Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 133975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 670(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 447(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 670(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 447(@300wpm)
He slipped out of the crack in a split tree that appeared so slim nothing could fit in it. They’d looked right at him twice and hadn’t spotted him. He wasn’t even wearing clothes that blended that well. Still, he wasn’t about to make the same mistake they were. He wasn’t underestimating them. All eight men had been shocked that their teammates were dead.
Keys watched as Justin and King made a show of looking for tracks and then began to move along the game trail, heading toward the peak where Keys had used the phone. He was meant to follow, but he didn’t. He simply waited. Hunting took patience.
He had to ask himself if Waylon would waste even more manpower on a hunch. That wasn’t logical. Waylon had been at this a long time. It was obvious he’d been in the military, and he knew strategy. That was why he was leading the team. Waylon would know Lyric wasn’t with him. Keys couldn’t afford to haul her around with him. Two people left far more tracks than one.
Waylon would move heaven and earth to find where Keys had stashed her. He figured with Lyric as their hostage, they would be able to draw Keys out into the open. It might work with other men, but he knew the moment he was taken, both Lyric and he were dead. He wasn’t the give-himself-up type.
It was nearly fifteen minutes later that the second pair, the backups, made their appearance. He recognized Koda and Jay immediately. They came out of the dense forest, six feet apart, weapons at the ready, moving with purpose. They knew what they were doing, not making a sound, two ghosts moving in unison while staying feet apart. Both studied the ground for tracks as they went, but they didn’t stop moving.
Keys fell in behind them. Justin and King had a fifteen-minute head start, but they didn’t bother to hide their tracks. They took the largest game trail that provided them with the fastest route to the next rendezvous spot, the peak where Keys had made the phone call.
Keys got his first break when Koda crouched low to study one of the smaller bushes to the left of the game trail. The leaves on the bush were bruised, and two of the thin branches were snapped nearly in half. Koda touched the leaves and looked around him. Keys clamped one hand over his mouth like a vise and slammed the blade of his knife into the back of his skull all the way to the hilt, severing the spinal cord. He lowered him slowly to the ground and quickly availed himself of Koda’s gear, his radio and semiautomatic. It was loud and a bit overkill, but Keys slung it over his shoulder and faded back into the woods to stalk Jay.
Jay became aware that his partner hadn’t caught up with him, and he slowed his pace, casting a quick look over his shoulder several times, looking for Koda. When he couldn’t see him, he sank down into the taller grass and pulled out his radio. “Where are you, partner?”
The voice came over the radio, soft yet demanding.
Keys didn’t want Waylon warned yet. He preferred to keep the fact that he was the predator and they were the prey on the down-low. He hit the button on the radio and created static. But it was an open line for a couple of seconds, enough to convince Jay that his partner was alive.
Jay relaxed visibly. “Get a move on,” he ordered and tucked the radio away.
Keys was a master of deception. It didn’t take long to give the illusion he was Koda, coming fast into position. Jay waved his hand forward and once again began casting for tracks and following Justin and King. Keys played the game, catching up fast, staying the required six feet apart, but making certain trees and brush were between him and his prey. He didn’t want a single sound to alert Justin and King.
That meant a knife. Close-up. No guns. Keys was very familiar with knives and very good at up-close wet work. He waited until Jay was distracted by a bush with twisted, bruised leaves, and he came up on him silently. Just as he’d done with Koda, he covered the man’s mouth and slammed the blade deep, severing the spinal cord. He eased him onto the ground and went through his pockets quickly for anything Lyric and he could use to survive.
Two down, six more to go. It was doable, but it would take time, and Lyric was alone. That didn’t sit well with him. He’d done as much as he could to keep tracks away from the area where their cave was, but Waylon was experienced. So were the others. He would have to run against the clock and hope his brethren showed up to help. Mostly, he wanted Steele there. He was a damn good doctor, and if Lyric had a brain bleed or anything remotely threatening her life, Steele would ferret it out and fix it. Keys had that kind of faith in his brother.