s to the top of a knoll. there, she used her rifle scope and surveyed the property. from this angle one had no real shot. thick foliage and trees protected the entire side of the house. even the balconies there were completely hidden from view. she studied her surroundings carefully, picking out the next high point where drake might go.

she was halfway up the bluff when she began to get that peculiar feeling she always did when she knew trouble lay ahead. it was more than instinct. a gift. a curse. whatever it was, jaxon knew drake had been here before her. she slowed her pace and was careful to keep utterly silent. not even her clothes could whisper of her presence. she took particular care to study the rocks as she climbed. she found a scuff mark, faint but there. farther up, near the top, was a distinct rope scrape deep in the dirt, the impression of a thumb near by. she had seen that mark before. she had spent her childhood training with drake. she knew the way he moved, the way he went up a rope, and the way he tied off. the knuckle of his thumb always brushed the dirt when he tied off.

her heart was pounding now. he could easily be at the top, making her position extremely vulnerable. she hesitated long enough to drag a knife from her boot and clamp it between her teeth before making the last effort to mount the top of the bluff. she lay quietly, waiting to catch her breath, listening to the sounds of the night. she could hear insects singing, suggesting to her that she was alone up there. she didn't move, wasn't fooled. drake would never stir up the insects enough to silence them. he was a professional; he knew exactly what he was doing. he would never give away his position by making careless movements.

when jaxon moved, she did so inch by inch, on her belly, keeping low to the ground, using her elbows to propel her forward. she covered the open ground and found relative shelter in some heavy bushes. very carefully she slipped the rifle from her shoulder. it felt solid and safe in her hand, but it was meant for distance shooting, not hand-to-hand combat. this might her one chance to rid the world of tyler drake. if he was up there, she was determined that only one of them would go back down. and drake would never submit to arrest.

she covered every inch of the cliffs. tyler had spent time here; she knew he had. she could smell him everywhere. actually smell him. it brought back so many nightmares, that smell. the signs were fresh enough that she knew tyler must have been scouting the estate while lucian was at the hospital with her. he hadn't shot at them, and she'd had no premonition of danger, so he must have left before they arrived. when she was satisfied drake was no longer on the cliff, she allowed herself a moment to rest. with so many unwanted memories crowding in, her stomach was in hard knots. just being this close to drake made her sick. taking a deep breath to settle her nerves, jaxon scooted across open rock to the edge of the bluff so she could once more scope out the house. here she had a better view.

dragging her scope out, she took aim. dense foliage mostly obscured the front of the house, but the upper stories rose above the trees. she could partially see into two windows despite the stained glass. she wasn't familiar enough with the layout of the house to know which rooms she was seeing, but neither appeared to be her bedroom. drake could conceivably get a shot off from here and score a hit if lucian entered either of the two rooms. rolling over, she pulled out a small notebook and meticulously entered each calculation.

it took longer to make her way back down the cliff and around to the far side of the house. the forest was thick, and bushes grew everywhere. her rifle was becoming more and more cumbersome. jaxon realized she was far weaker than she had thought. the wounds she had been certain were healed were now throbbing. her breath was coming in gasps. as a child, training on the base, she had been drilled to overcome all obstacles, including pain or discomfort of any kind. she took inventory quickly, assessed the damage to her body, and dismissed it. protecting lucian was all-important. he refused to believe her when she said drake was dangerous to him, a pro, a chameleon when he needed to be.

the estate was immense. lucian had been right in that, even from high ground, drake would not find a decent shot. but there were other ways. she began to walk along the massive stone wall around the grounds. it was very high, very thick. on the other side, the wolves paced. she couldn't see them, but she sensed they were there. it was odd, but in her mind she thought she could hear them calling to her. drake had come this way. she put a hand on the wall. would he poison the wolves? that wouldn't pose much of a problem to him. was that the security lucian was counting on so heavily? wolves wouldn't even slow drake down.