Every Second

57

Coyote Mountains, New York

Daylight slowly began filling the forest.

As it fingered through the trees, Cutty could feel it needling him for his failure. His prisoner had defeated him and escaped.

The cuts, the bruising and the fractures he’d suffered from her surprise attack only fed his rage. He was the biggest, the strongest of the group, and he’d had his ass handed to him by a stupid nonbelieving woman.

His flashlight raked through the waning darkness as he and Percy hunted Lori down. Jerricko and Vic were hunting together another forty or fifty yards to the north. Both teams communicated to each other by way of signal bursts from their flashlights.

Cutty’s thoughts shifted to his family and the images his relatives had sent him from northern Iraq. The dead little babies, their mouths agape, buried in the rubble of shelters destroyed by American drones. His anger warmed his blood as he nursed his humiliation at losing his prisoner. He would personally exact payback from that bitch-right in front of her kid. He’d get Percy to record it before he and the others took their turn.

Problem was, Cutty was not sure if he would enjoy that more than just cutting off their heads and showing the world the price to be paid for oppressive regimes.

Soon every person on the planet will know me and my brothers and the glory we’ve attained.

As the sky brightened, Percy signaled-he had something.

With the rising sun Percy saw a flash of color in the distance.

He signaled to the others, then got on the ground and took a position, raising his small binoculars. Deep among the branches and needles, he saw a postage-stamp size patch of blue. He couldn’t discern movement or details, only that whatever the object was, it didn’t belong there.

“It’s them,” Percy whispered to Cutty, who’d joined him.

Percy, who was the best shot of the group, raised his gun and sighted the target, easily more than a hundred yards off. But he knew his gun’s limitations.

A thought arrived.

Percy lowered his gun and reached into his pocket for his cell phone, wishing right now that he had Vic’s satellite phone. Cell service was spotty, but there were brief periods when his cell worked, and if God willed it, this would be one of them.

“What’re you doing?” Cutty asked.

“I’m trying the code. Let’s blow them up!”

“But Vic and Jerricko said she’s got the laptop.”

“Yeah, well, I say we take our chances and kill them now. What good is the laptop going to do us if they get away? Besides, we’ve got the money. Vic’s got the sat phone. We know what to do, so let’s get on with it.” Percy held up his phone. “Look, I’ve got a signal! I’m making the call.”