Chosen (17 page)

Will ignored her and pulled her toward the trees behind them. She continued to fight and he wrapped his arms around hers. “Emma, you don’t have a gun. We’ve got to take cover,” He grunted in her ear. He pulled her behind a thick pine tree and hid behind one close to her. Her tears mixed with the blood that ran down her cheek. Her face was so pale he worried she would faint.

From behind the tree, Will saw a black SUV at the rear of the truck. Two men dressed in jeans and black tshirts walked toward the truck carrying rifles in their hands.

“I need to change positions and get a better angle. Stay there.” He darted to the tree next to him to get closer to the back of the truck, then glanced back at Emma. She leaned around the tree, crouching, on the verge of running up the hill. “Emma! Don’t do anything stupid!”

She looked up at him, her eyes crazed with fear, and in that instant he knew she would do anything to get to Jake. Emma bolted for the hill just as Will ran to intercept her. She made it to the opening of the clearing when he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back to the safety of the trees.

She flailed in panic, hitting and scratching his arm, “Let go of me!” The words escaped in a high-pitched shrill.

Thunder roared. The air felt ripe with electricity.

He heard two more shots. The men had seen Emma in the clearing and now shot into the woods. The SUV had pulled to the front of the truck and sat idling. Its brake lights glowed in the dusk created by the storm. The men had also moved to the front giving Will better aim.

Emma began to kick Will’s legs in protest and he tightened his arm around her waist. “Emma, if you run up that hill they will
kill
you,” he growled in her ear. “You won’t be able to save Jake.
Let me do this
.”

She stopped struggling; her breath came in short bursts. “Oh, God, Will, please.” She twisted around in his arm to face him, pleading. The desperation on her face tightened a vise squeezing his heart, catching his breath in his throat. “
Please
save him. I’m
begging
you.” Her legs buckled and she sank into his chest, sobbing.

He closed his eyes for a moment, holding her close, wishing it would all go away. But he knew it wouldn’t. It never did. He pulled her away from him and cupped her cheek in his hand. “I’m going to save him. But you have to stay hidden. Promise me.”

She nodded, her body shaking from fear. He looked down at her tear-stained face and to his amazement realized he wasn’t doing this because of his job, he was doing this for her. He finally believed in something other than himself. Without thinking, he leaned down and kissed her, a quick kiss offering her comfort, what little he had to give.

Will placed Emma behind another tree. “Stay here, okay?”

She nodded.

A slow, steady roll of thunder filled the woods, the rumble constant and building. The smell of rain hung heavy, clinging with the scent of pine and the decay of the forest floor.

He darted to a tree closer to the front end of the truck and gripped the rifle handle, his hand still wet with Emma’s tears. Two men stood in front of the truck. Their posture told him they didn’t consider him a threat. He realized they didn’t know he had a gun. He needed to use that to his advantage. One of them pointed into the woods, and the other turned back to the SUV, shouting orders, but they were lost in the wind. Will suspected the gunmen were planning to come after them. He raised his gun and took careful aim at the man who had pointed. His finger squeezed the trigger and the man fell limp to the pavement. The other man watched his friend collapse, and before he fell with Will’s next shot, he threw a small round object toward the truck. The tires of the SUV squealed as it pulled away.

Will tensed. Deja vu washed over him and he froze, reliving long-suppressed nightmares. Dread crept up his spine and nestled at the base of his neck. He’d lived this experience before. He knew what to expect.

“Jake!” he cried out in horror.

The sound of the explosion burst through the air with a deafening roar. The force of the blast knocked Will to the ground, hitting his back on a tree on the way down. He pushed himself up to his knees and searched for Emma. She was sprawled on the ground several feet from the tree but was already scrambling to her feet. They spun toward the road.

A fireball of flames engulfed the truck. The heat of the blaze scorched Will’s face and his breath stuck in his chest. Flaming embers rained down the hill, minute pieces falling through the tree canopy.

Emma dropped to her knees. “
Noooo!
” She wailed. “
Nooo! JAAKE!
The wind carried her screams into the forest and they echoed off the trees. She fell, burying her face into the forest floor. Will crawled to her and lay across her back. His touch jolted her and she shook him off. She pushed herself to her feet and rushed to the hill.

Thunder boomed as rain spilled from the sky, sizzling as it hit the flames.

Will caught her and pulled her back to the edge of the forest. The heat of the fire burned his exposed flesh yet the raindrops instantly soothed the pain. “Emma, it’s too late,” he whispered in her ear. She tried to fight him, but he was stronger.

“Jake!” she screamed.

“Emma, he’s gone.”

“No,” she moaned as she twisted to face him, shaking her head. Her eyes were wide in horror, dark orbs sunken into her deathly pale face. “No, no, no.” She turned back toward the hill, clawing at Will’s arm around her waist. “
NO!
” She collapsed, folding over his arm, her body heaving with sobs. He lifted her up, pulled her against his chest.

“I’m so sorry.” Will’s voice choked.

Her body shook as she buried her head into his wet shirt. Their rain soaked clothes clung to their bodies. “
Nooo
….” She clutched his shirt, hanging on with clenched fists.

Movement up the hill caught his attention. He his head jerked up. The SUV was back and three men emerged from the back doors, carrying guns. They headed to the edge of the drop-off, one shouting orders to the other two.

Will grabbed her arms and pulled her away from his chest. “Emma, we have to go.”

She shook her head violently. “No, no, no…” Her hands gripped his shirt, eyes clamped shut. Her tear and rain drop covered face, smudged with dirt, was so ghostly white it startled him. He reminded himself she had just fallen down a cliff about ten minutes earlier and she probably had a concussion.

“No…” she moaned as she tried to pull away. “Jake…”

“Emma he’s gone,” he said gruffly. “We have to go. They’re coming.”

The men descended down the hill. They were out of time. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into the woods. Emma dug her feet into the ground. “I can’t leave Jake. I can’t leave Jake. I can’t leave Jake,” she repeated over and over.

Will would have gladly welcomed a bullet through his head at that moment, but he had to protect Emma. He continued pulling her into the woods even though she resisted with every step. The men were almost down the hill and it wouldn’t take long for them to catch up. Emma fell to the ground sobbing.

“Emma, we have to go!”

She ignored him and refused to get up.

He reached down to pull her up. Her body was slick from the rain, making it hard for him to hold onto her, and while she didn’t fight him anymore, she didn’t help him either. Her body convulsed with her tears and Will wished there was time to comfort her.

One of the men entered the opening to the forest and Will shot him, hitting the man in the chest. That one was pure luck. He and Emma were too close to the clearing. They needed to get deeper into the forest.

“Emma, get up. We have to run.”

She lay on the ground, refusing to get up.

There were at least two other men, maybe more on the way and Emma obviously wasn’t going to cooperate. Will picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. He noticed several trees clumped close together about ten feet back. If he could get her hidden behind those trees, then she might be safe and he could focus on the bastards in front of him.

Will lay her on the ground and waited for a clear shot. His heartbeat coursed through his ears, every sense alert. Next to him, he heard Emma’s muffled cries. The hard raindrops pattered on the forest floor with the roar of the fire in the background. Birds flew out of trees overhead, startled by the sudden movements deeper in the forest. The musty smell of pine, mold and smoke filled his nostrils. He was thankful he had years of military training on which to rely.

Will sensed the man who crept through the trees before he saw him. The man heard Emma’s cries and when he turned in Will’s direction, Will took the easy shot. There should only be one more gunman, but other voices filled the forest. His heart sunk. Emma’s crying was going to give away their cover, not that he could do anything about it. His only hope was to outrun them.

He threw her over his shoulder, checking to make sure the men weren’t close behind them, and took her further into the woods.

Will decided he was out of shape. He doubted Emma weighed that much, but he didn’t make it very far before she got heavy. Although the men following them hadn’t caught up, they couldn’t be far behind and had to be moving faster. He had to come up with a plan.

The woods were dense, but the terrain was fairly flat here, considering they were in the Rocky Mountains. But he knew the flat land couldn’t last long, and he couldn’t climb and carry her weight. Water gurgled ahead of him and he decided to head that direction. Will approached the top of a short bluff, about six feet tall. If he could get Emma down to the bottom, she’d be protected until the gunmen passed. The creek was deeper and wider than he expected considering it was in the mountains. He laid Emma down at the top of the bluff, assessing the best way to get her down. She appeared unconscious, which concerned him because of her head wound. Once he had her on the narrow creek bank he checked her pulse and breathing. Thankfully, both seemed good.

“Emma?” He rubbed her cheek, trying to wipe off some of the dirt that covered her face. She didn’t respond.

They were far enough away from the fire that it was a dim roar. The crunch of leaves and twigs above let him know they weren’t alone. The rain still fell and although the dense canopy overhead protected them from the torrential downfall, they were still soaked. Will climbed back up the side of the bluff, trying to get a solid foothold. A small bush hid his head from the four men approaching, who were spread out over a good thirty feet. Between the tree growth and the clouds above, this section of the forest was dark. Dark enough to make him unsure if there were more men.

He waited, hoping they would pass, but he knew that would be too easy. The men continued to approach the creek bank, slowing now, more cautious. Will still had the element of surprise and he didn’t want to blow it. He had to make sure they were close enough to get a clean shot, yet not close enough they could rush the bluff.

They were caught off guard when he fired his first shot, but spread out and quickly recovered. He took out the two to the left before the two on his far right took cover. His mind quickly went to other possible options and escape routes, if it came to that. Without Emma, he could easily get away and if she were mobile, it would still be possible. But his options were limited with her current condition, and even if she were conscious, she wouldn’t be lucid.

While he waited for the gunmen to make another appearance, he took in his surroundings. Behind him, on the other side of the creek, the mountains began to climb. The gunmen hiding in front of him made that route impossible unless he could dispose of them. He cast a glance to the creek behind him, realizing it might be his only option. It wasn’t deep but it was swift. If he had something to float on, they could float down creek faster than the men on the ledge could chase them. The creek flowed straight for about thirty feet, then curved away from the bluff, blocked by a dense growth of trees. The decision to use the creek solidified when he saw movement in the distance. More men had shown up and they were spreading out. The only ammunition he had was what was in his rifle. Irritation nagged him as he realized he had no idea how many shots were left. He was getting lax. He probably didn’t have enough bullets to take them all out, even with the gun strapped to his ankle.

Shit
.

He really didn’t want to jump in an icy creek and he wasn’t sure how he was going to keep Emma from drowning. A thick log on the creek shore, about ten feet downstream caught his attention. If he could get Emma to the log, maybe they could get away, but he needed a distraction to give them a head start.

He looked around, not coming up with anything when his time ran out. There was movement in the trees. The gunmen were advancing. He shot one man, wasting another two bullets. Beginning to get nervous, Will knew it was time to figure out his diversion. If he got off a round of shots, they might fall back, giving him time to get Emma in the river and down the stream. He decided it was his best option. He removed the handgun that was still strapped to his ankle. He waited until he saw the men try to advance again then shot with his rifle until the clip was empty. He wasn’t as careful with his aim and he wasn’t sure how many found their mark.

He threw his rifle down, hopped off the side of the bluff, and dragged Emma to the log. He pushed it out into the edge of water, and pulled her on top of it. He was taking too long and couldn’t afford to be so gentle with her. With Emma on the log, he pushed off, trying to hold her on with one arm and his revolver with the other, and waded into the icy water. Shock from the cold crashed through him. He suppressed a gasp as he continued to push into the middle of the creek, watching the bluff. He knew it would be too easy to get away without a skirmish and he was right. Two men appeared on the ledge pointing their guns in Will’s direction. Emma lay on top of the log, but the shock of the cold hitting her limbs began to wake her. Will knew he had to get her out of their gun sights.