“It’ll get better,” Oz said from nearby. He hadn’t missed her discomfort.
She nodded. “I know.” She didn’t know, but decided faking it was better than admitting a weakness right about now. The last thing she wanted was to be a liability.
Grover stood, and Sierra looked up at him—way up. Over the last week, she hadn’t thought about their differences in height. Lying on the floor, holding his hand through the bars, was a great equalizer. But now, staring up into his eyes, she couldn’t help but feel tiny.
“Here,” said a man she hadn’t met yet, holding something out to her. Reaching for it automatically, Sierra saw that it was a tan baseball cap.
She looked at it, then at the guy, confused.
“I’m Brain. Figure it will keep your scalp from burning.”
“Thanks,” she said, her voice only wavering a little bit. She thought maybe the real reason they’d brought a hat was to hide the long red hair they’d remembered her having. But since her captors had recently shaved it off again, she was grateful to have the cap to cover the mess they’d most likely made.
“It’s good to see you, Sierra. You are Sierra Clarkson, aren’t you?” another man asked.
“I am,” she admitted.
“Can we cut the chitchat?” another man grumbled. “I’m not really happy being this far back in this mountain. We need to jet.”
“That’s Lefty and Lucky,” Grover told her, pointing first to the man who’d said her name, then the other. He put his arm around her back, his large hand resting on her hip, and Sierra couldn’t help but lean into him.
The second they began walking, she could feel Grover limping. She belatedly remembered the possible rib fractures he’d admitted to, as well, after Shahzada’s second beating. He might be acting as if he wasn’t in pain, but in reality, it had to be excruciating.
She eased her arm around him and held on to his waistband. She did her best to take some of his weight, but knew she probably wasn’t doing a damn thing to help.
Amazingly, he looked down at her and smiled. “Toughest bean in the jar,” he said.
Sierra rolled her eyes. “That name is ridiculous.”
“I know,” he said without apology.
She was glad to see Trigger take up position on Grover’s other side. If he needed support, she wasn’t going to be much use, but his friend would.
They made their way carefully down the long dug-out tunnel in the cave, toward the entrance. They passed a few bodies along the way, but Sierra noticed that none were Shahzada.
Just when she thought they were going to get out of the hellhole she’d been stashed in for months, shots rang out again.
Grover grabbed her, lifting her off her feet and pressing her back against the tunnel wall, protecting her with his own body. The men around her fired back, and Sierra’s ears rang with the sound of gunfire echoing throughout the cave.
“Looks like they aren’t happy we’re trying to take their guests away from the party!” Oz called out.
Sierra peeked around Grover and saw the other man was actually grinning.
“Take ’em out! Take ’em all out!” Trigger yelled back.
The next ten minutes were the longest of Sierra’s life.
Grover pulled her farther back in the cave and made her sit on the ground. Then he went back to where his teammates were firing out of the entrance and joined in. Sierra knew better than to do anything to disrupt their focus. As much as she hated it, she was a liability right now and if she distracted even one of them, they could get hurt. So she sat exactly where Grover put her, wrapped her arms around her knees, and prayed no one got injured.
There was a lull in the shooting, and Brain yelled, “That’s it. Time to go!”
Grover was there in a heartbeat, pulling her to her feet and keeping a tight grip on her arm as he tugged her toward the cave’s entrance.
Sierra was terrified. Wanted to ask if he was sure it was safe. But she didn’t get a chance before she was suddenly outside.
She’d dreamed about this moment. About walking out of the cave a free woman. This wasn’t exactly how she’d ever thought it would happen, but she wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
All around them, men were bleeding and unmoving. She would’ve felt bad for their deaths except for the fact they were working with Shahzada, and had taken great pleasure in hurting her and Grover over the last week.
“Anyone see Shahzada?” Grover asked.
Trigger barked out a laugh as they made their way to the right, keeping the mountain to their backs. “As if that coward would actually fight alongside his men.”
Sierra didn’t recognize their location, as she’d been blindfolded when she’d been brought to the cave. But it didn’t matter. She was outside. Free. Well…almost.
“This next part isn’t going to be easy, Bean.”
Sierra looked at Grover. “You mean the last year has been?” she said somewhat sarcastically.
Even in the serious situation they’d found themselves in, she saw Grover’s lips twitch. “Right. Okay then, this next part is gonna suck monkey balls. We’re going down.”
“Down?” Sierra asked with a frown. “Down where?”
“There,” Trigger said, pointing over the edge of the plateau they’d been walking on.
Sierra looked down in confusion.
“We’re going over the edge,” Lucky confirmed. “Shahzada’s men can’t follow us that way. Well, they can, but I doubt they will.”
“Right, because they’d be insane! That drop-off is practically straight down!” Sierra exclaimed.
“Yup.” Doc sounded almost excited.
“You guys are crazy,” Sierra muttered.
Just then, shouts sounded from their left.
Brain translated as the words reached where they were standing next to the rocky mountain wall. “‘There they are. Kill the men and bring me the woman.’”
“Fuck that,” Grover muttered.
Sierra looked toward where the voices were coming from and saw Shahzada standing with another group of men. Of course he was standing behind them all, giving orders instead of leading the charge.
“That’s Shahzada!” Sierra said, before yelping in surprise when Grover yanked her down into a squat. Looking around, she realized they were sitting ducks. There wasn’t much cover where they crouched against the mountain—and literally the only way out of their predicament was to go over the edge, as Trigger had indicated.
Shahzada had the upper hand. He could keep bringing in reinforcements from the narrow road behind him, and eventually one or more of Grover’s team would be injured or killed.
They’d come for her; she had to do something to help. She wasn’t a badass special forces soldier, but she wasn’t a coward either.
She grabbed Grover’s biceps. “I’ll go toward them and pretend to give up. You guys can shoot them.”
It was a crazy suggestion. Even Sierra knew that, but she had to do something.
“No.”
One word. That was all Grover offered. And it irritated Sierra. “I can be a distraction,” she insisted.
“I said no,” Grover repeated.
“We can’t just sit here!”