They’d wanted to live as desperately as she did. They’d had hopes and dreams. All of that had been stolen from them. Life didn’t matter to Naing and his men. It didn’t matter to the two men in front. Killing her would be easy for them.
A man who isn’t afraid of dying is dangerous.
A man who isn’t afraid of dying … can think and fight.
Shanti’s pulse slowed, and her fear began to lessen, replaced by a strange sense of power. Connor had died fighting to protect her. Now, she would fight to defend herself—and to bring his body home.
She glanced over at Connor, pain splitting her breastbone to know he was…
She stared.
His chest moved slowly up and down.
He was breathing!
Thank God!
Relief flooded her, warm and sweet.
But how?
He’d been shot in the head. No one survived that. Unless…
Maybe it wasn’t as bad as it seemed. Still, the bastards in front clearly believed he was dead. They hadn’t searched him for weapons or tried to restrain him. If he moaned in pain or regained consciousness, they would kill him.
Oh, no, they won’t!
She reached over, took his hand, gave his fingers a squeeze—and she saw.
His gun.
It had fallen to the floor of the helicopter behind his left foot. They must not have noticed it, or they would have taken it away.
Or maybe they think you’re too afraid to do anything with it.
Quietly, carefully, she reached over with her leg, caught the weapon with her heel, and slowly pushed it toward herself. With the earphones on and the thrum of the rotors, not even she could hear the quiet sound of the firearm sliding along the floor.
The two men pointed toward something in the sky just ahead of them.
Cobra’s drone.
Shanti saw her chance.
She bent down, grabbed the pistol, tucked it beneath her.
The gun was heavier than she’d imagined it would be, but she had it now. If they tried to shoot Connor again…
Could you do it? Could you kill a man?
To save Connor’s life, yes, she could.
Connor’s headfelt like it had been split in two, pain throbbing inside his skull. He opened his eyes, saw red.
Blood.
Where thehellwas he?
He was about to raise a hand to wipe his eyes when someone squeezed his fingers.