“It’ll take about a minute to spool up the rotors,” said Marnie.
“That’ll be a long minute,” said Devin.
“Not a problem,” said Rich. “We’ll post security at the edge of the clearing until the helo is ready for takeoff. The trick will be keeping the armed campers from bum-rushing the helicopter. If they see us bolt north, they’ll put two and two together pretty fast. We can’t afford a running gun battle. It’ll slow us down enough for the mercenaries to possibly beat us to the helicopter or arrive at the same time. Or the helicopter will take off once everyone figures out what we’re up to.”
“Rich. This is Jared. Rico and I can stay here and keep firing. Give you guys a head start before they figure out what’s happening. We’ll melt away when the jig is up and rendezvous with the speedboat.”
“That could work,” said Rich.
“This is Emily. They’ll know something’s wrong the moment we drop down to two guns. I’ll stay behind, too. I can move from one side of the middle cabin to the other, firing long bursts. We should probably leave four behind to buy as much time as possible. The whole point of this is to steal one of those helicopters, right? You could shoot the shit out of the other helicopter and eliminate any risk to the boat extraction.”
“Scott. You’ve been volunteered,” said Rich.
“Sounds good.”
“Good thing I insisted on bringing a helicopter pilot along,” said Rich.
“Yeah. Good thing you didn’t try to convince Devin and me to stay behind every step of the way.”
“Your next drink is on me,” said Rich.
“The next three are on you,” said Marnie.
“Fair enough,” said Rich. “We should probably shift some ammunition around before we take off. Everyone flying out of here with Marnie, cough up some magazines.”
She took three of her remaining five rifle magazines and tossed them one by one next to Emily, who glanced back when one of them bounced and hit her leg. A quick turn of the head and nod acknowledged the transfer, the shooter’s trigger finger never letting up. Devin tossed her one magazine, which skipped across her back and hit the side of the cabin. She grabbed it without looking and reloaded, barely skipping a beat.
“Devin. Stand by to cross the gap,” Marnie said. “Emily and I will cover you.”
“Ready,” said Devin.
She centered her scope’s illuminated crosshairs on a muzzle flash and took some slack off the trigger.
“Now,” she said, her rifle barking along with Emily’s until Devin slammed into the side of the cabin next to her.
He put a hand on her shoulder and panted from the sprint.
“You can thank me later,” said Devin.
“For what?”
“I bet you never thought you’d fly a helicopter again until a few minutes ago,” said Devin.
She chuckled. Devin always had a knack for telling the truth, no matter how ridiculous the circumstances. Marnie just hoped she could pull this off so they could laugh about it later.
CHAPTER 49
Devin waited behind the cabin, keeping his eye on Rich, who had ventured about fifteen yards into the forest. A fierce gun battle raged behind Devin, the four members of the team who’d volunteered to stay behind increasing the volume of fire to draw attention away from their escape.
“Devin. You’re up. Leapfrog about ten yards past me,” said Rich.
“Don’t fuck this up,” he muttered to himself and stepped into the forest.
He scurried toward Rich, his feet hitting a few roots on the way. Branches weren’t a problem anymore—he’d learned to gauge the distances to closer objects better—and it really didn’t matter if he snapped a few twigs. Nobody would hear it over the gunfire. He scooted past Rich and settled in behind a thick tree trunk—just glad not to have fallen on his face.
“Nice job,” said Rich. “I don’t detect any reaction to our movement so far. Marnie and Alex, same drill. Head past Devin and take cover. If your movement goes unnoticed, we’ll link up at your position and move out from there at a faster pace.”
“Heading out now,” said Alex.
Devin watched the two of them duck and weave through the trees, moving at a fast clip. They passed in front of him and halted behind a dense stand of brush about twenty yards away, rifles pointed toward the center of camp. He caught some movement in his peripheral vision. Rich was heading his way, moving significantly faster than before. Rich tapped his shoulder on the way by, and Devin followed in his footsteps, the two of them reaching Marnie and Alex without Devin stumbling or running into anything. He felt as though he was getting the hang of this.