Page 44 of Secrets Along the Shore (Beach Read Thrillers #1)

He stepped back from her and lifted his M4.

The thud of boots made him spin around. His finger squeezed the trigger.

A Ruka stumbled backward on the other side of the van.

Tyler lost sight of him as he fell. That one shot might not have been enough to kill him.

He stepped in front of the van and found the man squirming on the ground.

His hand scrambled for the radio on his vest. Tyler took another shot. Now he couldn’t alert his friends.

He frowned at the line of men running toward them.

Crap. Movement behind him brought Elara and Rian to the side of the van.

At least she knew to stay behind cover. Tyler shifted beside them out of the Rukas’ sight.

Running across the property, even with the available cover from parked cars and trees, wasn’t an option.

The van behind him should take them to the gate, if not through it.

He grabbed his radio. “I’m driving to the gate. The location is too hot.”

“Copy,” Von’s voice came through.

“Copy. Waiting for you,” Adam said.

Tyler grabbed the driver’s side door of the van and pulled it open, trying to stay as low as possible to avoid the men. “Get inside.” He moved back to the front of the van so Elara and her son could get in. Bullets shattered the vehicle’s windows and bounced off the hood.

Elara screamed. “Stay low, Rian!”

Tyler aimed the M4 at their attackers, taking precise shots to wipe them out.

A bullet bounced off the hood way too close to his head.

He took a couple more shots. Two guys scrambled for cover behind the corner of the building.

Tyler climbed into the van and slammed the door shut.

Resting the M4 across his knees, he pulled the keys from his pocket and started the engine .

More Rukas ran around the corner of the building. Bullets hit the van hood.

“Keep your heads down.” Tyler threw the van into reverse. Once he had enough space, he put it in drive and headed straight for the men shooting at them. As expected, they scattered to avoid being run down.

Tyler turned the vehicle, narrowly missing an SUV parked in the middle of everything.

He swung the van around a shed. The front left corner hit a stack of boxes, scattering them.

Bullets pierced the back of the vehicle.

In the side mirror, dirt kicked up behind them as the Rukas shot at the tires.

He hit the accelerator, and swerved around another parked vehicle. Twenty meters ahead was the gate.

A man ran from behind a shed. His automatic weapon shot through the side of the van, starting near the back and inching closer to the cab.

Tyler slammed the accelerator. Twisting the steering wheel, he swung the back end into the Ruka.

He had to take out as many tangos as possible so he could move his targets to the getaway vehicle without getting shot.

Elara cried out as she clutched Rian on her lap.

Tyler checked the mirror. A group of Rukas loaded into SUVs. There had to be more in this one location than Patrick had implied. Some ran after the van, firing their rifles. Dirt was kicked up by the tires. Those men’s bullets wouldn’t miss forever. Once the tire went flat, they’d be in trouble.

He swerved the vehicle to buy them more time.

They closed in on the gate. It still blocked the way, and it would take valuable time for Adam to break it.

Okay. Forget stopping. He grabbed his seatbelt and stretched it across.

Glancing at Elara and the boy on her lap, the belt spanned them both. “Hold on.” This would hurt.

He slammed the accelerator. The seatbelt yanked him backward, cutting into his vest as the van collided with the gate.

The sound of solid wood twisting and cracking filled the air.

Debris flew through the broken windshield.

Tyler threw up his hands to shield himself from the glass and wood splinters.

The van bounced as it rolled off part of the gate and landed back on the dirt road. It came to a stop.

Drawing a breath into his sore body, he undid the buckle and shoved open his door.

They had maybe sixty seconds to switch vehicles.

He grabbed Elara’s arm, concerned by the dazed look in her eyes.

Hopefully, she hadn’t hit her head…or maybe the impact messed up her prior head injury. “Elara, c’mon. We gotta move.”

She shook her head slowly. Her eyes started to clear.

Parked in front of the van, Adam exited his SUV and aimed his M4 behind the van. He fired quick bursts. Three of the men from their other vehicle got out and helped cover them.

“Get out. Hurry,” Tyler exited the van and aimed his rifle at the vehicles rushing toward them. His bullet hit the front tire of an SUV and slowed it down. “Adam, get them in the vehicle.”

Adam shifted around to the side of the van with Elara and Rian and covered them as they got into the back of the SUV. He shut the door once they were inside. “Alright. We’re good.”

Tyler lowered his rifle and ran to the SUV.

He climbed into the driver’s seat while Adam took the passenger side.

The engine rumbled as Tyler threw it into drive and sped down the dirt road.

His gaze shifted to the rearview mirror.

Their secondary vehicle followed behind. The passengers fired at their pursuers.

He grabbed his radio. “Stay close. Don’t let them near us.

” With all the weapons he’d seen in Viktor’s building, he had no doubt the Rukas had RPGs and other explosives.

If they got hit with that, they’d be as good as dead.

The SUV was armored, but it’d be too hard of a hit for them to get the vehicle going again.

“Copy,” the other driver replied.

Adam checked his rifle. “Let’s get them home.” He leaned over his window to fire at the men behind them.

Tyler nodded once. His gaze drifted to the mirror to check on their targets.

Elara and Rian huddled in the middle of the backseat, wearing the bulletproof vests that Adam had brought.

She bent over her son to protect him from gunfire.

The fear in her eyes never wavered. She’d have returned to Viktor if she thought it’d save her son.

She’d have made that sacrifice. But she was too blind to realize it’d have killed them both.

He slowed the SUV to go around a curve before speeding up again. The angle gave him a better view of their pursuers. Three SUVs. Two cars. The Rukas outnumbered them. An SUV edged closer to Tyler’s other teammates.

“Oh…crap!” Adam pulled back into the vehicle.

A quick glance at the opposite mirror made Tyler take a hard left on the road, clearing the vehicle of the path of an RPG. The explosion tilted the vehicle slightly, but not enough to tip them over. He kept up the speed.

“They’re trying to kill us,” Elara cried.

Yeah. They were. Tyler tightened his grip on the steering wheel as another RPG hit a tree on their left. The tall tree swayed dangerously, its trunk cracked and bent, then fell into their path.