Mystery didn’t doubt that for a minute. She gave him a little nod. “What if they land? What if they come looking for us? What if—”
He shifted slightly, cupping her cheek. “I’ll handle it. I’m armed. I’m trained.”
But these ruthless people chasing her had already eliminated two of his comrades. How did Axel expect to take out whoever was in the helicopter by himself?
He pried open one of the Velcro pockets in his fatigue pants and thrust a gun in her hands. Mystery shrank back as if it was an enormous hairy spider come to eat her.
“Take it,” he demanded. “The safety is on. To turn it off, you flip this switch down.” He demonstrated, then quickly flipped the lever back in place. “Once the safety is off, squeeze the trigger hard. The gun will kick you back good, so be ready or it will knock you on your ass.”
He was preparing her to defend herself in case he couldn’t. And she could only think of one reason he’d be unable to keep her safe.
Panic surged. She rolled closer and lunged, throwing herself against his chest. “No.”
He grabbed her chin. “You have to be ready. If that chopper lands, there are anywhere between two and four men on board. They will split up and search for us. If your abductor sent them, I’m extraneous. They’ll simply kill me. What happens to you depends on their orders.”
“Meaning?” Her voice shook.
“Either they’ll take you to a new location to finish what your captor started or they’ll end you. In either event, you need to be prepared to defend yourself.”
“I don’t know how to use this.” She didn’t even want to touch the gun but it was sandwiched between them, sitting on her chest, seeming to weigh a thousand pounds.
“I’m telling you,” he bit out.
The helicopter drew closer, hovered not far from their location. She risked a peek over the top of the blanket and saw the vehicle make a slow sweep over the landscape.
Then it drew closer to the ground, kicking up sand and spewing it everywhere. Mystery gasped, tensed. They were coming for her.
Beside her, Axel clenched his jaw. When he turned to her, his expression looked bleak. “Listen to me. We’re going to get off this rock. You’re going to run ahead of me. I’ll stay and fend them off.”
“No!” Splitting from him terrified her.
She could get lost. She could die. Funny that her biggest fear was never seeing him again.
He went on as if he hadn’t heard her objection at all. “Go west southwest.” He pointed that direction. “Keep walking. I’ve told you about some of the dangers around the landscape. Take your pack. I’m going to give you the water. Keep walking as long and as fast as you can. You should come to a town named Keeler. Not many people there, but find someone who has a phone. Call 911.”
“I’m staying with you.”
The helicopter went vertical, setting down beyond the next ridge, just out of sight. As soon as the sound of the blades slowed, Axel took that as his cue to stand. “You’re going. That’s final.”
He grabbed her pack, took the water bottles from his and shoved them into hers. Then he wadded up the blanket and jammed it into one of the pack’s side pockets. It wouldn’t zip but he deemed that good enough because he dragged her to her feet, thrust the gun on top of the pack, shoved it into her hands, then gave her a jerk of his head. “Go.”
Mystery froze for a moment. “What will you do?”
He reached for his rifle, then withdrew a scope from his pack, along with extra ammunition. He slithered to his belly along the top of the flat rock. “I also went to sniper school.”
As he started assembling his weapon and lining up shots, he completely tuned her out. His breathing evened. He looked utterly focused on the ridge ahead.
She couldn’t fall apart. It wouldn’t help either of them.
Dragging the overstuffed pack onto her back, she sucked back a groan at the additional weight. Already, her feet hurt from yesterday’s trek and were protesting now. But she heard the helicopter’s engine cut off. Adrenaline shot through her, and she welcomed the chemical. It staved off pain, made her sharp, gave her courage.
She slid off the rock just as Axel began wrapping his finger around the trigger.
On her trek down the first tier of rocks, she scraped her leg. Damn dress. The silvery sequin fabric had looked awesome catching the light in the club she’d gone to. It hadn’t held up at all in a survival situation. It certainly hadn’t protected her skin as she’d slid down the stone facing.
As Mystery brushed the debris from her thigh, her hand came back slightly wet. Blood. She winced, remembering what Axel had said about injury, but infection wasn’t her biggest threat now.
She moved on and clawed her way down the next face of the rocks, holding on by her fingernails. As she dangled, she looked down—and gulped. The ground seemed too far away, like she might hurt her leg or break an ankle if she simply let go. Shaking, scared, she forced herself to study the stone in front of her for any foot or handholds. Nothing.
If she remained hanging here, she was easy bait. Dead meat. Closing her eyes and saying a prayer, she released her hold. The ground rushed up to meet her with a thud. Thankfully, the soil just around the rock seemed a bit more sandy than the hard-baked soil of the dried-up riverbed. Though the landing still jarred every bone in her body, the loamy quality of the dirt immediately below cushioned her fall enough. Juggling her pack on her back again, she darted away from the outcropping, hugging the sides of the hill, clinging to what was left of the shadows.
She’d barely taken five steps before Axel’s first shot rang out above her.
Mystery tensed. That would certainly give away their position and send whoever was in that chopper running after them. What if they were another search-and-rescue sent by her father? Then again, if Axel was shooting, he must have reason to believe they weren’t.
A second shot rang out less than twenty seconds later. She swallowed, paused. He’d told her to go, run to the nearest town.
But she couldn’t leave him.
Mystery took the gun from her pack and headed back to Axel. This weapon would be far more useful in his hands.
Just as she reached the outcropping again, she saw him sliding down the facing of the rock as if his ass was on fire. The second he landed, he turned to find her. He barely had time for a glower before he rushed over and grabbed her arm, staying her.
“I picked two of them off. There were two others. The first headed back to the chopper before I even fired a shot. The second scrambled down the hill. I expect him to try to hunt us down.”
She put her hand in his and tugged in the direction he’d told her to trek. “Let’s go.”
Axel yanked on her hand and shook his head. “This way.”
Mystery frowned. She hadn’t misunderstood what he told her previously. When he turned and pulled on her hand, she got the picture immediately. “Toward the helicopter?”
And the bad guys? Was he crazy?
“With one guy searching the valley for us, we might be able to sneak our way past the other and either radio for help or get the hell to civilization. Walking through this valley without anywhere to hide or adequate camouflage isn’t my first choice. But if we run toward civilization, they head back to the chopper and find us in five minutes. We don’t have better options.”
The idea filled her with fear. Dashing across the valley was risky, probably close to insane. But Axel knew far more about staying alive in a combat situation than she did. He’d gotten her this far. She trusted him with her life.
“All right.”
Nodding, he pulled her along as he hugged the outcropping of rock. Before he rounded the corner, he grabbed his rifle, at the ready, and peeked at the vast expanse beyond.
Her heart thrummed as she waited for him to say something—anything. The interminable seconds slid by in silence.
“We’re going to make a dash across the long stretch of nothing between us and that hill. They’ll probably see us and give chase. Or shoot. Keep running, no matter what. Got it?”