Read Ravaged River (Men of Mercy #6) for Free Online Page B

cocked a round into the chamber.
    “Yep.”
    “You ready?”
    “Yep.”
    Another man of Middle Eastern descent emerged from the store, a bottle in one hand, the other in his pocket. “Got another possible bogey,” Hoyt said under his breath.
    “Fuck, what is this place? Their meeting ground?” Merc eased a hand to the door handle, ready to launch out of the vehicle.
    Hoyt instinctively tightened his grip on his pistol. The man from the store made eye contact with the Honda driver. The look was brief. “I don’t like this.”
    The Honda driver returned the gas hose to its slot, closed the gas cap, and turned to his open car door.
    The Hummer roared to life, its brilliant light bar shining on the old wood fence bordering the right side of the property. It eased into a wide arc and lined up right behind the Jeep. In the perfect position to ram them. Hoyt had a flash of fear. The Hummer was over two thousand pounds of reinforced steel doors and bullet-proof glass. And there was a black steel brush guard across the front. They could gun it and demolish the Jeep, effectively trapping them inside for a quick and easy kill shot.
    The Honda driver got in his car, shut the door, and slowly pulled out, curving out of the parking lot in a tight right turn. Hoyt eased onto the gas pedal, accelerating onto the road behind the Civic. The Hummer followed them out, its spotlights on, keeping a steady distance right behind him.
    “Gun it, man,” Merc said. “We’re not trying to hide from them.”
    Hoyt clenched his teeth hard and sped up. The Honda reappeared on the road in front of them. “Seems as if they don’t feel like talking to us.”
    The lights behind them disappeared. Hoyt glanced up to see the Hummer turn off down a side street. He loosened his crushing grip on the steering wheel and gave a shaky laugh. “I thought that bastard was about to flatten us.”
    “Shit, me too. Let’s just follow this guy and see where he’s headed. I have a feeling there are more of Zafar’s men around than we know about.”
    The Honda kept going straight. The buildings grew scarcer and had the look of abandonment.
    Suddenly blinding lights flashed through the driver’s side door. A loud roar ripped the air as the Hummer unleashed the full power of its 316-horse power V-8 engine. Hoyt closed his eyes and thought about…
    Hayden.
    A thunderous blast filled the air asthe Jeep flew left and crashed into a light pole. Hoyt’s head cracked the side window and white lights exploded across his vision.
    He heard the loud ringing first and then the sound of a door slamming shut. Hoyt realized he’d blacked out. Could only have been for a second, or he’d be full of lead and greeting the devil with a hand shake.
    Merc groaned but didn’t wake, a dark trail of red oozed from his head wound.
    Footsteps sounded outside, then voices speaking in Arabic. Hoyt kept his head down, pretending he was still unconscious, and peeked up through barely cracked eyelids.
    The Honda had backed up close, trapping the Jeep in a vortex of vehicles. A man got out of the sedan and started gesturing wildly to someone off to the side. Someone Hoyt couldn’t see due to the new hood ornament jammed into his Jeep. The Hummer reversed. Metal shrieked.
    Hoyt gripped his Beretta in both hands. They were sitting ducks. Fucking pop up targets at the fair. His only hope was that the guys would want to do a little interrogation before killing them.
    Then the back door of the Jeep was yanked open, and Hoyt breathed out a short puff of relief. It would be awkward for the men to pull them out from behind, which tilted luck in Hoyt’s favor. The man went for Merc first, grabbed his shoulder and tugged.
    Hoyt lifted his gun over his left shoulder. Fired. The retort of gunfire deafened him temporarily. The man fell flat in the back seat.
    The other bogey, standing outside Hoyt’s door, started shouting. Hoyt turned, calm and efficient, and fired. His spider-webbed window