Page 81 of Red Hunt

My brain lagged, but that was not the white van I was expecting. It was a truck. A familiar truck. I just couldn’t exactly pinpoint why it was familiar.

I shrugged, then scrambled back to my feet. No time to think about unimportant things. I walked a few steps, then fell into a run.Move it, Mills. Put as much distance between those guys and yourself.

I had never been as happy about anything as I was about the darkness surrounding me. It was as much a cover as it was a hindrance to them finding me.

I ran in silence for a while, now and then looking up at the stars, thanking the universe for my escape. The road took a turn, and I heard traffic and saw headlights passing by—probably a highway or something.

I still didn’t know where they’d brought me. I probably should’ve kept my face to the windows in the van. At least then I would know where I was and which way would lead back home.

Operative words: should have.

Milli Patterson: survival skills—zero.

I snorted. Well, I was still here, wasn’t I? So how bad was I really at this stuff?

55

MAX

When the small house came into sight, George killed the engine, and we rolled up to it.

“No movement,” Lucas said and flipped the switch so the interior light wouldn’t come on once we opened the doors.

I squeezed my eyes to focus away from the entrance—the only bright point except for two windows—and toward the surroundings. It was the end of the road. There was no garage or place next to the main house, but the white van wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

Shit.

“Door’s open,” George said, and Lucas nodded.

“Let’s go explore,” I said and fist-bumped Lucas and George, and all three of us slipped out of the truck with as little sound as possible.

We moved along the side of the house as a unit, ducking under the window before looking inside. No movement. I shook my head, and we moved forward. Once we reached the door, we waited and listened carefully. There was a groan coming from somewhere right in front of the door. Lucas and I nodded. No other movement, only groaning. Nobody was expecting us, so chances were, this wasn’t a trap. We breached the door by pushing it all the way open, then I ducked my head inside for a second.

“Nobody is shooting at us, so that’s a good sign, but there’s a guy on the floor—looks like he’s in some kind of pain.”

“Let’s enter. George and I will clear the rest of the building. You take care of the guy.”

George and I nodded, then we went inside. The other two searched the rooms, while I took a knee and patted down the guy. He had no weapons, and I didn’t see any wounds or any other evidence of violence. But the guy was holding his crotch while his wheezing breaths sawed in and out of his throat.

“All clear. There are two rooms with women’s clothes. Both empty,” Lucas said when they came back into the room, and he immediately took guard position at the door.

“What’s with him?” George asked and nodded at the guy on the floor.

“I can’t say for sure, but by the position of his hands, I guess he got one in the Crown Jewels, and by the way his breathing is labored, possibly some tracheal trauma, as well.”

George looked at me as if I was speaking Chinese.

“A hit to the throat.”

George nodded.

“Looks like typical self-defense moves to me.” Lucas grinned, and for the first time since Milli had disappeared in that van, I had the feeling I could breathe again.

Go, Milli.

“Let’s get a new read on her position,” George said, and I nodded.

I stepped outside. “Carter, this is Max. The house is empty except for one middle-aged male, incapacitated through trauma to the testicles and throat. He probably needs an ambulance. Can we get a new read on Milli’s position?”

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