Shattered (The Protectors 11)

“No, wait!” Caleb shouted. “We can’t leave Mav and Memphis!” he yelled as he tried to get into the passenger seat.

“We’re not! Stay down!” I ordered.

Thankfully, Caleb did as I said. I drove for almost half a mile before I found what I was looking for. I slammed on the brakes and said, “Stay here!”

I didn’t wait to see if Caleb followed my instructions. I scanned my surroundings as I got out of the car. My gut was telling me I’d gotten us far enough away from the assailants that Caleb would be safe in the car for the few minutes I needed. I went to the trunk and practically ripped it and the long black case inside open. My fingers flew as I quickly assembled my AS50 rifle. I was running even as I attached the scope to the gun. It took less than thirty seconds to get to the small rise overlooking the cabin. It wasn’t as much height as I would have liked, but it was enough.

I fell to the ground and looked through the scope. Relief flooded my system as I spied Memphis and Mav still holding off the assailants. Memphis was holding his right shoulder, even as he continued to fire his gun. There was a bloom of blood beneath his hand.

I tore my gaze from my teammates and began searching out the area. I already knew from the first guy I’d shot that the attackers were wearing army camouflage. It took just seconds to find the first assailant and with one pull of my trigger, he went down. Three more followed. I spotted another two bodies in my scope as I did a sweep of the area. The last two men were on the move, trying to flee. Presumably because they’d realized they’d come under sniper fire. I easily took them out and then spent another minute searching for any stragglers. When I swung my scope back to Memphis and Mav, I saw that Mav had his hand on Memphis’s gunshot wound. I saw that Memphis was holding his hand in a thumbs-up position – it was a message to me that he was okay.

I climbed to my feet and ran down the rise. I didn’t bother dissembling the gun before tossing it in the trunk.

Caleb was still huddled in the same spot, and I could hear him crying softly. I reached down and grabbed his arm. “Hey,” I said. When he looked at me I said, “We’re safe. Mav and Memphis too.”

He let out a little sob and then nodded his head. He wiped at his tears and followed my urging to get into the seat after I swept as much of the broken glass off it as I could.

“You’re not hurt, right?” I asked.

“My ears hurt… my head too.”

“The ears are from the flash grenade,” I explained. “They’ll stop ringing soon.” I reached for his head and turned it so I could see the back. I could see a little bit of blood dampening his blond hair. “Looks like you hit your head when you fell.”

“I’m okay,” he said.

“I’ll take a look at it when we stop.”

“Stop?” Caleb asked as he looked over his shoulder. “Aren’t we going back to help Memphis and Mav?”

I shook my head but didn’t say anything. I didn’t know how to explain to him that I wasn’t about to take him back into a situation that I couldn’t be sure was one hundred percent safe. The attackers had been gunning for Caleb. Of that, I had no doubt, considering the first bullet had been meant for him. There was only one way those men had been able to find us, and despite Memphis and Mav being on my side, until I had some answers, we weren’t going anywhere but as far away from this place as we could get.

Alone.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone as I got the car moving. As soon as the phone got a signal, I located the number I wanted and hit dial.

“Jace, what’s going on?” Ronan asked the second he answered. It sounded like he was on the move and I instinctively knew he’d already talked to Memphis.

“How’d they find us?” I asked. I respected Ronan like nobody’s business, but I couldn’t keep the accusatory note from my voice.

“We don’t know,” Ronan said. “The jet is at the airstrip in Monroe County. Take Caleb there and Memphis and Mav will meet you—”

“No,” I cut in. “Those guys were professionals. If they’d been tracking me and Caleb, they would have hit us last night. There was only one way they found us.”

Ronan was quiet for a moment and I could practically see him frowning. “Mav and Memphis would never—”

“I know that,” I said. “Caleb was the target,” I confirmed. “But they used Mav and Memphis to find him. I don’t know if they tagged their rental car or bugged their phones or what, but Caleb stays with me until we get some answers.” I paused and added, “Just me,” to make sure Ronan understood I was in charge. I was likely going to end up without a job after all this, not to mention that having Ronan Grisham as an enemy wasn’t going to be pretty, but Caleb’s life was on the line. I wasn’t messing around with protocol.