“You think that’s wise? Cartels like this one have a lot of reach.”
Anger filled her. And despair, because dammit, if she didn’t get this story out there, how many more people might die? It was unconscionable what some people would do for money. They didn’t care about the end user when they were pressing their fake pills and shipping them off for sale. They didn’t care that Nicole had died. Nobody cared except for her family and friends.
And they were going to miss her forever. “I don’t know, Dean. But somebody has to do it.”
He studied her in the darkness. Then he nodded. “I guess you’re right. But maybe don’t try to do it alone, huh?”
Haylee swallowed. She didn’t know how else she was supposed to do it. “I don’t want to do it alone. But I don’t have much choice really.”
He blew out a breath. “You know, I see far more of this kind of shit than I like. There are evil people in this world, and they don’t care about ideals or truth or morals. They only care about what they can take for themselves. Be careful when dealing with those types.”
She was trying to be careful. “There’s more to this than just a cartel and fake pills. I know there is. And I intend to find out who’s responsible. They need to pay.”
For lives cut short. For lives ruined. For families torn apart. For Nicole, who would never fall in love or have kids or grow old.
“Yeah, they do.”
She’d expected him to argue with her but he didn’t. Before she could ponder on that too much, a sudden burst of gunfire sprayed into the night, making her squeak and jump. It was much closer this time—in fact, she swore she’d seen what looked like a bunch of fireflies on the Guatemalan side of the river. She couldn’t figure it out though because Wolf leapt in front of her, pushing her down onto the dirty floor of the boat. He pressed her hard into the metal. Water seeped into her clothing. Fishy water. She tried not to gag.
“Don’t move, Haylee,” he commanded.
There was screaming suddenly and the piercing sound of rapid gunfire spitting all around her. She clapped her hands to her head and closed her eyes. Hot metal dropped onto her body but it cooled so fast it didn’t burn. She forced her eyes open, looked up. Wolf stood over her, legs braced apart, gun nestled against his shoulder, flame bursting from the barrel as he returned fire.
It was loud and scary and somehow exciting too. She didn’t know how long they went on like that, men cursing and returning fire, bullets raining down on the occupants of the vessel. Magazines dropping as new ones got shoved into the rifles.
She noticed that the fishy water in the bottom of the boat seemed to be creeping higher with every passing minute. Almost as if…
“We’ve gotta abandon ship,” one of the commandos shouted during a lull in the firing. “We’re going down.”
Chapter Three
Goddammit.
Wolf slung his rifle over his shoulder and reached for Haylee. The fucking boat had been hit and it was sinking in the middle of the Rio Usumacinta. Gem had been steering them toward the north bank, which was Mexico, but they were still a good distance from shore. If they’d continued on the river, they’d have reached Mexico when it turned north, but that wasn’t happening today. They had to abandon ship and swim for it.
The Usumacinta wasn’t terribly wide or deep, but they were in a remote area and there’d been a lot of rain to the region lately. There was also the threat of crocodiles, but hopefully they were well-fed and uninterested in the tasty humans about to descend into their waters.
“Can you swim?” he asked gruffly.
“Yes.” The whites of her eyes showed brightly. “Is it safe in there?”
He snorted as he pushed her toward the side of the boat. “Probably not, but it’s safer than staying here. You ready?”
They stood at the edge. He could hear his teammates splashing into the water, hear the shouts of the other hostages as they followed the lead of their Echo Squad member and plunged into the murky river.
Haylee whimpered. He squeezed her hand, ignoring the jolt of electricity that zapped into him. “Yes,” she said. “Please don’t leave me alone in the water,” she added in a rush.
He held on tight. “Honey, not happening. Trust me. This is what I do.” He tugged her to the edge, up onto the lip of the bow. “On three.”
She nodded.
“One… Two… Three.” He fell forward, taking her with him. He twisted, making sure to land first, cushioning the fall for her. It wasn’t an Olympic worthy dive, but it didn’t need to be. He flipped onto his side and tugged her with him, sidestroking his way toward shore. “You okay?”
“I… Yes.”
The water wasn’t cold this far south, but it wasn’t exactly a bathtub either. He didn’t know what lurked below them and he didn’t want to know. He’d deal with that if he had to.
“I can swim,” she said as he continued to tug her toward the shore.
He hesitated. They’d get there faster if he let her go, but he didn’t want to do it. She was small and light and she’d been a captive for a few days. She had to be hungry and tired. Yet he had to give her the chance.
“Can you follow my lead?”
“Yes.”
“I won’t leave you behind, Haylee. I promise.”
“I know.”
He let her go and struck out for the shore, keeping an eye on her as he swam. She stayed by his side, cutting through the water somewhat efficiently if not as smoothly as he did. But he’d had a lot of training, especially loaded down the way he was. He wore a pack and a rifle, but they didn’t give him any trouble. Because he’d trained for this. Over and over and over again, until it was as ingrained as taking a piss or walking across a room. Instinctual.
The rifle fire from the Guatemalan bank was sporadic now, but still dangerous. The cartel wouldn’t give up. They needed to get these people to the extraction point as soon as possible. A Black Hawk would meet them there and fly everyone out of the jungle. But first they had to make it.
Wolf lifted his head to study the shore. A couple of his teammates were emerging, dragging hostages with them. The rest would be there soon. He glanced back at Haylee. She was laboring but still swimming. He stopped where he was and waited. When she reached him, he hauled her into his chest and struck out again.
“Hey,” she said between puffs of air. “I’m fine.”
“Of course you are. But you aren’t fast enough. I’m faster.”
She didn’t fight him and he knew she was tired. She could swim, but when you didn’t swim often, you lost the stamina it took to cross a couple of Olympic-sized pools. He knew he’d reached the shore when he struck out and his hand hit ground. He lifted them in one smooth motion. Haylee stumbled forward, her body soaking wet with muddy water. He followed, ready to pick her up and carry her if she needed it.
Saint stood on shore, waiting for him. Waiting for everyone. “Wolf,” he said in acknowledgement.
Wolf turned to gaze at the center of the river. One boat sat there, abandoned, listing to port. The other boat—the one he’d been on—was sinking quickly beneath the surface.
“Both hit?”
“They got the engine on the second one.”
“Any causalities?” There’d been no radio communication since they’d hit the water but that’s because they’d all been working to reach the shore.
“A couple of hits. Mal got winged. One of our dentists took a shot to the shoulder.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. Easy’s got Mal. Muffin and Hacker are taking on the dentist.”
Wolf stepped in close, away from Haylee. “They aren’t giving up, Saint.”
Saint nodded. “Yeah, I know. But maybe this was the last stand for them. Maybe we’ve seen all we’ll see of the Juarez Cartel.”
God, he hoped so. “Five miles to the extraction point. Over a mountain,” Wolf said, looking up at the dark shape rising above them.
“No choice,” Saint replied. “Unless you’
ve got a better idea?”
Wolf gritted his teeth. “No.”
“Didn’t think so.” Saint jerked his head. “Best get moving.”
Wolf turned on his heel just as Gem rose up out of the water. He was hauling a short stocky woman with him. Her sides heaved and she sucked in air, sputtering and coughing. Zane “Zany” Scott followed, tugging a slight male who stumbled to the ground and touched his forehead to the sand. “Oh God,” the man said. “Thank you, Jesus.”
“Let’s go,” Saint said gruffly. “No time to waste.”
Wolf put a firm hand on Haylee’s back and pushed. “Go,” he told her as gently as he could.
They headed inland, seeking the others. The rest of the team and their charges waited just inside the jungle. Echo had their weapons out, ready to do battle if necessary. The dentists and assistants were mostly silent, though there were definitely some chattering teeth that clacked over the sounds of frogs and other night creatures.
“Five miles to go, ladies and gentlemen,” Saint said grimly. “We’ve got a mountain to climb and no time to waste. We need to be there by 0500 at the latest. That’s seven hours from now.”
“What happens if we aren’t there?” one of the civilians asked.
“They leave without us.”
A few of them gasped. “But we’re American! They can’t leave us.”
“Yeah, well they can. We aren’t supposed to be operating inside the Mexican border. American military helicopters draw attention. They’ll be back after nightfall tomorrow—provided we don’t get caught before then.”
Beside him, Wolf felt Haylee stiffen. He wanted to reassure her, but there wasn’t really any way he could. Either they reached the extraction point and got the fuck out, or they stayed a full day in the jungle, trying to avoid capture by the cartel. It wasn’t really anything that worried him—or his teammates—because they were elite warriors and more than capable of holding off a bunch of drug runners for a few hours.
But civilians in the mix complicated things, that’s for sure. They weren’t as quiet, or as capable. They were liabilities in a firefight, but there was nothing to be done for it other than make sure a firefight didn’t happen.
Or not another one anyway.
They’d hit some of the men shooting at them tonight, but it was hard to say how many. Or how many more would come looking for them.
“Time to move out,” Saint said. “We’ve got a long way to go.”
“I can’t,” someone said. The woman Gem had dragged from the water. Her voice shook. She sounded tired. Stressed. Emotional. “I need to rest.”
“Ma’am, I’m sorry, but we can’t rest,” Saint told her. “It’s not optional.”
A sob escaped her. Haylee pushed past Wolf before he knew she was moving and went to the woman’s side. “I’m sorry you’re tired,” she said, putting her arm around the other woman’s shoulders. “I’m tired too. It’s not just you. But I think we have to keep going. I think if we don’t, those men across the river are going to take us back to that camp.”
The woman sobbed. A single, wretched sound that escaped her throat. “I can’t go back.”
“No, you can’t,” Haylee said firmly. “And you won’t. Do you think you can walk a bit further tonight?”
“Yes. Yes, I can do it.” She didn’t sound certain though.
Another woman came forward then. She held out her hand. “Come on, Cindy. You can do it, honey. I know your arthritis is flaring up, but there’ll be a hot tub and plenty of booze at the end of this thing. And maybe a hot guy or two. We’ll get Dennis to take off his shirt.”
A younger man in the group snorted, but it wasn’t a derisive sound. “Hey, if we get a hot tub at the end of this, I’ll take off as much as you want me to.”
Cindy laughed brokenly. The other woman squeezed her hand. Haylee smiled too. “Simmer down, Dennis,” Cindy said. “I’m not that kind of girl.”
The hostages laughed then and the tension broke. Cindy and the other woman started walking together, holding hands while Cindy limped and tried her best. The woman glanced behind her at Haylee. “Thank you,” she said softly.
Haylee’s teeth flashed white in the darkness. “You’re welcome.”
The tension in the air quieted to a slow boil and everyone started walking. Wolf caught up to Haylee in a few steps. She peered up at him and smiled. Remarkable girl. Except for that part where she wanted to take on a drug cartel.
“That was nice,” he said to her, keeping his voice low enough so the others didn’t hear.
“Everyone was annoyed with her. But nobody tried to empathize.”
“Saint was polite but firm.”
“Yes. But polite is distant, you know? She needed more than that. She needed someone to feel like she felt.”
He understood what she meant. She’d broken the tension in the air by empathizing. She’d made it possible for the other woman to remember Cindy’s weaknesses, and to help her. Which meant the whole group found their empathy—and Cindy didn’t create enmity by refusing to move.
Not that Saint would have let her hold them up. Gem would have carried her if he had to, but that would have slowed him. All of them, because they’d have had to take turns. Hell, they still might. Best to save it until necessary though.
“We wouldn’t have left her.”
“Are we going to make it, Wolf?”
It was the first time she’d called him Wolf. He liked it. “We’ll make it.”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For telling me what I need to hear. Even if it’s not true.”
He reached for her hand, squeezed it. Ignored the thrill that zipped into his balls at the touch of skin on skin. Now was not the time. And definitely not the place. “It’s true. Trust me.”
She squeezed back. “I do.”
They hiked through the thick jungle, moving steadily higher, until they were climbing what seemed straight up the side of a mountain. The jungle didn’t thin out up here. It just kept growing. Thick trees, buzzing mosquitos that drank their blood leisurely, bugs Haylee didn’t want to imagine. She just kept moving, following the person in front of her. Knowing Wolf was behind her. The trail had narrowed and they were moving single file through rock and vegetation. Her heart pounded with the effort.
Cindy, bless her heart, hadn’t stopped again. Though she did cry. Haylee could hear her sobs in the night and it broke her heart. But the others kept encouraging her, and she kept moving. Eventually they reached an area that was clearer than what they’d come through. It seemed as if they’d come out on a plateau.
“Break,” someone said from the front and the entire line stopped. Haylee’s blood pounded in her ears. She swatted at a mosquito and dragged air into her lungs. It was fresher up here. Cooler. Thank God.
Even the mosquitos weren’t quite as plentiful. She had no idea how high they’d climbed but her leg muscles ached, her feet throbbed, and sweat dripped between her breasts. Wolf offered her water and she took it gratefully.
“Not too much,” he told her.
She took a couple of swallows and gave it back, wiping her lips as she leaned against a rock.
“We’ll rest for half an hour,” he told her. “Might want to sit while you can.”
She sank down against the rock until her butt hit the ground. She worried about bugs, about snakes, about all manner of creepy crawly things, but she was so exhausted that she did as he said.
He rummaged in his pack and tossed something at her. She caught it, her mouth watering when she realized it was an energy bar.
“Be right back,” he said. “Eat that. I’ll give you more water once you do.”
He strode away, toward the front of the line, and she leaned back against the rock and tore open the package. The bar was delicious. She hadn’t eaten much in three days so even if it tasted like cardboard, it was still the most wonderful thing she’d ever had.
She could hear the others ripping off wr
appers and she knew they’d all been given food. The cartel had fed them, but only once a day. Beans and tortillas and water. Nothing else. The energy bar was heaven.
Wolf returned and gave her his canteen again. She drank carefully before handing it back. He slipped onto the jungle floor beside her and stretched out his legs.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
He turned to look at her. “Fine, why?”
“We stopped.”
“For you, Haylee. For all of you.”
“Oh.” Her muscles took that moment to ache forcefully. Her feet hurt. Exhaustion dropped over her like a blanket.
“Just a few more hours and it’ll be over,” he said. “We’ll fly to a base in El Salvador, you’ll all be checked out, and then you’ll board a transport for home once you’ve rested a day or so.”
It sounded like heaven to her. “And what about you? What happens to you and your team once we get to El Salvador?”
“We’ll rest and regroup, then we’ll be sent home.”
She twisted the tails of her shirt that she’d tied at her waist. “You must do this kind of thing a lot.”
He laughed softly. “Yeah. You could say that.”
“How did you get to the camp? I mean since we had to take the boats and now we’re hiking to where the helicopters will be.”
“Parachutes.”
“Oh.” So he’d jumped out of a plane tonight. In the dark probably. She couldn’t imagine what kind of strength and bravery that took. “That sounds terrifying.”
“You get used to it.”
She gazed at his dark shape looming so close and her belly tightened. A wave of heat washed over her. Her breasts tingled. Her center grew hot and achy. Haylee blinked. Was she really doing this right now? Getting horny over a military commando with the most piercing eyes she’d ever seen? She hadn’t really seen his face. Had no idea what he looked like, or what color his hair was. He had nice eyes. Didn’t mean he was the kind of guy she was usually attracted to though.
She liked them safe. Tall and not too muscular, but self-assured and kind. This man was anything but safe. He was big and bold and full of violence. Because he had to be. Haylee shivered a little and sucked in a breath.
HOT Justice: A Hostile Operations Team - Book 14 Page 3
