by Rula Sinara
“Fine. I’ll drive you over.”
Chad settled in and kept his eyes on the granite outcropping and surrounding area.
“It’s good that you’ve enlisted the help of the Masai, but the villagers may have their own agenda. My sister is a human rights lawyer, and she lives with her husband, a veterinarian, just west of here,” Chad said over the engine noise. “She had a case where a Masai tribe was colluding with the enemy. Poachers. A drought like this one had destroyed crops and drove them to help the enemy in exchange for money. How do you know one of the village enkangs around here isn’t harboring this fugitive and just not telling you?”
“I know these people. I highly doubt that. Sure, it happens, but not with these particular families,” Taj said, driving through brush in the direction Chad had indicated.
Chad didn’t trust so easily. He’d encountered too many terrorists who’d used the innocent as shields. And poachers were a type of terrorist. Criminals.
They neared the kopje and Taj parked the jeep to one side. This grouping wasn’t like the flatter granite outcroppings in the area. It was large enough to form narrow, cave-like crevices between each formation.
He recalled learning, when he was still in school in Nairobi, about the Serengeti ecosystem and how the kopjes were like mini ecosystems, teeming with life. They stood out like small, stony hills, complete with vegetation and micro habitats. Whether that also included a hideout for a human remained to be seen.
Chad eased onto his feet, his hip muscle catching briefly. All the standing and walking on uneven ground he’d done today had been taxing on his weak muscles.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his switchblade. No gun, but this was better than nothing if someone was biding their time here. The man would have heard them approach, but if he was a practiced poacher, he would know better than to jump out and run with no cover and a speeding vehicle on his tail. No, he’d wait, still as prey, hoping to go undetected. Predator and prey. Funny how quickly the table could be turned.
Chad’s veins thrummed with energy...a drive...control he hadn’t experienced since his last mission.
He almost felt whole.
“Do you plan to fill me in?” Taj kept his voice low and scowled at the blade.
“Just following a hunch. Stay in the jeep.”
Taj stepped around the jeep. Instead of getting in, he unlocked a metal chest in the back, pulled out a rifle and had it loaded fast enough to be impressive—for a civilian.
“I don’t take orders,” Taj said.
A silent agreement passed between them. Chad walked on with Taj only steps away. The dusty, red earth crunched beneath his boots as he made his way around the right side of the rocks, jerking his head to signal Taj to go around left.
There were no footprints other than the paw prints of an animal, most likely a hyena. No broken branches. Not a sound but their own steps and the protests of wildlife scurrying away. A pair of monkeys hissed and screeched at the intruders then climbed higher into the canopy of a young, solitary acacia growing on the mound.
He and Taj’s paths crossed on the other side of the tree and Chad signaled for Taj to wait. They were at the opening between the boulders. Something caught the sunlight like a mirror near his boot. A good-size piece of pyrite jetted out from the earth. Fool’s gold.
Who was the fool here? Had he brought them on a wild-goose chase? Next thing he knew, he’d be accused of paranoia or PTSD. But his gut still twisted and screamed that someone had been here.
He jerked his head at the opening. He hardened his resolve and entered, blade ready and Taj covering his back with the rifle.
The place was empty but for the wasted bones of a rodent and the shed skin of a snake. Taj lowered his rifle.
“Were you expecting to find the missing poacher that easily? If this is where he’s been hiding, KWS or one of the locals would have found him or seen signs of him. He couldn’t have stayed here for long. There’s no fresh water. Not even dirty water. He’d be lying here dead with vultures circling overhead,” Taj said.
Chad pocketed his knife and sat on his heels, chin down.
“Maybe so.”
He should have known he wasn’t cut out for this anymore. He gripped the rock to keep his balance as he stood. He stopped halfway up. There, along the crevice wall, was a dark red smear.
“Take a look,” he said, moving back so that Taj could peer in. “Dried blood,” Chad said, as if it needed explaining.
“That doesn’t mean it’s human. This isn’t the city, Chad,” Taj said, waving his hand at their surroundings. “Any large animal like a wild dog or lion could have dragged its kill here. And, no, before you ask, I don’t have a way of sampling a stain right now, especially without ample evidence. Those bones tell me this was likely nothing more than a predator’s dining spot.”
“You don’t know that for sure.”
“Nor do you. And even if the blood was from a human, he’s long gone from here by now. We should get back,” Taj said, leaving the small cave.
Chad looked around once more then followed him out. Something caught the sunlight a couple of meters to his right, just outside the opening near the base of a clump of wild grass. He went over for a closer look.
A shard of glass. He picked it up.
“The broken end of a bottle. What’s that doing out here? You want to tell me this isn’t a sign someone was here?”
Taj frowned.
“I’ll give you that. It’s possible. But it’s also possible that some curious monkeys stole a drink from one of the homesteads and thought it would make a good toy. Or perhaps one of the Masai kids got their hands on a soda and didn’t want their parents knowing they’d squandered money on sugar water. I want the clinic as safe as you do, Chad, but this simply isn’t proof of anything. It’s mere conjecture. You can’t let your imagination create something from a stain and piece of glass when there are infinite other possible explanations.”
Chad tightened his lips. His head pounded and the tension in his neck crept down his shoulders.
“Okay then. Let’s head back to camp,” he said. He wasn’t getting into an argument with Taj. He’d never ignored his instincts before. They’d always led him to something. He couldn’t say that they’d always kept him safe. Had that been the case, he wouldn’t be a wounded warrior.
He got in the jeep and waited for Taj to lock up his weapon.
Neither said much on the road. For someone who’d never cared what anyone thought of him—save for his father—Chad couldn’t help but wonder what was running through Taj’s mind at the moment. Relief that Chad had no concrete justification to shut the clinic down? Pity after witnessing a medaled veteran fail at something he’d once excelled at?
There was a time when Chad wouldn’t have stopped hunting down the terrorists. He and Aries would have stayed on their trail until the mission was complete. Not anymore. This whole setup—having Chad scope the area—was a load of—
“May I ask, when was the last time you shot a weapon? Automatic or even a pistol?” Taj asked.
“Not since the explosion. I won’t ever be a sharpshooter, if that’s what you’re asking.”
They hit a rut in the road that made Chad wonder if there were any shock absorbers left on the jeep.
“If you’re only going to be armed with a knife, perhaps you shouldn’t go off alone. We have a policy about that, for safety.”
“I can take care of myself just fine. At the same time, I have no problem with anyone tagging along, so long as they don’t get in my way.” He paused. “I appreciate you covering me back there.”
It had made him feel like part of a unit again. Like old times, everyone with a common goal: neutralize the enemy. Neutralize evil.
His pulse kicked up a notch. Maybe he still had it in him.
It’s what you do, man. You
get out there and snuff out the bad guys.
Yeah, his mind knew that. He craved it. But his body wasn’t the same anymore.
Improvise, adapt and overcome. He closed his eyes and let the unofficial motto he’d learned as a marine echo in his head. He was part of an elite group. A smaller, less funded, powerful group, but still unsurpassed. He was a marine and always would be. Do more with less. The words his fellow marines had lived by charged him.
Suddenly, Tony’s voice filled his head. Make sure she’s okay.
He pressed his finger and thumb pads against his eyes then opened them. That was the only mission he needed to concentrate on here. To make sure Lexi was safe. The easiest way to do that, he reminded himself, was to get her to return to Nairobi with him.
“No problem,” Taj said, breaking his train of thought. “But next time give me some warning. Special ops is not exactly my line of work.”
Chad gave him a lopsided grin.
“Could have fooled me.”
The clinic came into view and Taj slowed the vehicle, pulling up under the acacia that flanked the central clearing. He cut the engine and the discordant symphony of predator and prey filled the air again. Jacey came rushing out from behind the bungalow. She pressed a hand to her chest, but quickly tucked her hands in her pockets and trudged over to Taj.
“What took you so long? I— Hope has been worried. It doesn’t take that long to change a tire.” She stopped her tirade only for a second to call out to Hope, who was apparently with the patient in the clinic tent, to let her know they’d returned.
Lexi appeared in the bungalow’s doorway and stood there with a fiery look in her eyes.
Chad walked over, much too conscious about minimizing his limp, and climbed the three steps onto the narrow porch.
“So, did you think he shot me out there to keep me silent? To keep this place open?” Chad taunted.
Lexi tightened her lips. “You’re really not funny. You do realize that, don’t you?”
“Guess not. So, tell me, why are you standing there glaring at me? Planning to ask me something? Argue about my potential findings? Or maybe I scared you.”
“Scared me? Why would you think that?”
“You know, the blown tire. It can sound like a gunshot. It worried you, didn’t it? You thought maybe I’d gone nuts and Taj got wounded or killed. Or maybe...you were worried about me.”
He wasn’t flirting. Was he? Nah. He was trying to irritate her. It helped to keep his guard up. He was also avoiding having to explain where they’d gone on his false hunch.
Her cheeks flushed to a shade he’d only ever seen at sunset on a Serengeti campout when he was a kid. Disconcertingly beautiful.
“I was not worried about you,” she said, turning and disappearing through the doorway.
But she had been. He could tell. Her reaction felt strange. A bit scary. He didn’t want anyone caring or worrying about him, especially not Tony’s widow. Especially not when he had to keep tamping down those same feelings for her.
He’d come out here because he’d had a duty to his friend, but meeting her had somehow made it more personal. He raked his hair back. Personal? What was he thinking? He wasn’t any more concerned for Lexi Galen than he’d be for any pregnant woman living in this situation. Getting her back to Nairobi was the right thing to do. Sure, she was attractive and he felt an immediate draw to her, but it was only because they’d both known and cared about Tony. They were connected through him. A shared history, in a sense. That’s all it was.
At least that’s what he needed to keep telling himself. Because if there was ever a rule he wouldn’t break, it was that a marine never betrayed a fellow marine...or a best friend.
CHAPTER FIVE
THEY HAD ALMOST caught him this time. The cut on his arm stung from where the acacia thorn had ripped his skin. He pressed the crushed leaves of the yellow flowering plant against it as he caught his breath. The makeshift bandage would slow the bleed and help the wound heal, but he’d probably have to sew it up soon.
He needed to think. There had to be a way to get the medical supplies he needed. The only place they didn’t lock up was that tent, but they were keeping a patient in there under close watch. Too many people went in and out of the tent for him to slip in unnoticed. And there was a new man around he had not seen before. He would have remembered him. He bore the scars of a fighter. A survivor...like him. It was clear from his movements and his eyes that this one could feel his presence. This one wasn’t like the others at the medicine camp.
He was a hunter, not a healer.
And he was going to be in the way.
* * *
LEXI STEPPED OUT into the moonlight and settled down on the wooden bench outside the door. She couldn’t sleep. Too many bizarre dreams, none of which she could recall upon wakening. Pregnancy was beginning to take its toll on her. This inability to sleep through the night, whether from dreams or discomfort, had to be nature’s way of training her to wake up every few hours for a crying baby.
She leaned her head back and took in the night air. Was she going to be able to do this by herself? She could, right? She had it in her. The baby rolled gently and settled in a new position.
A lantern light flickered in the patient tent then went out again. Hope had insisted that she keep watch over Akinyi so others could rest. They didn’t typically have overnight patients, so it usually wasn’t necessary to have someone man the tent. But nothing seemed usual since Chad had arrived.
Dinner had been mundane. Everyone seemed cautious about topics of conversation, trying to keep from offending or starting an argument. No one spoke of politics or poachers or injuries. Jacey thought she’d heard thunder in the distance, but apparently even the weather was a divisive topic because everyone had disagreed with her. Judging from how bright the moon was right now, they still had a while before the drought broke. But sooner or later the clouds would roll in and the rainy season would begin. Or so she’d been told.
Lexi drew a thin shawl over her shoulders and hugged it over her belly. Thoughts of Chad were eating away at her. She tried to imagine what he might have been like prior to the accident. A little less sarcastic and ornery perhaps? Or less cocky?
She couldn’t believe he’d come right out and accused her of worrying about him. And he’d put her on the spot. She had been worried, and she was even more mad that he’d made her worry. Being protective was simply something that came with being a mother-to-be. It was instinctual. Blame it on the hormones. She’d witnessed how much more protective and defensive animals, from wild geese to rhinos, got when it came to their young.
So, yes, she had been worried, but not because she was in any way attracted to him. They’d only just met, for crying out loud. She blamed her curiosity about him on his connection to her husband and Hope. She had worried because she was pregnant and because she was as a nurse. She worried because of all he’d been through.
Had he been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress? Chances were good that he suffered from some level of it, given the nature of his injury.
She had heard a sharp sound crack through the savannah air before. Usually it was a blown tire, a common occurrence with the terrain, or an actual gunshot—the sickening evidence of an illegal hunter after a trophy. But this time, knowing that Chad had just stalked off on his own, her mind had gone in crazy directions. He was right. For a second, she had wondered if Taj was the one shot, but that didn’t seem as likely as Chad being the one injured. What if he’d shot himself? What if he was more depressed over his injury than anyone had assumed and he’d come out here to end his suffering?
Her gut rose, fell and cramped up against her lungs. The emotions that had wreaked havoc on her when she’d heard the news of Tony’s death threatened to flood through her again. Loss. Death.
Could Tony see all that had happened since his death? Did he know what
his friend was going through? Did he know Lexi was pregnant? Had he somehow brought them together so that Lexi could help his friend?
Help me understand what’s happening, Tony. Give me a sign.
A shadow stretched out from the clinic tent. The crunch of footsteps joined the rhythmic song of crickets calling to their destined mates. She jolted and almost called out a warning to wake everyone, but Chad, with his unmistakable, strong jawline and broad shoulders, stepped out of the shadows. His eyes met hers. How long had he been watching her?
She released a breath but her pulse still skittered. His mouth settled in a firm line and she wasn’t quite sure if he was offering a faint smile or if he was disappointed that he wasn’t alone. That he’d been caught doing something noble like guarding the place.
She knew he’d stayed out here because his mother and a patient were in that tent. Maybe he wasn’t a healer like Tony had been...or like her...and perhaps he was even struggling to heal himself, but Hope was right. He was clearly a protector. He had his mom’s back. He had them all covered.
Lexi licked her lips and looked down at her hands. As rough as he was on the surface, Chad Corallis was a man of honor.
Honor, trust, caring. All things Tony had valued and embodied. All things she valued, too. That had to be why she couldn’t get Chad out of her mind.
You’re attracted to him. Admit it.
No. Absolutely not. The sting of guilt spread through her chest like the venom of a wasp. He’s the enemy. He wants to shut the place down and make you leave. Remember that.
She could hear his footsteps getting closer.
But you just admitted he was a man of honor...a protector. What if he guarded the place every night?
She took a deep breath and looked over at him again. Chad as their guard? That wouldn’t work. Being around him all day, every day? She couldn’t handle it. They’d either both be miserable or...she’d keep feeling this...this...she didn’t know what it was but she didn’t like it. It made her feel out of control, ungrounded.
