Pppgggggssssshhhh!
Hector took the energy blast in the chest and was thrown back onto the asphalt. Energy crackled up and down his spine and through his sprawled out limbs. His eyes raced back and forth as he tried desperately to move.
The bounty hunter checked the car to make sure Jack was still incapacitated. Hector’s warning cry came out as a gurgle. Wide eyed, he studied her features. Young and lithe. Black hair. Dark eyes. A tattoo—two feathers bound with a leather cord and beads—ran from her shoulder to her neck. She knelt over Hector to fasten a pair of inhibitor cuffs. Her stare was cold and sharp with the empty pupils of a trained killer. His eyes flashed as though he wanted to speak.
Suddenly, the rental car roared to life, jolted forward, and skidded to a stop next to the bounty hunter. The passenger side door burst open. An energy blast rocketed out. The bounty hunter took the haphazard shot in the hip and torso. Her legs buckled.
Jack tossed the energy rifle aside and grabbed Hector’s arms. Though still weak from the effects of the energy blast, Jack managed to slide Hector across the loose gravel to the car door. The bounty hunter pushed herself onto her elbows. A shielded vest had protected her from the blast’s full power. Jack pulled Hector up into the front seat as the bounty hunter rose to her knees.
“Hang on!” said Jack.
The bounty hunter took unsteady aim with her gun. Jack closed the car door behind Hector and fumbled with the stick shift. The bounty hunter fired. The rushed, haphazard shot plowed into the gravel a few feet from the car. Fighting against muscle failure, the bounty hunter steadied her rifle and aimed. Jack stomped on the accelerator. The squealing tires kicked up loose gravel as Jack maneuvered the car onto the highway. He checked the rearview mirror as the motel faded into the background, but the bounty hunter didn’t try for another shot.
“That was close. How’d they find us?” said Jack. “That wasn’t a known XLS operative. Never seen her before.”
“I have.” Hector stared at the road. His answer came in a weak grunt just louder than a whisper, “She’s my sister.”
