Three Times as Deadly

by Erin Wade

  We took some bands from our unknowing hosts and pulled our hair back into high ponytails.

  One elderly black woman was behind the cash register when we entered the store.

  “I can’t believe we missed the bus,” I huffed as we walked into the store.

  “Don’t worry, Miss,” the woman said with a toothless grin. “There will be another one in the morning.”

  “What time will they return?” Alex treated the woman with respect.

  “Around sundown, Miss.”

  “We have to leave this evening,” Alex said, her forehead furrowed in feigned distress. “I so wanted to be on that tour. Is there any way we can rent a jeep and catch up with them?” Alex blushed as she slid a hundred-dollar bill across the counter to the old woman.

  The woman slipped the bill into her pocket with one hand and selected a key from a keyboard behind her.

  “Number 5,” she said as she handed Alex the key. “They’re in the barn. The number is on the hood. I’m supposed to walk up there and get it for you, but I can’t leave the store unattended.”

  “I’m sure we can handle it.” Alex’s grin lit up the entire room. “Thank you so much, ma’am. We’ll just purchase some snacks and be on our way.”

  “Are those sausages fresh?” I eyed six beautiful kielbasas slowly turning on a rolling rotisserie.

  “I just put ’em on,” the old woman said.

  We took the kielbasas, anything that looked halfway nutritional, and a dozen bottles of water. Alex paid for the food and water with a twenty and gave the old woman another hundred. “For you,” she said as she gently folded the woman’s hand around the bill. “Don’t let anyone know you have large bills. They’ll take them away from you.”

  The woman nodded and wished us well as we headed out the door.

  I’m not certain how I ever convinced this gorgeous creature to marry me, but thank God she did. She is incredible. She owns my heart.

  We ran to the barn. As in other barns we had raided, this one had cans of gasoline. We scrambled to get the jeep loaded and headed for the BushCat.

  As soon as we were airborne, Alex unwrapped the sausages and handed me one. We ate in silence, grateful for anything that would quiet our growling stomachs.

  We moved away from the coast of Africa as we flew toward Algeria.

  ##

  Chapter 15

  The last leg of our trip would be the most difficult. The Sahara Desert and the Atlas Mountains stand between us and Morocco.

  Soft breathing told me Alex was sleeping. I glanced at her. Her beauty made my heart hurt. I was concerned that she had never seemed worried that two other women were trying to get their claws into me. From the bits of conversation I overheard between her and Leigh, I was certain they knew one another. I had hoped Alex would be more forthcoming with her knowledge of my situation.

  I would have interrogated her, but I didn’t even have enough knowledge to question her. Maybe I could fake it—something I’d never done with Alex before.

  She shifted in the seat and yawned, stretching her arms above her head, her blouse pulling tight across her breasts. She smiled when she caught me staring and then kissed me on the cheek.

  “How many more days of this?” She swept her hand to encompass the desert we were flying over.

  “Two, maybe three,” I said. “We still have a desert and a mountain range to get over. Then we need to get from Morocco to Spain.”

  She pulled water from the back and opened a bottle for us to share.

  She searched my eyes as I turned to accept the water bottle. “You seem troubled. What’s bothering you?”

  “I’ve just been thinking. You said before that I’m a US Treasury agent. Tell me what you know about my government job.”

  “Not much.” She shrugged. “I know it’s dangerous, and you are extremely secretive about it. You said the less I know, the better off I’d be.”

  “But you know Leigh Redding? You knew her before she showed up at the hospital?”

  “Yes.” Alex closed her eyes as if trying to avoid the discussion.

  “And?”

  “She’s your partner,” Alex mumbled. “You, Leigh, and Ross make up an elite investigative team. You take down crooked government officials who trade in exotic animals and endangered species. Instead of protecting the rhinos and elephants, many African governments are the culprits behind the illegal exportation of the horns and tusks.”

  “Jesus, Alex, I wish I could remember this stuff,” I said. “It sounds like I may have gotten you into a dangerous situation.”

  “You’re usually allowed free rein in the African countries, because your documentaries result in huge donations from all over the world. People want to save the magnificent beasts you fight to protect.

  “I don’t think they know how cunning you are. People don’t know you dig deeper than poachers. You look for the money men.”

  “Do you know how the three of us work together?” I asked.

  “You and Ross do the investigative work, and Leigh handles the prosecution of the criminals. Ross is an award-winning videographer, and you are an award-winning reporter. Your cover is perfect.

  “Leigh is frantic because you shipped your tapes and documented proof to a safe place unknown to her.”

  “Do I always do that?”

  “Yes,” Alex said. “If you feel the information you’ve accumulated is dangerous or would endanger your team, you always ship it to a location in the US. You never try to carry it through customs. You pretend to, but you don’t. You have had your videos confiscated on several occasions. They always return them to you, erased. So you always have a backup.”

  “Do you know where I ship them?” I asked.

  “No, you never tell me. You’re afraid I would be in danger if anyone thought I had the information. You ship it to a mailing address unknown to me.”

  “Who knows that this is my normal procedure when handling dangerous information?”

  “Ross, Leigh, and me. You tell me everything—except the things that might get me killed.” She chuckled but I saw sadness in her eyes. “I thank you for that.”

  “If the four of us are the only ones who know I have damning information,” I thought out loud, “why are people after me?”

  Alex shrugged. “Obviously someone informed the bad guys. You are the world authority on the illegal animal trade. You have information that could bring down governments. We have to get that information into the hands of the US government.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “What do you mean?” Her clenched jaw and pursed lips told me told me she didn’t like the direction my questions were headed.

  “How do you know I have that kind of evidence? Who provided you that information?” I watched her eyes as they darkened from Caribbean blue to deep-ocean black.

  “You did,” she said, all but growling at me.

  Like a dog with a poisonous snake, I couldn’t let it go. “When? I don’t think I’m a stupid woman. I don’t think I would tell you that during a phone call.”

  “Seriously? You suspect me?” Her voice was a mixture of disbelief and anguish.

  She rubbed her temple with her fingertips. “Look at me, Sloan! Do you honestly think I would do anything to hurt you?”

  I knew right then it didn’t matter. Like Samson and Delilah, I knew I would let her lead me to my destruction before I’d walk away from her.

  I didn’t answer her. I couldn’t talk because of the lump in my throat.

  “Sloan, look!” The anxiety in Alex’s face told me something was wrong before I spotted the dark cloud that had materialized ahead of us.

  A loud boom sounded as a sudden gust of wind caught the BushCat and threw us upward. I fought to keep the plane upright. Flying a BushCat in a thunderstorm was like flying a kite in a hurricane. The plane’s wings were merely aluminum frames covered in cloth, like the sails on a sailboat.

  “Hold on!” I screamed as another gust of wind
sent us higher. I’d been coasting on the wind currents, but now I desperately needed to get out of them. They were taking us higher and higher. At some point, we would lose oxygen and consciousness.

  I cranked the plane’s motor and opened it full-throttle to fight my way below the storm. It took all my strength to keep its nose pointed downward. It seemed like every time I descended two feet, the wind tossed us up five more. The rudder shook, fighting my efforts to keep the plane’s nose aimed down.

  Soft hands wrapped around mine as Alex grabbed the controller and helped me steady it. We were pushing with all our might to keep the plane in a downward dive. The little BushCat vibrated from its tail wings to its propeller. I knew that we would have to pull it up as quickly as possible when we escaped the high winds. Otherwise, we would crash.

  The winds lessened as we dove below the storm. We pulled back on the controller to stop the plane’s death spiral. It continued to plunge toward the ground. I grabbed the flap handle and pulled with all my strength, hoping the flaps would slow our descent.

  The plane shuttered and groaned. I waited for it to fall apart. Alex kept a death grip on the controller, as I let all my weight hang from the flap handle. After what seemed like hours, the little BushCat leveled off and stopped shuddering.

  Thank you, God! We’re going to live!

  “We need to land,” I yelled over the downpour that had suddenly engulfed us. “I can’t see to fly.”

  Water seemed to be hammering us from all directions. We were drenched, and it was freezing.

  On a rudder and a prayer, we glided to the sands of the Sahara Desert. What I wouldn’t give for the plane’s doors we had discarded.

  I immediately killed the engine, afraid to taxi. I had no idea what was around us. The BushCat wedged between two sand dunes.

  Without a word, I climbed behind the seats. They offered the most protection from the forces of nature that seemed to be at war all around us. Alex didn’t hesitate to settle into my arms.

  I moved so that Alex was between my body and the back of the plane. It was the most protection against the storm I could provide for her.

  We clung to each other as the storm raged. Exhausted, we fell asleep holding on to the only things that matter in our lives—each other.

  ##

  “Sloan,” Alex whispered as she wiggled against me. “Wake up, baby.”

  I tightened my arms around her and lightly kissed her lips. “Are you okay?”

  “I am now.”

  I shifted my weight to give her more room.

  “Don’t go,” she said, moaning as she pressed closer to me. “I need you.”

  “I’m not sure I can—”

  “Just do it, Sloan.” Her voice was thick and husky.

  I slipped my knee between her legs so she could ride my thigh. She pulled up her shirt and unhooked her front-clasp bra. “Suck me, baby,” she whispered.

  I was certain that making love in a BushCat would be impossible, but I must admit it was one of the most pleasurable experiences I’d had in a long time. Of course, I’d discovered that everything with Alex was gratifying and possible.

  Chapter 16

  I poured the last of the gasoline into the plane and dug the sand from around its wheels. The deluge we had experienced the night before had soaked into the parched earth, and only dry sand remained. Within a couple of hours, our clothes had dried on our bodies.

  I was thankful Alex had purchased a BushCat with a nosewheel configuration. It made the plane easier to maneuver. I checked the wheels to make certain there was no damage. BushCats don’t have a landing gear. Their wheels don’t retract like those on most planes. They constantly stay in a triangular formation.

  Alex slid from the top of a dune. “Nothing but sand for as far as I can see,” she informed me.

  “We need to pull this baby to a place that will give us room to take off.” I secured the cowl of the plane and pulled all the empty gas cans from the cargo hold.

  “What are you doing?” Alex said as she watched me scurrying about.

  “Making our load as light as possible,” I explained. “We should be able to make it to Spain on this last tank of gas.”

  Alex drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m afraid to hope.”

  “We have a radio. I haven’t turned it on for fear of being located by our signal. Once we fly over the Strait of Gibraltar, we can begin radioing for help and a landing strip.”

  “Let’s get this plane airborne.” She grinned as she grabbed hold of the plane and helped me push it out of the dunes.

  ##

  “Is there any way we can land in Spain and make a run for it?” Alex asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean we still don’t know where we stand with the authorities. It would be best if we could land the plane and lose ourselves in a city. Maybe rent a vehicle or take the train into Seville and then fly from there to New York.

  “Sloan, I don’t trust turning you over to any authorities until we’re in the States. Whatever you’ve uncovered, it is serious. They pulled out all the stops when they sent in Amarosia. The African authorities want you badly.”

  “We can try,” I said, but I didn’t feel too confident about our chances. “I agree with you; I would rather remain incognito until we’re back in the States.”

  I kept an eye on the fuel gauge. Flying over the Atlas mountain range that divided Morocco and Algeria had required constant use of the engine. At 12,000 feet, the altimeter told me I was pushing the limit of the plane’s capabilities. The map showed the Atlas Mountains reached over 14,000 feet in some areas.##

  Alex’s eyes widened as the BushCat shuddered and sputtered. I looked at the fuel gauge. “Looks like we’ll have to add a boat trip to our travel plans,” I said as I glided the little plane to a landing inside Morocco.

  Alex laced her fingers through mine as we looked around us. “I don’t think we’re even close to civilization,” she said.

  “You may be right,” I was thankful to be on the right side of the mountain range. At least we wouldn’t have to spend days hiking over the Atlas Mountains.

  I handed her the backpack and fastened my whip to my belt. We had four bottles of water and two Snickers bars. For the first time, I slid the Glock into the back of my jeans.

  Each of us put a hundred dollars in small bills into our pants pockets. If we needed to buy our way into or out of something, we knew it wasn’t a good idea to let anyone know how much money Alex was carrying in the backpack.

  ##

  I pried the compass from the dash of the BushCat. I had no idea where we were, but I knew a due-north course would lead us to the ocean sooner or later.

  As the sun slipped toward the horizon, we searched for a haven for the night. There were facts in my head that just seemed to reside there. How in the world did I know about the deadly nocturnal Egyptian cobra that was prevalent in the hot, desert-like regions of Morocco?

  We located a cave-like space protected by boulders. With only one way in, it seemed like the best place to spend the night. The desert temperatures dropped quickly after sundown.

  We sat in silence as we shared one of the Snickers bars and drank a few sips of the water. I could tell Alex was still miffed at me because of the way I’d questioned her.

  “You lean against the rock,” I instructed her as I settled between her legs, my back against her chest. I knew she would be warmer between the rock and me. She seemed to realize my motives and wrapped her arms and legs around me.

  “Are you warm enough?” she whispered into my ear. Her hot breath felt good on my cheek.

  “Very.” I lied. “Are you okay?”

  She rested her chin on my shoulder. “Yes.”

  I was dozing off when she whispered, “Damn it, I love you, Sloan Cartwright.”

  ##

  The sound of a baby crying invaded my sleep. I moved, and Alex’s arms tightened around me. “Shush,” she whispered before I could make a
noise.

  We sat motionless, waiting for the sound to come again. The cry seemed to emanate from the rocks surrounding us. I scooched toward the opening in our sanctuary.

  Sheep! The crying was the bleating of sheep. I motioned for Alex to crawl up to the opening and see the herd of sheep spread out over the valley. One lone shepherd seemed to oversee them.

  “Maybe he can tell us where we are,” Alex whispered. “He’s just a young boy. Do you think it’s safe to reveal ourselves to him?”

  “We don’t have much choice,” I said. “Wait here. I have no idea if he has a village or tribe close by.”

  I knew I could overpower a boy, but I didn’t want to take on an entire tribe.

  I slipped out of the rocks and walked toward the boy. I watched the emotions play across his face as I approached: shock, interest, and then fear. He was probably sixteen or seventeen years old—almost a man.

  He held up his hands when I moved closer. “Please, no trouble,” he said, wide-eyed.

  I was shocked that I could understand him and could easily converse with him in his native language, bastardized French.

  “Friend,” I said, bowing slightly to him to pay my respects. “I am trying to reach the closest town.” I held out a twenty-dollar bill to him.

  He reached for the money. “I will help you. Come. My sister is going to town. She will take you.”

  His eyes lit up as he craned his neck to look around me. “Ahh.” He sighed as he scrutinized Alex. “Your friend?”

  “My wife,” I said stoically.

  “I trade you camel for her.” He flashed me a toothy grin.

  I laughed out loud. “No, she is my favorite.”

  He looked shocked. “You have many?”

  “Two more than I want.” I tried not to laugh at his excitement.

  “Then I take one of them.” He leaned around me as he watched for more women to emerge from the rocks.

  “Get me to the closest town, and I will give you enough money to impress all the women you want,” I told him.

  “The closest town is Tata,” he explained. “It is an oasis about ten miles from here.”

  “What is he saying?” Alex wrapped her hand around my arm and took my breath away.