Chapter Forty-Nine

Scout rolled over and struggled to her feet. Kat launched a side kick that swept Scout’s legs out from under her and sent her crashing to the floor.

Scout tried to rise, but Kat kicked her again, this time a roundhouse blow that connected with Scout’s jaw.

She remained where she had fallen. The fight was gone from her. She moaned and then fell silent.

Frank reappeared in the doorway. He paused, eyeing Kat warily.

"You did real good, Frank," Kat said in a tired voice. "Get rid of the hammer and come help me, will you? Frisk her, get any weapons. Then carry her out to the generator room."

Frank nodded and bent over Scout. He searched her, then lifted her and turned toward the tunnel. He paused at the doorway. "You should take care of yourself. You’re bleeding an awful lot too."

Kat nodded, a hint of a smile appearing at the corner of her mouth. "Wait out there for me. I won’t be long."

As soon as he was gone, Kat unlocked the door to the weapons room. "The crisis is over, you two," she hollered. "Hold your fire."

She pushed the panel open and stepped into the inner chamber.

Riley and Kenny spoke at once as soon as they saw her.

"Thank God," Kenny said.

"You’re hurt!" Riley cried.

"I’ll be fine." Kat smiled down at Riley, then stepped over to Kenny.

"You’ve grown up," she remarked as she examined the cuts on his face. "We need to get you to a doctor to get these sewn up. Hate to have anything mess up that pretty face of yours." She put her hand on his cheek. "I’m sorry, Kenny," she whispered.

"Oh, don’t worry about me. I’ll be okay." He gave her a cocky grin. "Can I call you Kat now too?"

She nodded and tried to smile. "Yes, of course."

"And how about getting me out of these?" he said, turning to show her the handcuffs.

Kat patted her pockets for her keys before remembering Scout had taken them. "Soon. I’ll find something to get them off. Come on, you two, let’s get out of here." She reached out with her good hand to help Riley up.

When she got to her feet, Riley threw her arms around Kat and hugged her. The two women stood there a long moment, clinging to each other.

Kenny’s eyes widened in surprise. He felt a pang of envy, but he was grateful someone had managed to break through and touch Hunter’s heart in a way he’d been unable to.

The three emerged into the living room. The bunker looked like a bomb had gone off. In the middle of the chaos was a large pool of blood, the edges of it already turning dark.

"Is she dead?" Riley asked.

"Not yet," Kat said. "But soon." She turned to Kenny. "The helicopter pilot?"

Kenny cringed. "Dead. She shot him when we touched down. His body’s out by the chopper."

Kat nodded and tried to flex her right hand. The pain was excruciating. "Then we have a problem. I can’t fly us out of here with my right arm the way it is."

"Maybe you can’t, but I can," Riley offered. "Sam taught me to fly. Between the two of us, we should be able to manage."

Kat’s eyebrows went up, and she leaned over to kiss Riley on the cheek. "A woman of many talents. I have a lot to learn about you." She winked at Riley.

A blush colored Riley’s cheeks.

"Let me grab a few things, and we’ll go," Kat said. She checked the bathroom for bandages, but the supplies she’d gotten from the clinic were gone. She went into the bedroom and searched among the disarray for clean clothes. She stuffed them into a bag.

She locked up the weapons room and got her gun from the debris in the living room. She spotted the duffel bag on the counter, unzipped it, and looked inside. She glanced at Kenny. "This is the money you brought, right?"

"Yeah," Kenny said. "It’s not all there. She gave some to Frank."

"She what?"

"To ensure his cooperation. But he was the one who turned out the lights, right when she was getting pretty ugly with me."

Kat nodded. She thought Frank had helped them, but she was surprised to find he’d done it despite getting money from Scout. She slung the duffel over her good shoulder, along with her bag of clothes. She looked at Riley. "Can you make it? Can’t carry you this time, I’m afraid."

"I’ll be fine if I just go kind of slow," Riley answered, smiling. "Lead on."

Frank was crouched beside Otter when Kat, Riley, and Kenny entered the generator room. He glanced up at the trio. "She never woke up," he said, nodding toward Scout’s body, which lay near the door.

Kat went to stand over Otter, who was either asleep or unconscious. "Nice patch-up job, Frank."

"Bleeding seems to have stopped. The bullets went right through, but he hasn’t come to," Frank said.

"I wondered where all the first-aid stuff went," Kat said. "Since you did such a good job on him, how about fixing up my arm and Kenny’s head?"

Frank looked at Kenny. "Hey, sorry about the punch."

"Forget about it," Kenny replied. "If you hadn’t cut the lights, I’d probably be dead by now."

Frank looked over at Kat. "I had to hit him to get her to trust me."

She put her hand on his shoulder. "I owe you, Frank. And you’ll get your reward, just like I promised. But how about patching us up first? Start with Kenny while I try to find something to get him out of those handcuffs."

"Otter had the keys," Frank said. He searched Otter’s pockets and came up with the key ring. He freed Kenny and went to work dressing their wounds.

When he was done, Kat opened the main entrance. She had lost track of time and was surprised to find it was light out. It was cold, but clear.

"How many seats in the helicopter, Kenny?" she asked.

"Four."

She looked at Frank. "Well, Frank, you get to choose who gets the fourth seat. I can take you, or I can take Otter. If you want him to live, you’ll have to take a snowmobile."

Frank looked at Otter. "I don’t think I can find my way back to the road," he confessed.

"I can help you with that," she replied.

"Then he can go with you."

Kat nodded. "Take him out to the chopper, will you? You can use my sled. Follow those tracks, they’ll take you right to it. Then come back and get her." She gestured toward Scout. "The pilot’s body is out there by the chopper. Put hers next to his, out of sight from the air."

Frank put Otter on the toboggan and headed toward the clearing.

Kat turned to her friends. "Kenny, grab us some coats from the tunnel, would you? Give us a minute?"

"Sure," he answered, leaving the women alone.

"I brought some clean clothes for the both of us. Think you can manage?" Kat held up the bag.

Riley nodded.

They dressed quickly. As they finished, Frank reappeared and took Scout’s body away. Kenny came back with coats and hats.

Kat went back into the living room to get supplies for Frank. By the time he returned to the generator room, they were ready to leave.

Kat handed Frank his wallet, a compass, the keys to his snowmobile, and a map. "Follow the compass west by southwest," she instructed. "I’ve marked the way on the map. It shows where the hills and swamps are so you can follow the terrain back to the road. You have plenty of gas. You should make it back to town within a couple of hours."

Frank studied the map as Kat retrieved the duffel bag. She withdrew $100,000 and stuffed the money into her coat. She closed the bag and handed it to Frank. "There’s $300,000 there--including whatever Scout already gave you."

His eyes got big. He unzipped the bag and glanced inside. "Thanks, Hunter."

"One more thing I’d like you to do for me," Kat said. "When you reach the road, destroy the map and forget you were ever here."

"I think I’m coming down with amnesia. What’s your name again?"

She chuckled. "It’s your choice if you want to work for Garner again, but I’d like you to wait a couple of weeks to report back to him if that’s what you decide to do."

"I think I may just take a very long vacation somewhere and think about what I’ll do next. Somewhere warm," he added, smiling at her.

"Better get going while there’s still daylight."

As his snowmobile roared away, Kat turned to the others. "Time to go."

Дата добавления: 2015-10-30