Merciless

Wrong. A real soldier took every advantage to annihilate the enemy. Building a better predator by whatever means necessary.

I crawled between the barbed-wire strands and stood, pausing to scan the immediate area with the infrared.

No red heat signatures.

Sheldon had already covered serious ground if the sensor hadn’t picked him up yet.

I kept the infrared in my left hand and the rifle in my right as I continued to scan the terrain. This sweep of prairie began a gradual rise until it met the tree line. I assumed that was the direction he went. Easier to miss shots when distracted by the trees and shadows.

That’s when I heard a twig snap.

Pinpointing the sound, I crouched almost parallel to the ground. My adrenaline kicked in, but due to my sniper training, I didn’t get skittish. I became even calmer, breathing slowly, hyper-focused on waiting for my prey to give himself away.

The grass was timber dry and made a crunching sound with every hard footfall, encouraging light steps.

I heard nothing for several long moments.

Just when I believed I’d followed a deer, I heard the soft scrape of fabric on bark. I spun, pointing the infrared. A big red mass a hundred feet to my left at eleven o’clock.

Releasing the infrared, I raised the rifle, my eye on the scope, and in the split second it took to pinpoint his location I fired.

A loud hiss of air echoed back to me, followed by the rustling of grass. Bastard was on the move. Had I hit him? Nicked him? Or missed entirely?

I raised the infrared again and watched the red blob scurrying away. Slowly. Then it stopped. I took a perpendicular path to where Sheldon rested. I’d keep parallel to him as I moved, so when he bolted toward the tree line, I’d be in front of him instead of behind.

I heard a gun discharge, and then pain ripped through the outside of my left thigh.

Son of a bitch. That fucker had shot me.

Now I was really pissed. I knelt down and lightly touched the rip in my pants. My fingers came away wet. Gritting my teeth, I drew my finger across the spot more firmly, discovering it was only a flesh wound. Bled like a bitch, but I didn’t have a bullet lodged in my leg. If I left it alone, it’d clot so I could finish what I’d started.

I heard pounding footfalls and looked up just as Sheldon rushed me. I rolled into him, instead of away from him, and he skidded face-first across the ground.

I bounced up and stomped my boot heel on his wrist, forcing him to release his gun while I placed the rifle muzzle on the back of his head. “Don’t fucking move.” I reached down and picked up his gun. A Glock. I ejected the clip, letting it hit the ground. “Tell me where she is.”

“You cheated,” he snapped, turning his head sideways to glare at me.

“Tough shit. What have you done with Sophie?”

“Tough shit,” he mimicked. “I’m not telling you anything.”

With the AR-15, I aimed for the dirt and fired at the ground next to his thigh. “The next bullet goes in that thigh. Where is Sophie?”

He laughed. “You’re bluffing.”

I shot him in the leg. Using his gun and the last bullet that’d been left in the chamber.

He screamed.

When he quit whimpering, I shoved his empty gun in my pocket and repeated, “Where is Sophie?”

“I’ll die before I tell you.”

“I doubt it, but I’m willing to test that theory. I’ve got two full clips, Sheldon. I can give you a whole bunch of two-twenty-three-cal piercings until you start talking.”

“You’re a cold bitch.”

I shot him in the arm.

He screamed again.

When he quit whimpering, I placed the gun muzzle on the back of his neck. “Next bullet will be the start of your necklace.”

A beat passed, and then he said, “I didn’t take her, okay? I only told you I took her because you wouldn’t know any different.”

“Liar.”

“I swear. The day before yesterday, Sophie and John-John came into the archives with Penny’s death certificate to update the tribal rolls. I overheard them talking. John-John was taking Sophie to a weeklong sweat ceremony in Eagle Butte. They weren’t telling anyone where they were going.”

“Not even Devlin?”

“They said he was going to a poker tournament in Deadwood.”

“Bullshit. You’re lying.”

“I’m not. I swear.”

“Then how did you use Sophie’s voice when I demanded proof of life?”

“Remember I told you I was at the crime scene? I had a mini tape recorder with me, and I recorded Sophie wailing. And John-John, too.”

That’s why Sophie’s response had sounded familiar-I’d heard it live. “Why, you sick fuck?”

“Because I got off on hearing their reactions. Over and over.” His voice dropped to that grotesque purr again. “I used the recording on you, and you fell for it. You really believed I’d kidnapped Sophie and hidden her away.” Sheldon sneered, “It was almost too easy. You ain’t as smart as you think you are.”

This lowlife piece of shit had tricked me? Sophie wasn’t in danger? I was stunned by that piece of information and so relieved that I relaxed my guard.

Probably Sheldon’s intent. He rolled and knocked my feet out from under me.

I hit the ground hard but managed to keep hold of my rifle.