She turned slowly. One of the traffickers stood there, maybe 30 years old, wild-eyed and angry. He'd flanked around during the chaos. "Stupid old woman. " he spat. "You should have stayed home, baked cookies, died in your sleep like old people are supposed to. " Eva looked at him calmly.
"Son, I've been shot at by people a lot scarier than you. " His finger tightened on the trigger. Doc's voice cut through. "Hey. " The trafficker turned his head. Doc, hands still bound, had somehow managed to grab a rock. He threw it with surprising accuracy.
It hit the trafficker in the face. Not hard enough to do real damage, but hard enough to make him flinch. Eva moved. 60 years of training took over. She grabbed the trafficker's gun hand, twisted it outward the way Garrett had taught on her.
The gun fired wild, harmless. She drove her knee into his groin. As he doubled over, she brought her elbow down on the back of his neck. He dropped like a stone. Eva picked up the Remington, chambered a fresh round.
"Thanks, Doc. " "Anytime, ma'am. " Eva ran for the last hostage. This time no one tried to stop her. She grabbed the chair, dragged the man to safety. Six hostages secured, plus Doc, seven total. Eva collapsed behind the ore cart, chest heaving, vision swimming.
"You okay? " Doc asked. "Ask me tomorrow. " Eva gasped. The firefight was dying down. The traffickers were outmatched and knew it. Two more had fallen.
The remaining four were retreating toward the SUVs. The leader was shouting into a radio. "Fall back! Fall back to the trucks! " Boone and his men advanced, keeping pressure on. Marcus limped forward, gun raised.
The leader fired three shots at Marcus, missed, then dove into the lead SUV. The engine roared to life. "They're running. " Boone shouted. The SUVs peeled out spraying dirt and gravel. Two of them made it to the road.
The third got 20 yards before its tire blew out. Remington, one of Boone's men, had shot it out. The vehicle swerved, crashed into a pile of mining debris. The driver stumbled out, hands raised. "Don't shoot!
Don't shoot! " Boone was on him in seconds, tackling him to the ground. Then suddenly it was quiet, just the ringing in Eva's ears, the smell of gunpowder, the ragged breathing of seven rescued people. Marcus lowered his gun, turned to Eva. "You're insane. " he said. "I'm effective. " Eva corrected.
Boone jogged over, checked on the hostages. "Everyone alive? " A chorus of shaky affirmatives. Doc looked up at Marcus. "You came for me. " "Of course I did, you stubborn old bastard. " Marcus knelt, started cutting Doc's bonds with a knife. "What kind of friend would I be? " "The best kind. " Doc's voice cracked.
"The very best kind. " Eva was cutting the other hostages free. They were in bad shape, dehydrated, bruised, terrified, but alive. The woman named Sarah grabbed Eva's hand. "You saved us. You saved all of us. " "Not yet. " Eva said grimly.
"We're not safe until we're far from here. Those two SUVs got away. They could come back with reinforcements. " Boone nodded. "She's right. We need to move.
Now. " They loaded the seven freed hostages into Boone's trucks. Doc insisted on riding with Marcus and Eva in the Bronco. The biker who'd been shot, Stone, had taken a round through the shoulder. Not life-threatening, but needed treatment. Eva bandaged him quickly, efficiently.
"You're good at this. " Stone said through gritted teeth. "15 years of practice. " Eva replied. They were about to leave when Boone called out. "Marcus, we got a talker. " The trafficker from the crashed SUV was on his knees, hands zip-tied, looking terrified. Marcus limped over.
"Who are you working for? " The man shook his head. "I can't. They'll kill me. " "We'll kill you if you don't talk. " Boone growled. "No, we won't. " Eva said firmly, walking over. "But we will turn you over to the FBI.
Human trafficking carries a life sentence unless you cooperate. " The man looked at her, then at Marcus, saw something in their faces. "His name is Cain Maddox. " he said finally. "Ex-military, Delta Force, dishonorably discharged. He runs a trafficking ring, moves people across the border, sells organs on the black market. " Eva felt sick. "How many victims? " "I don't know.
Dozens, maybe hundreds over the years. He targets elderly people, homeless, people no one will miss. " "Where's his base of operations? " Marcus demanded. "I don't know, man. I swear. I just do pick up and delivery.
I don't ask questions. " Boone looked ready to hit him. Marcus put a hand on Boone's shoulder. "FBI can handle him from here. We need to get these people to safety. " They left the trafficker zip-tied to a post, called the FBI from Eva's phone, gave them coordinates. Then they drove.
They didn't stop until they were 50 miles away at a small motel off Highway 60. Boone rented out half the rooms, paid cash. Eva helped the seven rescued people get settled. They were in shock, most of them, too traumatized to process what had just happened. Doc was the most coherent.
He insisted on helping Eva tend to the others despite his own injuries. "Old habits. " he said, cleaning a cut on one woman's arm. "25 years as an army doctor, can't just turn it off. " "I know the feeling. " Eva said, stitching a gash on one of the men's foreheads. They worked in companionable silence for a while. Finally Doc said, "Marcus told me what you did, saving him from the rockfall, bringing him to your home, helping plan this rescue. " "He would have done the same for me. " "Maybe, but most people wouldn't. " Doc tied off a bandage.
"You're a remarkable woman, Eva Hartwell. " "I'm just someone who couldn't look away. " "That's what makes you remarkable. Most people can look away. They do it every day. " In the next room, Marcus was debriefing Boone and the other bikers. Eva could hear the low rumble of their voices through the thin walls. One of the rescued women, Helen, she'd said her name was, grabbed Eva's hand.
"Why did you do it? " Helen asked. Her voice was small, broken. "Why risk your life for strangers? " Eva thought about how to answer that. She could tell the truth, that she'd been empty, purposeless, desperate for meaning. But that felt too raw.
Instead she said, "Because you deserve to be saved, all of you. Your lives matter. Your age doesn't change that. " Helen started crying, not from fear this time, from relief, from gratitude. Eva held her hand until the tears stopped. Around midnight, when the rescued hostages were finally settled and sleeping, Eva stepped outside.
The desert air was cold now, the sky brilliant with stars. She found Marcus sitting on the hood of the Bronco staring up. "Can't sleep? " Eva asked. "Too wired. " He patted the hood next to him. "Join me. " Eva climbed up, her joints protesting, and sat beside him.
They were quiet for a long moment. "We did it. " Marcus said finally. "Seven people alive because of what we did today. Because of what you did. You're the one who refused to give up on Doc. " "I had help. " He looked at her.
"I couldn't have done this without you, Eva. " "Yes, you could have. " "No, I really couldn't. " His voice was serious. "When I was under those rocks, I'd given up. I thought it was over. But you didn't give up on me. You fought for me when I couldn't fight for myself. " Eva didn't know what to say to that.
Marcus continued. "Doc saved my life 45 years ago, taught me what it means to help people. But I think maybe I lost sight of that somewhere along the way. Built walls, trusted too few people, forgot what it feels like to connect. And now "Now I remember. " He smiled.
"You reminded me. " The motel door opened. Boone stepped out looking grim. "We got a problem. " He said. They followed him inside to one of the rooms. The bikers were gathered around a laptop.
"What is it? " Marcus asked. Boone turned the screen. Security camera footage time stamped two hours ago, the old mining camp. But before the firefight the footage showed the traffickers setting up positioning their men and then a figure approaching talking to the leader Maddox. Eva's blood ran cold.