Ghostwalker 06 - Predatory Game

M16.”
    Saber’s breath hitched in her throat. She knew that was a grenade launcher and she wanted no part of that.
    “He’s going for my office,” Jess informed her.
    Saber imagined hearing the distinctive click and then the thump as the grenade was sent streaking through the hall into the door of the office.The house shook as the office door blasted inward.
    Once again Jess drew Saber close to him as the wave of energy rushed over them. Jess studied the soldier on the landing. “He’s directing everything. See, he’s staying to cover just in case either of the two coming from the kitchen steps on a switch. He’s lost three men, and he knows the house is wired, but Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    he’s as cool as a cucumber. He’s going to sit up there with his little grenade launcher, safe while everyone else takes the risks.”
    “Are we going to get out of here anytime soon?”Saber asked.
    “I have a couple of things to take care of, baby.”
    “Like staying alive?”
    It looked like a war zone on the screen. She didn’t want to wait around until the intruders blew open the door to the exercise room.
    “I have to make sure the office is destroyed with everything in it and I’ve got to kill every one of these bastards. The cops will be showing up any minute and I don’t want any of them to die because I ran.”
    She couldn’t argue with that, but she wasn’t certain she believed him. The calm, easygoing man she’d been living with for the past year was riled, and he wasn’t going to cut and run until he’d taken out the men who had threatened his family. In a strange way it made her feel safe knowing he was that kind of man. But she also felt as if she should grab him and drag him into their bolt hole. She didn’t trust his legs.
    He hadn’t walked one single step, and the wheelchair was on the other side of the door.
    “One man is approaching the office. The door’s gone. Let’s see if my failsafe works. All data on the computers should be corrupted beyond repair even if they managed to get a hard drive intact, but just in case…” He murmured aloud, talking more to himself than to her.
    Saber leaned closer to peer at the monitor. Smoke and dust swirled thickly. A soldier wearing a gas mask emerged out of the rubble and stood at the entrance to the office, staring inside. He turned and looked up at the man on the landing, holding his thumb up to indicate they’d found the computers. She felt Jess go still, and then his adrenaline spiked. His arms tightened around her, pulling her into his chest, his head going over hers.
    The initial explosion shook the house, the ground, but didn’t stop there. More followed, each blast louder than the last. The energy came at them in a series of waves. Saber was left feeling sick, her head pounding. Even with Jess’s presence absorbing all of it, the initial rush was a shock to her body.
    Jess raised his head to take a quick glimpse at the monitor and swore. He caught at her, for the first time standing, pulling her up with him, dragging her down toward the grate. “Get down the steps, take the gear. Move fast, Saber.”
    She couldn’t see what had alarmed him, and she didn’t wait around to find out. She caught up as many weapons as she could, tossing the gas masks down into the tunnel before she dropped into the hole. The stairs were narrow and steep, leading down to a very small tunnel. She could walk upright, but she knew Jess would never be able to.
    “Jess, we don’t have your wheelchair.”
    “I can walk. I won’t be winning any races, but I really can get my legs to work.” He was already swinging his body through the gap and reaching for the stairs with his legs, pulling the grate after him.
    “Go, he’s blowing the door.”
    She watched him come down the stairs, bending to keep from hitting his head as he neared the bottom.

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    She wasn’t running down that corridor until she knew he was safe.
    “Go, damn it.”
    “Are you sure you can do this?”
    He gave her a little push, indicating she should run ahead of him. Saber whirled around and sprinted down the length of the tunnel. She was very small and could move fast, but from the little she’d just observed, Jess was still unsteady on his legs. He was also tall, with broad shoulders. He had to stoop and turn his body at an awkward angle to get