Page 105 of Code Name: Scorpio

Behind her, the back door banged open.

“That was a mistake.” His voice was thick with fury and blood. “And you are going to pay, bitch.”

A flashlight beam cut through the brush to her left, swept past her, and swung back.

The sweeping beam confirmed she stood no chance in a footrace. Heath possessed the physical advantage and complete familiarity with the terrain, including the wire boundaries and drop-offs blocking her path to the asphalt. Her brief advantage from the broken nose had already vanished.

Don’t outrun him. Outsmart him.

Halting mid-stride, she dropped low and wedged herself backward into a dense cluster of mesquite brush, sliding beneath the lowest canopy. Briars snagged her shirt and pulled at her hair, but she remained silent, tucking her legs into her chest and flattening herself against the bark.

She slowed her breathing until it was the only thing she could hear. She had to remain calm. She had no idea if anyone at Zodiac had heard her, so she had to save herself.

“I was going to go easy on you.” Liar. He was such a big fat fucking liar. “But I’m sure as fuck not going to now. You’re going to beg.”

The beam swept across the ground thirty feet to her right, and she bit back a whimper.

“You liked it when Sutton punished you?” She heard him spit. “That was play. My punishment is going to require screaming.”

She dug her fingernails deep into the damp earth, fighting the prickle of raw panic spreading across her neck as the flashlight arc swept toward her hiding spot.

The beam slid closer. “This is going to be about pain. About how much you can take. Then about how much more.”

He’d closed the distance, standing a mere twenty feet away. Every breath he dragged through his smashed nose came out as a wet, whistling rattle.

“By the time I’m done, you’ll know what suffering is. Real suffering, Cassandra.” A pause. “You’ll beg to kneel in front of me.”

The light played across the neighboring brush, prompting her to lock her lungs tight. He was going to find her. She should’ve kept running.

“I know you’re out here. There’s nowhere for you to⁠—”

He stopped talking. Cassandra stopped breathing. He must have seen her.

Then she heard some sort of flat impact through the dark, followed by a grunt. The beam of the flash spun crazily before stopping, throwing a long, low wedge of light across the clearing.

Someone else was here.

Peering around the trunk, she caught only fragmented motion as two distinct figures collided on the fringe of the flashlight beam. A sharp grunt cut through the dark, followed immediately by the crack of knuckles hitting a jaw.

Heath stumbled into the beam, reaching frantically for his waist. A shadow loomed right over him, pinning his wrist before his fingers could get the gun from the holster, twisting the joint until the weapon clattered into the undergrowth.

Heath threw a wild elbow in retaliation. The other man absorbed the blow against his shoulder without breaking momentum, countering with a rapid sequence of body shots and a heavy hook that whipped Heath’s head back.

The man stepped into the light.

Ryder.

She came out from her hiding place, trying to figure out how she could help.

“Are you okay?” Ryder turned toward her.

“Look out!”

Heath used Ryder’s distraction and drove his weight straight into Ryder’s midsection, forcing him back. A hard boot to the side of Ryder’s right knee caught him before he could reestablish his balance.

Ryder’s leg collapsed under the impact. He hit the ground hard, with Heath dropping immediately onto his chest to pin him to the earth.

A heavy right caught Ryder square on the cheekbone, followed by a second blow that sliced open his lip. As Ryder threw up his forearm to stop the next strike, Heath grabbed his sleeve. The fabric was dark and saturated from the elbow to the wrist—it must’ve been an injury from the raid. Heath clamped both hands onto the wound and wrenched it hard.