Pine was breathing hard and gritting her teeth with each step as blood leached from her lips. When she looked at Spector she saw her face was ashen, except where the blood streamed down her face from the wound there.
“Where else are you hit?”
“Calf, oblique, but I’m good,” Spector lied. “You?”
“I’m good, too,” Pine lied right back.
They both fast-limped toward the truck. Both of them understood this would be their last stand.
They reached the SUV, and Mercy stood up from behind the front of the vehicle. She eyed both women, saw the awkward gaits, the blood, and the gritted teeth.
“How bad?” she said.
“It’s not a problem,” said Spector, and Pine nodded in agreement. But both slumped against the SUV’s side and sucked in air, trying to catch their breath as sweat slipped down their faces and mixed with the blood.
Mercy came around the side of the truck and looked toward the trail. “How many are left?”
Spector said, “Not sure. But probably too damn many.”
Pine looked down at the blood all over her, and her damaged hand meant she was having trouble gripping her gun. Spector did the same survey of her body. And by the look on her face, trying to simply stand on her wounded leg was absolutely killing the lady.
“The odds are not in our favor,” said Pine. “And we’re running out of ammo.”
Mercy pulled something from her pocket and said, “Found this under the seat.” She also held up the walkie-talkie. “I’ve got an idea.”
Spector eyed Pine, who gasped, “Let’s hear it, sis. Because I’m fresh out.”
CHAPTER
76
BUCKLEY PEERED AROUND THE EDGE of a rocky outcrop. Thirty feet away was the SUV. He glanced back at two of his men. They looked as nervous as he felt. This had not been nearly as easy as he thought it would it be. He had vastly underrated the women.
However, they had seen from the blood trail that both women had been wounded, how badly he didn’t know. He figured they would fight to the very last; what choice did they have? He waved one of his men forward.
The fellow joined him and Buckley said, “I doubt they’re in the SUV, but they might be on the other side of it and using it as a shield. Shoot the hell out of the damn thing. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
The man nodded and went back into the ranks to get the force he needed. A minute later they crept forward, spread out behind a line of rocks, took aim, and, on the man’s command, pulled their triggers. The SUV’s windows shattered, the tires were riddled, the metal sides punctured. They even aimed fire under the vehicle in case anyone was hidden there.
The screams from the vehicle were clear even over the sounds of the gunfire. As the rounds piled up, the shrieks reached a crescendo and then died out. After hundreds of rounds were expended the man held up his hand. He glanced over at Buckley, who nodded at the SUV. “Sounds like it’s over but make damn sure.”
Some of the men approached the vehicle, while the remaining group, including Buckley, provided cover. They expected to find at least one body. They shone their lights inside through the shattered glass, but the sight line was jagged.
The lead man gingerly opened the rear passenger door, and another man did the same with the front passenger door. They pointed their guns all around. Then the first man spied the walkie-talkie in the floorboard, with its Talk button taped down and the volume turned all the way up.
His mind processing this, he looked in alarm at his companion.
But then something else grabbed and held their attention.
“Is that something burning?” said the second man.