Page 56 of Hidden By the Convicts
“Incoming,” Harlis warned a moment later as he burst through the brush, completely out of breath. From the sweat-soaked shirt and the scratches across his face, it was clear he’d been running at top speed through the jungle.
Just as Gavin fastened his pants, Mozely appeared, also out of breath.
“Where is she?” the guard demanded.
“There’s no one here but Harlis and me.”
Mozely picked up Gavin’s shirt from the rocks. “You going for a swim?”
“I was hot. What’s the matter, Mozely, you never saw a man without a shirt before?”
“You all think I’m an idiot. Those harvesters didn’t fix themselves.”
“Bowen fixed them,” Harlis said.
“That’s what Satterley said. He wanted me to believe he taught Bowen the essentials of harvester repairs. But there’s no way Bowen could have fixed those machines. The parts I removed weren’t obvious.”
“You removed?” Gavin surged toward Mozely, then forced himself to keep his hands at his side. “You’re the reason he nearly didn’t make quota! You sabotaged him and then you threw him in the cage, you bastard.”
“I thought he’d break, give up the girl.”
“There is no girl!” Gavin shouted, clenching his fists at his side to keep from punching Mozely.
Harlis grabbed Gavin’s arm. “Let’s go. You have next shift.”
“I’m not done with you,” Mozely said.
“But I’m done with you.”
Just as Gavin turned to walk with Harlis, pain lanced across his head, but he never fell. Something had struck him, leaving him too dazed to defend himself. Mozely grabbed him from behind and shoved a knife against his throat.
“Leave him alone!” Harlis threatened.
Gavin wanted to tell Harlis to stay out of it, but he never got the chance as Mozely cut into his cheek just as Elkin fired a blaster at Harlis’s feet, sending chunks of rocks flying in all directions. Harlis slipped and nearly went over the edge into the poisonous water.
“I know you’re here, you bitch,” Mozely yelled out. “Surrender or one of these men will die.”
* * *
TEAGEN
From her hiding spot,she could see the horror taking place just twenty feet away. Mozely pistol-whipped Gavin, dazing him. The bastard couldn’t just leave him to fall to the ground, either. He pulled Gavin into a choke hold from behind as he pulled his knife.
Teagen clasped her hands over her mouth as Mozely sliced open Gavin’s cheek. Harlis moved toward Gavin until a guard shot the ground in front of him. The only warning he’d get.
Tears rolled down her cheeks as Mozely continued cutting Gavin. Teagen wanted to step out from the narrow crevice in the rocks and save Gavin, but too many memories of Mozely and the guards assaulting her kept her frozen in place. She couldn’t move, despite the need to save Gavin.
Harlis swung at one of the guards, and another punched him in the abdomen, and then slammed his foot down on Harlis’s chest.
“Let him go!” Harlis shouted out as he struggled beneath Elkin’s foot. “There’s no one else here!”
“Five seconds, bitch, or I’m going to cut him so deep his head will roll into the water.”
Her guys, her sweet protective guys, didn’t want her to give herself up. She knew that, but she couldn’t let Mozely kill Gavin or Harlis.
“That’s enough, Dan,” Elkin said. “You’re going to kill him if you keep cutting.”
The coppery scent of blood filled the air. Mozely was crazy; he didn’t care if he killed Gavin.
