Chapter 10: Blood in the Snow**
Jax kicked open the heavy timber door before Cole could set the torch, throwing his entire weight into the strike. The heavy wood smashed outward, knocking Cole off balance into the deep snowdrifts.
Jax fired two rounds into the chest of the second gunman who had raised an assault rifle, dropping him instantly onto the frozen earth.
Cole rolled to his feet, a combat knife flashing in his right hand. With a roar born of rage and greed, he lunged at Jax. The blade sliced through Jax’s leather vest, biting deep into his side. Hot blood immediately soaked Jax’s flannel shirt, steaming in the freezing air.
Ignoring the blinding pain, Jax drove his elbow into Cole’s face, shattering the bridge of his nose. The two men crashed into the snow, rolling toward the edge of the limestone ravine. Cole slashed wildly, cutting Jax’s forearm, but Jax grabbed Cole’s wrist, pinning it against the frozen rock.
"You're done, Jax!" Cole snarled, blood spraying from his lips. "You're a ghost! You died nine years ago!"
"I did," Jax rasped, his vision tunneling as blood drained from his wound. "But my boy is alive."
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With a final surge of adrenaline, Jax shifted his weight and drove his fist straight into Cole’s throat. Cole choked, his grip faltering, and Jax leveraged his body to shove the outlaw over the sheer cliff face. Cole’s scream echoed down into the dark abyss until it was swallowed entirely by the roar of the river hundreds of feet below.
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