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“No.”
“One sec.”
The man abandoned his post and jogged toward the house, leaving her alone with the man who raped her mother. He was less than ten feet away and had no idea of her presence. She glanced at the search party. Would they hear the gunshot? The rapist jerked his head around, and she heard it, the sound of an approaching vehicle.
He reached into his pocket for his phone. When she sprang up, his head snapped around. Their eyes met for one heart stopping moment before she pulled the trigger. His head kicked back, black droplets spraying everywhere before his body dropped.
“What the—?”
She swung the gun around and shot the second man in the doorway. He staggered back as she got him in the chest. Blade crested over the ridge and barreled around the house. The search party fired at the SUV.
With their attention on Blade, she ran toward the canyon to find Carmen and Nora. There was a pained scream as Blade took a leaf out of her book and ran over a man. Three down, five to go. The enemy vehicles were trying to turn around to face the threat and not having much luck since the wild vegetation boxed them in.
“Hey, there she is!”
A man spotted her, and she dropped on all fours. Car engines roared, men shouted, and bullets flew. She heard a bark. She lifted her head in time to see Beau leap out of a window and launch himself at a man who fell backward with an agonized cry. Fuck it. She focused on the bigmouth who noticed her and pulled the trigger. The first shot nicked his shoulder, but the second put him down.
“What the fuck?” someone shouted.
She focused on an enemy vehicle battling a cactus. The driver seemed to have given in for the moment. He had a high-powered rifle balanced on his open window and was blasting Blade’s windshield, which wouldn’t hold up for long. She used her last three bullets and the deafening blasts ceased. She pulled a full magazine out of her pocket and slammed it in before she followed the sound of Beau’s growls. She put the bastard out of his misery and nudged Beau away from the body.
“Beau, come,” she ordered.
Blade rammed into the driver’s side of the second SUV with enough force to tip the vehicle on its side. Blade ran to the upended vehicle. Three shots and silence descended.
Seven down. One left. Where was he?
Blade rounded the SUV, chest heaving. “You all right?”
“Yes. I split up with Carmen and Nora.”
“Where?”
She pointed in the general direction she saw Carmen run. “There’s one guy left.”
“Fuck.” Blade raced back to his SUV and whistled for Beau.
She went to the SUV with the driver slumped out of the open window. She made sure there were no surprises in the back seat before she took the wheel and followed Blade as he flattened shrubs. She ignored the blood on the steering wheel and seat. Her entire being focused on any movement over the still desert landscape.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash accompanied by a popping sound. Her heart dropped to her toes. She wrenched the steering wheel to the left and plowed over everything in her path. Branches reached into the open window and scratched her arm and cheek. She didn’t notice. She slammed the SUV to a halt when it couldn’t go any farther and ran as fast as could, dodging through the monstrous cactus.
She rounded a tree and tripped over a body. “No!”
“Lyla.”
She raised her head and saw Carmen with Nora strapped to her chest, gun in hand. She squeezed her eyes shut as relief cascaded through her in a heady wave that left her lightheaded.
“Are you hurt?” Blade asked.
Carmen walked forward as if she were sleepwalking and didn’t answer. Blade took a bawling Nora from Carmen who did nothing to stop him.
“She’s freezing. Come on, we don’t have much time,” Blade said and rushed back to the car with Nora.
Carmen helped Lyla to her feet. They stared at one another for a long moment.
“Okay?” she asked.
Carmen nodded.
