CHAPTER 6 The Hunter's Choice
The first shot shattered the windshield.
Glass exploded across the truck's cab like frozen rain, forcing Ethan Hale to throw himself sideways behind the steering wheel. The bullet ripped through the driver's headrest a fraction of a second later, embedding itself somewhere behind him.
"Down!" Ethan shouted.
Lily screamed and curled into the floorboard.
Another shot struck the hood.
Then another.
A sniper.
Professional.
The engine roared as Ethan slammed the accelerator. The pickup bounced violently across the narrow forest road, tires chewing through loose gravel while rounds punched into the metal around them.
Whoever was firing wasn't trying to scare him.
They were measuring the vehicle.
Waiting for the perfect shot.
A fifth bullet destroyed the passenger-side mirror.
"They know exactly where we are," Ethan muttered.
His stomach tightened.
Only three people had known where they were hiding.
Him.
Lily.
Sheriff Daniel Brooks.
The realization struck harder than any bullet.
Someone inside the Sheriff's Office had betrayed them.
A fallen tree suddenly blocked the road.
Too deliberate.
Too clean.
It hadn't fallen naturally.
"It's a trap."
Ethan yanked the steering wheel.
The truck skidded sideways before crashing through thick bushes and tumbling down a shallow embankment.
The airbags exploded.
Silence followed.
For one impossible heartbeat.
Then automatic gunfire erupted above them.
Men were moving through the trees.
Closing in.
Black Compass.
Ethan forced open the crushed driver's door.
"Lily!"
"I'm okay!"
Barely.
He grabbed her hand and dragged her into the forest.
Branches slapped against their faces as they sprinted downhill.
Voices echoed behind them.
"Two targets!"
"Don't lose the girl!"
Dogs barked somewhere deeper in the woods.
They had trackers.
This operation had been planned long before today.
Another rifle cracked.
A tree beside Ethan burst apart.
Too close.
Much too close.
He pushed Lily behind a fallen log.
"Stay here."
"What about you?"
"I'm ending this."
He pulled the pistol from his waistband.
Seven rounds.
Not enough.
He inhaled once.
Slowly.
Footsteps approached through the undergrowth.
Three.
Maybe four men.
The first operative appeared between the trees.
Suppressor.
Body armor.
Night-vision rig attached to his helmet despite daylight.
Military.
Ethan squeezed the trigger.
One shot.
The man collapsed instantly.
The others scattered.
Professional reaction.
Not mercenaries.
Soldiers.
Gunfire erupted again.
Leaves exploded overhead.
Ethan changed position twice before another bullet skimmed his shoulder.
Pain burned across his skin.
Then...
Everything went quiet.
Too quiet.
A single rifle echoed from somewhere far above.
One precise shot.
Another.
Another.
Each separated by exactly two seconds.
The voices hunting Ethan stopped.
Then came screaming.
Someone else was hunting the hunters.
A tall figure emerged from the trees carrying an old bolt-action rifle.
Gray beard.
Weathered face.
Calm eyes.
"Ethan Hale?"
Ethan kept his pistol raised.
"Who are you?"
The stranger glanced at the bodies.
"They'll have reinforcements in ten minutes."
"I asked you a question."
"My name is Marcus Reed."
The name froze Ethan where he stood.
Emma had mentioned Marcus once.
Years ago.
A man everyone believed had disappeared.
"You knew Emma."
Marcus nodded.
"I knew her before she ever knew you."
An hour later they reached an abandoned ranger station hidden deep inside the mountains.
Marcus locked every entrance before speaking again.
"I worked logistics for Black Compass."
Lily looked confused.
"You worked for them?"
"I helped move equipment."
"People?"
Marcus hesitated.
"...Sometimes."
Ethan's jaw tightened.
"So you're one of them."
"I was."
Marcus sat heavily in an old chair.
"I disappeared twelve years ago after discovering what Black Compass really was."
"What is it?"
"It isn't a security company."
"It never was."
Marcus unfolded an old map covered in handwritten notes.
"Black Compass operates through government contracts."
"Military."
"Private intelligence."
"Law enforcement."
"They don't need to own every department."
"They only need one person inside each."
Ethan immediately thought of Sheriff Brooks.
Marcus watched his expression.
"You've figured it out."
"The Sheriff's Office?"
Marcus nodded slowly.
"They've had someone feeding information to Black Compass for years."
Ethan clenched both fists.
"So today's ambush..."
"...was arranged before you ever left town."
Lily eventually fell asleep on a worn sofa.
Marcus lowered his voice.
"Emma contacted me."
Ethan looked up instantly.
"When?"
"Three weeks before everyone said she died."
His heart stopped.
"What did she want?"
"Help."
Marcus reached inside an old filing cabinet.
"She said she'd uncovered something called Project Echo."
"I'd never heard the name before."
"So I started asking questions."
"And?"
"The people I asked started disappearing."
He placed several folders across the table.
Every page contained photographs.
Judges.
Police officers.
Military officers.
Doctors.
All connected.
Project Echo.
Emma had circled dozens of names in red ink.
At the center was one sentence written in her handwriting.
Trust no badge.
Ethan stared at it for a long time.
Emma had known.
She had known everything before she vanished.
"But why didn't she tell me?"
Marcus sighed.
"Because she believed someone was already watching you."
Night settled over the mountains.
Rain tapped softly against broken windows.
Marcus disappeared into another room before returning with a dusty laptop.
"I wasn't sure if I'd ever show anyone this."
"What is it?"
"The reason I know Emma wasn't kidnapped."
He inserted an encrypted flash drive.
A grainy security recording appeared.
Date:
Three weeks earlier.
Emma stood outside an underground parking garage.
She looked exhausted.
But calm.
A black SUV rolled to the curb.
No struggle.
No weapons.
No panic.
The rear door opened.
Emma glanced around once before climbing inside completely on her own.
Ethan leaned closer.
"No..."
Marcus remained silent.
The SUV drove away.
Emma had gone willingly.
Every police report.
Every news story.
Every search operation.
Had begun with a lie.
The footage continued for several more seconds.
Then, just before the recording ended, Emma suddenly turned her head.
She looked directly into the security camera.
Directly at Ethan.
As though she somehow knew he would eventually watch this recording.
She smiled sadly.
Then spoke six words.
"If Ethan is watching this..."
She paused.
"...our backup plan failed."
The screen went black.
Ethan couldn't move.
The silence inside the ranger station felt heavier than the storm outside.
Emma hadn't disappeared.
She had chosen to leave.
And whatever she had discovered...
May you like
Had been important enough to abandon everything.
Including him.
