Page 73 of Wandering in Darkness
I want to get stabbed by something else, but I really feel like it might not be appropriate to tell him that.
“What if you shield my body for me?” I tease. Yes, yes, that sounds much more G-rated and a better choice.
“If I see you preparing to roll into a cactus, I’ll throw my body in front of it to save you.”
“Just the way I like it,” I say as I lie down in position while Audrey sets up behind me. Grayson technically doesn’t need tobe here, but they didn’t need him down there for the exchange, and this allows us to have more eyes from above in case something goes wrong.
He lies down near me so he doesn’t stand out before looking through his binoculars.
“Looks like they’ve reached the contact zone,” Grayson announces, and I shift my gun a bit to get a better look at the people coming to meet our three. Their vehicle isn’t far off the road, but a large hill blocks most of it from our view. Audrey is keeping a close eye on them as they come in while Grayson takes in a broader range of things, in case something goes wrong.
“They’re coming in. Are you all good?” Audrey asks me.
“Yes,” I assure her.
My gun is already fixated on them, my hand in position in case I have to pull the trigger, knowing there’d be absolutely no time to waste.
“Looks like three of them,” Audrey says.
Obviously, we can’t hear what they’re saying from here, but it requires very close judgment of their body language to tell exactly what their next move will be, and we can’t make a single mistake. I will stay on them, thankful that I have both Grayson and Audrey to help me watch so there’s less of a chance that I’ll mess any of this up.
“Audrey, do you see the second vehicle, two o’clock, ridge to the west?” Grayson asks.
“I don’t…”
I want to look, but I know that my job is to stay focused.
Grayson continues, “I can see the very edge of the vehicle behind the ridge there. It’s hidden… Are they just making sure things go okay? Are they here to protect their people in case it goes wrong, like we are… or is there something more to it?”
“What do I do?” I ask.
“Stay on target,” Audrey says, and even though part of me wants to see what Grayson says, I’m aware she’s my spotter and my focus should be on her. I can’t be receiving orders from two people and expect either to go well if I get mixed signals.
“Understood.”
But that doesn’t mean that I can’t be nosy.
“What are you seeing?” I ask.
“They have a sniper, but they’re only watching. They’re definitely closer than we are…”
“Which means they’d be out of my range,” I say, knowing the men I’m watching are already significantly farther than I feel comfortable with. This means that anything beyond them, including their sniper, would be damn near impossible for me to hit. I bet this is why they chose this location, knowing that the only vantage point within shooting distance would be one they’d claim. Yet here we are, placing me on a spot so far out that I’m not even sure I could make an accurate shot.
The three I’m focused on are moving toward our men. They’re greeting each other and are acting very familiar with our crew. Tensions don’t seem to have risen, and everyone seems extremely casual as they pop open the case holding a gun and show it off.
Eddie, who is running the show, is already off making friends with them, judging by the way his hands are flailing about while he tells some story or some other bullshit. Everyone is acting relaxed, but I can tell Grayson isn’t happy with events.
“I don’t like this,” Grayson says. He presses against the transmitter in his ear so he can convey the information to Devon. “Sniper at your two o’clock. Proceed with caution.”
Of course Devon can’t answer us, but hopefully he’s heard it and is being careful.
Devon sets out the money that will be exchanged for the gun as I watch every move of the men, just waiting for a single action that shows me something’s going wrong.
“Something’s not—” Grayson doesn’t even get the rest out before a shot is fired from the sniper. I can’t confirm his target because my attention can’t stray.
The man closest to Eddie pulls a gun out, and I pull the trigger without hesitation or guidance from Audrey. I know I have given my position away to the sniper, but I have to simply hope the sniper isn’t a phenomenal shot who can reach us from this far.
A second guy goes down from a shot from someone on our team while I shift my gun up and grab the bolt handle. I hear a shot near us, but the sniper is off by at least ten feet since the distance between us is so great. I know I need to take down the sniper before he takes another shot and leave the others to the three who are below.
