Page 43 of Master of Lies

Something inside was touched off by the guy’s taunting threat.

Fuck this guy. If I had to die, it wouldn’t be by having my body parts shot off.

I twisted, jerking my head around. Sank my teeth into his thick, sinewy wrist, and dropped. Dead weight.

Boom, the gun went off. Jed made some swift gesture I barely saw, but my captor jerked sharply, let out a high-pitched, grunt, and stumbled down the slope, dragging me toward the edge…

“No!” Jed ran toward us, reaching for me. Our eyes met, in that strange, suspended moment. Gravity had already won, but my body hadn’t gotten the memo yet.

That moment ended, time started back up. We pitched over the edge, headlong.

But not where Jed had stashed me. Here, the slope was extremely steep, but not completely sheer. I just bounced rolled helplessly down, unable to stop.

I hit the first tree. Slim, flexible branches ripped swiftly through my hands, shredding them. Gone too fast. I hit another, hung on harder, but the masked man was grabbing my leg, and I lost that one, too. Tried for the next. Snagged it. Hung on…

But the clutching guy’s weight, plus my weight was too much. This tree’s wide, shallow root system was ripping loose. My shoulder joints screamed with the strain.

That grotesque white mask glared up at me, and I saw it.

That knife, sticking out of his shoulder. Jed had thrown a knife at him. That was what made the guy scream and stumble.

I howled with effort as I jerked my leg free of his grip, then lifted my boot and stomped down hard on the knife handle. He screamed, bloodshot eyes rolling madly in their sockets…and released his grip, sliding and bumping farther down the slope.

Bam. Bam. There had been shooting before, but I’d been too busy to notice.

I looked up, saw muzzle flashes. Jed’s intent face. He was returning fire. The rock next to my head exploded in splinters, peppering my cheek.

Jed disappeared, ducking behind a rock.Bam, bam, bam, bam.

It seemed to go on forever. Then, suddenly, it stopped. I peered up, hoping desperately to see Jed. I glanced down at the masked man, and caught sight of him as he disappeared into the tree canopy far below. It was like having a venomous spider run behind the couch. Worse, when you couldn’t see where it went.

The tree root came loose, and I was sliding again, helplessly…and then I hit a narrow, stony ledge with my shoulder—

And everything went black.

CHAPTER17

Jed

Worst case scenario. I had Boer in my grasp—but I couldn’t chase him, because Sandee was lying down there, motionless. She could die of exposure, or fall off the narrow shelf of rock where her still body was perched. She could have a concussion, broken bones, bullet wounds, any fucking thing my brain could dream up.

So I had to rescue her while the sniper from hell across the canyon took potshots at me. Fuckinggreat.

I peered down the waving treetops, looking for Boer, but he was lost to sight. Sandee still lay on the ledge. The sniper seemed to be taking a break. I hoped to God I’d killed the sonofabitch. Or at least wounded him long enough to crawl down the cliff and haul that pain-in-the-ass woman back from certain death. Though she’d fling herself back in harm’s way again at the first opportunity. I could be pretty fucking sure of that.

Sandee still wasn’t moving. Sandee, Freya, whoever. I couldn’t think of her as Freya right now. It rattled me. I couldn’t afford to be rattled. I had to keep it simple.

I had to go down for her on the rope. Which made me a target, if the sniper started shooting again. No way to do evasive maneuvers. No way to dive for cover. No way to return fire. Worst-case scenario.

Fuck it. That was just how I rolled these days.

I fashioned a loop at the end of the rope, hoping it was long enough. And that Sandee had enough wits left to help me when I got down there.

I launched myself off the edge and rappelled swiftly down the cliff face, hand over hand. The rope was just barely long enough to reach her. Small mercies.

I grabbed her shoulder, shaking it gently. “Sandee. Sandee? Hey.”

She made a soft sound and slowly lifted her head. There was blood in her bleached blonde hair. The wound looked nasty and painful, but as far as I could see, everything important was still inside her skull. Just a bloody mess on the outside.

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