"And you don't?' She arched her brows mockingly. "Takes a junkie to know one, Braden."
This was too true. They were doomed. He'd be damned if he hadn't found a woman who loved adventure and life as much as he did. It wasn't just the rush of adrenaline. It was fighting for what was right, it was pitting his strength and his intelligence against the enemy and coming out the victor. Not that he had won every battle, and he knew death could lurk just outside the door. But by God, he would die free. And freedom was worth dying for.
"Well, if we live through this one, remind me to spank you again." He tied his hair back quickly with the leather strip he carried in his jeans before flashing her a wicked smile.
"For what?" Incredulity filled her voice as he turned on his heel and headed for the back door.
"Just 'cause I like to make your bare ass blush." Turning quickly, he grabbed her around the neck, pulled her close for a quick, brief kiss then released her just as suddenly.
"Ready to party, baby?"
"Let's party."
Braden opened the door slowly, his eyes narrowing then adjusting to the darkness to allow for near perfect vision.
The DNA he carried had given him eyesight superior to any normal human as it pierced the dark, shadowy night.
"Ready?' Tarek stood at the side of the door, the five Breeds assigned with him placed at various points close to the Raiders.
"Stop baby-sitting me." Megan punched his arm. "Let's get the hell out
of here before they have time to move. And trust me, they are getting ready to move."
Megan could feel them. She didn't know how many there were, or where they were, but the vibrations were pouring through the air.
"Interstate or back roads?' Braden snapped as they began to move, rushing to the Raiders and jumping into the opened doors quickly.
"Back roads." Interstate was out of the question. It was the quickest, most likely route. It was sure to be heavily guarded. "If Cooley has pulled a military unit in on this, our best bet is back roads, no lights. Even a mercenary force could have better gadgets than I do. A deputy's pay sucks, you know."
"Not a problem." The Raider shot from the driveway and headed into the desert, away from the ridges that surrounded Megan's home on three sides.
"Security engaged, GPS location and override deactivated."
"Here." Megan punched a map up on the screen, laying out the coordinates to one of the back roads that led into town. "It's not the best route but it's the most defensible."
The road was little more than a dirt track that bypassed the gullies and
caverns that could provide easy ambush.
They've seen us leave though, tracking us by sight won't be that damned hard," she added.
She could feel them. Her neck itched, and just behind her left ear she could hear the strange little sizzle in her brain that heralded a rush of information. Not military, but heavily armed, and heavily payrolled. They would have the gadgets.
She shook her head, tightening the shields around her mind that she pulled from Braden as her pulse began to throb in her veins. Someone was betraying the senator, but who? And why?
"Someone isn't good at blocking. I have an unknown pouring information at me Braden," she yelled over the whine of the Raider's motor as Braden pushed it to its highest speed.
"Keep the path to him open Megan," he barked out. "Doesn't matter if he's friendly or enemy. I'll block him from taking info, but draw in as much as you can."
This multitasking was going to get ugly , she thought with a grimace as she fought to do just what Braden had asked, to keep the channel open as she began to plot the best course into town.
"They're on the move, and tracking. Son of a bitch, I knew I should have gotten that loan for those nifty little radar and laser blockers I saw last month," she yelled as she felt the information stream into her head.
"Loan?" She ignored the incredulous look her shot her, as well as the snickers of the two men behind her.
"Sure, you think the outside of my house looks like shit because I'm lazy." She laughed in sheer delight.
"I'll owe the local bank till I'm
eighty, Braden. They finance my little playthings."
She flipped the Raider's radar and laser tracker, cursing as it came up empty.
"Son of a bitch. I hate it when they don't play fair." She tapped the screen roughly, knowing the pinpoints of movement should be there, snarling at the thought that they were jamming their signals.
She lifted her hand to her head as she shook it fiercely. She needed more information.
"Bastards should know to be blocking," she bitched as she felt, literally felt, one of the soldiers as they headed from the nearest ridge into the desert. "We have them on our asses, tracking our location and coming
up on us."
She hit the lock to the dash keyboard, punching in commands before it fully leveled out over her lap.
Instantly the windshield displayed a subtle glowing map.
"There, seven dash four," she snapped as the turn came up. "To your right. It will be harder to follow."
There was nothing ahead. No ambushes, no one lying in wait. The clarity of the information was disturbing, almost familiar.
"Can you trust this, Megan?' Braden jerked the wheel to the left and headed into a more hilly part of the desert, toward the canyons that crisscrossed the desert.
"Someone's opened up to me." She continued to input the information into the map. "The information isn't a trap, but I'll be damned if I know why. They can't be as damned stupid as they're acting."
Perhaps she was stronger. She bit her lip fiercely, disturbed by how quickly the information flooded her mind, without the pain.
"Tarek's behind us, riding us close. Is he being fed the map?' one of the Breeds behind them snapped out with a tone of imperative demand.
"As I put it in, they get it."
"What about those bad boys coming up behind us?' Another snarled. "I can see the dust trail behind us."
"Vehicle to vehicle only." Megan kept tapping, keeping the link to the other vehicle secure against any attempt to hack. "I know what I'm doing."
At least, she hoped she did. It had been a long time since her uncle Steven and his military buddies had been out to play. As she kept the communication link between the two vehicles clear, a sudden burning at the back of her neck had her eyes widening.
"Break off!" she was only barely aware that she was nearly screaming as she felt the sudden order shoot through her brain. 'They have missiles_
You fuckers!" The blast rocked the Raider as Braden twisted the wheel, snarling as the vehicle behind them swerved and nearly rammed into them before righting itself.
"Attempted radar lock." The computer voice came through as three furious Breed snarls echoed around her.
And she swore the link at her ear was filled with the same sound.
"Yeah, snarling is going to help," she yelled back at them, fighting to stay in place as Braden began twisting the wheel while the computer continued to warn of the attempted lock.
"Canyon ahead." She pointed to the turn on the map. "Two hundred feet. We have a series of roads through several canyons we can use. It will block the missiles."
"Missile lock."
"Bastards! Where the hell is the speed, Megan?'' he yelled out.
"Empty. We'll make it." She braced for the turn, gritting her teeth as the Raiders took it on two wheels only seconds ahead of the strike.
The missile exploded into the wall of the canyon entrance as the vehicles shot through it.
"Road's narrow," she warned him as the night-vision goggles she wore picked up the canyon walls.
"Radar is showing no obstructions ahead. That's all we have to watch for."
"How far does this canyon last?" voice snarled in her ear. That voice was just as dangerous as any Braden had ever used. Pure male fury-laced testosterone.
"Five miles, less than three minutes: but it's a shortcut. There's no way they can keep up unless they take the canyon, and with any luck they'll have to go a hell of a lot slower." She glanced at Braden's set face. "I could drive it faster."
He threw her a look of utter incredulity. "I remember your last chase, Megan. Not a chance in hell."
They shot out of the canyon minutes later, Megan hunched over the keyboard as she fought to stay one step ahead of the bastards chasing them, as well as the psychic impulses rushing into her brain.
"Left." She pointed to the next canyon ahead. "Fuck, I think they're using satellite tracking with GPS. They have some handy-dandy gadgets, Braden."
"How far are we from town?' He kept his eyes on the narrow path they turned onto, and was forced to slow their speed to navigate the turns.
"This takes longer than the interstate. We could be a while."
"Jonas will find us before we ever hit town," one of the Breeds behind her snapped out. "Just keep us one step ahead of those damned missiles and we'll survive."
"Tarek, your Navigator have anything?' Braden suddenly yelled into the
link.
Megan threw him a surprised look. "Navigator?"
If the bastard behind them was driving a Navigator Raider then she was going to hurt someone. The Navigator was the elite, the best of the best with full satellite links and blocking capabilities.
"Blocking is out," Tarek answered. "And we have bogeys coming up our ass."
"Left." The next turn was sharp, almost hidden, while the main canyon road continued on. It was also quicker.
"We need to find some speed," she muttered, her fingers flying over the keyboard as she pulled up the maps she had inputted into the Raider over the past year.
"We can come out here." She pointed to the next turn. "We have to get some speed and get to this next set." It was close to fifteen miles away.
"If we can get through there we'll be close enough to Broken Butte to call Lance."
"Lance has been notified. The bastard better be on his toes."
Megan turned, staring into the rearview as they sped through the twisting canyon road. Something wasn't right.
The Raider behind them was in view, but something else was beyond, too close.
"Faster." She snarled. "Put that damned pedal to the floor or we're all going to bum." She knew she should have made him let her drive, dammit.
He added speed, cursing every breath as the walls of the canyon brushed the Raiders as they raced through it.
"Radar lock in progress," the computer warned in that damned monotone.
"I'll kill those bastards," Braden yelled.
"Stand in line. Tarek do you have flares?" Megan snapped.
"Flares loaded and on track." The voice was a snarling, growling exclamation that indicated the fury she could feel pulsing around her.
They shot out of the canyon. Megan was aware of Braden flooring the gas as the computer warned of radar lock. The flare from the back Raider illuminated the night and seconds later the resulting missile explosion shook the canyon walls.
That was when they got dirty. The next missile was shot before lock, giving Tarek's people little time to set the flare. It was close. The next was closer.
"Hold on. Hold on." Megan felt it coming a second before the Raider pitched to the side. She gripped the roll bar overhead, cursing as the vehicle flipped, righted itself, then came to rest against a boulder.
"Haul ass. Motor's shot," Braden ordered as he pushed Megan through the door she had only seconds to open.
"We're on foot. Let's roll."
He grabbed Megan's arm, pulling her into one of the smaller turns that led back into the canyon.
