Mine to Have (Mine 5)

It felt as if her head were about to split open. “A-a bounty has been on my head? For two years?” Impossible.

His lips thinned. His stare met Saxon’s in some kind of silent, suspicious communication, then Victor glanced back at her.

“Say something!” Elizabeth yelled.

And that was when it happened. Gunfire. The sound was familiar to her now, thanks to that horrible experience at the motel. Like fireworks exploding right outside the cabin. No, tearing into the cabin.

The window shattered. Victor spun to pull out his weapon and Saxon—Saxon grabbed Elizabeth and threw her to the floor. Then he covered her with his body as the bullets kept hitting into the side of the cabin.

“You led them to her!” Saxon accused Victor. “You brought them here!”

Victor fired a shot through the window. “The hell I did! No one followed me.”

More gunfire erupted. Elizabeth stared up at Saxon, her heart racing. “Do we run?” Where were they supposed to run? To the swamp?

And then…the gunfire stopped. There was an absolute silence that was chilling. Elizabeth caught her breath as she waited. What would happen next?

The silence stretched. She felt like her nerves were about to shatter.

“Saxon…” His name was a whisper from her.

But his hand lifted and pressed to her mouth. He gave a slow shake of his head even as he moved a few inches and looked over at Victor.

She craned her head, too, and saw Victor give a fast hand motion to Saxon. She had no idea what that move meant, but Saxon leaned closer to her. His mouth brushed against the shell of her ear as he said, “Don’t move. Stay in here and stay silent, and you’ll stay alive.”

Then he was…gone. He checked his weapon and went toward what she figured had to be the cabin’s back door. Even as Saxon opened that door, Victor was firing his weapon through the now-broken window. Providing cover fire for Saxon?

She stayed on the floor as the gunfire seemed to echo around her. Saxon had headed out to catch the man—or men—shooting at them. Once more, he was risking his life, for her.

But what if I’m not worth the risk?

***

Saxon tried to move as quickly but as carefully as he could. Victor was shooting, providing him cover while Saxon went to take out the bastard firing at them. It was a routine they’d run plenty of times before.

His gaze scanned the area. No one was returning Victor’s fire. The guy out there was biding his time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

He wouldn’t get that moment. There was no way Saxon would give the fellow a chance to hurt Elizabeth. She was his priority right then, and if he had to kill in order to protect her, then so be it.

He used the twisting grasses and gnarled trees as cover. If he’d been planning to shoot at the cabin, he would have done it from the area up ahead and to the left. That spot would provide the most cover while also making sure that—

Gunfire thundered once more.

The gunshots had come from up ahead and to the left, but the shooter hadn’t been aiming for the cabin. Saxon edged closer just as a man burst from the tall grass.

“I got him!” Gary cried out. His breath was heaving out, his body shuddering “He’s down. Everything is safe.” He had a gun in his shaking hand.

And Saxon had his own gun aimed at the other FBI agent.

Gary bent low, sucking in a deep breath. “I was…” Another gulping breath. “With Victor…told me to stay out…here…while he…made sure you were safe.” Another breath. He looked up, sweat pooling on his forehead. “When I heard the-the shooting…” He exhaled. “I went after him.”

Victor hadn’t mentioned that Gary was with him. Hell, Vic really had come in with guns blazing. He’d exposed Saxon’s sanctuary, revealed it to the other agent. But what does it matter? I’ll be leaving this place soon enough.

But leaving Miami meant leaving Elizabeth.

“He’s down,” Gary huffed, “but not dead. Come on, let’s get Victor and we’ll question the bastard together.” With his gun lowered, he turned toward the cabin. His steps were fast, clumsy.

Saxon followed him, moving much slower.

***

Gunfire blasted. Elizabeth’s already tense muscles locked down even more when she heard the sound of those shots from outside. The shots didn’t hit the cabin, so…

Had they hit Saxon? Or had he been the one firing?

She kept staring at Victor’s profile and Elizabeth didn’t say a word. But she sure wished she had a weapon. A gun would be real handy right then. Or even a knife. Something.

Victor was staring straight outside, and his features were hard and angry. Only—shock flew across his face. “What the hell?” he whispered, then he was running for the door. Yanking it open.

His movement sparked her own, and Elizabeth jumped to her feet. Through that open doorway, she could see two men walking toward the cabin. One was Saxon and he’d just pulled up to the side of the other guy, a man with slightly stooped shoulders and a balding head. Who was that man? Saxon was so close to him and—

“Get away from him, Saxon!” Victor yelled as he aimed his gun.

His warning came too late. Gunfire thundered once more.

She was staring at Saxon when the gun fired. She saw the bullet hit Saxon in the side. He stumbled, fell to his knees, but he still tried to bring up his weapon. And that was when the other man—a man who seemed oddly familiar to her—put his gun to Saxon’s head.

“Drop your weapons!” The guy yelled.

Saxon still had his weapon in his hand—and he was bleeding, so much.

“Drop them!” The man screamed. Sweat had formed long, dark lines on his white shirt. “Throw down all your weapons or I will kill him right now.”

Victor kept his gun up. “You kill him, and you’ll be dead one second later, Gary.”

Gary? Even the name was normal. Ordinary. Not the name of a-a killer. A killer that Victor apparently knew.

“Send out the girl!” Gary ordered. “Or you can watch me put a bullet in your brother’s head.”

“He’s b

een fucking listening to my phone conversations,” Victor muttered. “Asshole.” He went right on with pointing his gun at Gary.

Hadn’t Victor heard the guy? He was going to shoot Saxon! That can’t happen. Elizabeth raced forward. “I’m coming out!” she shouted. “Please, don’t hurt him—”

She’d barely taken more than a few steps when Victor grabbed her and pushed her back into the cabin. He slammed back against the nearest wall, taking her out of Gary’s sight.

“Are you insane?” Victor demanded. “He is here to kill you.”

She got that but… “I’m not going to let Saxon die in my place!”

“Saxon is an agent! He’s trained for shit like this—”

His words were drowned out by the thunder of gunfire.

Saxon!

Then she heard laughter. “I just put a bullet in Saxon’s shoulder,” Gary said, voice carrying easily. “Since he wasn’t dropping his gun, I had to convince him. The next shot will be in his head.”

Victor’s forearm pressed over her chest. She saw the fury burning in his eyes.

“Send her out!” Gary’s voice was close to a shriek now.

She strained against Victor’s hold, but he wasn’t letting her go. Please, she mouthed the word to Victor.

His eyes were slits of fury. “I guess there was a rat in the FBI all along,” he shouted to Gary. “Fuck, you were the one with all the technical intelligence—and you were just, what? Selling it off to the highest bidder?”

“That’s what I do…now. But two years ago, before I was transferred to your team, I worked a slightly different beat.”

A muscle flexed along Victor’s jaw. “What beat was that?”

More laughter. “Come on out, and I’ll tell you everything.”

Victor still didn’t move.

“Victor!” Gary shouted.

“You fed me bullshit about that police report on her parents’ car crash, didn’t you?” Victor yelled back. “They didn’t think Luther Bates had set up that hit—”

“They should have thought that,” Gary blasted back. “Who do you think hired me to kill them?”

Her heart seemed to splinter. That man out there…he’d killed her parents? An image of their mangled bodies flashed in her mind. Nausea twisted her stomach, and, for a moment, Elizabeth thought she’d vomit.