Ghostwalker 09 - Ruthless Game

control.
    The driver’s-side door flew open, and a body hit the ground, bounced, and then lay stil . 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 kil 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 pul ed out a helmet, raising it slightly. A bul et 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 stil had no idea of the sniper’s position. “And just so you know, Kane, that bul et 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 cal ed 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 wel . Of course Whitney stil had no way of knowing that Rose had given birth to Sebastian. They thought she was stil 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’l have more of a chance. Otherwise al 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, fol owed in the distance by a stream of bouncing lights as the cartel fol owed.

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 bul etproof 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 wel as a sniper and spotter. With the CROWS
    system, a remote-control ed 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 manual y.
    “They’re coming up behind us,” he said.
    Bul ets 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 smal er detonations. Kane saw a large mushroom plume rising out of the desert in the direction of Diego Jimenez’s subterranean house.
    “What the hel was that?” he demanded.
    Rose shot him a fierce look. “That was me being pissed off. If the cartel—or Diego’s sons—thought they’d be using his home and tunnel, or any of the weapons he acquired from Whitney, they have another think coming.”
    “Remind me never to get you angry at me,” he said.
    “Don’t ever betray me.”
    Kane grinned at her. “You’re so damn sexy, soldada hermosa, especial y when you go al