Page 113 of Bulletproof Jack: Hunting Lee Child's Jack Reacher

The sedan driver honked the horn.

The gunman jumped and turned around. He fired his weapon into the windshield of the car. One, two, three rounds as the sedan failed to slow.

The sedan kept coming until the front bumper hit the shooter squarely with overwhelming speed and weight.

His body flew up in the air and landed on the sedan’s hood.

The gun flew out of his hand.

The sedan’s driver stomped the brakes hard and fast.

The body flew off the hood into the deep gorge, landing on the rushing waterfall and tumbling along with the water all the way to the bottom.

The sedan backed up again, reversing away from the retaining rail. The vehicle completed a sharp three-point turn and retreated away from the edge of the gorge.

A second man came running around the sedan on foot, shooting into the side of the vehicle repeatedly. He must have hit the sedan’s driver because the sedan finally stopped moving.

The second gunman ran past the sedan and slipped under the guard rail and ran flat out toward Liam Stuart.

The man running in the clearing near the west edge of the gorge had watched the sedan and the body, wide-eyed. Like he knew the dead gunman. And the second gunman who shot the sedan all to hell.

Which he probably did.

He shouted, “Stuart! Stop!”

Stuart ignored the orders, continuing to struggle with controlling the drone. He was loping up the hill now, toward the overlook, encouraging the drone to follow like a child leading a puppy.

Which seemed stupid until Kim realized Stuart’s effort was working.

Stuart had harnessed something about the drafts and the gusts and the drone’s controls to lift the drone out of the ravine and toward the overlook.

The second gunman was closer now. He waved his gun toward Stuart probably demanding that Stuart stop and retrieve the drone.

Stuart ignored him.

The second gunman pointed his pistol toward Stuart and yelled something else Kim couldn’t hear.

Stuart continued to ignore the threat.

The second gunman raised his gun to fire, aiming directly at Stuart.

Which was when the man below in the clearing, running alongside the western edge of the gorge, fired his weapon with accuracy and precision. He’d aimed at the second gunman.

Two shots, both solid hits.

The second gunman fell forward, momentum carrying him over the edge of the gorge.

Stuart lost control over the drone when it hit the down draft again. He stopped, furiously pounding the tablet, attempting to maneuver the drone up and away from danger.

This time, his efforts failed.

The drone became caught in the wind current again. Which pushed the drone down into the gorge.

Stuart sprinted the rest of the distance up the hill and ducked under the guard rails to stand at the overlook and make one last attempt to retrieve the drone. Nothing he tried seemed to reverse the drone this time.

A Range Rover rushed up next to him. Kim couldn’t see the driver.

The driver must have said something to Stuart to persuade him to give up his effort to retrieve the drone. He jumped into the Range Rover and the SUV sped away.

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