Coyote's Kiss (17 page)

There probably wasn’t enough room for a shifter to get through there, so there was little chance that anyone planned to ambush her from inside. She pointed her flashlight through the opening.

A few old cardboard pieces lay on the ground along with trash and debris. It didn’t smell the best, either. She wrinkled her nose. She was not going in there. She started to back up.

She heard the scrape of a shoe on metal. She tried to turn but lost her balance as she was shoved hard into the dark container. Her flashlight rolled away when she hit the ground. Her shoulder ached from where it had banged against the door and it was hard to pull in a breath.
Fuck, that hurt
. She attempted to roll onto her knees but the sharp pain in her back had her crying out instead.

A loud screeching sound alerted her and she looked over to the opening. It was slowly growing smaller. Someone was closing her inside. It had to be a shifter, if the strength of the attack was anything to go by, and now they were able to move the door.

She screamed, but didn’t know if anyone would hear. She was sealed inside.

“Ow, ow, ow,” she muttered as she very carefully brought her legs under her. She didn’t think anything was broken but she would be sore as hell later. Right now her entire body was throbbing. She felt around under her and found the piece of wood her back had hit. She tossed it to the side with all her power and fury. Well, she hadn’t seen that coming. She was never going to hear the end of this from Cole. Patting her pockets, she located her phone and pressed the home button. The tiny device barely lit up her hand.

“No!” She didn’t have a signal. “Are you kidding me?” she yelled out to no one. “Okay, Jade, use your head. You will figure a way out of this. First find the flashlight.”

As she crawled around, searching in the dark, her hands landed on all kinds of trash that she didn’t even want to know about. “If there are rats in here I swear to God I’m killing someone,” she muttered. She didn’t even want to think about what creatures were making their home with her. She shuddered in disgust.
Where’s the damn light?

Chapter Eleven

Luca reached for his water bottle and nearly dropped it when he heard what sounded like a shot. “Was that—?”

“A shot from a high-powered rifle,” Zak finished as he yanked open his door.

“Shit!” Luca scrambled to follow him as he jumped out of the driver’s side. He heard Abilene and Mitch right behind him as he raced to the edge of the train yard. Luca slid next to Zak when he stopped.

“Check out the roofs,” Zak ordered. “There may be a sniper set up. That kind of weapon wouldn’t be needed at close quarters.”

“Okay,” Luca replied as he scanned the area to try to pick up on any movement. There had only been one blast, but if the shooter was trained well enough he only needed one.

“I’ll call Jamie,” Zak said as he pulled out his cell. After a few seconds he cursed. “It went straight to voicemail. He must have it turned off.”

“Jade? Cole?” Luca asked while he concentrated on spotting his prey.

Zak was already dialing, hanging up then dialing again. Luca’s stomach cramped as he thought about losing one of his friends or his lover. Who would have thought they’d have a sniper to deal with?

Luca scanned every possible area where the shooter could be hiding. With his superior eyesight thanks to his shifter abilities he should have been able to spot their target. Frustrated, he slammed his hand against his knee. “I can’t see anyone,” he told Zak.

“I didn’t expect you to, but it was worth a try. If we go down there to help we might take fire on ourselves,” Zak cautioned.

“And one of them could already be wounded,” Luca argued.

“I know.” Zak rocked back on his heels. “Okay, Luca and I will go down and check it out. Abilene, you and Mitch keep us in your sights. Try to get a hold of the other teams. See if they heard anything. Calvin, for sure, should have been alerted.”

“Be careful.” Abilene grabbed their shoulders. “I mean it.”

Zak kissed her quickly and they were off, keeping low to the ground to mix their shadows around with the others and to make them smaller targets. They made it to the row closest to them and peered down the aisle. When nothing moved, Zak whistled sharp and fast. The responding sound had Luca taking a long breath in relief. Jamie was okay. Zak motioned for Luca to go first. He plastered himself to the container to his right and darted toward where he suspected Jamie was hiding. Halfway down he spotted Jamie’s boot under the wheels. He crouched and grinned at his friend. “Whatcha doing just lying around?” he joked.

“Funny,” Jamie replied. “I dropped when I heard the shot but I didn’t see anything. Haven’t heard anything else either.”

“So you’re not hit?” Luca checked.

“No, I think it was aimed at Cole. He took the middle passage,” Jamie told him.

Luca looked over his shoulder at Zak and held up two fingers. Zak nodded and, faster than Luca could track, started to run. When no more shots were fired, Luca wondered if their sniper had left. Did that mean that he’d completed his mission? God, he couldn’t even think like that yet.

“Where’s Jade?” Jamie asked as he sat up next to him.

“You were the first one we spotted. Zak is going after Cole now,” Luca informed him.

Jamie grabbed his arm. “Let’s go. I’m not waiting around here anymore. Did you spot the shooter?”

“No, no sign of him,” Luca said.

Jamie growled. “Head straight across and crawl under that wheel.” Jamie pointed. “I’ll be right behind you.”

Luca counted to three then took off. He still didn’t hear any more blasts. Maybe the sniper was gone. He rolled when he got to the container across from him before scooting to the other side. From the ground he searched for any sign of Zak or Cole.

There! One car over.
He quickly raced to them, hearing Jamie right on his heels. He dropped to his knees and checked Cole over. The wolf shifter was lying under as much cover as he could, covered in dirt and blood. Zak had stripped off his shirt and was holding the cloth to Cole’s side.

“He’s going to be okay,” Zak told them as Luca and Jamie joined him. “It was a clean shot, through and through.”

Luca peered at the large cut on Cole’s forehead. He had to have hit it when he fell.

“We need an ambulance and backup here now,” Zak ordered.

“No! We need to get that fucker. If we call in the rest of the team he might spook and take off,” Cole argued.

“He might already be gone,” Luca pointed out. “We have to get you help. We’ll hold off the ambulance, but get the backup in now. Tell them to use stealth.”

Zak nodded.

Cole blinked up at him. “Luca?”

It took Luca a minute to realize that Cole didn’t know who was around him.
Damn, the guy must be in pain.
“Yeah, buddy, I’m right here.” He patted Cole’s uninjured side.

“You have to find Jade!” Cole struggled to lift his head.

“Stay down,” Zak demanded. “You’ll bleed out.”

Cole fell back to the ground but grabbed Luca’s hand. “I heard her yell. You have to get to her.”

Fuck!
Rage boiled inside him at the thought of Jade being hurt. “I will,” he promised.

“Back closer to where we came in. The second or third container probably,” Cole told him.

“I’m coming with you,” Jamie stated. “Remember we don’t know if the shooter is still out there so move quickly.”

“Yeah,” Luca agreed. “Let’s go down this row first and then over.” He took off without waiting for a response. He would be faster if he shifted into his coyote but he didn’t know what condition Jade was in. When he reached the third empty train car he paused for just a second. He ran toward the first line.

Three quick rounds landed close to his feet and he dove under the container as soon as he was able. He spun to look over his shoulder. Jamie was still stuck in the second row, and now they knew that the shooter was still there. Hopefully one of the other teams could spot him.

He had to find his woman.

* * * *

Jade heard the sounds of three more bullets being fired and cringed. It had been quiet for a good five to ten minutes. Her guess was that one of the other units had arrived and they were being attacked. When she got out of this stupid metal box she was seriously going to hurt someone. The shots had seemed closer but she couldn’t be sure. With the darkness around her it was hard to tell what was going on.

She’d finally found her flashlight, but had decided to keep it off for the moment. She knew that someone would find her soon and that she only had to wait, but she could use the big flashlight as a weapon if need be. She didn’t want to accidentally shoot the rescue team.

There was a loud thump outside the door. She froze, not knowing if the bad guys were back or if it was her rescue. The whistle that followed, though, she knew was for her.

Since she didn’t know if anyone would hear her if she returned the gesture, she picked up the flashlight and slammed it down onto the metal. She did it again and again.

Finally she heard the wrenching scream of the door being opened. As the moonlight filtered in she could see she’d made it to the very back of the container.

“Jade?”

“Luca! Thank God!” she called out to him.

He peered through the opening, running his eyes around searching for her. When they settled on her, his gaze widened. “You okay?”

She wanted to laugh, or cry, maybe scream. Instead she managed a nod.

“I’m coming in,” he said.

“No!” she shouted. “There was a shifter out there. That’s how I got stuck in here.”

Luca turned quickly. He put his back to the opening as he scanned the yard.

“I’ll come to you,” she said. It would be slow going. Her body was still hurting pretty bad. She didn’t want to try to stand without help, but she could crawl. She’d probably been over half the container searching for her flashlight.

“I’m right here,” he promised, still keeping watch.

That helped. Knowing that Luca wouldn’t leave her and that she was getting out gave her the strength to make her way out. It seemed to take forever and she was shaking and sweating by the time she could put her hand on his leg, but she still smiled. She was getting out.

He angled toward her. “What’s wrong? Why can’t you stand?”

“I’m okay,” she assured him. “I landed on a board, but no permanent damage.

He growled as he reached for her. Gently he lifted her.

“Do you sense anyone?”

He kept her body tight against his. “Not right now, but someone was here,” Luca said. “How’d you know it was a shifter?”

“I couldn’t move that door. It was rusted open. Only a shifter could have closed it on me,” she explained.

“After he threw you onto a board?” he asked.

“More like pushed,” she corrected.

Luca growled so he probably didn’t really care about the difference.

“Is Cole okay?” she asked. She was afraid of the answer, though, and gripped him tightly.

“Yes,” Luca replied.

She grabbed his shoulder. “Luca?”

“He was shot, but he’ll be okay. Zak’s with him now and Jamie’s calling for backup,” he told her.

“Where was he—?”

Luca covered her mouth with his hand and leaned farther from the door. Her back protested, but she swallowed her whimper. She didn’t know what he’d heard but something had put him on alert. He nodded toward the wall so she pushed off him and grabbed hold of a handrail on the side of the container. He removed his gun as he slowly peeked out again.

“Luca?” Sal called.

Luca put his finger to his lips, telling his brother to be quiet. He holstered his weapon and reached for her again. “This is going to hurt, but I’m going to lift you,” he whispered.

“Okay.” Not like she had many options. It would be too painful to jump down on her own.

Sal and Flynn were standing guard at the edge with their backs to them. “She okay?” Sal asked when he glanced back and saw Luca carrying Jade. Luca nodded once, but didn’t speak.

“Here, pass her to me.” Sal held up his arms. “It’ll be easier than you trying to climb down with her.”

Luca’s hand tightened around her for an instant. He clearly didn’t want to let her go. Not even to his brother. She was touched, but she wanted off the fucking train car. “It’s okay. Sal won’t drop me,” she joked.

Luca smiled at her before he lowered his lips to hers and kissed her gently.

The handover was pretty easy. Luca placed her in Sal’s outstretched arms and she was lowered to the ground. Luca jumped and was right there a moment later. He took her back from his brother. “There are shifters involved,” he murmured.

“I can smell them,” Sal confirmed. “Jamie’s back with Zak and Cole. Cody and his team are shifting and will fly over to spot the sniper. Calvin was knocked out, but, other than a bump on his head, he’s okay. He’s in the van with Sam and Patrick. The rest of our people are surrounding the place in their shifted forms. No one is going to get out of here. We’re just waiting for Cody’s signal to begin.”

“I need to get Jade to safety,” Luca told him.

“I’m fine. As long as I’m not inside that damn eroded box. Just set me down under it,” she suggested.

“No, we need to get you away from here. Any one of the shifters will be able to find you if you’re too close. Plus we need to get you to the hospital,” Luca said.

“I’m fine!”

“He’s right,” Flynn agreed. “I can take her back to the van.”

“I’ll go,” Luca insisted.

“Flynn knows where it is and can take the same path we did to get back. That way our scent is not all over the place,” Sal pointed out.

“Or I can just follow your trail,” Luca argued.

“Just give her to Flynn,” Sal ordered.

She could feel Luca’s body tense up. She leaned her head on his shoulder to get his attention. He looked down at her. His features softened. She nodded to let him know that it was okay.

Luca huffed, but, after one quick kiss, he carefully put her in Flynn’s hold. Jade smiled for him then Flynn was striding away, taking her with him.