Chapters (78)
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Acknowledgments
- Discover More
- About the Author
- Also by Owen Laukkanen
She would sleep up here at the dogleg anyway, just in case Kirby tried to get cute. But a part of her was hoping he would have the good sense to wait until dawn.
There was no way onto the island except up the pass, even in Kirby’s Grady-White. That would make defense easier when Kirby did come. She would camp up here with her rifle and pick them off as they motored up toward her, hopefully kill two or three before they knew what was happening.
One ex-marine with a good rifle and an elevated position against a handful of peckerheads in a confined shooting alley. If it played out like Jess hoped, it wouldn’t even be a contest, the grenade launcher notwithstanding. Her biggest problem would be making sure Kirby’s pretty little boat wasn’t destroyed on the rocks.
But if they brought the helicopter, too? That would complicate things. That asshole with the M203 could camp out above her firing position, wait to see muzzle flashes, and then drop little bundles of death down from on high. If they brought the helicopter, Jess wasn’t sure she’d be able to send up enough flak to keep the pilot on his toes while picking off the Tweedledickheads down the pass at the same time. She wouldn’t be able to handle the situation alone.
If you don’t win this fight, she thought, Burke and Lucy die. And you probably can’t win it without them.
She met Burke’s eyes across the small clearing. “I need you with me on this,” she told him. “I need you to know that there’s nothing in the world I want more than to get you and Lucy off of this island safe. And I need you to believe that I can get us out of here, but I need you to hear what I’m saying. There’s no rescue, Burke. We need to make a stand.”
Burke chewed his lip and studied the forest. He didn’t say anything for a time, and then when he did, it sounded like something he’d memorized, something he was saying for himself, not for her.
“‘Who rises up for me against the wicked?’” he said softly. “‘Who stands up for me against evildoers?’”
She waited, and he met her eyes again. “You know I’ll fight with you,” he told her. “But I guess you’d better teach me how to shoot a little bit first.”
Fifty-One
Fifty-One