Page 54 of Fatal Intent

This one, however, was keeping pace with his buddy. She’d have to be careful or risk drawing the attention of both men. Changing her grip on the Ka-Bar, Rayne moved closer to her next target.

She skirted the thick bushes the soldiers forced their way through. If she hadn’t known Grant and the others were being trailed by the enemy, that would have done it. Whoever trained these guys needed a refresher course in tracking the enemy.

She closed the gap between her and her target and plunged the steel blade into the base of the soldier’s skull. He stiffened and crumpled. Rayne caught him as he sank to the ground.

The remaining soldier said in Spanish, “They can’t be far ahead of us. The old man looked like he wasn’t in good shape. Do you see or hear anything?”

Great. She slid the Ka-Bar back into its sheath and activated her other wrist sheath to drop a small knife onto her palm.

The man slowed and glanced over his shoulder. He stopped abruptly and spun. His eyes widened. “Who are you? Where did you come from?”

“I think I took a wrong turn. I’m lost. Can you help me?” Rayne kept inching closer, rapidly closing the distance between them.

The soldier’s brows knitted, then he glanced over Rayne’s shoulder. His expression hardened as he fumbled for his weapon.

Out of time. She tightened her grip on her knife and slashed the soldier’s neck with the wicked blade. Blood sprayed. Rayne stepped back as the man grabbed his neck to stop the flood of red. Wouldn’t help. She’d cut his carotid arteries.

Rayne gave the soldier a wide birth as she retraced her steps to rejoin Grant and the others. Once she was out of sight of the soldier, she slid her Go bag from her back and grabbed a pack of wipes. Although she couldn’t do anything about the blood on her clothes, cleaning her face, neck, and hands would make her feel cleaner until she could take a shower on board the jet and change her clothes.

After shoving the soiled wipes into a plastic bag to throw away later, Rayne shrugged into her Go bag and set off at a fast clip while staying alert for more soldiers. Twenty minutes later, she caught up with Grant and the others.

He glanced over his shoulder, his gaze skimming over her. “You good?”

“Yep.”

“How many were on our trail?”

“Three.”

He gave a curt nod. “Take the lead.”

Rayne hurried past the trio of men and resumed the journey to the SUVs. If they were lucky, the operatives wouldn’t encounter more resistance.

An hour later, they reached the treeline where the vehicles were parked and the White family and Fortress operatives waited. Grant and Trevor helped Gerald White to the lead SUV and into the backseat.

When they moved aside, Jake Davenport crouched beside the vehicle and asked the billionaire a few questions. Afterassessing his patient, he grabbed a bottle of water and added a packet of electrolytes to the liquid and shook it. “Drink this. You’ll feel better. If you feel like eating, we’ll feed you on the jet.” The medic glanced at Seth and nodded.

“Load up. We need to make tracks.” Seth opened the passenger door for Teagan, then slipped behind the wheel. Jake slid into the backseat beside his patient. The rest of the operatives split up between the remaining SUVs. They kept the White family together in the vehicle with Iona and Elias. Soon, the caravan sped toward the airstrip.

“How many bogies did you have to take out?” Andre asked as he drove behind Iona, bringing up the rear of the caravan.

“Eight.” Grant twisted in the seat to watch out the back window.

“You see something?”

“Maybe. Keep the pace steady.”

“I’ll do my best. The government isn’t spending much on road maintenance. If I don’t slow down in places, we’ll lose our fillings.”

Rayne smiled. Andre wasn’t wrong. The potholes in these roads were deep enough to blow tires.

Grant growled. “Got company.”

Rayne twisted in her seat. Although the headlights were turned off or didn’t work, three jeeps were chasing them, closing the gap fast.

Andre tapped his comm device. “We have company back here. Three jeeps are closing in fast.”

“Take them out. If you need help, let us know.”