Chapter 15 - The Edge of the Abyss
I groaned, the wind completely knocked out of me. My ribs felt broken, and blood was dripping into my eyes from a cut on my forehead. A few feet away, the Voss operative was struggling to his feet, a malicious sneer on his face. He reached for his gun, which had fallen in the mud between us.
With a primal yell, I threw myself over the gun, pinning his hand down. We wrestled in the dirt, a brutal, desperate struggle for survival. He was younger and uninjured, his hands finding my throat, cutting off my air supply.
"You should have let us have the boy," he hissed, his face inches from mine. "The Foundation always collects its debts."
My vision began to blur into black spots. I couldn't breathe. Tyler, I thought. Leo. If I died here, my boys were doomed.
With a final, desperate surge of strength, I reached blindly to my side, my fingers wrapping around a heavy, jagged rock. I brought it down with all my might against the side of his head.
The grip on my throat instantly loosened. The man slumped sideways into the mud, unconscious.
I lay there for a moment, gasping for air, inhaling the metallic scent of rain and blood. "Dad! Dad!"
A small voice cried out from above. I looked up to see Leo sliding down the embankment, his face covered in tears and mud. He threw himself into my arms, sobbing hysterically.
"I've got you," I choked out, wrapping my bruised arms around him. "I've got you, Leo. You're safe. I'm so sorry I let them get this close."
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"I knew you'd come," Leo sobbed into my soaked jacket. "Tyler told me you'd always come."
I carried Leo back up the ridge. The first man was still unconscious. I used their own zip-ties to bind both men securely to the trees, then took their weapons. Holding Leo tightly against my chest, I marched back through the dying storm toward the cabin.
