Blood and Ashes (18 page)

OK. So let’s get this done while things are swinging our way.

Rushing to the right, I gained the slope and the cover of the trees. The going would be a little slower, but there was less chance of running into any of my enemies while out in the woods. I thumbed the volume on the radio, listening as men reported the negative result of their search. If I could circle round behind them, gain entry to the structure where the children were, I could wait there for them and take them out one at a time.

If, I cautioned, wasn’t a word allowed in my vocabulary. More psychobabble from my Arrowsake days, but I had to abide by the rule. You didn’t plan on
if
, you made it so.

Chapter 24

Gant was seething.

What should have been a simple forced entry to an unguarded house, a quick in-and-out mission, had turned to shit. Things didn’t look like they were going to get any better, either.

He’d thought about the men accompanying him as being disposable, but now that wasn’t the case. He wished that they were all back, hale and hearty and ready to lay down their lives all over again.

‘Who the fuck is out there?’ he yelled into his radio as he tried to staunch the flow of blood from his damaged ear.

‘Fuckin’ Rambo, you ask me,’ came back Darley’s whining tone.

‘I don’t mean
him
. I’m talking about our people. Sound off . . . one at a time.’

‘Won’t take much doing,’ Darley said. ‘There’s only me and Holland still kicking.’

‘Jesus . . .’

Gant pushed into the front of a cabin, shutting the door behind him with his foot. There he toyed with the oozing wound in his ear. ‘You sure that’s all there is, Dar?’

‘I ain’t heard much from Dillman since we last heard him shout out. I’m taking it that the bad-ass took him out.’

‘Yeah,’ Gant said touching his ear again. The bad-ass had come close to finishing him, too. Chances were that a hopeless cretin like Dillman wouldn’t have fared better. He felt little regret. Dillman wouldn’t be too much of a miss; the useless idiot had allowed Vince to get away. ‘Holland, you still out there?’

‘I’m here,’ Holland said.

‘Where?’

‘Ass-end of the camp. Just spotted the minivan, but I can’t get to it. Don Griffiths has me pinned down with a machine-gun.’

‘You’ve found their vehicle? Tell me where.’

‘Like I said, I’m at the ass-end of the camp.’

‘That’s a real help, Holland. This whole place is the fuckin’ ass-end of the world.’

Darley cut into the conversation. ‘Boss, I see the minivan. It’s under a lean-to next to the last cabin on the right.’

‘Can you get to it, Dar?’ Gant asked.

‘Will do.’

Holland said, ‘I’d rather you gave me cover, Darley. Griffiths is getting too close for my liking.’

‘So kill the bastard,’ Gant snapped.

‘You sure, boss? I thought you wanted to be the one to—’

‘Things have changed, Holland. Or haven’t you noticed? Just kill the bastard so we can get the fuck outa here.’

‘With you, boss,’ Holland said.

A machine-gun rattled in the distance.

‘What about the other guy?’ Darley asked.

‘We see him, we kill him. Otherwise he’s not our priority just now. Get to the minivan, Dar, and tell me what you find.’

Gant pinched his ear, trying to stop the flow of blood. Waste of time that was. He flicked scarlet drops on the walls, thinking about what he’d just said. Not a priority, my ass! If I see that piece of shit I’m gonna make it my life’s work to put him in a grave.

Two machine-guns competed further up the camp. Gant opened the door of the cabin and peered out. A small figure sprinted through the haze of drizzle and gunsmoke, Darley heading for the lean-to. There was muzzle flash from where Holland was hunkered down behind an old flat-bed trailer abandoned when the last logging company truck rolled out. Gant added up his chances of getting round behind Griffiths and blasting the man, but discarded the idea. A far better plan was finding the kids and using them as a shield. He could then force Griffiths and whoever the fuck the other guy was into the open, where he could riddle them full of bullets with little fear of them shooting back.

‘Van’s empty, boss!’

Gant thumbed his radio up to his good ear.

‘Say again, Dar.’

‘The minivan’s empty. What now?’

‘Start checking the buildings next to it, I’m gonna make my way to you.’

He checked his assault rifle and it was almost empty. He dumped the depleted magazine then fished a fresh one out of his jacket pocket and slammed it in place.

As an afterthought, he called Holland.

‘You get him yet?’

‘Don’t know, Gant. He’s gone quiet all of a sudden.’

‘So maybe you killed him, you fool.’

‘Maybe that’s what he wants me to think and he’s waiting for me to come outa hiding.’

Holland had a point, but that meant nothing to Gant.

‘Get your pussy ass in gear, Holland. Go check, now.’

‘I’m going, OK?’

Gant waited, listening.

There was a single burp of an assault rifle.

‘You get him, Holland? Holland?’ Gant frowned at the radio, then sighed, ‘Aah, shit.’

‘Looks like it’s down to me an’ you, boss man,’ Darley said a few seconds later.

Gant didn’t bother answering. If he reckoned things had gone to shit before, now was much worse.

So it’s time to turn things in our favour again, he thought, as he rushed out of the cabin and towards the next one in line.

Chapter 25

A hollow in the lee of an ancient fir tree offered concealment. The boughs hung so low they were like widows’ fingers digging at the soil as if trying to reclaim their lost husbands. Shadows cloaked me. The words coming from my pocket had a stereo effect now that I was so near to one of those talking, but the little bird-like man had no idea of how close to death he was.

I’d caught the gist of the radio-chatter. Discounting the young greaser, there were only two of the bastards left alive: Gant and this man called Darley. A well-placed shot, and then Gant would be seriously outnumbered if not outgunned, yet I was loath to pull the trigger. There were still so many questions unanswered that I thought about sparing the little skinhead for a minute or two while I beat some of the answers out of him.

Take the shot.

Do not underestimate this man. He may be small, but he’s armed and intent on harming the kids. Slip up and you’ll be one sorry bastard.

I raised my SIG, aiming through the branches, zeroing in on the man’s chest. A head shot would be better, but the way it jerked about like a hen scratching for worms made for a poor target. I caressed the trigger, the progression on it smooth and easy. I was a hair’s-breadth away from punching a cavity all the way through Darley when there was a flicker of movement which caused me to relax the pressure on the trigger, and watch as Don Griffiths came out from behind a cabin on the far side of the camp. The old man loped across the clearing, favouring one leg. But it wasn’t my friend’s appearance that caused me to spare Darley an immediate death, it was the fact that another man followed close on Don’s heels.

Not Gant as I first feared, but the young man whose floppy quiff bounced with each jolting step.

Don glanced back at the young man, but he didn’t stop. He didn’t even flinch, just said something that I’d no way of hearing. The young man nodded, and they both headed directly for the cabin where Millie and the kids were hiding.

Shit, they’ve caught Don, was my immediate thought. The next was, Don’s got a gun but the greaser’s unarmed. What the hell is going on here?

When I glanced back at Darley, the little man had moved, squatting down behind the minivan so that neither Don nor his new companion could see him. I’d lost my shot.

‘I bloody knew it,’ I grunted.

From my pocket a voice hissed. I slipped the radio out so that I could hear clearly.

‘Gant, you ain’t gonna believe what I’m looking at . . .’

‘I see them, Dar,’ Gant replied in a voice close to a whisper. ‘So that turncoat bastard’s consorting with the enemy now?’

‘How do you want to play things? I’ve got them both in my sights.’

‘Hold it, Dar. I want Vince-fucking-Everett all to myself.’

‘I can still pop Griffiths,’ Darley said. In line with his words, the man leaned his rifle over the roof of the minivan. I half rose, lifting my SIG: it looked like I was going to have to go for a head shot after all.

‘No, you could hit Vince.’ Gant’s warning made Darley dip back down again. ‘I’m closer, I’ll get Griffiths first.’

The tattooed man’s words made me jerk upright.

Over seven years ago my failure to take a shot had caused repercussions to crash like a wave of destruction down through time. Many had died as a consequence and I’d almost perished before taking out the professional contract killer named Luke Rickard. Now, by missing the opportunity to take out Darley it looked like Don was going to die.

Don and the young man were out of my line of sight now, but they weren’t deaf.

‘Don! Get down!’ I roared at the top of my voice.

Then I crashed out from below the fir tree, drawing Darley’s attention. Little good it would do to throw off Gant’s aim, and I could only hope that my warning was heard and acted upon.

There was the staccato rattle of a machine-gun, and I added a backbeat, firing as I ran at Darley.

The bullets struck the roof of the minivan, smashed a window, cut grooves out of the metalwork, but not one of them found flesh.

So much for conserving rounds, but that wasn’t a consideration now. It was all about causing enough confusion to draw Gant away from Don. I fired again, swerving round the back of the minivan. If Darley was standing his ground, the move would be both reckless and suicidal, but the little man was still ducking and diving to escape the barrage of bullets. I was on him before he could swing the rifle round.

I don’t like bullies, and felt a bit like the jock beating down on the nerd in the playground, but in the circumstances it was justified. I slammed a kick into Darley’s chest and the man went down on his back. My next kick was aimed at the gun and knocked it out of his hands.

‘You bastard,’ Darley hissed between clenched teeth. His eyes were rolling in his skull as he sought to grapple with my legs. I sidestepped and jabbed his ribs with the toe of my boot.

Just finish the little shit, I thought, you haven’t got time for this.

Ordinarily I would do so, but I was still experiencing a twinge of guilt, not liking the thought of killing the small man when he was already overwhelmed.

Remember the two in the parking lot, Hunter: did you give them a second chance?

I was still trying to put those two to the back of my mind, and now this?

Darley grabbed at his belt and came out with a knife.

That had an immediate and devastating result for Darley.

I avoided the slash of the knife, and Darley took the opportunity to swing up on to one knee. That put him directly in line with the knee that I rammed under his jaw. Darley’s head snapped back, flecks of blood marking the saliva that flew from his mouth. His eyes were already rolling up into his skull, so he didn’t feel the whack of the SIG’s barrel as it slammed the side of his head.

Darley flopped to the floor, and a rattling exhalation spattered more blood on his chin.

I was already moving away, shoving the SIG in my belt as I stopped to snatch up Darley’s rifle.

There was another rattle of gunfire.

Gant’s first volley had missed Don, then? Either that or the tattooed man had now turned his anger on the young man. Worse than that was if he’d got both first time and this new sound was of Gant murdering Millie and the children.

Letting out a wordless shout I dashed from behind the minivan, heedless of the fact I might be in Gant’s crosshairs. The cabin where the woman and kids were secreted was only two over. There was a new addition on the front boardwalk that hadn’t been there when I’d last left them. The bundle proved to be the form of a man, and by the white hair and beard it could only be one person.

Dear God! No!

Gant had brought down Don Griffiths and he wasn’t moving.

I spurred myself on, senses fighting to stay focused against the rush of self-loathing that assailed me like a suffocating cloak. It was bad enough that Don had been hit, but now the screams of the terrified children rang clear. The door to the cabin had been kicked in. Gant was already inside and terrorising the kids.

Stay in the red zone.

The thought struck at the same time as bullets singed the air around me. Caught off-guard, I stumbled and fell, rolling to avoid another volley of rounds churning the mud next to my body. A bullet struck the rifle and knocked it out of my hands. I let it lie and scrambled away, then came to my feet again and threw myself across the boardwalk and against the wall of the cabin, looking for targets as I snatched out my SIG. Movement flickered across the way and Gant rushed out from his hiding place in the cabin opposite. Gant fired as he ran causing me to jump for my life away from the bullets cutting into the wall beside me.