CHAPTER TEN

Don knew they wouldn't make it to the road. His brother wasn't running fast enough, hindered by his broken arm. He tugged Charlie by his jacket and with a head movement, indicated him to carry on further into the woods. He didn't want to be too far away from the road, however, knowing that his team would come looking for them. And the deeper they went, the harder it would be to locate them.

"I knew you'd come," Charlie said, a little out of breath.

"Yeah, well we're not out of the woods yet… No pun intended… We need to find somewhere to hide until David and Colby arrive… They shouldn't be too long now… Hopefully."

Several bullets missed the brothers by a few inches.

"Stay low!" Don turned around and fired a couple of times. "Come on!" He gently pushed Charlie in front of him before glancing over his shoulder. Adriano was gaining ground on them. Scanning the surroundings, he noticed a large bush on their right. Again, he tugged Charlie by his sleeve to direct him towards the shrub.

He briefly checked on Adriano's position. Yes, they had enough time.

"Charlie, hide behind the bush. I'll use the branches as camouflage. Mind your arm. You do not move until David, Colby or me tell you it's safe. Understood?"

Without waiting for a reply, he started to cover the mathematician with large branches that were lying on the ground, using the bush as support.

"What about you?" Charlie asked worriedly.

"You stay put. I'm going to lure him away from you." He stepped back to check that his brother was concealed properly. "Okay that should do. Do not move or make a noise and he won't see you. Alright?"

Again, he didn't wait for an answer and started to run to his left, away from the road and towards the path leading to the hill. To make sure Adriano would follow him, he fired several times. He was a little surprised when two machine guns shot back in response. He glanced quickly towards the cabin and noticed that Luigi had come around and was now running in his direction. Good, if both men were after him, Charlie was safe.

Charlie, hidden under the branches, saw Adriano stopping ten yards away from him. He held his breath and remained immobile, almost paralyzed. His heart was beating so hard that he was afraid Adriano could hear it. A couple of gun shots, and the man started to run in Don's direction. A second shadow passed, much further away this time. Damn, Luigi was awake! Their automatic guns kept spitting bullets. The professor knew they were shooting at his brother. He heard some shouting but couldn't make out what they were saying. He recognized the Mansinis' voices. No sign of Don! He wasn't firing or shouting back. Charlie tried to control his breathing. No need to panic, his brother knew what he was doing. Except that he wasn't wearing a bullet proof vest and he was on his own, fighting with a gun against two men armed with automatic weapons. Suddenly the shouting and the gun shots seemed to disappear. No, not disappear, fade. He could still hear something but it was faint. He was tempted to get up to look at what was happening but he remembered Don's orders: do not move. Right, but what if David and Colby couldn't find him? What if Don was wounded and needed his help? What if help didn't arrive? What if the Mansinis came back? He decided to wait for ten minutes. After all, the team should be there soon. A ten minute wait was reasonable, no? Or maybe five? Or maybe…?

Don was running up the hill as fast as the steep track was allowing him. The large rocks, running alongside the path, were protecting him from the gun fire. Looking up ahead, henoticed a little ledge then the track seemed to turn abruptly to the left, leading to the other side of the hill. He jogged to the ledge and paused to catch his breath while looking down at the cabin. Fromwhere he was standing, he had a panoramic view of the area and, in different circumstances, he would have enjoyed the scenery. But right now, what interested him most was the position of the two brothers and the helicopter that had landed in the glade. He breathed a deep sigh of relief. Help had arrived.

The Mansinis had noticed the helicopter too and they had also realized that Don was on his own. They didn't have the time to look for the professor and were determined to catch Don. He was their last hope to get their sister back and their passport for freedom. No, they wouldn't let him escape. But they needed him alive so they reversed their machine guns to one shot instead of automatic. Luigi aimed at his target. The agent was standing against the wall of the ledge and was hardly visible, making the shot difficult, if not impossible. Luigi lowered his weapon to weigh his options. Then he pointed his gun at the edge of the ledge, quickly calculated the right angle and fired. When he saw the agent fall, he laughed with satisfaction.

The helicopter landed. David and Colby jumped outside and ran to the cabin. As they expected, it was empty.

"Don! Charlie!"

Charlie recognized the voices of the agents and carefully stood up. No enemy in sight. He ran towards the agents, waving to catch their attention.

"David, Colby!... God, I'm glad to see you."

"Where's Don?" Colby asked him.

Gun shots echoed. The three men whipped their heads around towards the hill and saw the brothers shooting. From where they stood, they couldn't see their target but they knew it was Don.

"He asked me to stay hidden until you arrived. They have automatic weapons and he…" Charlie tried to explain. His distress was obvious and the agents could understand why.

"He's playing decoy? Against those two guys?" David shook his head in disbelief. "Charlie, go to the helicopter. We're going to bring him back. I promise, okay?" He turned to the pilot and pointed at Charlie before making circles with his index finger, instructing him to take off. Then he orientated the radio attached to his Kevlar vest so that he could talk. "Agent Eppes is being chased by two men armed with automatic weapons. Locate their positions but do not get too close."

The pilot gave him a thumb up, waited for Charlie to get on board and took off while the two agents sprinted in direction of the hill.

It was the second time in less than a week that Charlie was flying in a helicopter and he really disliked it. No only was it noisy but he was subconsciously starting to associate the chopper with danger.

The man in the front seat turned around and shouted to cover the sound of the engine, "You'd better buckle your seat belt properly, Professor. The flight might get a little bumpy."

Surprised, Charlie looked up at the man and the tightening in his chest vanished in a flash.

Don flattened himself against the wall of the ledge and watched, relieved, as his men were joined by his brother. He was about to resume his ascent when something brutally hit his right shoulder, the impact propelling him to the ground. He turned onto his back, hissing with pain, his left hand automatically reaching to support his right shoulder. Pushing with his legs, he managed to drag himself on the ground towards the wall of the ledge and sat gingerly against it. He knew, from the intense burning radiating through his arm and upper body, that he had been shot. He looked at his fingers, they were covered in blood and he could feel the warm liquid trickling down his back and his chest. He blinked several times to clear his sight and looked up. He noticed a large gash on the side of the ledge and understood what had happened: a bullet had hit the rock wall, ricochetedand went right through his shoulder. Footsteps coming up informed him that the brothers were getting dangerously close. He leaned forward to grab his gun that he had dropped during his fall then, with a hand against the wall to steady him, he slowly got up on his feet and started to climb again. He knew he wouldn't get very far in his condition. Pain was reverberating in his shoulder, back, and chest with each of his steps and he was rapidly losing his strength. The blood in his temples was pulsating so fast, it was making him dizzy. He heard the helicopter take off. Good. He just hoped they would be there before the Mansini brothers caught him. He had no doubt as to what they would do to him if they managed to get their hands on him.

Suddenly, the track split in two directions. He could either carry on climbing or take a little trail heading down. He was feeling drained and the prospectof more climbing didn't appeal to him at all, so he looked down at the small path. It was a little out in the open but, about thirty yards further down, the vegetation was getting denser and large rocks were covering the ground. Good place to take cover. He looked quickly over his shoulder when he heard the brothers' voices.

"Blood! You got him!" Adriano cheered.

"Of course I did. He won't go very far," commented Luigi.

Don couldn't agree more. He had more and more trouble standing on his feet but knew he had no choice. Where was back-up? Trying to ignore the pain and the exhaustion that were invading his body, he proceeded onto the trail, walking as fast as he could while fighting to keep his balance. If he fell, he wouldn't be able to get up again.

David and Colby were hurrying as fast as they could but the track was extremely steep and both men were struggling.

"Why did Don have to choose the way up?" Colby moaned.

"To lure the bad guysas far from Charlie as possible," David reminded him.

"Yeah but surely he could've gone in a different direction," Colby insisted stubbornly. "Do you think he did it on purpose to see if we were in good shape? Or as a revenge for beating him at foot chase last week?"

"Shut up and climb," David ordered him.

The helicopter passed them by and disappeared over the other side of the hill. It seemed to hover there for a minute or two before flying away.

Charlie's voice echoed in their ear pieces. "We've spotted him. He's heading down."

David looked up but there was no one in sight. "Where is he? We can't see him, Charlie."

"He's following a small trail on the south side of the hill. You need to get to the ledge above you then, twenty yards further, you'll see it. He seems seriously hurt… The Mansini brothers are chasing him. Hurry up guys, they're closing in!"

David and Colby ran to the ledge then reached the path. The Mansinis saw them coming and fired at them. This time, their weapons were on automatic and the agents had just the time to duck to avoid being shot. They heard a gun shot and a cry. Carefully, they got up just in time to see Adriano collapsing on the ground and their boss, seated on the floor behind a large rock, aiming at the other brother. But the lead agent missed his target and pushed himself back behind the rock just as Luigi fired back.

Furious, Luigi ran toward the rock behind which Don was hidden. This time, he didn't intend to take any prisoner. David and Colby were too far to shoot or to help their boss. They watched, in anguish, as Luigi approach the rock, tightly holding his machine gun. Suddenly, a single shot resonated in the valley and Mansini fell down dead.

The two agents looked to their left where the sound had come from and saw Ian Edgerton standing on the track, three hundred yards away, holding his rifle with both hands. He waved to them, with an evident look of satisfaction on his face. Colby ran to the Mansinis and took their weapons away before handcuffing Adriano.

David walked carefully towards the rock. He knew that Don was armed, wounded, probably disorientated and was a very good shot. Sinclair wasn't going to take any chances.

As he stepped closer, he called out softly, "Don?"

A low moan answered him.

"Don, it's me, David." He walked round the rock and froze. Don was on the ground, his back against the rock and aiming at him with a shaky hand.

David holstered his gun and raised his hands slightly. Don blinked a couple of times then dropped his arm before resting his head against the rock and closing his eyes. David crouched next to him.

"Don, I'm gonna have a look at your shoulder, okay? You'll let me do that?"

Don nodded vaguely. David undid the buttons of his shirt and gently pulled the material to check the wound. Don hissed softly and coughed.

"Sorry," David apologized.

"How he is?" Colby asked as he joined his partner.

"He's been shot. Help me to lean him forward. I need to see if the bullet went through or if it's still ins-"

"Through," murmured Don. His words were barely audible.

"It went through?" David asked, not sure that was what his boss had said.

Don blinked to confirm. David pressed on each side of the wound to slow down the bleeding. Don squeezed his eyes tight and couldn't hold back a short cry of pain.

David grimaced in compassion and apologized again, "Sorry Don."

"He's lost a lot of blood. Do you think he can move?" Colby asked David.

"I'm…right here… Colb," Don scolded him softly.

"Sorry Boss, I… I'll call the helicopter." He turned around and waved at the pilot to order him to land.

"Charlie?" Don muttered.

"He's fine," David reassured him.

"Good… Luigi?"

"Ian got him at center mass. They shouldn't have pissed him off," David informed him.

"… did?" Don frowned.

David and Colby smiled.

"Oh yeah, they did! No one hurts the Eppes brothers without suffering Ian Edgerton's wrath," Colby joked. "You should've seen the look on his face when he shot Luigi. And before that, when we informed him that they'd taken Charlie."

Don coughed again and his head lolled a little as if he was about to pass out.

David glanced at Colby worriedly then shook Don gently. "Hey, stay with us, okay? The helicopter is here… and so is Charlie."

The professor had jumped out of the chopper and was sprinting in their direction, while the co-pilot was bringing a stretcher.

"Don?" the professor called, alarmed by the pallor of his brother and the quantity of blood on his clothes. "Hey, bro, I'm here. Everything's gonna be fine now. Stay awake, alright?"

Don forced himself to open his eyes and tried to put on his most reassuring smile but he could tell by the look on his brother's face and his men's that he didn't quite succeed.

David and Colby placed their boss on the stretcher before carrying him to the helicopter.

Ian Edgerton walked over to them. "How is he?" he asked with apprehension.

Charlie half-smiled while climbing on board. "He's alive, thanks to you."

"Always a pleasure to help you guys," the sniper replied before shutting the door of the chopper behind the professor.

Colby scratched the back of his neck and said innocently, as they watched the helicopter taking off. "Hmm… Someone will have to ride Don's bike back to his place. I guess that'll be me. I live closer."

"Hey! I'm in charge in Don's absence. I'll do it!"

Ian looked at them and shook his head. "Sorry gentlemen, but I've just saved your boss' life. The bike is mine."

To be cont'ed

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