, Violet applied a pressure bandage to each side of the wound. She gathered the medical detritus scattered on the ground and shoved everything into a container in her mike bag. “Help me get Taylor to her feet.” With Teagan’s aid, Violet hoisted their principal from the ground. Seconds later, Taylor stood between them, pale but mobile. “Ready,” Violet murmured to Iona.

“Let’s roll.”

“What about Echo?” The five former detectives who were members of Echo unit were their partners on this mission into a hot zone in Mexico. Based on the gunshots peppering the jungle sporadically, the operatives were still engaged with the enemy.

“Heading this way. We need as much distance between Taylor and the enemy as possible. If Taylor gives out, Echo will carry her.”

Teagan and Violet each draped one of Taylor’s arms across their shoulders and took much of the injured woman’s weight as they propelled Taylor into motion.

To her credit, their principal didn’t complain, although Violet knew she was in pain from the gunshot wound and weak from blood loss. Both were taking a toll on the woman. As game as she was to continue the grueling pace Artemis set, Taylor was already slowing down.

“I’m sorry,” Taylor said, panting. “I know I’m too slow.”

“Just keep moving,” Teagan said. “One foot in front of the other. Block everything else out.”

“Right,” she huffed. “So, I should ignore the gunfire moving closer by the second?”

“That’s our teammates.” Violet squeezed Taylor’s hand, praying her statement was accurate.

She and Teagan carried Taylor another 400 yards before the other woman’s legs gave out and she sagged.

Taylor gave a soft moan. “I need a quick break.”

Violet glanced at Iona, who shook her head. “We can’t stop. Do what you can. We’ll handle the rest.”

She and Teagan continued to carry Taylor. Violet scanned the area, feeling as though the enemy breathed down their necks. Her skin prickled as her trouble radar warned of danger creeping closer.

---