Page 87 of Secrets Along the Shore

She turned back to the door. They’d live longer this way.

They had to be kidding.Tyler shoved off the van and closed the distance between him and his targets before Elara ducked inside. He snatched her arm and yanked her back. A gasp escaped her. He shoved her against the wall, the contents of her backpack crunched. Almost like paper. “What are you doing?”

Rian’s fist hit his leg, trying once again to protect his mother.

She trembled in his grip, tears sliding freely down her cheeks. “We can’t do this. Viktor will kill us,” she choked out.

“No, he won’t.” He met her gaze. “I won’t let him.”

“You’re one man.”

“Yeah, and I just killed twenty.” Maybe more than that. But he hadn’t been counting. The kill count never mattered as long as it was justified. He’d done it to garner her safety. They just got outside, and now she was trying to go back in. Not happening. Even if he had to drag her to the getaway vehicle, with Rian beating his leg the whole way.

She shook her head. “We’ll never make it. I never should have called Dad.”

Tyler checked their surroundings. Men shouted nearby, but no one came around back yet. They would, though. Soon. Which was why he needed to convince her to leave now. “I have people waiting outside the gate. We have a plane at a nearby airport. Once we get you on it, you’ll be safe.”

Her bottom lip trembled, making her bite it. She shook her head, more tears slipping free. “It’s-it’s not gonna…” she gasped. The words weren’t coming out like she wanted, as she struggled to breathe. She was panicking, the fear eating away at the knowledge that she had to escape for Rian.

Letting his rifle hang from the sling, Tyler cupped her face. “Elara, breathe.” She needed to calm down. Her whole body shook. Her lower lip trembled. She was by far the most terrified target he’d rescued. And he needed her to calm down now.

For a few seconds, she remained frozen before she heaved a breath and pressed a hand to her face.

“Are you with me?” She had to be.

With a shaky nod, she met his gaze.

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 switchvehicles. 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.”