Page 116 of Shadow Sabotage
He grinned as he took it from me. “I didn’t think you were the type to carry a mirror into the wilderness.”
“It’s a cheap, easy way to signal a helicopter,” I said, returning his grin. “Use it on a clear day and it can be seen ten miles away.”
“I like you, Claire Hawkins.” His eyes twinkled with pure affection.
I shot him a wink, even though my heart squeezed with sadness. “It’s too bad I can’t stand you.”
He smirked, then used the mirror to look around the boulder. “He’s standing,” he whispered. “Looks like he’s on his cell phone, distracted…”
I could tell he was weighing something. Alarm went through me.
Then that grim determination came back on his face, and I could read his thoughts as easily as he could always read mine.
No.
I gripped his arm. Made him look at me. “What was option two?”
But I already knew what he was thinking.
He gave me a final look, one that was full of affection, regret, and longing. Then he placed his lips back on mine, gently this time.
He was kissing me goodbye.
When he pulled away, I grabbed his face and tried to pull him back to me.
But he took my hands in his, looking deep into my eyes. “You’re going to run, Claire. Leave your pack. Go sideways—out of his line of sight—while I have him distracted. Use your hands, crawl, do whatever you need to do. But get yourself safe. Don’t come back for me, okay? No matter what.”
“No, Vance.” I shook my head, lips trembling. “We’re partners. We get out of here together. You’re not going to sacrifice yourself for me.”
He brushed his thumb across my lips. “You sacrifice yourself for everyone else all the time. It’s my turn to do the same for you.”
“Vance—” My voice broke into a sob as tears flowed down my cheeks.
But he pulled away, took one more look with the mirror, then shoved it into my hands. With a sad smile, he winked, then pulled his service weapon and stepped out from the boulder.
I lunged after him, but he was too quick. Before I could stop him, he scrambled up the hillside toward the man who was waiting to kill him.
I bit back my cry and hid behind the boulder. My heart raced and throbbed at the same time, from fear and pain that threatened to overwhelm me.
No.
It wasn’t going to end like this.
I took a deep breath, steadying myself. Then I thrust the mirror out to get a look at what was happening.
Vance had made it halfway up the hillside, going faster than anyone should on the unstable rocks. At the noise, Trey spun around, dropped his phone, and reached for his rifle. In a horrifying moment that seemed to move in slow motion, he aimed at Vance and moved his finger to the trigger.
But Vance was faster. He pointed his pistol and fired, nailing Trey’s left shoulder without breaking stride.
Trey jerked back.
Vance kept charging.
And I moved.
I pulled my own weapon and ducked out from the other side of the boulder, ignoring Vance’s instructions to go sideways. I went straight up, parallel to the path Vance had taken. The terrain was even more unforgiving, with gravel that sent me falling to my knees. But I grabbed onto the branches of a desert shrub that jutted out from the rocky surface and hauled myself to my feet again, forcing myself to move.
Vance had almost made it to the top. But as his hands gripped the flat ground at the surface, a swift kick to the face sent him careening backward.
