Target on the Mountain by Elizabeth Goddard (the chimp paradox .txt) 📕

of the gas falling into deadly hands. He’d seen enough damage over the past few years by terrorists wanting to promote their own agendas.

They’d lost one of their teammates because he’d gotten tied up with some very bad people. The last thing Alex wanted was more bloodshed. He’d seen enough of that to last him a lifetime. And it was why he’d come to a conclusion while up here. This was it for him. He’d gotten a second chance with Rachel and he wanted a fresh start in life with her. He was ready to come back home to the tiny town of Midnight Mountain and start living a normal life again.

EIGHTEEN

As they approached the cave, Rachel couldn’t help but feel as if everything they’d gone through so far would come down to just this moment.

She touched Alex’s arm. She was so afraid something bad was going to happen to take away their chance at happiness.

He looked deep in her eyes and she saw the same fears in his. But he did his best to reassure her. “It’s going to be okay.”

She tried to smile. She so wanted to believe it.

“Jase, we need someone around at the back exit in case they stumble on it. We don’t want them to get away. Too much is at stake,” Alex told his commander.

Jase agreed, “You’re right. Go. You two know where it is. Take some men with you.”

Alex pointed to three of the team members. His fellow patriots. They followed Rachel and Alex as they headed toward the back entrance.

Rachel’s thoughts went to Liam. He’d looked so pale when they’d taken him away. She couldn’t bear it if anything happened to her brother.

Alex clasped her hand briefly. Their eyes met. His feelings for her were right there for her to see and she wanted to cry. She couldn’t think of a single thing to say. Would Temple and his band of corrupt CIA agents win in spite of everything they’d fought so hard to accomplish?

“We’ll get them.” She glanced up at Alex. He was trying to be strong for her. She needed to be for him, as well.

“You’re right. We will.”

Rachel located the back entrance of the cave and pointed it out. “Over there.”

They eased closer. If Temple’s team was in there, she didn’t believe they’d had enough time to find the escape route yet. But there were dozens of other passages throughout the cave. There could be another way out. She and Alex knew the cave better than anyone and even they hadn’t known about the exit.

She turned back to the three men. “Stay here. Alex and I will check it out.”

The three agents looked to Alex, who nodded. Then he and Rachel headed inside.

As hard as she tried, Rachel couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen. Alex must have sensed her struggle.

He drew her close and whispered against her ear. “It’s almost over.”

As they headed down the same narrow passage they’d taken before, her heart was hammering in her chest. She so wanted to have another chance at a future... with Alex.

Alex stopped and grabbed her arm. She heard it, too. Voices.

“They’re CIA and she’s with them. It’s over, Blake. We should just turn ourselves in and face the music,” said a voice she didn’t recognize.

The only answer was a single gunshot. Then the sound of something dropping to the ground. She didn’t doubt for a second that Temple had killed the man. Trapped like animals, they were turning on each other. Would they kill themselves before Alex’s team had the chance to interrogate them?

She mouthed, “We need them alive.”

She and Alex charged Temple’s men. She didn’t doubt that the three men standing guard outside would have heard the shot and would follow.

Surprised, the men whirled with weapons drawn. One man lay on the ground at Temple’s feet.

They stood facing each other in a silent standoff.

“Drop your weapons. Otherwise, you’re not getting out of here alive,” Alex ordered.

Rachel counted the remaining men. Three. There was something wrong. One of the team was missing. Had he escaped a different way or...?

Before she’d finished the thought, someone grabbed her from behind. A gun was shoved against her temple.

“Drop your weapon unless you want her to die,” the man behind her yelled.

Rachel’s gaze locked with Alex. She was so afraid. She didn’t want to die. Not like this.

“Take it easy.” Alex tried to keep the man calm. “You don’t want to do that. There are dozens of agents all around. None of you are walking out of here free.”

“Shoot her. I’ve got him,” Temple ordered the man.

“I said drop your gun.” Her captor’s hand shook nervously on the weapon. Rachel knew if she did as he asked, she’d be at the man’s mercy. That would leave Alex alone. She couldn’t do it.

Alex’s gaze sliced to the side. He was trying to tell her something. The three Scorpion team members were close.

She managed the tiniest of nods.

“Okay, stay calm. I’m lowering my weapon now.” She held the gun out in front of her. With the man still clutching her, she managed to slowly ease the weapon down to the ground.

“Now,” Alex yelled. Rachel jabbed her foot hard into the captor’s shin. He let her go and she hit the ground. Alex fired; the shot hit the man in his arm. The weapon flew from his hand. Rachel fired at Temple before he could get a shot off, striking him in the upper torso.

Before the remaining men could manage even a single shot, the three Scorpion agents appeared with weapons drawn.

“Shoot them,” Temple raged while rolling around in pain. “You can take them. We can still get out of this.”

“Don’t do it,” Rachel warned. “You still have a chance to live. You don’t have to die here.”

As the standoff continued, the men seemed to be debating on whether or not they stood a chance at surviving. Behind them, Jase and the rest of his team reached them.

Realizing they were severely