Way of the Shadows (Shadow Agents 8)

“There’s no smoke,” Noelle said. She glanced around.

“’Course, there’s no smoke,” Patrick muttered. “She’s tied up. She can’t start a fire, and I sure as hell wasn’t starting one. Why give away the place’s position??

?

No fire...but also no pile of snow in front of the door. It had been snowing off and on during the past seven hours. It was particularly heavy right after they brought Patrick into the sheriff’s station. If no one had been at that cabin in hours, the snow should’ve piled up in front of the door. Instead, it looked as if the path to the door had been freshly cleared.

Something glinted in the window of the little cabin.

Her eyes widened as Noelle realized she was staring at the barrel of a gun. She started to scream a warning to Thomas, but he was already moving. He grabbed her, wrapping his arms around her, and she slammed back into the ground just as the thunder of gunfire exploded.

Gunfire...and laughter. Patrick’s laughter.

She spat snow out of her mouth and tried to shove up, but Thomas wasn’t letting her go.

“Shooter in the cabin,” he growled into her ear.

Because Patrick had found another partner.

“Can’t see him,” Thomas whispered. “But he has eyes on us.”

Patrick was running toward the cabin.

“Stop!” Thomas yelled at the guy.

Patrick only ran faster. Another shot blasted from the cabin.

And a shot also blasted from Thomas’s gun. The bullet caught Patrick in the shoulder. The man spun around, snarling.

Thunder echoed once more. No, not thunder. The roar was more gunfire, coming from the cabin. The bullet ripped right past Noelle’s head, so close she felt its heat against her.

“We need cover,” Thomas said, “Now. You run for the thicker trees, and I’ll watch your back.”

Translation—she ran and he fired, making himself a target. Not a plan she loved. Not even one she liked. Noelle yanked out her own weapon.

Patrick was stumbling toward that cabin door. He was close, just about five feet away from the entrance.

Gunfire erupted once more. Patrick’s body jerked when he was hit, his body moving like a marionette on a string. Blood sprayed into the snow, turning it red.

Patrick’s partner had just shot him. Noelle sure hadn’t seen that coming. Noelle had thought she and Thomas were the targets.

“Go!” Thomas yelled to Noelle.

Patrick slipped. Fell.

Thomas fired into the cabin. Noelle rushed to the cover of the woods, and Thomas was right behind her.

And—and Aaron was there. She saw the darkness of his hair, and he started shooting, providing cover fire for her and Thomas as they got to safety.

When Noelle turned back again, Patrick was lying in the snow, and the red beneath him was spreading.

“What in the hell is happening?” Aaron demanded. “I thought this was a rescue mission!’

Thomas shook his head and never took his gaze from the cabin. “It was a trap, all along.”

“For us? Or for that jerk out there, bleeding out?”

Patrick was moaning and begging for help.