Page 33 of Jason Bourne
I nodded once. “Forest, Rush—cover left. Nate, Fraiser—take the right flank. Jason, you’re with me.”
They peeled away like shadows. My pulse pounded so loud I swore the whole mountain could hear it.
We crept closer, weapons drawn. Jason bent, checked the lock. “Fresh. Put on within the hour.”
Which meant she was inside. Alive.
I signaled three…two…one—
Jason ripped the lock, booted the door open, and I went in first.
The smell hit me first—sweat, mildew, fear. Then the sight. Marcie, bound to a chair, eyes wide, a gag cutting across her bruised face.
“Clear!” I shouted, rushing to her side.
Jason cut her bonds with one swipe of his knife. She fell forward into my arms, shaking like a leaf.
“You’re safe now,” I whispered, pulling the gag free.
But before relief could set in, Forest’s voice thundered from outside. “Lane! Tripwire!”
The shed shuddered with a deafening crack as something detonated at the far wall. Dust and splinters rained down. Jason shielded Marcie and me with his body, the blast rocking the floorboards.
“Booby-trapped,” he hissed, hauling us both up. “We move—now!”
We sprinted out into the night just as a second charge went off, fire lighting up the creek bed behind us. Nate and Fraiser fired back into the treeline—more shadows moving, more gunmen closing in.
Rush yelled over the chaos, “They want her back!”
I shoved Marcie behind me, leveling my Glock with both hands. “Over my dead body.”
Jason’s eyes cut to mine, fierce and unyielding. “Not tonight.”
And then the firefight exploded around us.
37
Lane
Gunfire tore through the trees, ripping bark and lighting the night with muzzle flashes.
“Contact left!” Nate shouted, firing controlled bursts.
Jason shoved Marcie into Forest’s arms. “Get her out!”
“I’ve got her,” Forest barked, pulling her low and moving fast toward the ridge.
Another round cracked past my ear. I dropped, returned fire, and saw a shadow crumple into the brush. My heart hammered, but my hands were steady.
Rush slid in beside me, grinning like a wolf. “You always fight this mean, deputy?”
“Only when I’m pissed.”
“Good. Keep it up.” He popped up, fired, and dropped back down. “Two down.”
Jason moved like liquid death through the chaos, every shot precise, every step calculated. Fraiser covered his flank, while Nate kept the rest pinned from the ridge line.
A round smacked into the ground inches from my knee. I rolled, sighted, and dropped the shooter before he could realign.Adrenaline surged through me, sharp and hot. I wasn’t just surviving—I wasin it.
