Page 111 of Deadfall

52

EMERSYN

“Team one in position.”

“Team two in position.”

I took a deep breath and looked through my scope at the approaching vehicles. According to our intel, Octavius was going to show up at the end of the deal to ensure the transport of the weapons was to his satisfaction. He wasn’t going to be there for the actual deal. So, the team would hold until Octavius showed up. An unmarked semi-truck pulled into the empty lot flanked by two SUVs. A collection of men spilled out and opened the back of the semi.

“That’s a lot of weapons,” Hangman said softly over comms.

The entire truck was filled with pallets and crates. But, I didn’t care about the weapons. I scanned the faces of all the people there, but it was obvious none of them were Octavius. I clicked my scope over to night vision and scanned the access road. A dust cloud rose between the scattered brush.

“We’ve got company—access road one,” I reported. “Wait for visual confirmation.”

I opened my mouth to say something else when pain exploded at the back of my head. Everything went black, and my ears rang so badly I barely heard the crunch of footsteps. A set of hands grabbed me and at first I thought it was the enemy who’d found my position, until I caught the familiar scent of Riggs. He tossed me away and I landed on my back with a groan. I fought through the dizzy spell and squinted at the dual image of him as he advanced. He’d torn my comms unit off.

Riggs knelt down and grabbed my vest. He yanked me up until I could clearly see his face in the dim gloom.

“Who’s watching your back, Syn?” he taunted, then scoffed. “Fucking pathetic that I can still sneak up on you after all this time.” He pulled my gun from its holster and tossed it aside before doing the same with my second gun and two knives.

“Riggs,” I stammered. “What are you doing? We have a job!”

“No, you have a job,” he shoved me away and paced.

I tried to track him, but winced as pain flared in my head. “What does that mean?”

“I shouldn’t have let it go this far.” His gloved hands were in his hair, tugging it every which way. He looked unhinged, but he’d finally solidified back into one Riggs.

“Riggs—”

He whirled, and I scrambled backward at the sudden look of revulsion on his face. This was more than the normal dislike—this was something else, something darker and far more dangerous. I managed to get to my feet before he reached me, but a sharp pain cut through my head. I winced, which allowed the opening he needed to shove me back against a massive boulder. His hands went to my throat. The visceral thought that he actually might kill me screamed through my mind.

But, I wasn’t the inexperienced teenager from five years ago. I slammed my arm against his and wrapped myself through his hold. He released with a grunt of pain and I stepped away, intent on finding my comms unit to radio the team.

Riggs moved in from behind, and I ducked just in time to avoid being wrapped in a rear choke. I advanced on him and we sparred across the rocky space on the ridge.

“Riggs, whatever this is, you need to stop,” I panted when we broke apart.

I heard gunshots and cursed. The team was down there alone with no support.

“We need to go,” I growled.

“No, you and I are leaving,” Riggs said.

“Fuck that! I’m not leaving the team!” I said, incredulously.

I caught the glint of metal in the underbrush, and carefully maneuvered toward it without taking my eyes off Riggs. I was yards away when Riggs saw what I was going for. I lunged for it and Riggs followed. We wrestled for the gun. He landed a nasty elbow to my mouth, and I tasted blood. I headbutted him and tripped him down to the ground where I straddled his hips and pointed the gun at his forehead.

“Do it,” Riggs snarled.

My heart slammed against my chest as he wrapped his hands around the barrel of the gun and held it against his own head.

“Do it, Syn!” Riggs barked. “Fucking do it!”

When I didn’t blow his head off, Riggs chuckled darkly.

“Pathetic. You can’t do it can you?”