Page 74 of Wandering in Darkness
“Two o’clock, ridge. See the red rock at the tip, to the left the sniper is tucked between the jagged peaks that are narrowing,” Grayson says hurriedly.
“Contact,” I respond, gun ready.
Audrey quickly calls out the wind and I adjust accordingly before taking the longest shot I’ve ever even tried. I’m already prepared to shoot a second time before it even hits because I’m well aware I’m not going to make this shot on my first try. Hell, probably not even on my second, but maybe he’ll draw back if I get close enough.
“Contact,” Audrey says, and I watch the man’s head snap back as he hits down on his back.
Unable to even hesitate, no matter how surprised I am, I shift back to the others, but the three men are all down. Even so, I don’t dare look away. I can’t drop my focus until I’m positive that no one is hiding and waiting for a moment of distraction.
“Sniper is down. Status?” Grayson asks Devon.
I can’t hear what they’re saying but I have my weapon ready.
I watch as Eddie drags Tate back while Devon runs out into the open where he grabs the gun and the money then hurriedly darts after them.
Once I’m positive there’s no one else out here, I let myself draw back and discover that my heart is beating out of my chest. It was calm and steady while I took my shots, but now that I’m moving, I realize how much adrenaline is pumping through my body.
“Move,” Grayson says as he puts a hand on my back and gives me a gentle push toward the truck. “Quickly.”
We rush to the vehicle, but the others beat us there. Someone’s already thrown the dog into the back of the truck as we slide into our seats. As I reach for my seat belt, I see blood smeared across the seat.
“Tate, did you get shot?” I ask anxiously.
“I’m fine. Just grazed my arm but nothing serious,” he assures me.
“That lucky coin of yours didn’t save your ass?” Eddie asks.
“Hey! It would have been a whole hell of a lot more serious if it hadn’t been for Cal. I’m confident we wouldn’t have had a full truck leaving this place if it wasn’t for him.”
While what he says makes me feel good, it also makes me feel anxious. It’s like there’s so much riding on me to do well. And if I fuck up, I could lose these people who mean so much to me.
“What the fuck was that?” Eddie asks. “Why did they shoot? This was supposed to be easy.”
“Well… I mean… Cal made it easy,” Devon responds, clearly not as freaked out about it as the rest of us are.
“It’s not a joke,” Eddie says, serious for once in his life. “What the fuck went wrong? Why did they shoot? Has our identity been exposed?”
“No, no, I’m sure it’s fine,” Devon assures him. “They just wanted to fuck us over so they could keep the weapon and take the money. It was either greed or someone who was trigger-happy and fucked it up for the rest of them, and they aren’t going to live to regret it.”
“That was a damn good shot, Cal,” Eddie says.
“Thank you,” I manage, heart still running absolutely wild.
“And he didn’t think he’d make a significantly closer one,” Audrey says.
They’re all cheering over it, and I’ve plastered a smile on my face while they laugh and guess the distance of the shot. But Grayson, noticing I’m a bit off, reaches over and squeezes my leg. “You okay?”
I give him a nod, even though I feel a bit jittery. “Yeah, of course.”
He watches me for a moment, like he can read my thoughts even though I’m doing my best to pretend to be as jovial as the rest of them. They don’t let up, either. They spend the entire drive to the hospital talking about what could have happened. Eddie starts claiming he could have made that shot while Audrey reminds him how bad he is with a rifle. Then Eddie changes his tune to claiming that he could have single-handedly taken them all down even if I hadn’t been there.
We all know he’s giving us shit just to rile us up, but everyone falls for it and gives him shit right back.
Once at the hospital, Tate is taken inside to get stitched up, and Grayson pulls the dog out of the back of the truck.
“What are you doing with him?” I ask. “Especially looking like that.”
“I’m going to see if a vet clinic will take care of him and then hire someone to ship him to me or something. Who fucking knows,” Grayson says. “You want to walk with me?”
