Mac heard Susan’s gasp of alarm in the dark. “’Bout damn time,” he mumbled in a flood of relief.

“What are you talking about?” Susan whispered tautly out of the darkness.

“The Blackjacks…here.”

“How do you know?” she asked.

“Who else…take lights out?” God, it hurt to talk. “We like…work in dark.”

If Ruala had wanted the lights out, he’d have taken them out when he got here. It had to be the Blackjacks. And he was feeling stronger by the second. Apparently, knowing a rescue was on the way did that to a guy.

“Thank God,” Susan murmured.

She sounded close to tears. Damn. He needed her to hold up just a little while longer. He gathered his strength to talk some more. “Susan, we’re not out…yet. Don’t let down.” He took as deep a breath as his busted ribs would allow. “I need you…be strong…li’l while longer. Okay?”

He wished he could see her face to read her emotional state more precisely. Her voice sounded reasonably steady, though, when she answered, “I’ll try.”

“Good girl.”

There was something about knowing he might actually live that made the pain more tolerable. He eased his arms from underneath his body and pushed carefully to a sitting position. Nausea rolled over him.

By sitting very still until the dizziness passed, he managed not to hurl the contents of his stomach across the room. Barely. After a few more minutes, his stomach settled enough for him to move. Gingerly he tested his limbs. Sharp pain shot through his left forearm, but otherwise he was functional.

“So what do we do now?” Susan asked quietly.

Even his broken and bloodied mouth was feeling better. “Sit tight and wait for the cavalry to rescue us,” he replied.

“Shouldn’t we try to get out of here?” she suggested nervously.

“And go where? We don’t know where we are, what the layout of this place is, where the good guys and bad guys are and we’ve got no weapons.”

“Good point,” she answered dryly.

“What we can do is take cover. Ruala will probably sweep through here to kill us.”

“Ohmigod,” she murmured.

He rolled over onto his hands and knees and dragged himself up the very pipe that had held him captive earlier. He was glad Susan couldn’t see his clumsy movements in the dark.

“Sit tight, Suzie. I’ll move a few boxes and make us a hiding spot.” He tried to envision the room as it had looked with the lights on. He picked a spot out of the line of fire from the top of the stairs and felt his way slowly in that direction. His outstretched hands encountered cardboard.

He groaned when he tried to lift the box and was appalled that he actually lacked the strength to do it. He settled for pushing that box and the one it was stacked upon aside. As quickly as he could in his wrecked state, he rearranged boxes until he’d made them a child-size fort behind the boxes.

“Talk to me, Suzie, so I can find you again.”

“I’m over here, Mac.”

He stumbled into her and moaned at the jolt.

“Mac, are you all right?”

“I’ve been better.”

“There was a moment earlier when I thought you were dead.”

He snorted and then bit back a groan of pain. “There were a couple moments when I thought I was done, too.” He moved around behind her chair. “I’ll push and you scoot. Let’s get you and your throne over behind those boxes.”

“Some throne,” she grunted a minute later as they struggled to move her across the room quickly and quietly.

“We’re almost there, I think,” he replied. Normally his orientation was flawless in total darkness, but he wasn’t doing anything in top form at the moment. His breath was short and he was getting dizzy again. Just a little bit farther.

“Ouch!” Susan yelped.

“Whoops. I guess we found the boxes.”

“Yup, with my shins.” Good. He heard a smile in her voice. Her morale was better already.

He managed to stay upright long enough to help slide her chair into the makeshift fort. Gritting his teeth, he pulled a stack of boxes across the entrance to their hiding spot. Then, gratefully, he slid to the floor. “This could take a while. If the Blackjacks are engaging Ruala and his men out there, the team may have to finish off all of them before they come in looking for us.”

“You rest a bit, then. I’ll keep watch,” Susan announced.

“Do you know what to keep watch for?” he asked skeptically.

“Nope,” she replied cheerfully, “but I’ll figure it out.”

“Getting cocky, are we?” he joked weakly.

“Should I keep you awake? Do you have a concussion?”

He managed a chuckle for her benefit. It was probably just as well she couldn’t see him right now. He could feel swelling setting in all over his face. “I don’t think I have a choice. I think I’m going to pass out again.”

“Go ahead and pass out. I’ll guard you.”

She sounded as fierce as a she lion with her cub. He smiled and then winced in pain as his split lips protested.

“Yes, ma’am,” he sighed before he slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

Susan sat in the dark for a long time, listening to the labored quality of Mac’s breathing. He moaned now and then. She realized just how badly he was hurt when he couldn’t stay lucid in the middle of a crisis. He needed medical care, and soon.

Frantic to help him and terrified of what might come out of the dark and the silence, she sat there, reliving the horror of watching Mac get beaten within an inch of his life. She would never forget it, nor forget the raging guilt screaming through every cell of her being. This was all her fault. If she’d stayed put in the house, everything would have been fine. Her foolishness had led to this.

A faint rumble came to her. She wasn’t sure if she felt it or she heard it. She froze, listening. There it was again.

“Mac,” she whispered, reaching out with her foot to nudge him.

“Huh?” he answered groggily.

“I heard something. I felt a rumble of some kind.”

She felt him slowly come to full consciousness beside her, listening as hard as she. Another sound. Louder this time.

“Machine-gun fire,” he commented. “Sixty caliber.”

“Ours or theirs?” Susan asked.

“Theirs.”

“How can you tell?”

“The rounds aren’t firing evenly. That gun’s mechanism is fouled. It won’t fire too much longer before it jams.”

“So how do you know it’s theirs?”

“We keep our weapons in perfect operating condition.”

She smiled in the darkness.

A creak sounded. She froze, choking on abrupt terror. Oh, Lord. The door at the top of the stairs.

Her insides turned to water. It was either a rescue or a death squad. Mac’s hand came to rest on her thigh. He squeezed her leg reassuringly while she held her breath.

A male voice spoke very quietly in the darkness. “Mac, check off.”

Mac spoke quietly from beside her. “Check.”

Silence.

What in the heck was going on? Obviously, that had been one of the good guys or Mac wouldn’t have said anything. So where did the guy go? A hand slapped over her mouth and she about jumped out of her skin. Man! She hated it when these guys did that!

A man’s voice whispered in her ear. “Don’t make a sound. Understood?”

She nodded under his hand. She was surprised when the hand didn’t move away from her mouth.

“Hi, sis.”

Tex! She’d have squealed for sure if his hand weren’t over her mouth. She shook his hand off and demanded in a whisper, “Where did you come from? How long have you been back in Texas? Thank God you’re here! I’ve been so scared—”

Mac’s low murmur cut her off. “Not now, Susan.”

She stopped babbling abruptly. He was right. They weren’t out of here, yet.

Mac continued in a whisper, “Good to see you, Tex. What’s up?”

Her brother answered, “It’s a mess out there. Quite a fireworks show. The hostiles are armed to the gills. And this building’s laid out like a plate of spaghetti.”

“The building’s not secure?” Mac murmured in surprise.

“Not even close.”

Susan’s heart dropped to her feet. Great. Now her brother’s neck was on the line, too. “So what are you doing down here, then?” she interjected.

“I heard a rumor that my sister and my best buddy were prisoners in here somewhere. That was reason enough to invite myself in.”

“I’m going to kick your butt when we get out of here for taking such a foolish risk,” Mac growled under his breath.

“I’ll let you,” Tex murmured back, “after we get out of here. What’s your status? You look like death warmed over through these IR goggles.”

“I feel worse. Susan’s cuffed to a chair. Have you got your picks on you?”

“You bet,” Tex answered. “I’ll have her loose in a sec.”

Susan waited impatiently while Tex worked on her handcuffs. It took under a minute for the metal bracelets to fall away from her wrists. “I didn’t know you could pick locks,” she commented.

Tex chuckled quietly. “I can do all sorts of things you don’t know about.”

“So I gather from hanging out with Mac.”

“I know you two are glad to see each other, but we need to get out of here,” Mac reminded them.

“Right,” Tex answered. “One escape coming up. I’ve got two sets of night-vision goggles for you guys. They’ll work better once we get out of this dungeon. There’s a little ambient light in the halls upstairs.”

What felt like a set of heavy binoculars was thrust into Susan’s hands. She felt for the head strap and pulled the goggles on over her head. She didn’t see anything until she looked up at the exit. But then she made out a faint line of green coming from under the door.

“I’ve also got throat mikes for you guys.”

“Great.” Mac’s relief was audible.

Susan took the jumble of wires Tex handed her and managed to sort it out and don the microphone all by herself. She was getting pretty good at this special-ops stuff.

“I see you’ve been playing with Mac’s toys,” Tex remarked.

She sputtered and couldn’t come up with a response to that one. She truly hoped blushes didn’t show up through his infrared goggles.

Mac covered up his abrupt cough by asking Tex, “Have you got any heat to spare?”

“Of course,” Tex answered casually.

Susan heard several metallic clicks. “What’s that noise?”

Mac answered. “I’m checking to make sure there are bullets chambered in the pistols your brother just handed me.”

“Oh.” She gulped. “Are we going to have to shoot our way out of here?”

“Let’s hope not,” Mac replied. “But you know us. We plan for the worst and…”

“…hope for the best,” she finished for him.

“Exactly. Tex, if you don’t mind taking point, I’m not at a hundred percent.”

“You got it. Susan, stay right on my heels, and Mac will follow you. Okay?”

“Okay.”

She heard the frown in Tex’s voice. “It could get sporty out there. Do exactly what I say as soon as I tell you to do it. Got that, sis?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ve crawled around with Mac, avoiding these guys before. I know the drill.”

They eased up the stairs and Susan held her breath while Tex pushed the squeaky door open slowly. Silence. Nobody shot at them. They moved out into the hallway on their hands and knees, and it jumped into dim, green focus. Doors and signs came into view. She put all her weight on her arms and her good leg, and Tex set a slow enough pace that she could keep up.

Tex whispered into his throat mike, “We can’t go back the way I came. Too much company for the three of us.”

Especially since she was a noisy amateur with a bum knee, and Mac was badly hurt. She made the mistake of glancing back over her shoulder in his direction. She felt physically ill at the sight of him. He was covered in black, which had to be dried blood. What she could see of his face around his goggles was monstrously swollen and misshapen. If she ever got the chance, she was going to kill the guy who’d done that to Mac. Painfully.

Mac tapped her foot and pointed forward. She jumped, remembering abruptly that she was supposed to be sticking close behind Tex. She sped up as best she could on her tripod arrangement of limbs and moved back into position behind her brother.

They crawled down the hallway until the first intersection, where Tex motioned her to stop and stand up. It felt really good to unbend her aching knee.

“Wait here while I check it out,” Tex murmured. He crouched low and disappeared around the corner.

Susan glanced over her shoulder and was surprised to see Mac facing the other direction, pistols at the ready in front of him. Had he heard something?

She strained to hear anything. The rat-a-tat of distant gunfire was the only noise she picked up.

A finger tapped her on the shoulder and she whirled around, terrified. Tex. He motioned her to tap Mac on the shoulder and then to follow him. She did as he instructed. They repeated the same drill a half-dozen times, Susan and Mac stopping and waiting while Tex went ahead to scout. But when Tex returned the next time, he ducked around the corner fast and uttered a single word.

“Run!”

She followed Mac clumsily back in the direction they’d come from with Tex supporting her left elbow. The sound of shouting behind them in Spanish spurred her forward.

“Hit the deck!” Tex ordered.

Susan mimicked Mac’s rolling dive as bullets slammed into the wall above her head with a sickening thud. Bits of plaster flew at her, stinging her face. Her knee was screaming bloody murder. Tough. It wasn’t like they could stop and rest it right now.

“Follow me,” Mac called over his shoulder while Tex returned fire. She hop-skipped after him, and then Mac took a running dive in front of her and landed beside an office door. Somehow he managed to open the thing from his prone position on the floor while he shot a pistol down the hallway. She dived through the opening that appeared behind him. Mac followed right on her heels, and Tex dived in behind him, closing the door fast. Then her brother sped over to a heavy filing cabinet, which he immediately pushed over in front of the outer door.

She looked around. It was a plainly appointed office, with tall filing cabinets ringing the walls.

Tex crawled to the window and peeked over the sill using a small periscope thingy. “Good news,” he transmitted over his throat mike. “We’re on the ground floor on the back side of the building. Most of the shooting is around front. We ought to be able to get out of here.”

“Great,” Mac grunted. “’Bout damn time some luck went our way.”

Susan’s head swiveled sharply in his direction. He sounded bad. He slumped weakly, sitting against a filing cabinet, his right hand holding his side and his left arm cradled awkwardly across his chest. The side of his head was bleeding again, and even through her night-vision goggles, he looked pale. She made out big beads of sweat on his forehead.

“Good grief, Mac! Are you trying to kill yourself?” she demanded as she hastened to his side. “Why didn’t you tell Tex you needed to rest?”

Tex materialized at her side. He took one look at Mac and let loose a stream of curses. “Mac, you know better than to press so hard in your condition. Why didn’t you say something?”

“I thought getting out of here alive was a higher priority than my current…discomfort.”

“Yeah, and what if you went into shock on us or passed out from loss of blood? Then where would we be? I’m calling in a full assault team and we’re yanking you out of here.”

Mac’s response was immediate and sharp. “No, you’re not. Susan would be put in too much danger.”

“So what do you suggest, tough guy?” Tex asked irritably.

Mac was silent for a long time.

“What’s on your mind, my friend?” Tex asked. “When you’re quiet this long, you’re usually cooking up something diabolical in that twisted mind of yours.”

Mac frowned. “I was thinking that Ruala is going to keep coming at us until he takes out Susan. He’ll never back off and leave her alone. If he doesn’t kill her tonight, he’ll try tomorrow or the next day or the next until he succeeds.”

Tex scowled. “That bastard’s not walking out of here alive.”

Mac replied slowly, “True. But we’ve got another problem. Ruala said tonight that Ferrare wanted film of Susan being killed. And if Ferrare has decided she needs to die, he’s not going to back off until she’s dead, either. He’ll keep sending thugs after her until she’s history.”

Susan frowned. If he was right, then she was never going to be free of this mess!

Tex nodded slowly at Mac. “Yeah, you’re right about Ferrare. He must have figured out she’s my sister. He can get even with me for stealing the RITA rifle from him if he kills her.” He frowned. “What else were you thinking about?”

“Killing Susan.”

“What?” she squeaked.

Mac sent her a pained smile. “Faking it. Making Ferrare think you’re dead.”

Tex nodded slowly. “It would back him off.”

Mac frowned. “She would have to stay dead until we kill Ruala and catch Ferrare. And we would need to stage a funeral—maybe send Ferrare word that we’re coming after him to get even with him for killing your sister.”

Tex nodded slowly. And turned to look at her questioningly.

“I’ll do it if you guys think it’s best,” she said bravely.

Mac reached out a bruised hand to squeeze her fingers. There wasn’t anywhere near enough strength in his grasp. “Think this through before you decide, Suzie. If we don’t manage to kill Ruala tonight, you’ll have to completely disappear, sweetheart. You’ll have to cut off your family, your friends, everyone you’ve ever known. You’ll have to quit your job. Give up your entire life.”

It wasn’t like her life or her job was anything to write home about. And if it would stop Mac from flinging himself into danger… She stared at him for a moment and then asked, “If I pretend to die, could you stop putting your neck on the line for me?”

He frowned. “I suppose so.”

“Then I’ll do it,” she answered emphatically.

“You sure?” he whispered weakly.

“Mac, you were willing to give your life for me tonight. I’m certainly willing to give up a job and a few friends for you. Besides, Tex will know I’m alive. And you will.”

His battered fingers touched her cheek lightly.

Tex cleared his throat. “Look. Whatever we decide, we need to get on with it. The guys who chased us in here will no doubt be back with reinforcements soon.”

Mac’s voice was fading badly. “Give me a second to rest. And then we’ll figure out how to kill Susan.”

Tex dug in a pouch at his belt and held out a small packet in his palm. “Can I interest you in a spot of morphine?”

Mac smiled lopsidedly. “I thought you’d never ask.” He tore open the packet and popped the pills in his mouth, dry.

Tex went over to the window and peered outside cautiously.

“How’s it look?” Mac asked.

“Real quiet. Too quiet if you ask me.”

Mac nodded. “That’s what I was thinking.”

Susan frowned. “What are you guys talking about?”

“Mac and I are guessing that a few of Ruala’s men are out front putting on a big show, while he and his best men come around to the back of the building to wait for us to make our escape,” Tex explained.

“You mean there’s an ambush waiting for us out there?” she asked, dismayed.

Mac answered, “In a nutshell, yeah.”

She gasped. “What are we going to do about it?”

Mac actually grinned. “We’re going to sit tight and let Tex watch out the window. In case you didn’t know it, your brother has the best eyesight of anyone I’ve ever met. Give him a few minutes and he’ll know the position of every shooter out there.”

Susan looked over at her brother who was standing beside the window, staring outside with total concentration. “Really?”

“Yup,” was Tex’s absent reply. “I’ve already spotted two men. But the way they’re positioned, there should be one more guy out there.”

About two minutes later Tex stepped away from the window and shook out his shoulders. “Got ’em all,” he announced casually. “Whenever you’re ready, Mac, we can blow this joint.”

Susan jumped. “You’re not literally going to blow it up, are you?”

Mac and Tex looked at her sharply.

Tex commented slowly, “You know. That’s not a bad idea…”

“The timing would be tight,” Mac answered.

“Hell of a diversion, though. Great way to kill her.”

Mac grinned at Tex. “Great way to flush out Ruala and his men, too. How much go-bang have you got on you?”

“A couple pounds of C-4.”

Mac nodded. “That’s a little shy of what I’d need to drop the building, but I could start a nice fire with it. That way, if any of Ruala’s men get away, word will get back to Ferrare that she was waxed here.”

Susan couldn’t stand it anymore. “What are you two talking about?”

Mac smiled. “You’d be a natural at special ops, Suzie. We’re going to do what you suggested and blow up the building.”

“The building we’re sitting in?” she asked, incredulous.

“The very same.”

“With us still in it?”

“Well, with you still in it. Tex and I will bail out just as it blows up. The blast will mess up the night vision of the snipers out there and cover our movements. They won’t know if you’re still inside or not.”

“Pardon me, but won’t the blast mess me up, too?”

Tex grinned. “Ahh, sister mine. Allow me to introduce you to one of the best explosives men in the United States Armed Forces. He’s a veritable artist with C-4. He’ll set the charges to blow away from our position. You’ll be in a dead zone right in the middle of the blast.”

Susan glanced at Mac. “Dead being the operative word. Sounds awfully dangerous to me.”

He flashed a wolf-like grin at her. “Trust me, baby. The place will go up in flames around you, and you’ll be able to stroll out of here as pretty as you please.”

“Mac, you’re terribly hurt. I don’t want you roaming around the hallways trying to set charges with Ruala’s men out there, too.”

“That’s my job. I know how to do it.”

“Mac, you can hardly move. You show Tex and me where to set the charges and we’ll do the work.”

“She does have a point, Mac.”

Mac glared at Tex. “I don’t like it.”

“Well, buddy, I’ve got the C-4 and you’re outnumbered by Monroes, two to one.”

Mac’s swollen eyes still managed to narrow menacingly. “If anything happens to Susan, I’ll break your neck.”

Her brother laughed at Mac. “If anything happens to Susan, we’ll see who breaks whose neck first. You ready to go?”

Mac drew in a slow, careful breath. “Yeah. Let’s do it.”

The next ten minutes were a nightmare. Susan rapidly thought better of her earlier bravado. Every little noise made her jump, and Mac was in no shape to be moving at all, let alone crawling around messing with explosives and detonators. Tex shot at something behind them once, but when Susan turned around to see what it was, he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her in the other direction.

“Don’t look back,” he bit out.

He must have killed someone. Although she was getting pretty immune to that idea at this point. Nevertheless, she spared herself the sight and followed Mac into the next stairwell. They high-tailed it back to the office they’d come from as soon as the wiring job was done.

Mac rested while Tex manhandled two heavy filing cabinets onto their sides and then dumped a half-dozen more onto their sides across the first two, creating a bunker for her beneath their metal frames. Mac explained that the paper-filled cabinets would protect her from the dynamic over-pressure of the blast—the air recoiling back into the space where the explosion had just blown outward. It was mostly a precaution. When the C-4 blew, it would create a ring of fire well away from this office and give her plenty of time to get out.

Not that that sounded ominous, or anything.

Susan watched as Tex followed Mac’s directions in laying a line of thin, rope-like explosive he called det cord around the window. Tex pulled a grenade off his belt and passed another one to Mac. “My last two flash-bangs,” he announced.

Mac nodded.

“What’s a flash-bang?” she asked.

Mac replied, “A grenade with very little explosives in it. It makes a bright flash and then a loud noise, but does practically no damage. Wrecks night vision like a charm.”

“All set,” Tex announced.

Mac helped Susan into her makeshift foxhole. His hand trembled on her back. Clearly, he was at the very end of his formidable strength. She paused to look up at him.

“Are you sure about this, baby?” he asked.

She nodded firmly at him. “I’m sure, Mac.”

He leaned down and kissed her briefly, gently. His lips were swollen against hers, and she tasted blood. As much as she wanted to fling her arms around him and never let go, she refrained. He was in too much pain already.

“Stay flat against the floor, Susan,” Mac directed. “Heat and pressure from the explosion are going to be bouncing around over your head and will scramble your brain if they hit you.”

“Lovely,” she remarked dryly.

Mac flashed her a smile, but it was weak. Far too weak. “Just sit tight after the blast, and I’ll come back for you as soon as the coast is clear.”

She nodded her understanding.

His voice was starting to falter. “The filing cabinets are…dense enough to absorb…most of the shock. Just stay down, cover your ears, and…you’ll be fine.”

He had to get out of here. Now. She was not going to stand around twiddling her thumbs while his life slipped away.

“This better work, Mac,” she declared. “Because if it doesn’t, I’m taking your gun, shooting all those snipers and calling you an ambulance. That’s all there is to it.”

Mac nodded at Tex. “You heard the lady. Let’s do it.”

The two men took off their night-vision goggles and put their hands over their ears. Tex nodded at Mac. Susan watched his finger depress the button on the small remote control in his hand. There was a bright flash as the det cord blew a door-size hole in the wall. Tex jumped through it, tossing his flash-bang out in front of him as he went.

Mac paused just long enough in the gap to glance over his shoulder at her. He mouthed the words, “I love you.”

And then he was gone.

There was another bright flash outside, and then she ducked down way back underneath the filing cabinets. She slapped her hands over her ears and screwed her eyes tightly shut.

First there was a jolt as the floor jumped beneath her. Then came a blindingly bright light through her eyelids, followed instantly by a deafening blast so loud it made her whole body ache. A ferocious wall of heat struck her, slamming her flat against the floor.

Chunks of plaster and concrete rained down on the cabinets above her, and the opening in front of her filled completely with dust and debris. Dusty, concrete tasting darkness engulfed her. She felt buried alive. Panic leaped in her gut, and she pep-talked herself frantically to keep from screaming in terror.

Mac knew she was here. He said he would come back for her. He and Tex wouldn’t let her burn alive. They’d be back. She repeated the words over and over in her head, a frenzied litany that kept her from losing her mind with fear. Barely.

The minutes ticked by and smoke began to creep through tiny openings in her shelter. The

smell of fire grew strong and acrid in her nostrils, and the tiny space began to close in on her. Oh, God. She was going to die in here, and Mac would never know how very much she loved him.

And then she heard a noise. Someone was tearing at the pile of debris in front of the opening. She scrambled forward and shoved on it with all her might. Her knee protested violently, but she ignored it. Wrecking the joint completely was preferable to burning up.

Slowly, with a reluctant cracking of wood, the pile in front of her gave way.

“Susan, are you okay?” came Mac’s ragged voice.

She sobbed aloud in her relief. “I’m here,” she cried.

A piece of drywall lifted away, and Mac’s hand was there, reaching in for her. She grabbed it and held on for dear life as he dragged her clear of the mess. He wrapped his arms around her and held on like he was never going to let go. The fire and destruction around her were eerily reminiscent of that night ten years ago. She looped her arms around Mac’s neck and buried her face against his chest. He’d come back for her. Saved her. Again.

“Let’s go!” Mac shouted over the growing noise of the fire.

Susan jumped through the hole in the exterior wall and fell to the ground in an unceremonious heap. Mac landed beside her with a grunt of pain.

Tex spoke fast over her headset. “I got two of the snipers for sure, Mac. Had to try twice for the third. I hit him but I don’t know if he’s down or not.”

“Roger,” Mac replied tersely. “His last position?”

“Your two o’clock, one hundred yards. In that stand of trees.”

“Got it. Stay down flat, Susan, while we look for this guy.”

She didn’t have to be told twice. She plastered herself against the ground. Within a few seconds, heat from the burning building blistered her back. She ventured a glance back behind her. “Uh, Mac, I think we’d better get out of here. The fire’s about to come out the window.”

Mac swore beside her. “There were more flammable materials in the construction than there should have been. We’ve got to move, Tex. We need about a hundred feet more to clear the secondary blast.”

“Secondary blast?” Susan squeaked.

Mac nodded. “Yeah. The rest of the flammables in the building, like gasoline or cleaning solvents, are gonna blow soon the way this building’s going up. That’s why I came back for you before we took out the last sniper.”

Great. Susan mimicked Mac as he inched forward on his belly, propelling himself with his elbows and toes. It was slow and painful going at best. But each yard put them farther away from the inferno blazing behind them. How Mac managed to keep moving with his injuries eluded Susan.

The ground exploded in a puff of dust in front of Susan’s face. She flinched, startled. “What was that?” she whispered.

“Don’t move!” was Mac’s sharp reply.

He propped himself up on his elbows beside her, and something hard rested across the back of her thighs. Cold metal jumped away from her flesh as Mac pulled the trigger once. The barrel of Mac’s pistol touched her legs again, warm this time.

“Nice shot,” Tex commented.

“Hello? What just happened?” she demanded.

Tex answered succinctly. “The last sniper took a shot at you and missed. Mac shot back. He didn’t miss.”

“Oh. Uh, thanks Mac.”

“Any time,” he replied casually.

“Why don’t we get out of here, boys and girls?” Tex suggested, climbing to his feet with his rifle at the ready before him.

Mac and Susan stood up, as well, and headed for the same trees the sniper had been hiding in moments before. Even with her knee in open revolt, Susan had no trouble keeping up with Mac’s shambling gait. She actually put her hand under his elbow to support him the last few yards.

The building behind them made an ominous whooshing noise and then sent a huge plume of smoke and flame shooting up into the night sky, lighting it as bright as day.

They reached the shadows of the trees, made all the darker for the light behind them. Mac stopped just inside the tree line and slid down a tree trunk to the ground. She hovered over him, hating the helpless feeling of not being able to do anything for him.

Tex materialized out of the darkness. He squatted beside them, talking quietly into hit throat mike. He announced, “Doc’s on his way. He’ll be here in a minute.”

Susan blinked. “Doc, as in Joe Rodriguez?”

Tex frowned at her. “How do you know Joe?”

“Doc, Dutch, Howdy and Mac have been at the ranch.”

“Doing what?” Tex sounded surprised.

“Well, they weren’t on vacation,” Susan replied tartly.

“What the hell’s been going on since I left?” Tex demanded.

“It’s a long story. Once we get Mac taken care of, I’ll tell you all about it.”

“You bet you will,” Tex growled. He looked back and forth between them. “Then, everything’s all right between you two?”

Mac looked as uncomfortable as she felt at that one. She was relieved when he broke the silence that abruptly descended by saying, “Hey, Tex. Why don’t you go do a quick body check while we wait for Doc?”

“Good idea. Don’t go anywhere, old man.”

Mac chuckled and then grabbed his side.

Susan winced for him. He must have some broken ribs the way he kept holding his side like that. “What’s a body check?” she asked to distract him.

“You have a look at the bodies to verify they’re dead.”

“Oh.” She was sorry she’d asked.

She jumped when Tex appeared beside her a couple minutes later. When had he learned to move so quietly? He’d bombed around the house like a minor tornado as a kid.

“Look who I found,” Tex crowed.

Doc appeared beside her brother. She grabbed the medic’s arm and all but shoved him at Mac. She waited anxiously while Doc examined him.

Finally the dark-haired man leaned back on his heels. “I don’t know how you did it, Mac, but you’ve got no life-threatening injuries that I can see. Your left wrist is broken, if I had to guess. You need an MRI to make sure you didn’t rupture anything under those busted ribs, too. But you’ll live.”

Susan sagged in relief.

Doc continued. “You’re going to need stitches over your right eye when we can get that swelling down a little. I’m going to tape your ribs right now, and that’s going to hurt like hell’s own fury, but you’ll be able to breathe better after I do it. Beyond that, you need about two weeks of bed rest and a trip to the dentist to cap that cracked tooth.”

Susan gasped. “That jerk cracked your tooth?”

Mac grinned crookedly. “Hey, at least the dude wasn’t a professional interrogator. Otherwise, he’d have been pulling my teeth out.”

Doc nodded. “Along with a dozen other interesting forms of torture you were lucky to avoid.”

Susan shuddered at the thought. She stayed out of the way while Doc taped Mac’s ribs. How many times in their lives were she and Mac going to get this lucky? First she’d survived the surveillance van getting shot up, and now he’d survived being beaten half to death. Except this time Mac’s injuries were her fault.

All of this was her fault.