Page 9 of Going Rogue
Balling his palm into a fist as if he could sear her touch into his skin, he watched her disappear and prayed he wouldn’t live to regret his decision to let her out of his sight.
CHAPTER 4
Rogue
Rogue had nearly reached the escape vehicle when explosions started popping off in a beautiful symphony of fire and destruction. She’d lit her last fertilizer bomb, but the blasts rising in a swelling crescendo across the compound came from Crane’s handiwork, too. Militants scattered as their world descended into chaos.
It was glorious.
“Let’s blow this shithole.”
Her finger spasmed over the trigger of her weapon as Crane materialized next to her. She had completely missed his approach, which changed her glee over flattening this place into a scowl at being caught unawares.
“Let’s. But I’m driving.”
He had the nerve to tap her on the nose. “Nice try, squirrel, but this baby’s mine.”
While she stewed over the gesture and the odd—not so annoyed—reaction in her core, he beat her to the driver’s side door.
Climbing into the passenger seat of the beat-up Toyota truck, Rogue wasn’t about to accept defeat gracefully. She checked her gun before pointedly saying, “It’s probably for the best. They might follow, and I’m the better shot.”
She caught his snort of disbelief before he cranked the engine. Or rather,triedto crank the engine. They’d chosen this truck because of its proximity to the gate and the fact the keys had been conveniently left inside.
Now we know why.
As if he could will it to life, Crane kept trying. The vehicle responded with hopeless clicking.
She rolled her eyes and tugged at his arm. “Stop. The battery’s dead.”
When he turned to look at her, his pupils were wild with something that looked suspiciously close to panic before hegrowled, “It can’t be. We blew everything else up.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. Wow, the big guy was wigging out on her.
“Plan B, remember?” She flashed a grin, hoping to calm him down. Then she shoved him toward the door. “Let’s go.”
He gave a sharp nod, but his mouth still sat in a grim line. Ignoring it, she jumped out of the truck and ran toward the military Humvee they’d tagged earlier as their backup plan.
They’d left it because to really disable it would have taken more than the explosive power they had with their need to spread the fertilizer bombs around. Plus, the thing looked like it was on its last leg.
The desert paint job had flecked off in places, revealing the dull metal underneath, but it still sported a roof-mounted machine gun. If she had to guess, it had been an old U.S. Army Humvee, probably commandeered after Desert Storm.
This one had four-doors, and she headed for the front passenger side. She’d never driven a Humvee but knew Crane had duringhis days as a Marine. Before they’d started this op, he’d mentioned the tour he’d done in Iraq and how much he’d prefer not to return to the country.
She understood the sentiment. After the trip she’d had so far, she never wanted to come back.
The door opened with a howling squeak, making her wince. Even with their fertilizer bombs still exploding and the roar of the fires they’d caused, the noise seemed to echo like a sonar beam straight to their location.
“Hurry!” she hissed as Crane took stock of the dash. When the engine turned over, she demanded, “Can you drive this thing or what?”
Finally, his grin came back. It did strange things to her insides as he said, “Hold on,” and hit the gas.
The ancient vehicle lurched forward, and she loosed a breath in relief. She’d spent more than enough time on this compound and wanted to put it in the rearview mirror.Like yesterday.
The exit gate loomed closer as they sped over the dry desert earth. Dust cloudssignaled their movement, and it wouldn’t be long before someone noticed, even in the dark. Swallowing down the ball of fear in her throat, Rogue focused on their egress route.
They would have to crash through the front gate, and she prayed the lock on it wouldn’t hold. It didn’t looktoosturdy. The whole thing consisted of chain-link fencing bounded by metal supports that met in two squares on either side of the opening. The support bars extended about a foot above the main gate with coiled barbed wire wrapping the top. Which was great if you wanted to keep people from climbing it on foot, but it wouldn’t do a damned thing to the Humvee—she hoped.
About to tell Crane to step on it to be sure, ominous pings lit up her side of the vehicle. Glancing out the dusty window, Rogue made out a militant firing on them. “Damn it! They’ve seen us.”
