Atone in Darkness Read online

  18

  * * *

  Here Chase had been wanting to kick Marisol’s parents for not taking better care of her, and he was the one who’d let the enemy get within killing range. At least for the moment, Edgar and company seemed content to stay right where they were. He didn’t know what their plan was, but it wouldn’t turn out well for him and Marisol if it succeeded.

  Pointing at the rifle she held clutched in a white-knuckled grip, he whispered, “Remember what I showed you about how to use that thing?”

  Her nod was pretty tentative, so he gave her a quick refresher course. “It’s important to make every shot count, so I set it to shoot just one bullet at a time. That way you can’t go all Rambo on their asses the first time you pull the trigger.”

  She gave him a solemn nod. “I’ll try, but you should know that I’ve never shot a gun before.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll do all the heavy lifting. I just want you to have some way to defend yourself if things go bad.”

  Which they would. There was no getting around it. Those jerks hadn’t hiked their asses up there just for the exercise. Maybe it was time for some conversation. “Hey, Edgar. Tell me again why you’re siding with those bastards against your own kind. What could they promise you that would make it worth betraying everything we stand for?”

  The other Paladin’s laughter rang out. “You’re not going to talk your way out of this, Mosely. And a pup like you has no right to judge me. I got tired of letting the Regents use us for cannon fodder and then put us down like rabid dogs at the first sign our shelf date is about to expire. When a man has lost as many friends as I have over the decades, he reaches the point when enough is enough. I walked away, and I don’t regret it.”

  “You will.”

  Chase would make sure of it. If not him, then Jarvis and Devlin would see to it. It wasn’t just that Edgar had betrayed his fellow Paladins, he was also a clear threat to the woman Chase loved. Whether he and Marisol had any kind of future together was beside the point. No one threatened her and lived.

  Edgar must really love the sound of his own voice because he was still talking. “No, actually I won’t. I was hanging out in a bar in St. Louis when some like-minded gentlemen approached me. Seems their employer was looking for someone with our particular inborn talents and thought maybe I could help them find a few test subjects like you. I’ve got to say, the Cadre pays its operatives really well. I also give them bonus points for the way they let me indulge my taste for violence. I would’ve watched you die for free. It’s a win-win situation.”

  Edgar’s companions were on the move. Chase scanned the hillside through the scope of his rifle and picked up at least five of them slipping through the trees. Oddly enough, they weren’t all headed toward Chase and Marisol. A couple were moving up to flank Edgar, who seemed completely unaware of their approach. Maybe it had been part of the plan, but there was something about the situation that seemed wrong.

  Meanwhile, the other Paladin kept chatting away. “We both know how this is going to end, Mosely. I promise to make sure they don’t play any more games with you. You deserve that much. All you have to do is surrender the lady. You don’t owe her a damn thing, especially considering she was part of this from the beginning.”

  Marisol winced as if she feared that Chase would take Edgar at his word. He reached out to squeeze her shoulder in reassurance. Pitching his voice just loud enough for her to hear, he whispered, “He’s just trying to get us to turn on each other. If he keeps us distracted, it will make it easier for his buddies to surround us.”

  As long as they were talking, no one was getting killed. He called out, “It’s not like I owe you anything, either, Edgar. And for sure, I can’t say much for the company you keep. Tell me, do your bosses buy these guys from some kind of ‘I Wanna Be a Soldier’ catalog? I’m guessing they get a discount for buying in volume. Do they come with those cute matching uniforms and all those fancy weapons, or do they come in other colors?”

  Okay, that probably wasn’t the smartest thing he’d ever said, although Edgar clearly thought it was funny. Or at least he was laughing when suddenly the sound he was making went from a loud guffaw to a liquid gurgle. Chase swung his rifle in the Paladin’s direction only to get a close-up view of the gaping wound in Edgar’s throat. Two of the black-clad guards stood beside him. One had his fingers tangled in Edgar’s hair and was arching his neck back. The other held a combat knife still dripping blood. Even a Paladin wouldn’t come back from that kind of injury.

  What the hell? Why would they kill one of their own? Unless they didn’t think of Edgar that way. Maybe they thought if he’d betray the Paladins then he wouldn’t hesitate to turn on them if the price was right. Chase didn’t give a damn what their reasoning was. He rewarded each of the killers with a single bullet right between the eyes. The quick death was a better deal than either of them deserved, but he couldn’t stoop to their level of depravity, not if he wanted to live with himself.

  “Is Edgar—”

  Marisol stopped to swallow hard but couldn’t finish her question. She didn’t need to. “Yeah, he is. So are the guards who killed him.”

  She met his gaze and then nodded as if in approval or at least acceptance. “Will he make it back?”

  Figuring she would prefer he play it straight with her, he didn’t sugarcoat the situation. “With proper medical care, maybe. Left to bleed out like that, not a chance.”

  She straightened her shoulders and with it, her resolve. “I won’t forgive the man for betraying you and your people, but he didn’t deserve that. We have to stop those animals permanently.”

  “I agree.”

  With that in mind, he closed his eyes to better listen for any sign that the remaining guards were back on the move. Nothing. Using great care, he rose high enough to be able to scan the area through the scope of his rifle. There, off to the left, he spotted two more of the guards. He continued scanning until he located three more scattered along the steep slope. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a clear kill shot at any of them, not without exposing himself at the same time.

  “They’re all under deep enough cover that I would probably be wasting ammunition if I tried to take them out.”

  Marisol stayed hunkered down without saying a word until he settled back in behind the rock. “Chase, what can I do to help? If I fired off a couple of rounds to draw their fire, maybe you could get a better shot at them.”

  It was a sign of how desperate he was that he actually considered her offer. Then the decision was taken from him as one of the enemy lost patience and sprayed their refuge with bullets. Chase threw himself over Marisol to protect her from both flying debris and the chance of a ricochet hitting her. It would hurt like hell if he took a bullet, but he stood a better chance of surviving than she would.

  An unfamiliar voice called out, “You and the good doctor need to come out with your hands up, Number Five. Our employer still has some use for her, and we’ll make sure you die easy.”

  Before Chase could tell him to get screwed, someone else entered the conversation. “How about you bastards laying down your weapons instead? We’ve got you surrounded, and I’m telling you right now, I’d rather shoot you than put up with any more of your shit.”

  It was all Chase could do not to jump up and start the celebration. “Jarvis, it’s about damn time you showed up. I was getting tired of entertaining them all by myself.”

  “Yeah, well, next time you want to invite me to a party, send better directions.”

  That cracked him up even if Marisol was looking at him like he’d lost his mind. “The cavalry has arrived. That’s my brother-in-law, and he’s not alone. Jarvis will let us know when it’s safe to come out.”

  Not that he was going to sit and twiddle his thumbs while his friends had all the fun. He did another scan of the area and took a head count. He couldn’t be sure, but it appeared that all of the guards were maintaining their positions. Chances were that Jarvis and c
ompany would have to dig them out of their hidey-holes one by one.

  Sure enough, one of the idiots started taking potshots. It was impossible to tell if he actually had one of the Paladins in his sights or if he was trying to lay down covering fire for his men. Whatever his reasons, it didn’t end well for him. A loud scream rang out over the hillside and then silence.

  Jarvis growled, “I repeat, throw out your weapons, or you’ll get the same treatment your buddy just did.”

  This time, one of the guards tossed his rifle out from behind a thicket of trees and stepped into sight with his hands up. Chase watched in horror as another man in black stood up long enough to shoot him for surrendering. As the man crumpled to the ground, other guards broke cover and ran.

  The shooter had made a serious mistake, which proved to be a fatal one. He remained standing just long enough for Chase to get off a clean shot. There was shouting mixed with sporadic gunfire as the remaining guards crossed paths with Jarvis and his crew. He was in the mood for a little more payback and hated that they were having all the fun. But as tempting as it was to join them in rounding up the men who’d made his life a living hell, Chase wouldn’t abandon Marisol now.

  He maintained his vigil, watching for anyone who might have slipped past Jarvis’s watchful eyes. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. It won’t be long now. Then we’ll get out of these woods and back to civilization.”

  Not that he was exactly looking forward to that when he and Marisol still hadn’t worked out what came next for the two of them. Still, he wanted to say something, to find out if she’d meant what she’d said about wanting to spend whatever time he might have left together. This might be the closest the two of them would have to privacy for some time to come. Once Jarvis and his buddies took the guards out of the equation one way or the other, Chase and Marisol would get whisked off to the nearest Paladin headquarters.

  Somehow he didn’t think his fellow Paladins would be quite as forgiving of her connection to the enemy. It might take some fancy talking on his part to convince everyone that she was as much a victim of the so-called Cadre’s machinations as he was. Even if the two of them parted ways, she would need help rebuilding her life. Between his buddy Jake and the techie guys in Seattle, they could at least give her the new identity she needed.

  He hated the thought of her once again being out in the world alone, but he’d sleep better knowing that she at least had that layer of protection between her and the Cadre’s hunters.

  The minutes were counting down. “Marisol, when we get to headquarters, we need to talk. You know, to figure out where we go from here.”

  She looked past him toward the trees. “Your friends will never accept me, not when they find out that I worked for their enemy. I can’t blame them for feeling that way. I was part of what happened to you.”

  She was doing her best to look stoic, but he knew her too well now to be fooled. “It might take time, but they’ll come around. I can’t share the details, but it’s not like Paladins haven’t hooked up with someone from an enemy camp before this.”

  Her dark eyes widened in surprise. “But—”

  Before she could finish the statement, Jarvis called out, “Chase, are you going to lurk behind that rock all day? Because I’m telling you, I’m not in the mood to play hide-and-seek with you.”

  Chase couldn’t help but grin as Jarvis and several other men came into view. He recognized Lonzo, Larem, and a couple of other members of the Seattle crew, but there were also men he’d never seen before. That didn’t matter. If Jarvis trusted them, that was good enough for him. He stood up and held out his hand to Marisol. They’d approach his friends together, making it clear from the get-go that she was with him, not an enemy. A friend if not far more than that.

  Still, she hesitated, unsure of her welcome. “Come on, Doc. Give me the rifle, and let’s get out of here.”

  Then a single shot rang out. The impact of the bullet spun Chase around to face a Cadre guard who had somehow slipped past Jarvis and the others. The pain came in waves as the blood poured out of the exit wound in his chest. He collapsed against the boulder that had sheltered them from a frontal attack as Marisol screamed his name and returned fire. Damn, for a beginner, she did a fine job of taking out her target.

  Then she was at his side, cradling him as his legs turned to mush and refused to support him. This was bad. Real bad. And a major piss-off. He’d survived this long only to get shot in the back.

  “Chase, don’t you dare die. Not again.”

  He wanted to make that promise, but he wouldn’t lie to her now. “Sorry, babe. Don’t worry. I’ll be back.”

  That much was probably true. The only question was if he would come back crazy or not. He gripped her hand, needing that connection with the woman he’d been lucky enough to love even for a short time.

  Then his friends were there dragging her away. She fought them with everything she had, but one woman against that many powerful men didn’t stand a chance. Finally, she surrendered, held back by Larem and a man he didn’t recognize. She looked so damn alone and scared.

  One of the strangers charged into the circle of rocks and dropped a duffel on the ground. Then he knelt beside Chase. “Hold on, Mosely. You don’t know me, but I’m a damn good combat medic. I’ll get you patched up.”

  His brother-in-law appeared on Chase’s other side and gripped his hand hard. It wasn’t the first time his friend had been there for him when he’d taken a fatal wound. “Sorry, Jarvis. Got careless.”

  “Yeah, I’ll kick your ass for it as soon as you’re up and around.”

  The words were coming harder now. “Take care of Marisol for me. Not sure I’ll make it back. She’ll explain.”

  “Don’t talk that way.”

  He was pretty sure Jarvis tightened his hold on his hand, but he couldn’t really feel it anymore. If things turned out bad, the man would take it hard. Most likely blame himself for not getting there sooner.

  He managed one more whisper. “Nobody’s fault.”

  Jarvis said something, but his words were coming from too far away for Chase to make sense of them. It didn’t matter. They both knew how they felt about each other, just as they both knew this moment might come. If this was the end, at least this time he would die among friends.

  As death lapped at Chase’s mind, he focused his fading gaze on Marisol as she stared back at him with such passion and pain in her pretty eyes. He ignored all the other chaos that surrounded them. All that mattered was taking one last memory of Marisol into the darkness with him.

  19

  * * *

  It was a good thing the two strange men had such a tight grip on her. Otherwise, Marisol would’ve been in a boneless heap on the ground. She’d fought hard to convince them she should be the one to take care of Chase. When she’d tried to shove her way past them to get to him, these two had pulled her back to a safe distance and kept her there.

  Instead the combat medic was fighting like crazy to keep Chase alive. He was doing everything right, but his efforts would be futile. Even with IVs pumping fluids into Chase’s veins as fast as possible, his blood continued to pour out just as quickly.

  She wasn’t the most religious person, but that didn’t keep her from pleading with the universe to show mercy just this once. “Please don’t let him die. Not again this soon.”

  The long-haired man on her right asked, “What do you mean?”

  She tore her attention away from watching Chase’s struggles to meet the man’s cool pale gaze. “The guards killed him repeatedly over the past few weeks. The last time it happened, I was there when he revived.”

  She shuddered at the memory. “His eyes flashed this weird orange color, and he acted like he didn’t even recognize me, like I was prey or something. Then, when his eyes cleared for a few seconds, he ordered me to get out of his cell and lock the door, said that he was a danger to me.”

  By this point, her whole body was trembling. “He told me later that h
e’s afraid the next time he dies that he won’t make it back. At least not as the same man I knew.”

  The one she loved.

  The man appeared even more grim. He looked over her head to his companion. “Eli, stay with her. I may have to intervene if it looks like Chase won’t make it.”

  The other man looked confused. “But what can you do that Doc hasn’t already tried, Larem? It looks like he’s doing everything he can for him.”

  Their conversation had drawn the attention of another of their companions. “Larem, what’s going on?”

  “Chase might need my special talents.”

  The other man looked sick. “Are you sure? You know how much your weird-ass magic creeps us out.”

  Larem pulled a knife out of the sheath on his belt and tested the edge of the blade against the pad of his thumb. “I won’t do anything unless it’s absolutely necessary, but the lady says they’ve been killing our boy on a regular basis.”

  The newcomer approached her, looming over her with his fists clenched and cold fury radiating off his huge body in waves. “I’m Lonzo Jones, and I’m in charge of this mission. Exactly who are you and what happened to him back in that compound?”

  He was deliberately blocking her view of Chase, but she knew it would be futile to try to get around him. He was scary, but she’d face down the devil himself to help Chase. “I’m Dr. Marisol Riggs. Annulus Development Corporation hired me to research the significance of a particular marker in human DNA. I originally worked from the blood samples they provided and followed up on the work started by my predecessor.”

  She kept her gaze pinned to Lonzo’s chest, finding it easier to talk that way. “They never told me where they got the samples. I’d already been there for a few weeks when all the guards I’d known were suddenly replaced by new ones. Shortly after that, Chase appeared in the cell in my lab with no explanation given. The guards would take him away sometimes for a few hours. Other times, he was gone for a day or more. He always came back injured. I did my best to take care of him and monitor his health.”