“Good reason for it,” Sam replied, pointing near the helipad. “That man at the northeast corner. Possibly a sentry.”
“There, too,” Remi said. “A little farther to the south.”
“How can you tell?” Dietrich asked.
“Besides that we’re expecting it? The way they’re standing, right hand in the right pocket, most likely holding a gun. Notice we’re all wearing bright colors,” Sam added. “They’re dressed in white. Blends in with the snow.”
“Guess my false travel plans didn’t work,” Dietrich said.
“Might have bought us a few days.” Sam scanned the area with his binoculars, telling Remi, “I don’t see Rolfe or Leopold.”
“Maybe they didn’t want to get their new white snowsuits dirty.”
“Somehow, I doubt we’re that lucky. There’s got to be more sentries. Leopold doesn’t send a couple men out and hope for the best.”
“This isn’t his territory,” Dietrich said. “Maybe he doesn’t have enough people.”
“Every time we’ve dealt with him, he’s always had several men patrolling the outer perimeter. No reason to think any different. Take us down, Julio,” Sam said, then looked back at Dietrich. “Remi and I will go on up. If we can get around those sentries, it shouldn’t take us too long to get Nando and meet you here.”
Dietrich nodded. “You sure you don’t want me to come with you?”
“I’d rather you wait with Julio. If we’re lucky, we can get in and out without anyone noticing.”
“How?”
“They’re not watching the helipad, so they might not even know we were stuck in the avalanche or coming in on the helicopter. If there’s the slightest problem, you two get out of here and get help.”
“You got it.”
When the helicopter landed, Sam jumped out, then helped Remi, the two running up the hill to a position where Sam could see the sentries. The first was behind a rock and about a hundred yards away, the second about twenty-five yards beyond him. “Let’s come up from above them,” Sam said. “They’re busy watching the tents below.” If he had to guess, Rolfe and Leopold were probably below, searching for them. Their camp was higher, overlooking the tent city. Sam hoped that meant they had plenty of time, but he wasn’t about to chance it. He drew his gun. “Ready?”
Staying low, the two followed a craggy trail of rocks and boulders. As they neared, the first sentry turned, drawing a gun from his right pocket. Sam grabbed Remi’s hand, pulling her behind a boulder. The sentry fired. Bits of rock flew up, the shot echoing around them. Sam returned fire as he and Remi ran through the snow down the trail, the echo sounding like ricocheted shots cracking off the mountain peaks.
“So much for getting to our tent unobserved,” he said. “Keep an eye out for that other guy. I’m going to find a way to get over there without them seeing. I need to take this guy out.”
“I vote we take them both out.” Remi had drawn her gun and aimed at the last location of the second sentry. “It’d be nice if he made a move. I have no idea where he went.”
“Let’s see if we can’t flush him out. Fire a shot his way when I tell you to. Then give me enough time to get into position and do it again. If he doesn’t move, the other one will. We’ll use the echo to our advantage.”
She leaned over and kissed him. “Be careful, Fargo.”
“Likewise.”
Sam waited until the first sentry edged up high enough to where Sam could see his shadow on the snowbank behind him. “Now.”
Remi fired, her shot cracking across the surrounding mountains. The moment Sam saw the first sentry duck, he dove behind a boulder across the trail, then ran between the rocks just above the man’s position. Sam glanced in Remi’s direction. When she looked his way, he gave her a thumbs-up. She nodded, and he worked his way through the rocks, wedged himself against a boulder, then peered around the side, waiting, listening for Remi. She fired again. The first gunman rose, aimed in her direction.
“Hey!” Sam yelled, firing twice.
The man turned, fired several times. The shots hit the boulder in front of Sam, snow and rock flying up. Sam shot back, ducked, and crawled through the snow until he reached a space between another pair of rocks. Two shots left, he was going to have to make them count. And hope that Remi had the other gunman covered.
Wind gusted through the rocks. Sam strained to listen, hopi
ng to hear his opponent’s movement. There it was, faint, the crunch of snow, a few feet to his right. Sam edged his way around the boulder just as the gunman broke cover. Sam squeezed the trigger. The man fell back, red spreading across his white snowsuit.
Sam had just retrieved the man’s gun when he looked back and saw the second gunman working his way toward where Remi was hiding.
“Behind you!” Sam shouted, aiming.