“Yes, Eli, that was just another one of his lies.”
He stopped, and troubled eyes turned to her. “I don’t want you to hate me, Irish. Even if Papa Herbert’s a liar, I still believe in God and heaven. That means my brother’s looking down on me, needing me to do right by you.” His eyes watered. “I’m sorry I made such a mess of everything.”
If the men in her life didn’t stop breaking her heart, Dani thought she just might join a nunnery. “Oh, Eli,” she said, and wrapped her arms around his waist. “When we get out of this, you and I are booking a flight to Disney.”
“Without your soldier? He won’t like that.”
Dani laughed. “I daresay he’ll insist on coming with us. Come on, brother, let’s haul ass.”
Dani held the flashlight Eli had left her and scanned the small cave for snakes and bats. Leaving two of the dogs behind to guard her, he’d gone out with the other two, telling her he wanted to scout around and make sure no one had followed them. Keeping up hadn’t been easy as they’d climbed the mountain. Even in tennis shoes, her feet were screaming in protest at the trek he’d forced on them.
Once her vermin search was satisfied, she checked her phone for the sixth time. Still no signal. With nothing else to do, she curled into a corner and waited for Eli to return. The dogs, Luke and John, she thought, came and sat in front of her, their eyes focused expectantly on the entrance to the cave. She’d seen Eli give them a hand signal. He must have told them to guard her, and she had no complaints with that.
She was dozing off when low feral growls from both dogs had her pushing up against the rock wall. She shone the flashlight on them, saw the razor-sharp hair on their backs, and raised the flashlight to illuminate the entrance.
Mean Eyes slowly grinned. “Well, well, what have we here?”
Smirk Face poked his head around his companion’s shoulder and smirked. “Hello, little girl. Blessed Son’s not very happy with you right now.”
The dogs stood and bared their teeth. Mean Eyes pulled the rifle off his shoulder and lifted it, aiming the gun at Luke, or was it John? It didn’t matter, she refused to give him the chance to hurt either one. Dani scrambled forward and grabbed their collars, pulling them in front of her. “You shoot one of them, you risk shooting me. What’s BS going to say about that?”
Mean Eyes slipped farther inside the cave, Smirk Face following closely behind. “Let them go, and I won’t hurt them,” Mean Eyes said.
Liar. “No.”
A smile so evil it sent shivers through her formed on his face. “I was hoping that’s what you’d say.”
It was only by sheer will that she didn’t allow her gaze to flicker to Eli creeping up behind them.
“You touch her or the dogs, and he dies,” Eli said.
Mean Eyes turned and lifted his rifle. Eli held Smirk Face close, his arm pressing on the man’s throat and a pistol pushed tight against his head. “Go ahead, Eli. Shoot him. Because as soon as you do, I’ll shoot you, and then where does that leave the woman? Blessed Son wants her, and he’ll get her no matter what you do.”
Eli’s gaze flicked to her, uncertainty in his eyes. Oh God, he didn’t know what to do. She glanced at the Dobermans. They stared at Eli, their skin rippling as they waited for instructions. Mean Eyes had his back to them and would never see them coming. She caught Eli’s gaze, then looked pointedly at the dogs and gave a slight nod. Would he understand?
It appeared he did. Keeping his pistol pressed against Smirk Face’s head, he lowered his other hand to his side and made a motion with his fingers. Luke and John were on Mean Eyes before Dani could blink her astonishment. Flying past Eli, the other two dogs went at the man from the front.
Mean Eyes’s rifle went off, and both Smirk Face and Eli crumbled to the ground.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The sound of a gunshot echoed across the mountain, followed by a scream so primal the hair on Logan’s arms stood on end. He took off, his attention fixated with single-minded focus on the direction from which he’d heard Dani’s cry. Another shot sounded, then another.
“Slow down,” Decourdeau said, coming up next to him. “We have to assess the situation before we go blundering in.”
Reason returned—somewhat. “Right.” He slowed and took a deep, calming breath. “I estimate they’re about a half mile away.” He started up the hill. “They better pray they’ve not hurt her.”
Five minutes later, the Iceman stood at the entrance to a cave and surveyed the scene. One man lay on his back, obviously dead. Eli, crying and covered in blood, slumped against the rock wall, one Doberman sprawled over his lap, the other three surrounding him and baring their teeth at Logan and Decourdeau.