Robert Crais - The sentry

"You hear me?"

Her voice came back all tinny with static.

"I hear you. Is Willie here?"

"Come out. You're gonna go home."

Tobey said, "Here he comes."

Cleo said, "There he is, is."

Daniel thought they were talking about Pike, but they weren't.

The Prius swung around a curve less than a quarter-mile away. Daniel thought maybe he should tell her to stay in the van, but decided to let her come.

He keyed the talk button again.

"Get outta the damn van, woman. I'm not gonna hurt you."

The back door swung open as Daniel scanned the brush for movement.

Elvis Cole Elvis Cole was scrunched so far down in the Prius's back seat he couldn't see anything, not even the back of Bill Rainey's head.

"You see the van?"

"Yeah, we're almost there. Don't worry."

The criminal with a Bolivian cartel after him telling Cole not to worry. Perfect.

"Make sure that gun is hidden. He sees the gun, you're history."

"Relax, for Christ's sake. I'm fine."

They had given Rainey a gun. They had also strapped him into a ballistic vest. They wouldn't put him in Gregg Daniel Vincent's crosshairs with nothing.

Rainey said, "We're here. I'm turning."

They bumped off the pavement onto the ridge. A cloud of dust swirled in through the open windows. The windows were down in case Cole had to shoot.

Then Rainey slammed on the brakes.

"The fuck? She's already out. I was supposed to get out first."

Cole saw Rainey's head popping left and right, as if he thought Vincent would jump from a bush. Cole wanted to look, but knew Vincent would be watching their car.

"Take it easy. What's she doing?"

"Looking at me. She's waving her hands."

"Is anyone in the van?"

"I can't see."

"Check our sides. Look for Vincent."

"Fuck this! She's running! She's trying to get away!"

Rainey suddenly kicked open his door, and pushed out of the car.

"Rose! Ro-"

Cole heard the first shot.

Pike stood when he heard them shouting. Below him, Rose Platt ran toward the Prius as Rainey ran toward her, the two of them separated by almost one hundred yards.

Pike broke hard by a sage, trying to draw Vincent's fire. He cut back through the brush just as a sharp crack broke the twilight silence, rolling across the purple canyons. Pike heard the bullet snap past, then dove into the rocks, rolled, and kept running, breaking left and right down the slope.

Rose Platt and Rainey stopped at the sound of the shot. Then Elvis Cole came out of the Prius, and Rose turned back toward the van.

The second shot cracked into the slope at Pike's feet, but Pike saw the flash, and ran harder as he shouted to Cole.

"Other side. Trees up the slope."

Pike fired three times, long shots at the flash, hoping to flush him. Cole and Rainey turned to look for Vincent. Pike saw another flash, only this time Vincent wasn't shooting at Pike.

The bullet cut Rainey's left leg from under him in a spray of pink mist. He spun with his arms and legs out like a puppet and didn't scream until he was down.

Rose Platt screamed once, then lurched behind the van as another shot slammed into its fender.

Rainey sat up, shouted something Pike did not understand, then fired his pistol into the trees. Vincent flashed back. The bullet punched through Rainey's shoulder with another red cloud, but Cole had the flash now, and popped off five rounds.

Pike caught a flicker between the trees, Vincent moving downhill and gone.

Pike shouted again.

"Moving. Downhill."

Cole sprinted across Mulholland and disappeared down the far slope. Pike turned back for Dru, and saw her kneeling behind the van. He was torn in that moment, to go or to stay, but she was safe, so he ran to help Cole. Pike sprinted past Rainey, then up the steep slope on the far side of Mulholland into the trees.

Daniel .

Tobey whispered in Daniel's ear, tickling him with furry lips, pleading and urgent.

"You can do this, boy. You can get'm."

Cleo scurried in a circle, spinning like a dervish.

"You can do this, Daniel-aniel. Just like a zombie, ombie!"

"Open your EYES, EYES, EYES!"

Cleo spun faster.

"Kill, kill."

The rocks and rotten branches cut into Daniel's back. He took a tentative breath, and heard a wet popping in his chest. He coughed, but all that came out was aborted vomit.

Daniel looked at the blood on his hands.

"I been shot."

Tobey said, "Takes more than that to kill a werewolf, my friend, friend, friend."

Daniel touched his chest again, and looked down at the blood. He didn't feel so bad. He didn't even remember getting hit. He knew they were shooting, and the bullets were rainin' in, but he didn't remember getting hit. Maybe there was somethin' to this werewolf business after all.

Tobey said, "Find your gun, Daniel. Get the gun."

"Gun, gun."

Daniel felt around until he found it. The rifle was gone, but the pistol was still in his pocket. He flipped off the safety.

"I think I can still get that bastard, boys."

Tobey said, "Bet your ass you can, can."

Cleo said, "Bet your ass, ass, ass."

Daniel was feeling stronger. He took another breath, and felt pretty damned good. Even if he couldn't get the bastard, he was thinking he could get away. Plenty of houses around. Plenty of cars. All he had to do was get across Mulholland and into the canyon.

Daniel listened. He heard movement on the slope, but it was far away and below. They probably thought he slid farther down than he had.

Daniel pushed himself to his feet, using the tree to pull himself up as much as he pushed.

Then Gregg Daniel Vincent saw the arrow dude watching him. Dude didn't say a word, just stood there, no more than three feet away, gun at his side.

Pike knew Cole was somewhere on the slope below. He could hear Cole pushing through the brush, and the clatter of sliding rocks as he worked sideways across the hill. Pike had seen Vincent moving downhill, so searching downhill was the smart bet, but Pike decided to lag back in case Vincent doubled back.

Pike let Cole move farther away. The farther Cole moved, the quieter it became, and quiet was good.

Pike listened for almost a minute before he heard a pebble dance through the trees on the slope somewhere in front of him. A soft cough followed the pebble.

Pike eased between the trees, and found Vincent in the rocks behind two dying walnut trees less than twenty yards from the road. Pike thought he was dead, but Vincent moved, then slowly struggled to his feet. Vincent was thin, but built strong, with a lean face and pockmarks and circles under his eyes. He didn't look crazy, but what kind of person tortures and kills for lunatic drug traffickers?

Pike saw that Vincent was holding a gun, but waited to see what he would do. The man had a chest wound, but it was low and to the side. Pike had seen men fight on and win with their bodies turned inside out.

Then Vincent saw him, and his eyes sharpened like a couple of tacks.

"Look at this, boys. We got him."

Pike wondered who he was talking to.

"You Pike?"

Pike nodded.

"Wasn't you shot me. That other guy. You wanna call me an ambulance?"

"No."

"No? I'm bleedin' here, man. Get me some help."

Pike shook his head.

Vincent stared for a moment. He hadn't wanted the ambulance, and would have left before it arrived. He had hoped to catch Pike reaching for his phone or making the call. He wanted the edge.

Vincent said, "You never answered my question."

"What question was that?"

"Down south. You think we faced off before?"

"No."

"How you know that for sure?"

"You'd be dead."

"That's funny. The boys told me the same thing about you."