Laurann Dohner - Slade

“If you are who you say you are then you’ll know the name of the man Justice sent to escort me to where he wanted me to be. Tell me the name of the New Species, not the human escort.”

The second man spoke. “His name is Slade.”

She wavered for a second but then remembered how Slade had told her that Justice would probably have their names publicized to make it widely known they were missing in an attempt to get people to help find them. Slade’s name might be in the press right along with hers. She dropped that line of questioning.

Trisha’s finger tightened on the trigger. “What was the password for yesterday then?” She wanted to know how far they’d take it.

The men glanced at each other nervously. The younger one looked up. “Yesterday was my day off. I’m not sure but today it’s noose. We’re coming up to get you, Dr.

Norbit. We have a team standing by about half a mile from here and we’re going to take you back to Homeland. You’ve been rescued.”

If there was a code system, the guy would know it, especially since he was a supposed member of a rescue team going after a New Species out of contact with his people. Since he didn’t, she figured her bluff had worked.

“There is no password, asshole.”

She saw both men glance at each other again, their alarm clear. One of them moved his hand and reached for something at his waist. “I’m getting my ID,” he warned loudly. “We do use passwords at Homeland. All security guards do.”

96

Slade

“So you’re New Species security guards? And you’re New Species? Is security guard your job title then?”

They both nodded. She couldn’t believe how easily both men lied. Paul had told her New Species never called themselves security guards, instead preferring the title of officers. They hated the other term. She watched him as he removed something from behind him. She wondered if he’d pull out his wallet and try to bluff her by showing his driver’s license. Instead he pulled out a gun.

Trisha panicked at the sight of it, jerked the handgun in his direction, and fired.

Two bullets deafened her unprotected ears before he fired back. His bullet flew wide and struck the dirt above her, making it rain down over her back. The third bullet she fired hit him.

He screamed as he lost his hold, fell back, and tumbled down the hill. She turned the gun on the second man who struggled to pull out something from the back of his waistband, one-handed, while trying not to lose his grip on the rock he held onto. She saw black metal when his hand came into view. Gun!

Trisha fired at him and struck him with one shot, getting better at aiming. She saw a part of his face where his cheek bloomed red and he screamed out. He released the handhold he had and fell straight back. She heard a horrible crunching sound when he hit bottom.

Trisha inched forward to stare down below at both men who lay at the bottom. One of them had landed on his side unmoving with bright red liquid spreading on the ground near him. The other man, the first one who’d fallen, sprawled face up. He moved an arm and she heard him groan even from where she hovered. Blood covered his face and his shoulder area.

She watched him as he lay there moving his leg and then he reached for something inside his pocket. When he pulled out a walkie-talkie she realized he would radio in her location. More of those assholes would come if they hadn’t already heard the gunshots.

She had to stop him, knowing she couldn’t hold off more of them if they converged on her location.

She crawled out more until her body partially hung over the edge. Fear gripped her from how far away the ground appeared to be below her. She could plummet to her death if she slipped from her wobbly perch and was unable to stop her tumble. She aimed and pulled the trigger, watching him jerk as the bullet tore through his chest. The radio clutched inside his palm dropped to the dirt below him. He stared wide-eyed up at her but she knew he had died when he didn’t blink, didn’t move, after a good minute passed.

Trisha fought the urge to be sick as she assessed both men, determined they were certainly dead and that she’d killed them. She pushed and wiggled her upper body back inside the small cave, still gripping the handgun painfully with her fingers. She stared at it and then dropped it as tears blinded her. The reality of what she’d done slammed home hard.

97

Laurann Dohner

The shock she experienced left her feeling icy cold inside. When she’d become a doctor she’d sworn to save lives but she’d just taken two. It was self-defense! her mind screamed. Self-defense. I had no choice. None.

She forced a few calming breaths through her lips and remembered Bill. What he’d threatened to do to her and how he’d hit her wasn’t something she’d ever forget. Those men were part of Bill’s group and they would have done bad things to her too.

She remembered how all three of those men had only kept her alive to tend to their injured friend. She had no doubt the men she’d shot would have killed her just the way they’d killed Bart. She forced herself to breathe deeply, calmly, and finally regained some control of her shaky emotions. She wanted to cry but Slade’s words came back to her from when they’d heard the gunshots after leaving Bart at the crash site.

“Survive first and then grieve,” she whispered aloud.

Trisha wanted Slade with her so bad it became an ache that painfully wouldn’t subside. She would be safe with him. She knew he’d hold her and say something to make her feel better, distract her from the anguish she suffered. She hoped he was on his way to her instead of more of those men.

She glanced at the handgun she’d dropped and pulled her emotions together. Slade would order her to survive and she’d promised him she would do anything, suffer anything, to stay alive until he could rescue her. He wouldn’t want her feeling sorry for herself. He’d expect her to use her head.

98

Slade

Chapter Ten

“Calm down and think,” Trisha muttered aloud. “Great, I’m going to be one of those people who talk to themselves all the time when this is all over.”

She crawled to the backpack to reload the gun. There was a box full of bullets that Slade had salvaged from the camp. She crawled back to the opening on her stomach and gripped the binoculars to study the area in a grid pattern, searching for any movement. She stayed low. Both rifles were at her side and the handgun was placed inches from her hand along with the box of bullets in case she needed them.

Movement caught her attention to her right. She didn’t know the distance but it wasn’t too far. She spotted three men and then a fourth as they marched through the thick trees. They were dressed in camouflage green, similar in style to the men she’d just killed, and worse, they headed directly toward her.

Three of them had long guns in their arms or resting on their shoulders. One of them had holsters at his hips and on his chest to hold handguns. Crap . They were heavily armed. It scared Trisha badly. They weren’t going to be happy when they found their dead friends.

She scanned the area, looking for Slade, but didn’t spot him. Ten minutes later she spied more movement. She stared at the two advancing figures and hope soared.

Neither man was Slade though. One of the men had reddish hair while the other one had jet-black but they were dressed in all black clothing and moved quickly.

Slade had told her that his people would come and she prayed they were New Species. They had to be Slade’s men or she was in deep, horrible crap and knew it.

Trisha turned her binoculars back toward the area where the four men were.