WATCHING (19 page)

***

Hell and Dan stared down at the body before them. The woman had been dead for at least two months, if not more, probably half as long as the body they
’
d found in Spurgeon Quarry. Coyotes and other scavengers had made a buffet out of her remains, and they knew they were lucky to have found that much of her.

From the size of the frame, they estimated she was a small woman, probably no more than five-foot-four, the hair that remained on her head was dark in color, though the exact shade couldn
’
t yet be identified. It would have to wait until Dr. Bellows and her people cleaned up what was left.

The other agents with them
—
Brockman, Handers, Stanton, as well as half a dozen resident agents
—
roamed the scene, cordoning off the area. Hell was about to call it, and head back to the police station to see what Georgia and K.D. had found when a man stumbled out of the surrounding woods, dropping to his knees near Norton.

“
Dammit, Hell! It
’
s Josh! Josh! Man! What the hell happened
?
”

“
God, where
’
s Carrie? Is she here with you
?
”
Compton
’
s hands were covered in blood, streaks covered his left cheek. He had mud and leaves in his hair.
“
She was with me! Then some bastard jumped me! I heard her scream! You
’
ve got to go find her!
”

“
Dan! Stay with Josh; Brockman, let
’
s move! We have a possible agent down out there!
”
Hell was already moving.

He
’
d made it nearly a mile into the woods at a fast clip, aware of Brockman and the other agents moving at an equally fast pace.

A female voice shouted as a quick succession of shots reverberated through the woods, dangerously close to Hell
’
s position and he veered to the east. Toward the shots. Hell hoped to God he
’
d find Carrie in one piece.

***

Georgia
’
s arm was about to fall off, no doubt about it. But she didn
’
t stop. She wouldn
’
t stop, either. Not until the bastard got the message, or Jules got the shot. Whenever that was.
“
Come on! Asshole, show your face, you coward!
”

She had to get him to the edge of the borrow pit. Get him visible. And that
’
s what she was going to do.
“
Coward! Come on! Getting tired yet? You are such a coward! Come on! Show your damned ugly face! Come on! Come on! Come on!
”

***

Jules didn
’
t know if she could do it. The angle was bad, the wind was picking up, the rain falling harder, and the clouds were rolling in, making visibility non-existent. She knew she
’
d have a freaking hard time seeing the bastard even though less than fifty feet separated them. And it had been several years since she
’
d had to shoot a gun. But if she didn
’
t, what would happen to the three of them?

The redheaded agent was behind her, rocking back and forth. Jules doubted the younger woman could remain crouched against the steep side of the pit for very much longer. But if Carrie fell down, she
’
d make a larger target for the son-of-a-bitch. A more defenseless one, since Jules had taken her weapon.

Not that he even seemed to notice the two of them, all of his attention focused on Georgia. Georgia darted around the pit, never standing in one stop too long, grabbing rocks and throwing as hard as she could. Always belting more and more stones over the ridge, and zooming out of the way of the maniac
’
s own launches. Her volleys were smaller stones, incapable of doing as much damage as his, but she was reaching what she aimed for. Buying them time.

Sometimes she wasn
’
t fast enough, and Jules would hear the stones hitting her friend, hear the painful responses from Georgia.

How much more could Georgia
’
s body take? Jules wasn
’
t aware that she was mumbling curses under her breath as her hand gripped the barrel of her borrowed Sig Saur.
“
Come on, show your freaking self. Just for a damned second. Show your freaking self!
”

A furious round of stones belted over the borrow pit
’
s side, two of the four striking home; hitting Georgia
’
s pitching arm, and her right leg. Jules watched her best friend launch a few rocks of her own, before stumbling. Georgia hit the dirt hard twenty feet from her and Carrie. Jules grabbed some rocks and though hers didn
’
t fly as fast or as hard as Georgia
’
s, they were good enough to distract.

“
Keep throwing, Jules!
”
Georgia yelled, scrambling to gather a stockpile of rocks of her own.

Jules did, until her arm burned. Georgia
’
s throwing resumed. And then Jules saw it, the man
’
s shirt. Green.

She dropped the rock in her left hand and aimed with her right. Jules squeezed the trigger. One, two, three, like she
’
d been taught. Only one of her shots hit home, but it was enough. enough to end this damned fiasco.

“
Oh God!
”
Jules rushed to Georgia
’
s side once she was certain the raining stones had stopped, the Sig Saur ready but now held down at her side.
“
George, you are freaking crazy!
”

***

Georgia stood, her left hand rubbing her right shoulder, trying to sooth the burning. She
’
d not thrown that hard since college. It wasn
’
t a long distance, but she
’
d belted them as hard as she could. And they were heavier than a standard softball. And now she felt the result.

“
Listen, I
’
m going up the hill. Stay down here until I come back. I want to make sure that son of a bitch can
’
t start up again
.
”
Those damned stones had hurt, and the bastard had belted her with quite a few.
“
And good shot, Jules. Think you may be wasted hid
den
down with the dead people. Good damned shot. I was almost ready to quit
.
”

“
I got the freaking bastard,
”
Jules said. It wasn
’
t a question, and Georgia knew it.

“
Yes
.
”
Georgia started up the incline. Her left hand held tight to her own weapon, as a precaution, and she used her right to grab roots and rocks to guide herself up the side. This particular pit was rougher than the previous one she
’
d explored, even though it was at least ten feet shallower.

Poor Carrie, it had to have hurt like hell falling down the side, with only rocks and briars to break her fall. It was a wonder Carrie wasn
’
t in worse shape than she was. They didn
’
t know if the man was armed, and she wasn
’
t going to risk it. Odds were, he wasn
’
t, and otherwise he most likely would have used it on Georgia, if just to subdue her. She peered over the edge, eyes searching for signs of anyone. He wasn
’
t anywhere to be seen.

They didn
’
t have a choice. Down in the borrow pit they were easy targets; if he went after a weapon besides rocks, they
’
d be easy targets. She climbed back down the steep hill, slipping as the drizzling rain made the path slick. First order of business was to get Carrie up the side.

“
You hit him, Jules, but I don
’
t know how bad. He
’
s not up there. I want us out of this hole before he comes back. Then we can both shoot if we have to
.
”
Georgia moved to take half of Carrie
’
s weight.
“
Let
’
s get her up there
.
”

They half slid back down the incline, and all knew how disastrous that would have been. The pit was already starting to fill up from the rain. Georgia felt every bruise from each stone that had struck her, and supporting the weight of the computer tech wasn
’
t doing any good for her burning shoulder. If they fell to the bottom, Georgia didn
’
t know if she
’
d be much help getting them to the top again.

With one last heave, she and Jules boosted Carrie clear of the hole. The redhead stumbled, less than ten feet from the borrow pit
’
s edge. Carrie
’
s right hand twitched against her injured leg, tapping out the
one-two-three-
four
rhythm that would always be Carrie
’
s rhythm. It was faster than Georgia ever remembered hearing it, and her heart soon echoed the younger woman
’
s tapping. Jules moved into a similar position, eyes scanning the dense woods, one hand gripping the barrel of her weapon, the other holding Carrie
’
s left.

A hurried trail led off into the woods but none of the women made any move to follow it. There was safety in numbers, so they
’
d all stay together. No matter what.

Georgia
’
s body ached. The stones hit her quite a few times, and now she wondered how much damage he
’
d done. She knew she had at least two cracked ribs. And her arm burned, but she didn
’
t know if that was from the abuse she
’
d subjected it to while hurling stones up the hill, or from that last hit he
’
d made before Jules had shot him. It had been a bad hit.

“
Hell of a pitching arm you got there
.
”
Jules supported most of Carrie
’
s weight, for which Georgia was thankful.
“
I
’
ve always thought so
.
”

“
Yeah. It
’
s been a while since I had to do that
.
”

“
That was freaking scary
.
”

“
You distracted him and I think I hit him in the head with that one
.
”
Georgia motioned to a disturbed mud spot beside their feet.
“
I think he fell forward
.
”

“
And I took the shot
.
”
Jules checked Carrie
’
s pulse again.
“
George, did I even need to take the shot
?
”

“
Heck if I know
.
”
Georgia shrugged but stopped midway to wince.
“
I was wearing down. I couldn
’
t have kept it up much longer
.
”

“
You surprised the freaking crap out of me,
”
Jules said. Carrie, eyes closed, kept up the tap, tap, tap and tap with her right hand. Her left was clutching Jules
’
and that told Georgia all she needed to know. Carrie rarely touched anyone.
“
How did you know that would work
?
”

“
When Hellbrook and I were at the first scene, I was at the bottom, and he couldn
’
t see me,
”
Georgia said.
“
And I wondered about all the stones at the bottom. Why she didn
’
t fight back. I knew I would
.
”

“
And you did
.
”

“
And I did
.
”