An explosion of motion from the trees behind him yanked her vision up.
Danny?
Kent grabbed her wrist, twisted, squeezed. Her gun went flying.
She screamed. Jerked, yet was unable to take her eyes off Danny locked in hand-to-hand battle with a knife-wielding foreigner. Blood stained both of them. From which one?
Bodies shifted, revealing a face she'd hoped never again to see outside of Rubistan.
Ammar.
Daniel gripped both of the man's arms, brought his knee up, Ammar twisting to dodge. The man's heavily accented curse floated on the air. "That McRae bitch should have died in the car, not my sister."
Mary Elise shuddered. "Danny," she whispered.
Daniel appeared to have the upper hand, but—
Kent's hot breath grazed her face. Adrenaline gave her the strength to break free, powered her back away from Kent and in the direction she'd been trying to lead him earlier. She struggled to orient herself, keep from placing her own foot in a spiked trap. She stumbled, fell to the ground, pine straw offering little cushion.
Panting, she crawled, a gnarled root jamming her knee, her ears filled with harsh curses from Ammar and Danny. Thuds, grunts as fists met flesh.
She grappled for her gun. Kent advanced, foot landing hard. Slamming through the earth and into the bucket. His scream of agony halted her. He fell to his knees, one leg trapped.
No time to waste.
Mary Elise searched the ground when more than anything she wanted to look at Daniel and reassure herself he was all right. Rustling through the pine needles, her hand grasped, found, closed around her gun.
She rolled to her back just as Kent whipped his hand from behind him. Gun drawn.
"You bitch."
Death winked in the steady steel barrel.
Heels pushing against dirt, she backed away, her arms outstretched in front of her, 9 mm aimed. "You might as well give up, Kent."
"Already have you running again, don't I? Never could stick with anything. Not even a marriage. Now you've ruined my plans. Bet you don't even have the guts to shoot me."
She wouldn't let him rile her. She kept her eyes trained on him, peripheral vision assuring her Daniel was still on his feet. She couldn't risk shots distracting him.
Let Kent talk. Ignore his words. Daniel would finish Ammar off in seconds. Kent would not win.
Dirt streaked his face, his perfectly groomed facade shot to hell and revealing the monster she knew him to be. "You believe I don't know what you're thinking, Mary Elise, but I do. I know I'm not going to make it. Ammar is no match for your lover there. And if I shoot you, no doubt Baker will kill me. Oddly enough, you inspire that kind of fanaticism in a man. I should know."
His twisted logic for love crawled over her like a lethal rash when she wanted more than ever to live. For Daniel. For the boys. For herself. She wanted life with a ferocity she hadn't expected after so long of simply existing. Daniel had brought her back to life.
Kent adjusted his knee, winced at the shift of his foot against the spikes. "Your leaving hurt me. Did you know that? I loved you and you threw our life together away. If only you'd been more patient, I wouldn't have had to hurt you, too."
The will to live flamed hotter. "Kent, you don't have to do this."
"Oh, but I do." Resolution froze his eyes to an icy blue full of certainty. "And I know the best way to hurt you back." Foot anchored in the bucket, he pivoted.
Toward Daniel.
"No!" The scream echoed in her heart, powering resolve.
She fired.
Kent bucked. Blood bloomed across his chest. Eyes widening with surprise, he fell over backward. His gun skittered from his lifeless hand as he lay, unmoving.