"How bad?" Rose demanded.
Kane inspected his side. A hunk of skin was missing, but little else other than his pride. He slapped a pressure bandage over it. "Maybe he wasn't going for the kill and he knocked me away from Fargo's vehicle on purpose so he could kill the man. Who the hell knows?"
"Who is he?"
"Whitney's cleanup man. Get us the hell out of here, Rose. The cartel is on our ass, and we've got another player in the game." He took a quick look at the baby to make certain the boy was okay.
Sebastian opened his eyes and looked back at him. Kane smiled at him. "You're good, son, just hang in there a little longer."
"I'm going to try to take out the shooter, Rose. In any case, the cartel is going to be on us in another few minutes. We can't outrun them. We're too far away from the ravine to go to ground, so I'll have to give them something to think about."
"I don't like the idea of you exposing yourself to the shooter. We don't even know where he is. How are you going to get a fix on him?"
Their eyes met in the mirror. She shook her head. "No. No way. You are not going to give him another shot at you."
He grinned at her. "We've got the weapons to protect ourselves, Rose, and we're going to need to use them."
"Look at the truck," Rose said, pointing at the pickup that had been careening through the desert out of control.
The driver's-side door flew open, and a body hit the ground, bounced, and then lay still. 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 kill 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 pulled out a helmet, raising it slightly. A bullet 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 still had no idea of the sniper's position. "And just so you know, Kane, that bullet 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 called 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 well. Of course Whitney still had no way of knowing that Rose had given birth to Sebastian. They thought she was still 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'll have more of a chance. Otherwise all 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, followed in the distance by a stream of bouncing lights as the cartel followed.
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 bulletproof 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 well as a sniper and spotter. With the CROWS system, a remote-controlled 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 manually.
"They're coming up behind us," he said.
Bullets 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 smaller detonations. Kane saw a large mushroom plume rising out of the desert in the direction of Diego Jimenez's subterranean house.
"What the hell 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, especially when you go all blow-things-up and scary on me."
She pursed her lips and made kissy noises. "Just a gentle reminder."
He laughed out loud. "Just so you know, I'm the jealous type."
Her eyebrow shot up. "Fine time to tell me. I thought I was going to get to take lots of lovers. Guess not."
"Damn right you guess not."
A heavy caliber weapon rocked the Humvee. Rose ducked and then bared her teeth, eyes flashing fire. "Check the baby and then teach that idiot a lesson in manners."
"I do so love it when you go all soldier on me."
"Quit flirting with me and get the job done."
"You started it by blowing up the house," he pointed out righteously. Dutifully he took another look at Sebastian. The bouncing of the Humvee didn't seem to bother him, although he did open his eyes to stare at his father through narrow, sleep slits. "We're fine, son," Kane soothed. "Mommy's a terrible driver, but she's having fun, so we'll overlook it this once."
Sebastian's little bow of a mouth curved in a smile, and his eyes closed.
Kane settled in front of the screen, his hand on the joystick. The lighter, much more mobile truck leapt onto the screen. One man was in the bed of the pickup with a machine gun. Another was strapped to the roof with a rocket launcher. A third man leaned out of the passenger window with what appeared to be a grenade in his hand. The driver, with a look of determination on his face, fought the wheel as the tires bounced over the rough terrain.
"This is a cool system," Kane said. "I've got one sweet weapon for distance and damage." He could hit someone a good one and a half miles away.
"You sound like a kid in a candy store. Shoot them already, or you'll be doing the driving and I'll be the one having fun," she threatened.
"Bloodthirsty little wench," he muttered. "I'm on it."
The M2 .50 caliber, able to tear a vehicle apart, seemed ideal. "Keep it steady. I don't really want to waste a lot of ammo on these morons. Do they not see the weapons?" Even as he asked the question, he fired a series of three rounds, hitting the roof, the back of the truck, and launching one through the windshield.
The truck explosion was spectacular. He grinned at her. "And that's how it's done, sweetheart."
She laughed and shook her head. "My man is crazy."
He felt the shift in his heart. A warm glow in his belly. He liked being her man. He grinned at her and gave her a sma
ll salute.
The Humvee was approaching the entrance to the canyon. There was only one real way down, consisting of a narrow slope that ran down over boulders and shrubs. The Humvee would have no problems, and that had to be where Whitney's men would be waiting, if they were there.
"You know you can't take us down there," he cautioned. "They'll have mines."
"Great minds think alike," she said, although she didn't sway from her course.