A Bad Day for Sunshine (Sunshine Vicram #1) - Darynda Jones Page 0,131
that any cover is good for him and bad for us. That cabin has no windows at all. He’ll force a stalemate and kill her before we can even get close.”
Sun nodded in understanding. “We need to get to that cabin before he does.”
One corner of his mouth lifted, just barely, as he studied her. “Remember that state track record you broke in high school?”
“Levi,” she said, still panting, “that was a long time ago.”
When he only stared at her, apparently giving her a minute to come to the same conclusion he had, she caved.
“Fine. We’ll go around this ridge and get to the cabin while you two”—she looked at Zee and Quincy—“come in from behind.” She leveled a hard look on Zee. “If you get the shot, you take it. He went to a lot of trouble to get to Sybil. He will not hesitate to kill her. His sole purpose at this moment is to make his biological mother pay.” She pointed to Zee. “Sniper.” Then to Quincy. “Spotter.” Then she took hold of Zee’s shoulder and gazed directly into her eyes. “If you have to shoot him in the fucking back, you take the shot.”
Zee nodded just as Levi grabbed Sun’s arm, lifted her to her feet, and took off. And she thought he’d taken off at a dead run before. He flew through the trees, and it took everything in her power to keep up with him.
The snow and altitude made the last mile feel like a hundred. She’d lost feeling in her legs a while back, but it didn’t make them any lighter.
Still, they were so close, her adrenaline kicked in. Then he stopped and pointed two fingers down the mountain. A cabin, barely visible in the moonlight, sat to the side of a small clearing.
Thanking God for the full moon, she fought to fill her burning lungs and slow her pulse. She looked at Levi as he studied the terrain. His magnificent profile against the snow-covered backdrop made her ache more than the run did.
“Don’t,” he said, his voice hoarse.
She frowned and followed his gaze to the clearing. “Don’t what?”
He reached out, grabbed the front of her jacket, and pulled her close. She stumbled against him and put her palms on his chest for balance.
The fog of their breaths mingled as he looked down at her. As he ran a gloved thumb over her mouth. As he bent closer, his gaze locked onto hers like a predator. “We have to get down this mountain, and we have to do it fast.”
“Okay.”
“And if you keep looking at me like I’m some kind of hero, you’re going to be very disappointed in the long run.”
“I don’t think so.”
He held her chin to study her face, then asked, “Ready?”
She nodded, but Quincy’s voice invaded the moment. “Are you guys making out?”
They were using a short-range in-ear comm set. She gritted her teeth. “What part of radio silence—”
“We have eyes,” he said.
They both turned and looked at the clearing. Price was just emerging from a tree line, heading for the cabin.
“Fuck,” Levi said, and he pulled Sun down the mountain.
They half ran and half fell. Sliding through huge drifts of snow, they landed on the side opposite of Price and Sybil. She could only pray he didn’t see them.
“She can’t get a shot,” he said, peering around the side of a stack of firewood.
She looked around him. He was right. There was no way Zee could take the shot. He had Sybil draped over him. “Son of a bitch,” she said. “Ideas?”
“You’re the idea person,” he said. “I’m more of a ‘let’s get in front of him and blow him away’ kind of guy.”
“We have to get her away from him.”
“Agreed.”
She drew in a deep breath, her stomach raw from all the acid pumping into it. “I have an idea. Zee, stay sharp.”
“Always,” she said, her voice as calm as the breeze on a summer’s day. She was already in the zone, centering the crosshairs on her mark, slowing her pulse.
She explained her plan, then said, “He’s got to be exhausted. I’ll get her away from him. You just make sure he doesn’t make it into the cabin with her should I fail.”
“Don’t fail,” Levi said.
She looked at his profile again, studied it, a mere shadow in the dark.
“Don’t,” he whispered as Price got closer.
The man was groaning, straining against the weight of the fourteen-year-old over his shoulders and the resistance of the snow at his feet.