Conspiracy Game (46 page)

Jack sent Ken a repressing glare, but it didn’t stop the grin spreading across his twin’s face. “Let’s go. The helicopter is circling back.”

Briony nodded and fell into step beside him. Jack still pushed their speed, but he’d slowed it enough that she could keep up, forcing one foot in front of the other, counting her steps to keep her mind away from the pain flashing through her side and head.

Sporadic shooting left them in no doubt they were being followed, but the twins’ confidence never wavered. They moved through the forest as if it were their backyard, taking narrow animal trails, once walking behind a small waterfall. They climbed up boulders and sprinted over bare ground back into the protective canopy of the trees.

By late afternoon, Briony’s legs felt rubbery. She didn’t even try to think anymore, clinging only to the fact that they had to get away and their enemies seemed tenacious.

Jack slowed and came to a halt right on the edge of what appeared to be open meadow. Up ahead she could see a canyon, the sides steep, a ravine sloping down into thick brush, and the mountain rising with sheer walls on three sides.

“Jack, we can’t cross in the open, and if we do go in there, how can we get out?”

He pulled off his pack and switched weapons. “This is the canyon I told you about. We’ll make it out.”

“Even if we could climb those walls, they have a helicopter,” she protested.

“Have a little faith, baby,” Jack said. “Rest for a few minutes. When we run across the meadow, you’re going to be running full out, so be ready. Once we’re in the canyon, no one’s going to see us, the brush is too thick. We’ll be able to stop and sleep for a while. We’ll be climbing up to the pass at night.”

Briony studied the sheer cliffs rising above the canyon. They didn’t look like anything she wanted to climb, but both Jack and Ken seemed certain. Her mouth went dry just looking at the distance. Even with enhanced speed, the helicopter could be on her in seconds.

Jack caught her face in his hand, forcing her to look at him. “You have any sight at all in that eye?”

“No. It’s too swollen.” She didn’t want to do this. Jack was looking at her as if he had complete faith that she could sprint across the meadow in the face of the enemy, but she was tired, sick, and—truthfully—scared to death.

“I need you to do this, baby. Look at me. Look me in the eyes.” When she complied, he traced her soft cheek with his thumb. “I would never let anything happen to you. You came to me believing I’d protect you, and I will.”

The helicopter circled above them, a hovering menace she couldn’t ignore. She wanted to scream that it was different, that this time he was asking her to bet her life—the lives of her children—but she knew she’d been doing that all along. She had to make a decision and put herself fully in his hands. Briony took a deep breath and nodded. “I can run. You tell me where, and one eye is all I need.”

“That’s my girl.” He bent down to press a kiss to the corner of her mouth. “Tell me when, Briony.”

He gave her confidence. And he made her feel safe. She rested her head against his chest, just leaned against him as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do to another human being—something she couldn’t do with her own mother. There was no flash of pain, no distress at all, just a feeling of tranquility in the midst of chaos. The throbbing in her face lessened, as did the pain in her side.

Jack wrapped his arms around her, rifle and all, holding her close to him. He brushed several kisses into her hair. “We’ll get out of this.”

“I’m sure we will.” Briony pressed close to him, absorbing his strength and confidence. “Tell me where I’m supposed to run.”

“You go straight across the meadow to that log on the far side, the one close to the straggly tree surrounded by boulders. You see the log I’m talking about?”

She nodded. It looked a long way from them. The meadow was a wide expanse of grasses, flowers, and rocks, and seemed endless. With the helicopter circling overhead, she wasn’t certain just how Jack thought they’d make it into the canyon.

“Slide under the log, you’ll disappear from view into the scrub. We’ve got a trail there. You can start down the trail. We’ll be right behind you.” Jack caught her chin and tilted her head up to his. “Trust me, baby. I swear, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“You just swear you both will be right behind me.”

Jack kissed her mouth, gently. Tenderly. Wondering how the hell he’d managed to find her. “We’ll be right behind you,” he assured. He looked at his brother.

Jack and Ken stepped out of the trees, rifles to their shoulders, Ken’s aimed at the helicopter, Jack’s toward something in the meadow. They fired simultaneously. The helicopter lurched, and in the meadow a canister exploded, sending black smoke rising into the air. They fired a second time, and a second canister sent clouds of smoke billowing and spreading out. Ken’s shot sent the helicopter into a spin.

“Go, Briony,” Jack instructed. “Run, but don’t breathe in. I’ll be right with you.”

She took off like a jackrabbit, bursting out of the trees into the safety of the smoke.

C
HAPTER 
18

B
riony
heard another volley of shots and increased her speed, until she was in the very center of the smoke. Visibility went to zero, but she’d mapped out the steps in her mind, holding her course as straight as she could from memory. All the while she held her breath, but couldn’t prevent her eyes from burning and tearing.

She heard Jack swear and another shot rang out. Red orange flames erupted to her left and black clouds swarmed around her. She winced each time Jack fired and the canisters leapt into the air, exploding into walls of flames and quickly turning to more smoke. It was everywhere now, thick and impenetrable, a great hiding place, but she couldn’t breathe or see and was beginning to become disoriented.

Out of the gray swirling vapor a huge downed tree trunk loomed up, nearly hitting her in the stomach. At the last moment she managed to slip under it, landing hard on her bottom and sliding beneath the narrow archway of brambles forming a tunnel over her head. She crawled fast, moving quickly past the entrance to the canyon, staying close to the ground, where there was less of the dark smoke. She gulped fresh air, drawing it into her burning lungs, trying to wipe at her good eye in order to clear her vision.

Brambles caught in her hair, halting her forward progress, dragging her head back, and pulling at her scalp painfully. She reached back to free herself, and the stickers pricked her fingers and palm. The black smoke closed in around her like a wall, the brambles like the bars of a cage, until claustrophobia enveloped her.

Jack!

I’m here, baby. Don’t panic on me. We’re almost clear. Keep moving. Follow the trail all the way in. You’ll come to the camp. Ken and I need to cover the back trail and set a few surprises for anyone following us.

Just hearing his voice stopped the rising fear. Briony kept crawling. The tunnel widened a bit, but still the thorns caught on her clothes, tearing at her skin like claws. Behind her, there were more shots, and she touched the weapon inside the waistband of her jeans to assure herself it was there.

“I’m right behind you,” Ken said, his voice startling her. With the explosions and concentrating on racing through the brambles, she hadn’t realized he was so close.

“Where’s Jack?”

“Jack likes to play with explosives. He’s enjoying himself at the moment. Keep moving. We’re almost out of here.”

“I can hear the helicopter. It sounds funny.”

“I wounded it. Darn thing lurched to one side and spoiled my shot. I’ll never hear the end of it from Jack.”

“Could you tell if Luther was in the helicopter?” She asked anxiously.

“I didn’t spot him, but then Jack shot him, so he’s probably getting medical attention. Wait.” Ken put a hand on her shoulder and fell silent.

Briony held her breath to keep from making noise while he listened intently. Small sounds penetrated the tunnel of brambles—the scampering of a lizard across the rock, the hum of bees nearby, the call of a bird, and the chattering of a squirrel in the distance.

“We just have to crawl for a couple of minutes and you’ll come to a solid wall of bushes. It isn’t easy to move the tangle of brush out of the way, because it’s all stickers. If you can let me slide by you… ”

“Are you nuts? There’s no room for sliding by me. I can get it open.”

“And then when Jack finds you all cut up to hell, he’s going to get nasty with me. Have you noticed when it comes to you he has a protective streak a mile wide?”

Her laughter was muffled. “I noticed he has a protective streak for just about everyone. He just doesn’t seem to realize it.” She glanced at him over her shoulder, grateful they were away from the billowing clouds of smoke. “You’re always watching out for him, aren’t you?”

Ken shrugged. “I can handle certain things better than he can—and he’s got my back on other stuff, so it all works out.”

And right at this moment, Ken, you’re protecting what I hold most dear. I’ll never be able to repay you for what you’ve done this day.

Shut the hell up, you’re going to make me cry.
Ken sent it back with sarcasm, but the truth was, the naked emotion in Jack’s mind was enough to make tears burn behind his eyes.

As Briony came up on what appeared to be a giant tangle of blackberry bushes, it suddenly occurred to her that Ken wasn’t comfortable around others any more than Jack was, but for his brother’s sake he pushed himself to deal with the everyday things in life.

She sent him a brief smile. “You drag him to the bar just to keep him civil, don’t you?”

“He’d live in a cave if I didn’t,” Ken said.
And you would too
, including his brother in the conversation.

She studied his face. “So would you.”

He flashed a faint grin, but it never reached his eyes, and faded immediately. “I’m not all that different from Jack. I’ve got my father in me too. I know Jack told you about him. We both have to live with what we might become given the right circumstances, and we both work hard at avoiding any situation that could bring him out in us.”

“He isn’t in you, Ken.”

“Yes he is. I feel him there, crouched like a monster just waiting for me to let him out. Jack may have been the one to kill him, but I would have done it had I been able to. I attacked him with the bat when he was beating my mother’s dead body. He took it away and broke my arms.”

“It was self-defense. We all have a right to protect ourselves. I don’t see how either of you can possibly equate who you are with that man. Both of you have been nothing but kind to me, protective of me.”

“Jack is quite capable of violence, and so am I.”

She shook her head. “That’s not exactly a news flash, Ken. I am too. Most people are, given the right circumstances. Both of you have a much skewed view of who you really are. I’d take either of you over most people any day of the week.”

“That’s only because we’re saving your butt right now, not bossing you around.” He handed her a pair of gloves. “Put those on, they’ll help.”