Aimée Thurlo - Restless Wind

It was then that she truly began to understand Ranger. He saw his ability to challenge the winds of change as the road to harmony and happiness. In contrast, she’d always seen home and her familiar routines as the path to security and well-being. But all those had ever given her was the illusion of safety.

Before she could think about this further, she heard Ranger’s cell phone ring and saw him answer, clutching the small phone hard in his hand. A heartbeat later, he grinned widely and Dana knew Ranger’s brother was alive.

EXCITEMENT AND RELIEF swept through Ranger as he heard his brother’s voice.

“I’m in one piece” came the announcement from Hunter.

“What’s happened?” Ranger asked. “All I knew was that your cell had been found next to an unidentified victim.”

“The sniper took out one of our people. I was there, managed to follow and track them, and got the spotter-the other half of the sniper team. But I lost the cell phone and, until now, I didn’t have a way to contact you.”

“The spotter…is he dead?”

“He died from his wounds, but not before he talked. He said you’re not the target, the woman is, which means they haven’t confirmed who you are. But they’ve been tracking you via the GPS system in your truck. They have an informant in the company that manufactured it, courtesy of Trujillo ’s money. They know exactly where you are now.”

“We’re in a secure location,” Ranger insisted.

“I know how you think, and I’ve got a good idea of where you are. But, Wind, this sniper is good. He’s got military training-the way he teamed up with a spotter proves that. He’s also a master at camouflage. I only saw him after he’d taken the shot. If he comes after you, you may never see him coming.”

“Did you?”

There was a pause. “No, but I sensed him, which is why I’m the one who survived his attack.”

“I’ll be ready.”

After he hung up, Ranger pulled Dana down into a shady spot, lowering their profile by half, and filled her in on the conversation. “The best way to survive a sniper’s attack is to be more patient than he is. We’ll need a good hiding place where we can lay low. He can only shoot at what he sees. A sniper keys on your movements. If we can outlast him, it’ll be his own movements that’ll reveal his location.”

“You have a rifle with a scope. How accurate are you with that thing?”

“I can hit a soup can at three hundred yards nine out of ten times. I’m accurate on larger targets beyond that range, too, depending on the wind, the lighting and other variables. But keep in mind that this man will have a lot more experience than I do factoring in the conditions. He’s supposed to be a master when it comes to camouflage, too. He won’t be easy to spot, and forget about hearing him. He’ll move slowly and carefully once he locates the pickup.”

Ranger brought out his binoculars and surveyed the area below.

“Do you see him?” she asked after several minutes had gone by.

“No, but I can feel him down there. He’ll work his way up slowly through the rockslide, from shadow to shadow. It’s what I would do.” He took a deep breath then chanted softly. “In the trail of beauty…” he began and as his voice rose above a whisper, the eagle stirred and took flight.

She soared free, turning in a tight circle, then swooped down over an outcropping where boulders the size of truck tires had tumbled down the mountain. She dove almost to the surface, then turned sharply, catching an updraft and spiraling up into the sky. She then glided back to her cliff-side nest with little effort.

“Ahéhee’,” he said, thanking her, but his words were nothing more than a stirring in the wind.

“Did you…did she…no, that’s impossible…isn’t it?”

Ranger never answered. He trained his binoculars on the area the eagle had pinpointed for him. He watched for perhaps five minutes, holding perfectly still. “Got you now,” he muttered at last.

“You saw him?”

“He’s hidden among the rocks at the lower end of that outcropping. All I caught was a flicker of movement as he crawled from one shadow to the next. But that was enough. My guess is that he already knows where we are, too, or at least where we went, and he’s angling for a clear line of sight.”

“So what do we do? We can’t stay up here forever,” she said, “and if we drive back down, we’ll go right past him.”

“We’ll need to draw him out. I won’t be able to get a shot where he is right now.”

“I can’t shoot, but I can get his attention,” she said, forcing her voice to remain firm and clasping her hands together so he couldn’t see them shaking. “When he gets close enough to take a shot at me, just get him first.”

“No.”

“Is there another way?”

He paused. “Not that I can think of right off the bat.”

“Then we have no choice,” she said.

“It’s too risky. Forget it.”

“I’m not a risk taker. You already know that. But I trust you. We can set him up. To take a shot at me he’ll have to expose himself. You won’t miss. Now tell me how to make that happen,” she said.

He said nothing for several long moments. “There’s one way to do this without placing you in any more danger than you’re already in. We’ll go up onto the ridge, letting him see us only long enough for the movement to register in his vision-a second, nothing more. We’ll have to make it look casual, like we don’t have a clue he’s out there and we’re just talking. Once we’re behind cover and can’t be seen anymore, I want you to keep talking, like we’re still together. And light a small fire, too-like we’re keeping warm, so he can register on the smoke and the sound.”

Ranger stood, slung the rifle over his shoulder and took her hand. “Let’s move now. Don’t look back, but don’t stop, either.”

She followed him closely, fighting the urge to look back where the sniper had been just a few minutes ago. “Where will you be?”

“I’m going to circle around, figure out where he’ll have to position himself to shoot at you and wait to ambush him. You need to sit down low and place the rifle to your left with the barrel up.”

“If he sees the rifle, he’ll think you’re with me…?”

“Exactly. As a sniper, he’ll never believe I’ve given up my long-range weapon, particularly in terrain like this where it would be most effective.”

“You’ll have your pistol, right?”

Ranger nodded, then slipped a small lighter into her pocket, and handed her the rifle. “Make that small fire using sticks and branches you can reach without getting up again. If it burns out, okay, it’s just for show, anyway. Under no circumstances do you stand up or move from your position until I come to get you.”

“I might be able to use this rifle, but how will I know if you need help?” she asked.

“I appreciate the offer, but stick with the plan.” He pointed to a low spot in the rocks that overlooked the landslide below. A stunted evergreen stood at the far side. “That’s a good spot for you.” He stopped, then brought out the cell phone and handed it to her. “Order us a pizza.”

She smiled. “Just come back, okay?”

“Always. Gotta go, so keep talking.”

Ranger moved off quickly and disappeared behind some trees that had managed to grab hold in the rocky ridge.

Trying to keep her voice from cracking as she talked, Dana went to the spot among the rocks, the rifle her only companion.

ALTHOUGH HE’D HATED leaving Dana with danger closing in, he’d had no other choice. He moved silently, listening to messages from Wind. Since the breeze was blowing toward him, he would be able to hear even the slightest shift in the rocks and coarse gravel, but his opponent wouldn’t.