“Is Sebastian all right?” Rose shot one look over her shoulder at the baby.

The Humvee wasn’t the most comfortable ride, bouncing them all over the place as she went over rocks and patches of thick shrubs. Just as Kane could see in the darkness, so could she. There was no need for lights. The trail was grown over with shrubbery. Rocks rolled down the slope on either side. She went right over them, gripping the wheel as it jumped in an effort to get away from her.

“Diego gave me up to the cartel.” Rose’s voice was grim.

“Are you certain?”

“It’s in the letter. He told them Whitney would pay a fortune for me.” She leaned forward, peering out the window. “Apparently he has two sons who have been on the cartel’s wanted list. In return for me and his connection to Whitney, the cartel will leave his family alone. The plan is to ransom me and the baby to Whitney.”

Kane swore through clenched teeth. Not only did they have to worry about Whitney and his men, but now they might have the cartel breathing down their necks. That information certainly ruled out going back into town.

“I take it he left the guns and Humvee to clear his conscience before he died.”

She nodded. “He said he couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t at least give me some kind of a chance.”

“Why did the cartel wait?”

“I think they were busy trying to find the men who stole their prisoners. I’m a helpless woman, about to give birth, trapped in a house in the desert.”

Kane narrowed his eyes. “Get out of here, Rose. Right now, go up the slope. I have no idea where this trail comes out, but if he had some deal with the cartel, then my guess is, the moment you left the tunnel in the Humvee, they knew it and they’ll be waiting wherever this trail comes out. We have no idea how long it is.”

She had already started up the slope, angling the Humvee to race up the sandy hill as quickly as possible. The heavy vehicle had no trouble going through the shifting terrain, mowing down shrubs and bumping over rocks. They topped the rise and burst out into the open desert.

At once, in the far distance, they could see a line of lights, pinpoint lasers slicing through the darkness, bouncing crazily as several vehicles dashed over the sand. The trucks were a few miles away but coming for them. Rose angled the Humvee away from the caravan, presumably the cartel, and made a run for it across the desert.

“Make a wide circle and head back toward the canyon where we dumped the tracking device,” Kane advised. “At least we’ll have cover there to hold them off. Sooner or later my boys will come to the party.”

Rose nodded and then pointed toward their left. “That’s got to be Fargo with the woman.”

A single vehicle wove drunkenly across the sand, sliding sideways, circling and careening down slopes to nearly stall out as it powered up the other side.

“He’s drunk, Kane.”

“Damn it, Rose.” His heart sank. She was already swerving to intercept.

He glanced back at the line of lights piercing the darkness. Stopping to rescue a woman wasn’t on his agenda, but apparently it was on Rose’s. “Damn stubborn woman,” he hissed under his breath and tossed his rifle aside.

Fat lot of good a gun was going to do him. He couldn’t just shoot the bastard and be done with it. Fargo was driving the vehicle, and he was going at a dangerous rate of speed. If Kane shot him, the car would overturn and possibly kill the kidnap victim. He didn’t think Rose would look too kindly on that outcome. He was going to have to actually take control of the truck.

“Come up behind him. Match his speed.” What the hell point was there in arguing with her? She had a look of sheer determination on her face. “I just want to remind you that you’re taking our son into a combat situation.” He couldn’t help the righteous tone. He wasn’t getting blamed later on. She could take full responsibility.

Rose shot him a quelling look. He felt the Hummer rumbling as she picked up more speed. The woman wasn’t afraid of racing. She had to adjust her angle several times as Fargo kept weaving and circling.

Kane kept his eye on the line of vehicles behind them. The heavily armored Humvee topped out around sixty miles an hour. Rose seemed to be pushing that just a little. The heavy vehicle was scrambling his insides as it threw them from side to side and then up and down. The smaller, lighter trucks and Jeeps were definitely gaining on them, but they were still a good distance away. She had to cut Fargo off quickly, or they would be out of time.

The soldier wasn’t paying any attention at all to the Hummer bearing down on him. He threw a bottle out the window and spun the truck twice before fishtailing several yards. Only then did he notice the Humvee running without lights coming up behind him.

Kane was already exiting onto the roof. He could see a woman lying in a heap on the seat of the truck. He couldn’t tell if she was alive or dead, but with every bounce of the truck, her body shook like a rag doll. Rose brought the Humvee directly into position behind Fargo and his prisoner. Kane timed it, knowing he had the ability to easily cross the distance and land safely.

He launched himself into the air, knife in hand, gaze fixed on the landing. Something hit him hard in his left side, spinning his body around, the sting turning into a blossoming pain, driving his body back and away from his landing. He hit the sand hard and rolled, only then realizing he’d been shot. The marksmen had made an extraordinary shot from some unknown location.

Headlights caught him as Fargo wheeled his truck around, howling with laughter, as if they were playing some fun game after a drunken party. The truck bore down on him, flying at him at a high rate of speed. With the truck spotlighting him, the shooter couldn’t fail to hit him, and there was nowhere to run—nowhere to hide. He couldn’t even defend himself exposed as he was. He kept rolling, testing his body, leaving a blood trail, drawing his legs and arms up in readiness to push himself to his feet.

Rose spun the Humvee around and drove hard to intercept the truck. Kane managed to gain his feet, facing the oncoming truck. He saw Fargo’s head disappear into a raw mass of blood and tissue as the marksmen shot again. The windshield and seat turned bright red. With no one at the wheel, the truck began to veer over the uneven terrain, every bounce taking it on a different path.

Rose once again inserted the armored Humvee between Kane and the shooter. He sprinted for the safety of the vehicle, jerking open the door and diving inside. Rose took off away from the line of advancing headlights, trying to get every ounce of speed she could out of the multipurpose vehicle.

“How bad?” Rose demanded.

Kane inspected his side. A hunk of skin was missing, but little else other than his pride. He slapped a pressure bandage over it. “Maybe he wasn’t going for the kill and he knocked me away from Fargo’s vehicle on purpose so he could kill the man. Who the hell knows?”

“Who is he?”

“Whitney’s cleanup man. Get us the hell out of here, Rose. The cartel is on our ass, and we’ve got another player in the game.” He took a quick look at the baby to make certain the boy was okay.

Sebastian opened his eyes and looked back at him. Kane smiled at him. “You’re good, son, just hang in there a little longer.”

“I’m going to try to take out the shooter, Rose. In any case, the cartel is going to be on us in another few minutes. We can’t outrun them. We’re too far away from the ravine to go to ground, so I’ll have to give them something to think about.”

“I don’t like the idea of you exposing yourself to the shooter. We don’t even know where he is. How are you going to get a fix on him?”

Their eyes met in the mirror. She shook her head. “No. No way. You are not going to give him another shot at you.”

He grinned at her. “We’ve got the weapons to protect ourselves, Rose, and we’re going to need to use them.”

“Look at the truck,” Rose said, pointing at the pickup that had been careening through the desert out of control.

The driver’s-side door flew open, and a body hit the ground, bounced, and then lay still. The truck swerved back and forth before the new driver took control. She spun the truck around and headed back toward the line of lights, now much closer.

Kane opened the hatch above his head. The shooter would no doubt have his eye to the scope, but Rose was pushing the speed of the Humvee past sixty-five and redlining the heavy vehicle.

“Sweetheart, we don’t want to kill the engine,” Kane cautioned as he took a slow look around. He had an arsenal mounted on the roof, and he could sit inside safe and warm, if he knew where the bastard was.

He reached back and pulled out a helmet, raising it slightly. A bullet tore into the top, knocking it out of his hand.

“Got him. He’s at three o’clock. High ground. He’s on the slope up there.” Rose kept her heading toward the ravine, as though they still had no idea of the sniper’s position. “And just so you know, Kane, that bullet could have taken your head off.”

“Yeah, I got that.” He’d been hoping the sniper’s first shot had been a miss on purpose. “I think they have no idea who I am, Rose. It’s possible they think I’m Carlson stealing you away. Whitney set his watchdogs on Carlson and Fargo. They’ve eliminated Fargo, so they’re coming after me.”

“I agree that it’s got to be Whitney’s man,” Rose called back to him. “So if he’s driving us toward the canyon and away from that slope, what does that mean?”

Kane had a sinking feeling he knew what it meant. Whitney had a crew waiting for them. He didn’t bother to answer the question. Rose knew what it meant as well. Of course Whitney still had no way of knowing that Rose had given birth to Sebastian. They thought she was still pregnant. With the cartel behind them and the sniper driving them in a direction, Kane was certain Whitney was dropping—or had already dropped—more men into the combat zone.

“The canyon offers the only viable cover, and we can’t run in this thing forever. We have enough ammo to give it a good fight, and I can take out a good portion of the cartel’s vehicles and men when they close the distance. Forget luring them to open fire again. Drive straight for the ravine.”

“We might be driving right into Whitney’s men.”

Kane shrugged. “Then we make our stand there. I think we’ll have more of a chance. Otherwise all they have to do is wait for us to run out of gas and then water. We’ve got Sebastian to think of, Rose. Head for the canyon.”

She nodded and kept to the course, the Humvee bumping over the uneven ground, followed in the distance by a stream of bouncing lights as the cartel followed.

Chapter 10

The canyon was several miles away across open ground, but it was their only real cover. The M1165 Humvee with frag armor included two-inch-thick bulletproof glass. The doors alone weighed a good 250 pounds. Along with the state-of-the-art CROWS system mounted on the roof, they had firepower and protection but little speed.

Kane liked the idea of staying inside the Hummer now that they had half the cartel on their asses as well as a sniper and spotter. With the CROWS system, a remote-controlled weapon platform mounted on top of the vehicle, the gunner could sit in the vehicle and use a joystick, watching the action through a “TV” screen. The system had the capability to zoom in, use night vision, infrared, daytime, or heat sensor, with some very heavy-duty weapons. If necessary, and he hoped it wouldn’t be, he could disengage and use the system manually.

“They’re coming up behind us,” he said.

Bullets sprayed across the back of the Humvee. The first of the cartel vehicles had outdistanced the others and had gotten within firing range. In the distance they heard a massive explosion, and the ground shook. The blast seemed to trigger several smaller detonations. Kane saw a large mushroom plume rising out of the desert in the direction of Diego Jimenez’s subterranean house.