Page 55 of Unknown

"I'm going to shove you out of the car and let you bleed out on the grass,” he said. “I'm going to drive a few yards away and throw the grenade back at you to finish you off. You're going to die here, horribly. And I won't even need to blindfold you while I do it."

He glanced at the sack on the back seat behind her. He raised her gun. She heard a wailing sound from the road beyond, a sound that reminded her of emergency brakes being applied, but she didn’t have time to take it in, because all her focus was on that gun, and how she could possibly stop him from firing it.

And then, from behind him, the driver's door jerked open and a large hand grabbed Boris and yanked him backward.

Gabe. Cora felt astonished to see him. He had gotten here. With ferocious intent on his face, he wrenched Boris around, grabbing his gun hand as he hauled him back.

Boris cried out in pain and surprise, sprawling down onto the asphalt, and then Gabe’s giant foot stamped hard on his wrist.

Boris dropped the gun.

Gabe shoved it out of reach with his foot. Then, he kicked Boris in the head. And then, he knelt on his chest and yanked a cable tie around his wrists, so tightly that the narrow cord bit in hard.

Cora let out a massive breath of relief. Gabe had arrived. Her partner had seen the line she'd drawn in the sand and had come looking for her. And just in time, he'd found her.

Gabe produced another cable tie. Yanked that one around his ankles. Now, Boris was effectively trussed.

He peered into the car.

"Cora? You okay?" His voice was taut with concern. “I saw the line in the dirt. I followed it.”

She squirmed around and this time, finally, managed to unclip her belt.

"I’m glad you did. It got nasty here for a while," she admitted. "He had a grenade. Said he'd use it on me if I didn't do what he asked. So I had to go along with it for a while."

"Where's the grenade?" Gabe looked alarmed.

Cora shrugged. "Somewhere on the floor. I managed to kick it out of his hands."

Gabe's eyes widened. "With your own hands cuffed, and tied into the passenger seat? Of course you did."

Army issue cuffs. She had no idea where the keys were. Maybe somewhere in the cabin. Maybe they'd have to go all the way back to base and ask for the master key. But that wasn't important.

What was important was that they'd done it.

They'd caught this monster.

"You sure you're okay?" Gabe asked her. Now, a couple of other motorists were slowing down, putting their emergency lights on, climbing out and hurrying over.

"I'm as fine as a handcuffed girl can be," Cora promised him. Now, she wriggled through the car and got out and stood up, feeling the fresh air on her face, with Gabe's arm affectionately around her for a moment and the killer writhing angrily on the ground just a few feet away.

Weirdly, and despite the handcuffs and the residual stress of that life and death struggle, it felt like a perfect moment.

As Gabe made a call to 911, asking for police back-up on the scene, Cora stretched her handcuffed arms out in front of her and breathed a massive sigh of relief.

Trisha had gotten what she'd asked for. The recruits and young soldiers would be safe now, and Boris would spend his life in jail.

And now, as the next step, Cora was going to submit a full report, with Trisha’s cooperation if she'd give it.

Catching a killer wasn't enough, and as an ex-SEAL herself, she couldn't condone what was happening here. The entire environment at the base had allowed Boris to do what he did, and she promised herself firmly that there would be no more of it.

Changes were coming.

If new recruits came in, they might have a hard time, and have the occasional frightening experience, late at night. That was what Army life involved, and they needed to be able to handle the unexpected. But no more brutality, Cora promised herself. No more of an environment where bullies thrived and where killings were suppressed.

She hoped that when she looked back at the base records in a year's time, there'd be a few more dishonorable discharges.

And a better environment for those who remained.

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