“What’s going to happen is you’re gonna stay right here while I scout out a location for us to bunk down for the night. I can’t risk anyone spotting you.”
Alarm rushed from her head to her toes. Like hell she’d stay out here by herself. “No way. If you leave me here, I’ll just wait until you can’t see me anymore and head into the city by myself.”
“Dammit, Caroline, we’re not in the middle of the jungle anymore. There’s no room for error. You know Rainier runs the lab, he’s rich and he’s powerful and he doesn’t give a shit about anything that won’t keep him in that position. He has spies and workers in that town. As soon as someone spots your light skin and silky blonde hair, we’re as good as captured.”
He thought she had silky hair?
“Then I guess you’d better do a good job of camouflaging me. What if the men following us show up and capture me while you’re gone? What good would that do?” She bit her lip to keep from blurting out her true fear of a lion springing out of the bushes and devouring her alive.
Reaper would just bite the beast right back.
“You and I both know those troops are at least a few miles behind us. I have time.”
“Unless you pass out from blood loss or get taken prisoner yourself. You don’t think they put out an alert to look for a seven-foot-tall, three-hundred-pound soldier bleeding from the shoulder?”
Reaper blinked, staring at her like he hadn’t considered that possibility. Then he said, “Not possible. No one will see me. I know how to get in and out without being noticed. They’d hear you from a mile away.”
“Fine then, go on.” She pursed her lips together and arched her brow.
She would follow him at a distance. There was bound to be something she could nab and cover her head with. She didn’t know where they were, but she imaged there would be cloaks or sheets left out to dry.
“You’re going to follow me, aren’t you?” he asked, blowing out his breath in a huff.
“Yes.” There was no point in lying to him; he would discover the truth in just a couple of minutes if he did try to leave her.
“Are you ever going to do what I tell you to do?”
Caroline shrugged, “Maybe one day, if I think what you’re saying makes sense. But I’ve seen enough movies to know that when the good guys split up one of them is always killed or captured and tortured.”
“You think I’m a good guy?”
She did her best to ignore the rawness in his question. “Of course I think you’re a good guy. No matter how grouchy you are, bad men don’t risk their lives for other people.”
He turned from her then, but she could see he didn’t like taking compliments. He wasn’t used to receiving them, probably didn’t go around slapping others on the back saying, “Good job, buddy.” Well, that was about to change. She believed in positive reinforcement. And she was going to positively reinforce him right out of this country.
“Okay, stay close. See that building over there?” He pointed to a two-story adobe building that looked like it was white beneath several layers of dirt. “We’re going to run for it.”
“Got it, boss.”
He didn’t take her hand this time, but she didn’t have time to mull over that fact. She gathered the back of her gown together and sprinted after him.
The possibility that her backside might be showing in the dense forest hadn’t bothered her, but there was a very real chance someone might spot them out here and the last thing she wanted a stranger to see was her bare ass.
Even injured, Reaper sprinted at an almost inhuman pace. She hadn’t even made it halfway across the distance by the time he reached the side of the building and leaned back against it, holding a pistol that had apparently been strapped somewhere on his person. By the time she reached him, she was breathing hard and had to grab the wall to keep from collapsing. That burst of energy had cost her dearly.
When she calmed enough to achieve a somewhat normal heart rate, she tilted her head to the side and tried to listen to the commotion in the city. They couldn’t see anyone, but there was plenty of noise—people moving around, talking in a language she couldn’t understand. As a matter of fact, it seemed like the locals were right ahead of them. And the smell… “What is that?”
“Death.”
A sense of foreboding fell over her shoulders like a heavy cloak and she curled her fingernails into her palms. Reaper would probably think she was just being silly, but she had the distinct impression something really bad was about to happen. While she didn’t want to face Reaper’s wrath, she couldn’t risk staying silent. The potential cost was too high.
“Reaper, hold on. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
“I do, too.”
Surprise jolted her system, like a bucket of ice water upended over her head, but she kept her mouth shut. “What do you want to do?”
“There are soldiers patrolling the streets. They’re looking for us.”
There went her dream of finding a tiny cottage where they could hole up and recover. As soon as they stepped around the corner of this building, they’d be caught and hauled back to the lab. No one on the outside would ever even know they’d escaped. Reaper couldn’t take on another patrol of men in his condition, and her fighting skills were basically on the level of a kitten. As in, she’d never been in a fight before. Never. Ever. She’d be lucky to get in a few scratches despite her heightened genetics.
She couldn’t go back there. She just couldn’t waste her life away being a human test tube. She’d rather take a bullet.
“What are we going to do?” she asked breathlessly. He rolled around her to peer into the nearest open window of the building they were crouched beside. Caroline gasped and tried to pull him back. “Someone will see you!”
“No one’s in there. Come on, I’ll help you over the ledge.”
“How do you know it’s empty?”
“It’s my job to know these things. Quit asking questions and come on before one of those guards strolls around the corner and spots us.”
His words were enough to spur her into action, and she placed her uninjured, but still filthy, foot into the cradle of his hands. Just like before, he hoisted her up like she weighed nothing. Caroline landed on her feet inside the building.
The stench of hot trash slammed into her senses and she slapped her hand over her mouth and nose, fighting not to gag. No wonder no one was in this building. It smelled like a human toilet shoved into an oven set to broil.
The fact that Reaper joined her without so much as a sniff left her mute. She couldn’t stay here, not without puking every hour on the hour. “What on earth is that god-awful smell?”
“Bodies.”
All Caroline could see in the cavernous room they’d entered were the walls and dirt and tarps covering a mound stacked almost to the ceiling. A mound of … bodies. She had to swallow her gorge. She’d seen more dead bodies in one day than she had in her entire life.
“You don’t sound shocked,” she finally managed to say. She was almost desperate enough to lift the hem of her gown and breathe through it like a mask. Almost. The thought of Reaper seeing her completely naked and dirty and surrounded by corpses wasn’t exactly her idea of romance. Not that there was romance in their near or distant future.
“We’re on the border of South Sudan. The two warring factions are constantly killing each other in the streets, along with whatever civilians are unfortunate enough to get in the crossfire. They don’t have enough morgues to keep up with the body count, they don’t have any heavy equipment to bury and hide them like some other countries do. If they started a mass burning, the United States drones would spot them from overhead and spark an international call to action.” With his good hand, he raised his pistol to shoulder level and began silently creeping around the vicinity.
“So, they made a storage depot for dead people?”
“It’s better than you joining them, right?” Reaper moved off to the left. Even though
the room appeared empty, Caroline felt about as safe as a robin being circled by a hawk. Knowing she was with a man who could take out an entire team of trained soldiers by himself took the edge off her fear. When he got a good ten feet away from her, she jumped and ran after him, having no intention of standing there next to the window all by herself.
“Are there really bodies underneath those tarps?” she asked quietly.
“Yep.”
Caroline scooted in closer. “That is atrocious.”
Reaper kept moving, completely unfazed. “That, Princess, is war.”
It wasn’t right. In fact, it was so wrong, in so many ways, it made her sick. All those talks her father had given about preserving humanity and protecting those who were too weak to stand up against evil… All those international charities she’d funded … She’d even spoken at a few, so high and mighty, thinking herself an expert on solving poverty worldwide. Her ignorance and naïveté couldn’t have been more glaring.
When she got home, she would dedicate her life to protecting these innocents. She would take the charities she’d sponsored in the right direction, and she’d actually travel outside the comfort of her manicured and gated mansion in Virginia to bear witness to the crimes against life being perpetrated every day.
“I’m going to stop this.”
They circled nearly the entire room, staying clear of the bodies. Reaper holstered his pistol. “You and what army? These people have been fighting each other since the beginning of time.”
Caroline made a broad gesture in the direction of the tarps. “I can’t just do nothing after seeing that.”
Reaper grasped her bicep, his fingers touching each other. “You can and you will. Right now, you don’t have a choice.”
Before she could respond to that remark, he’d given her his back. She’d learned this was his way of cutting her off. “Regardless, we can’t stay here. There’s no telling if there’s infection or bacteria growing. We’re going to have to find another shelter.”
“And how exactly do you suggest we do that when there are guards patrolling the streets? As soon as we step outside, we’ll be spotted.”
Reaper gestured to the tarps. “Lots of clothes in there. I’m sure they won’t mind if we borrow some.”
Shock stole her breath. He wanted to pilfer clothes from the dead bodies that had been rotting for no telling how long? They were standing on the other side of the warehouse, and she was already about to gag from the stench; getting closer wasn’t an option. Touching them wasn’t an option. “Hell, no.”
He shrugged, tilting his head to the side with the movement as if to say well it was worth a shot, and pulled a flat case from a cargo pocket at his knee and holding aloft a small pouch of white powder.
“What is that?”
“Quickclot.”
He pulled down his shirt, revealing the oozing wound at his shoulder, and sprinkled the powder directly onto the opening without flinching.
“Come again.”
“It’s a hemostatic agent that clots your blood to stop the bleeding.”
Caroline couldn’t keep quiet. “So you sprinkle some magic powder and seriously expect me to take clothing from those poor people’s backs?”
“I didn’t want to—” he emphasized the word want, “—but I’ll do it if we have no choice. Especially if it means protecting you from the threat outside. Those people are already dead. They won’t know if they’re naked or not. You, however, are still alive and I intend to see you stay that way.”
“Well, you better find another way. Because you would have to kill me before I put on their clothing.” She crossed her arms. The movement parted the gown in the back and a hot draft breezed across her bare butt. “I’d go outside naked first.”
His gaze raked her, and if Caroline hadn’t already been halfway certain she was losing her mind, she would’ve sworn she saw something like admiration in his dark gaze. But he blinked just as quickly and the spell was broken. “The goal is to not draw attention to yourself.”
Caroline crossed to the windows on her left, cautious not to be seen. Most of the glass was covered in such a thick layer of dirt no one could see out or in. She took her index finger and smudged a tiny hole just big enough to peer through. “There are clothes hanging on a line in the alley between our building and the next. I’ll go grab some.”
8
“Like hell you will. I’ll get the clothing. You stay put.” Reaper didn’t know where this sense of bravado had come from, but he didn’t like it one bit. Caroline was as experienced as a newborn colt walking on two legs. She’d stumble into the street, get snatched right away and be murdered.
Even if Reaper went after her with guns blazing, she’d be damaged beyond repair. The thought left a hollow ache in his chest. He ignored it. He needed her. That was it. Regardless, Caroline’s life meant more than his did.
A wave of dizziness crashed over him and he grabbed the windowsill. The tiny droplets of sweat arcing down his neck seemed almost cold. His shoulder had continued to bleed despite the Quickclot. If he could just find a place where he could cauterize the wound and recover …
“You can’t go out there,” Caroline gasped. “You are about to pass out.”
His ears filled with a roaring that built strength like a tidal wave. Reaper focused on his breathing and his heart rate—getting them under control right now was paramount.
His heartbeat continued in a thin yet steady thrumming and it was getting harder to draw in enough oxygen to function. He could feel the familiar brain fuzz that accompanied too much blood loss cupping around his brain like sticky gloved hands.
Reaper clenched his teeth. “I’m going.”
Even in his weakened state he was a better choice than her. If a soldier or a local spotted her, she was as good as gone. A girl like her, beautiful, blonde and blue-eyed—the three Bs of Grade A human trafficking—would disappear in an instant.
That, or the soldiers hired by Gen. Rainier would find her first. Security at the compound would be beefed up, and the possibility of extracting her from their grasp a second time was about as likely as a snowstorm in Africa.
Reaper blinked through his blurred vision. Caroline wasn’t twisting her hands on her hips or crossing her arms over her chest—her tells that she was aggravated. She had her face pressed against that tiny cleared spot on the filthy window. “No one has walked past the opening in the street yet. I already see the items of clothing we need. Sit down. If you pass out, you’ll be no good to either one of us.”
Why were her silly words starting to make sense? He knew it was a major risk, leaving the building to steal clothing. If he kept moving around, he really might pass out in the middle of the street.
As if sensing his weakening resolve, Caroline homed in for the kill. “Reaper, let me get the clothing. You catch your breath so that we can run to another spot without being caught. After that, I swear to God I won’t leave without your permission or without you at my side. Please, I don’t want you to die.”
Her fingers fluttered over his forearm in a butterfly-light caress, and he couldn’t help but stare down at her small hand, marveling at how soothing yet foreign her touch felt. “It’s not a good idea. What if you can’t?”
She offered him a crooked smile, her blue eyes large in her face. He got the insane urge to reach out and touch her cheek.
“Then you can knock out the window pane and kill them with your rifle. I’ll be within sight the entire time.”
She was still touching him. He’d noticed that about her too. She liked to touch him.
He liked it too.
It had to be the blood loss. He’d never thought about a woman this way before, especially a woman like her—pretty and high class and blue blooded.
And the fact that he was actually considering her ludicrous proposal was another testament to the obvious loss of blood and oxygen to his brain. Another wave of dizziness crashed over him, leaving his hands and feet tingling. He dug hi
s fingers into the windowsill to keep from falling down.
If only he could sit down for a minute … She was right: he could put a bullet in any bastard who dared to come close to her. He could. But could she defend herself from the soldiers?
Breathing hard, Reaper pulled his Beretta from his side holster, thumbed the safety off and handed it to her. “If you so much as see someone turn down the alley, start shooting and don’t stop until you empty the clip. Do you understand me?”
She took his weapon without hesitation, the black metal too big for her tiny hands, but she turned it and held it like she knew how to use it. “Yes. I will.”
“You need to hug the side of the building, right up until you get to the clothes. Make sure you get something that will cover your head too. That blonde hair might as well be a flashing light.”
“I know. Believe me, I know. Look, I’ll be back in a jiffy.”
Caroline made to move away from him, but he grabbed her arm, worry twining around him. She was so inexperienced, so vulnerable. So very breakable. “Don’t look at your feet; don’t look at your gun. Keep your eyes moving, always looking for a threat. Keep your gun hidden in the folds of your gown. That way if anyone does come up, they won’t be expecting you to go on the attack. That might be your only hope.”
“I’ve got it, Reaper, let go. You can trust me.” She spoke in such a soft tone, like she was soothing a crying infant or something. He had no experience with infants, of course, and he’d grown up in a series of foster homes where no one, not one person, had spoken to him gently. This was how he imagined a mother would talk to her baby.
And it worked. He was able to let go of her arm and watch her walk away without chasing her and shackling her to his side. But he found his gaze drifting down to the part in her gown when she grabbed onto the windowsill and climbed back over. She was stronger than she looked.
And she had the most gorgeous ass he’d ever seen.
9
She wasn’t sure he would actually let her go. Reaper looked like he was at death’s doorstep—his tanned face pale and dripping with sweat, his pupils dilated. Whether he knew it or not, he’d been wavering on his feet, about to pass out. Even so, he’d been prepared to stumble out into the street and die rather than put her in harm’s way.
Mayhem's Warrior: Operation Mayhem Page 9
