The Assignment (Elvis presley story)

Chapter 58

Elvis handed Ava his pistol. "Take this."

Ava wished for her Glock, but it was probably at the bottom of the gorge after that mighty kick she'd given it. And the .22 was useless without bullets. All they had now was Elvis's service weapon.

"You keep it. Im not letting you go up there bare-handed!"

"I have to. He'll have his finger on that button and make me toss it anyway. Get in position. If you can get off a shot that will take him out, take it. That will be our best and maybe our only chance. We have to do this now.  Even if he detonates, there won't be as many casualties below as there would be during daylight hours."

"But there could be some and even one is too many." She took the weapon and peered up at him. "However this goes down, Elvis, I want you to know i did everything i knew to do."

He caressed her face, gently brushing a lock of her hair off her bruised forehead. "Right by the book. You're the best agent I’ve ever worked with."

She gave a rueful chuckle. "This sounds too much like we're saying farewell."

"We'll, we're not! We don't do farewells. No goodbyes, no goodlucks, just see you later and let's celebrate."

"See you later then," She said, stretched to loosen her muscles, winked and took off.

Elvis heaved a sigh and a fervent prayer and began his climb towards the tiny, ominous flicker of light. The ravine he'd noted earlier lay just to his left, a narrow fissure that snaked it's way up. It seemed to beckon him nearer, probably a residual compulsion left over from his long-ago bout with agrophobia.

His breath grew shaky and he willed it to steady. Reluctantly, he recalled edging up to another precipice, closer and closer, unable to resist the lure of it, when he was a child. He remembered the wild fluttering of fear in his heart as death called to him.

Here, Here, come and meet me...

He shook it off. Conquered that, he assured himself, staunchly denying the seconds of panic he'd endured when Vinland had cut that damned rope and left him hanging on the side of the cliff.

Self-preservation had him putting a few extra feet between him and that dark ribbon of danger. There would be enough peril to face once he encountered the mad bomber who was waiting for him. Vinland was insane, that was clear, and his compulsion was a hell of a lot more critical than a simple fear of heights.

The plan was to get Vinland talking, to distract him while Ava got in place to take him down. Elvis just hoped Vinland didn't have another weapon besides the empty .22 he had dropped in the cave.

Elvis trudged on, purposely taking his time to allow Ava to make her longer route around. His gaze kept flicking at the fathomless ravine.

It was happening tonight.

Elvis just hoped that they made it out of this alive.

Hope you enjoyed! And thanks for reading! Xoxo