Beyond the Breaking Point - Lori Sjoberg Page 0,71

prisoner needed. For a guy with a gunshot wound to his leg, he moved with remarkable speed. He was on her in an instant, one of his hands locked around her wrist, while the other grabbed for the gun.

Fear and adrenaline surged through her system like a bolt of white-hot lightning. Blood roared in her ears. With her vision still blurry, she twisted around, shifted her weight, twisted again, and used the change in momentum to throw him off-balance and send him sprawling to the ground.

For good measure, she kicked his injured leg, and he let out a guttural grunt of pain. She pressed the advantage, digging one knee into the center of his spine while she jammed the gun against the back of his head.

“I ought to kill you for that,” she snapped, her heart still pounding faster than a jackhammer. In truth, she was angrier with herself for letting her guard down. It was a stupid, reckless mistake that could have gotten her killed. If Wade had seen it happen, she never would have heard the end of it.

“Can’t blame a man for trying.” His voice was muffled against the ground. He sounded smug, which pissed her off, but she kept her temper in check.

Eyes watering, she blinked a few times, and finally, her vision cleared. “No, I can’t, but I can make sure you don’t try it again.”

She quickly stood, backed up a few feet, and fired a round into his left foot. If properly motivated, he might still be able to stand, but he wouldn’t be moving fast enough to get the drop on her again.

In all her years, she’d never heard a guy scream in that high of a pitch.

Curled into a ball, he cradled his wounded foot, his face a portrait of pain. “What the fuck, you crazy fucking bitch!”

“I warned you. It’s not my fault you won’t listen. Next time, I’ll shoot an arm. What’s your preference, left or right?”

He muttered a few anatomically impossible curses in Spanish but didn’t answer her question. No matter; she’d already decided on his dominant right arm.

To be safe, she backed up another two steps in case he got any more bright ideas. Her gaze flicked down to her weapon. The pistol’s magazine carried ten rounds, which meant she was down to six bullets. There was an extra clip tucked in her back pocket, but she’d rather conserve her remaining bullets in case she really needed them.

More gunshots rang out from the compound, a burst from an automatic rifle, quickly followed by a barrage of small arms fire. The exchange went back and forth for over a minute, and then silence filled the air.

“If they’re not all dead by now, they will be soon,” the man said with a sneer. “If you run now, you might make it a day or two before we catch you.”

“Shut up.” Too late; the seed of doubt had been planted in her mind. What he asserted could very well be the case, and she refused to acknowledge the acrid taste of bile rising in her throat. She wanted to believe that Wade and the guys were just fine, but four against two dozen or more were lousy odds, and there was no way to know who was dead or alive until somebody left the compound.

The man snorted. “Fine, have it your way. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. The men will pass you around like the cheap whore you are, and slit your throat when they grow tired of you.”

In her mind, she knew he was only trying to dig under her skin, to knock her off-balance far enough she’d make another mistake that he could exploit. And even though his words unnerved her, she’d be damned if it showed on her face. “If your men were that well-trained, you wouldn’t have run like a little chicken shit.”

That wiped the smirk off his face and put one on hers.

In the distance, a vehicle’s engine turned over, and she might have stopped breathing for a second or two. A door slammed, gears ground, and seconds later, a beat-up Army-green Jeep drove out of the compound and headed in her direction. She swallowed hard against the lump in her throat as her grip tightened on the pistol.

If things had gone to hell, and it was Aranza’s men inside that Jeep, she needed to be ready to flee. After that…she had no idea. For now, she refused to consider the possibility of Wade and