Out in the compound, the wreckage of the car still burned.
The blaze had started to die down, but still provided enough light to replace the headlights of cars. A couple of heads turned in Dominique’s direction, but no one tried to stop her. There were bodies on the ground. She ignored them, going in search of the living. The defenders had been gathered together and were sitting with their hands on their heads, stripped of weapons and resistance. She didn’t waste time on them. She had a single purpose; making sure Travis walked out of this place alive.
After that, he was on his own.
She felt alive again, as if something that had been hidden away for so long was coming back to light.
It occurred to her that perhaps walking this path again would change the future she had set up for herself, but there was nothing she could do about that.
All she could think about was that moment.
There was no sign of the man who had come with Danjuma’s daughter. She didn’t know if that was a mercy or not. Dominique couldn’t imagine him being lucky enough to find Travis that quickly. But he would, eventually, because there were only so many places to look. Checking all the buildings trying to find him was a pointless exercise though, as he was almost certainly on the move, so she headed straight for the room she’d been sharing with Travis, thinking to protect him rather than hunt his ex-partner.
The bunk room was empty.
The blankets had been pushed back, a dent still in the pillow where his head had lain.
“Travis?” she whispered, and she heard the sound of movement, a shuffle beneath the bed, as the American eased himself out of his hiding place.
“Are we safe?” He asked.
“We found the girl,” she said, but that wasn’t an answer to his question. “But we have another problem.”
Even in the dim light that managed to penetrate the room she could see that he was fully dressed; ready to move if he needed to. There was no hint that he’d spent most of the night drinking. Adrenalin could do that to a body. “What’s up?”
“Your old partner,” she said. “He’s here, and he’s not happy. Worse, for you, he knows you’re here,” she added, keeping her voice low.
“How?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Dominique said. “We need to get you out of here.”
“He’s going nowhere,” said a voice from the doorway.
Dominique didn’t need to turn to know who it was. “And you can drop the gun.”
Travis was unarmed. She didn’t think he was stupid enough to charge at the other man, not given the distance between them and the fact there was a gun aimed at him. Even if Connors was hesitant to fire, he’d still put a couple of bullets in his former friend before he was close enough to smell his sweat.
It was all down to her.
“Just toss it down there, lady, and you won’t get hurt,” Connors said, “I ain’t got nothing against you. This is between me and my old friend here.” And in that moment, she knew he was there for the taking. It gave her an edge. It gave her possibilities.
“Over there?” she asked, making her grip on the weapon seem uncertain in the sliver of light that came in through the open doorway.
“Sure.”
“Won’t it go off if I throw it?”
“Come on, lady. Don’t be a wise-ass, just do it.”
She watched his eyes follow her hand as she drew it back then threw the gun towards the wall. At the instant she released it, in the moment that he glanced away to see where the gun was going to land, she swung with her other fist, connecting brutally with the side of his jaw. The blow sent him stumbling back.
She chopped at the hand that held his gun, springing his grip, just as her right connected with his groin.
Hard.
He doubled up.
She had no need for a killing blow. This was a recovery, not a hit. “Come on, move.”
Travis didn’t need telling twice.
He was on his feet with the bag of cash in hand. He wasn’t giving that up, even with a gun to the head. He started to run, and if he was smart, he would be well on his way to the border before looking back.
She picked up the two guns and spared the other American, on his knees now, one last glance. He wasn’t going anywhere in a hurry. Even so, she crouched down beside him and said, “If I were you, I’d stay here for a while. You go back out there; I can’t promise you that you won’t get shot.” There was no need to do or say more than that. Connors was a lot of things, but primarily he was a coward, and without his gun he reverted to the type.
Travis waited for her just outside the door, hugging close to the building. He knew that he was going to need her help to get out of there. He followed where she led.
Dominique waved to one of the men she recognized as she made her way to the line of parked cars and vans. A glance inside showed that the keys were already in the ignition. “You’re driving,” she told Travis. Danjuma’s man didn’t challenge her as Travis slid into the driver’s seat. He threw the cash in the back. She didn’t join him.
“They’re not going to shoot me as I drive away, are they?”
“They might,” she grinned, then when she realized he couldn’t tell she was joking, said, “No. You’re good to go. No one’s going to come after you. Go before someone changes their mind. The border’s that way,” she pointed out towards the open road and banged twice on the side of the door to send him on his way.
He gunned the engine into life and backed it out of the space before turning towards the gateway.
The glow from the wreckage exposed several bullet holes and a shattered rear window, but there was no real damage that would prevent him from getting far, far away.
She stood in the gateway and watched the car’s taillights until the American reached the end of the track and turned left towards the border.
He was no longer her responsibility.
She’d done everything she needed to do.
For once, she had saved a life.
It felt good.
After having a quick word with another of Danjuma’s men, informing him about the other American in the bunk room, and making sure he understood it was for the best that he stayed there, she headed back to see if there was anything else she could do.
A battered white truck pulled away as she approached the building.
She caught a glimpse of Danjuma’s daughters inside.
They didn’t look particularly happy, but the eldest raised a hand in her direction. She watched as the truck worked its way around the wreckage, revealing a broken taillight before it too went through the gates and was gone.