Chapter 16

Taylor held Kara tightly, relief washing over him as he felt her safe in his arms. For a long moment, neither said anything. For a moment, Kara let her tough girl act down and allowed herself to be the vulnerable, scared young adult she truly was.

The spell was broken by the sound of Bonnie’s footsteps coming down the stairs. By the time she got to the bottom, Kara had withdrawn from the embrace and was wiping away her tears.

“Good to see you’re alive and kicking, kid,” Bonnie said.

Kara looked at her and then back to him with a questioning expression.

“This is Bonnie,” Taylor said.

That was enough to get a reaction. Kara had watched Taylor’s obsessive search for Bonnie for almost six months and had heard him talk about her.

“Really?” she said, surprised.

“Yes. She’s why I headed to South America. She’s turning herself over to be a state’s witness. She’s also the reason we found you and she’s the one who shot Foster.”

“Huh. Well, thanks. I guess.”

Bonnie nodded, a hint of ... something flitted across her face. Maybe satisfaction.

“I need you to get back to Whitaker on your own,” he told Kara.

“What about you?” Bonnie asked. “What’s your next move?”

“I’m going to have a chat with the senator. Until Ellsworth is dealt with, this isn’t over.”

“Then I’m coming with you. Hotaru’s going to have a bunch of guys; you’re going to need help.”

“No,” Taylor said firmly, shaking his head. “I’ve already put you in enough danger. You helped me get Kara back, and I appreciate that. But you’re needed to make a lot of cases stick, and to put a lot of bad people where they belong.”

Bonnie opened her mouth to argue, but Taylor cut her off.

“I may not be a by-the-book guy,” he said, “but I know that much.”

“I was not done with my instructions. I also need you to take her with you,” he said to Kara, stabbing his thumb at Bonnie. “Take her to Whitaker and make sure none of the twitchier agents shoot her before Whitaker can take charge.”

“Really? You’re going to send me off with your kid?”

“Yes. But let me make something crystal clear for you. If anything happens to Kara, anything at all, there will be no place on this earth where you can hide from me. Understood?”

“Look, Taylor. I am done. I am tired of the life. The constant running, the always being someone else. But even if I wasn’t, it’s not like I can ever go back to it. Once word gets out that I am turning state’s witness, my other clients won’t be able to risk me staying alive. I will be running for the rest of my life. This deal ... it is my only way out now. I would not hurt her, you know. That is not ... that is not who I am.”

“I hope that’s true.”

“I can take care of myself,” Kara said, reaching down and taking Foster’s dropped gun.

She pulled back the slide, checked that there was a round in the chamber before carefully sliding it back in place and latching the safety, sliding it into her waistband.

“Take one of their cars,” he told Bonnie, holding out his hand for the rifle Bonnie was still holding.

“Sure,” she said, handing over the weapon. “And thanks, Taylor. For everything.”

Taylor nodded and walked out of the house with them, exchanging a last glance with Kara before they headed their separate ways.

Ellsworth’s cabin was in northern Ohio, almost twenty miles outside of the closest town, essentially in the middle of a forest. He owned almost two square miles deep in the forest, ostensibly for hunting. In the center of the property sat a fairly large log hunting cabin, although Taylor was certain it was not like the kind of cabins that ordinary people could afford. For guys like Ellsworth, their “roughing it” homes tended to still be much nicer than the homes that average people lived in every day.

There was a long dirt road that led up to the property off a small country road. Taylor parked well down from that in the early morning hours, crossing Ellsworth’s neighbor’s property through the trees and onto his, since if these guys he had hired were any good they would be watching the private road and have cameras up and down it from where it intersected the county road.

The trees were pretty thick, especially when he got away from the road and deeper into the forest, which made visibility bad. Thankfully, Lopez was on the ball and had some night vision gear in the SUV. It was part of a haul Taylor had funded when he had set up the company, and he had been strapped enough that Lopez had done the best he could, which meant civilian-level equipment. He missed the stuff he used in the service, but it was still better than wandering around in the dark.

Taylor, loaded up with what equipment was still left in the SUV, made his way slowly through the trees, carefully placing each step and listening hard. He could see well enough, his night vision goggles casting everything in an eerie green glow.

He hit the perimeter still far enough from the house that he couldn’t see it yet when he caught sight of a lone guard, rifle held loosely in his hand, walking what seemed to be a circular path around the property as some sort of patrol. He was doing a good sweep, left to right, hold, right to left, and repeat, stopping from time to time to listen.

He was not wearing any gear, probably relying on his natural night vision, which made sense. NVDs limited your peripheral vision and were a pain to wear for extended periods of time, often causing neck pain and sometimes eye strain. You could do it if you were dedicated enough, or if you had a sergeant who rode your ass every time you tried to do a patrol without it, but private guys like this, they would cut corners. Even good ones.

It suggested that they had not gone to full alert. Taylor was still in the window of time they gave him, and they hadn’t realized Foster was dead yet. If they were expecting him, these guys would be better equipped for sure.

Taylor watched him for several minutes, noting the pattern of his movements, shadowing him slowly as he made a wide circuit of the property. When it was clear he was alone out there Taylor began to circle in, getting closer to the guy. When the guard’s back was turned, Taylor closed the rest of the distance in a rush.

His hand shot out, clamping it over the man’s mouth as his other arm locked around the guard’s throat in a vise-like grip. The guard struggled, releasing his weapon to grab at Taylor’s forearm, trying to relieve the pressure that was keeping him from breathing.

More importantly, it was putting pressure on the carotid artery. Cutting off the air supply can take up to two minutes to get someone to blackout, but it only took about eleven pounds of pressure and ten seconds to make someone blackout. The guy did better than most. He made it a full eleven seconds of struggling before his body went limp.

Taylor dragged the unconscious body and the rifle into a thick patch of undergrowth, concealing it from view, just in case someone else was on the same patrol path. He paused, listening intently for any sign that the scuffle had been noticed. The forest remained silent.

Satisfied, Taylor continued his approach, skirting the edge of the tree line where it thinned out enough that the exterior lights from the cabin might make him stand out a bit more. As he neared the fifty-yard mark from the cabin, he spotted another guard standing watch. This one was motionless, attention focused outward.

Taylor knelt for several minutes, waiting to see if he was going to move, but he did not. As with the other guard, he had his gun unslung and in his hand, holding it loosely. These were men who had been standing guard for days and had no credible threat to deal with. Even the staunchest professionals became lax under such conditions.

Taylor drew his knife and ghosted forward, closing the distance inch by agonizing inch. He moved slowly but was ready to dash the final distance if he needed to. The guard remained oblivious, his posture relaxed.

Just as Taylor prepared to strike, a twig snapped somewhere to his right. The guard’s head snapped around, his hand gripping his weapon. Taylor lunged, driving the knife up and under the man’s ribs. The guard’s cry of alarm died in his throat, cut off by the blade piercing his heart.

As Taylor lowered the body to the ground, movement caught his eye. Another guard appeared from the tree line to his right. Probably the cause of the snapped twig. They looked at each other across the distance, and time seemed to stand still.

Taylor’s hand flew to his holster as the guard brought up his weapon, but the guard was slow, maybe stunned to see someone in tactical gear and NVDs standing over the body of his comrade. Taylor’s pistol cleared the holster and got on target first, two loud bangs breaking the silence of the night, sending the guard toppling over backward.

For a heartbeat, the silence returned. But only for a heartbeat. Shouts erupted from the direction of the cabin, followed by the sound of men running his way. Taylor cursed under his breath. So much for the element of surprise.

Taylor ducked behind a large oak as three figures charged through the trees toward him. Taylor waited until they were close, then leaned out, squeezing off two rapid shots. The first guard dropped instantly, a neat hole in his forehead. The second stumbled, clutching low on his abdomen, taking two staggering steps to the left before collapsing.

The third guard made a mistake, hesitating at the sudden attack, giving Taylor the split second he needed. His third shot caught the man in the right hip, spinning him around. As he fell, his trigger finger tightened. A wild burst of automatic fire ripped through the underbrush.

Taylor felt a sharp sting across his bicep. He ignored it, focusing on the wounded guard scrambling away toward the cabin, dragging himself through the underbrush. Taylor brought his gun up, but the man was crawling fast and there were enough trees and bushes in the way to make hitting him difficult, and he was shouting his head off. Taylor could see flashlights moving in his direction. He couldn’t stay there.

Taylor backed up, moving clockwise away from the dead men, going deeper into the trees, crouched low and using foliage for concealment. He could hear the guards slowing down and fanning out when they got to the bodies. Taylor paused, letting them pass by his position. He counted six men, moving in pairs. Once they were far enough beyond him, he moved forward, closing the distance.

The rearmost pair paused, conferring in low voices as Taylor got close enough to hear.

“I do not like this, man. They said she was good.”

His partner grunted agreement. “Yeah, but there is only one of her. We find her and we end her. Simple as that.”

Taylor’s lips curved in a humorless smile. They thought it was Bonnie. For now that was fine with him. He raised his pistol, sighting carefully through the green-tinged world of his night vision. Two quick shots, and both guards crumpled without a sound.

Shouts of alarm rang out as the other teams realized he had gotten behind them. Taylor was already moving, sprinting through the trees to a new position. Gunfire erupted behind him, cutting a line of destruction through the forest.

Bark exploded from trees. Leaves shredded under the hail of bullets. Taylor kept low, zigzagging as he ran. He heard the telltale zip of bullets passing close by.