Page 76 of Hudson
“No need.” A voice drifted out of the darkness ahead, almost casual. “He’s already dead.”
“Shut the fuck up.” Hud’s voice was flat and hard.
“Armor piercing rounds, Agent. First shot.” A pause, then a low laugh that made Hud’s blood run cold. “And there are more of us than there are of you. Nearly two to one. You already know how this ends.”
Hud caught Kian’s eye across the gap between their trees and gave a short shake of his head.We can’t hold this position.
“We need backup,” he said quietly.
Kian already had his phone out. A few seconds later he put it away. “On the way.”
“They won’t get here in time,” Alex whispered. “We need to move.”
“I’m not leaving Creed.”
“Hud.” Kian’s voice was low and careful.
“No.” He said it quietly but there was nothing negotiable in it. “He could still be alive. I won’t walk away without knowing that.”
Kian was silent for a moment. “Alright. Then we hold.”
Kian pressed his back against the tree, eyes fixed on the darkness ahead. He raised his weapon and fired. Somewhere out in the dark a man groaned and went down.
“Moon caught his barrel. They’re about a hundred yards out, just past the tree line.”
“Good shot.” Hud passed the information to Alexand Eli in a low voice.
He could barely make out shapes in the darkness, which meant the rustlers were likely struggling to see as well. Unless they had night vision. He pulled his binoculars out and scanned the tree line. The others did the same. Nobody had expected it to go sideways this fast.
“I’m going for Creed,” Eli said.
“Stay low. We’ll cover you.”
Eli moved and the others opened up on the tree line, keeping the pressure on. Hud watched his shape moving through the dark, low and fast, and held his breath until Eli reached Creed and dropped down beside him.
“Sirens,” Kian said quietly.
Hud listened. There they were, faint but getting louder, and something in his chest unclenched just slightly.
Thrashing in the trees. Then more of it, urgent and disorganized. They were running.
A moment later MDOL trucks and sheriff’s SUVs came up hard from behind the tree line, red and blue strobing through the dark, headlights flooding the field. The rustlers froze. A bullhorn cut through the night ordering them to their knees, and Hud was already moving, not watching, trusting the backup to handle it.
He dropped down beside Creed. “Hey. Come on, Creed.” He pressed two fingers to his neck and waited.
There. Slow and thready but there.
He swept his flashlight over him and found the wound. The slug had punched through the vest on the right side of his chest. Blood welled up dark and fast and Hud pressed his palm hard against it.
“I need an ambulance out here right now,” he called out. “Agent down.”
“No time.” Deke appeared beside him. “We’ll load him into a truck. Move, Hud.”
Hud looked up at his brother. “He can’t die.”
Deke held his gaze for just a second. “I know. We’ve got him. Move.”
He and two other agents lifted Creed carefully and got him into the backseat of one of the MDOL trucks. The engine turned over and it tore off across the pasture, headlights bouncing over the uneven ground until it disappeared into the dark.
