But even as she watched, more of the rebels came over with buckets of water, forming an assembly line between them and the place they stored the food and water. They’d be able to put it out, as long as they didn’t run out of liquid.
“Why not?” her rescuer asked.
“They aren’t bad people, they’re desperate.”
“They kidnapped you,” he reminded her.
“Yes. But only because they need the money from the ransom to support their cause.”
He nodded as if he already knew that. “Do you support their cause?”
She hesitated. “I think anyone would be better than the current regime,” she hedged.
He narrowed his eyes. “Did you get kidnapped on purpose?” he asked incredulously.
“No! Of course not,” she protested. “I simply understand why they did it.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. She thought he might argue, but then shook his head in an exasperated gesture. “Do you even want to get rescued?”
“Of course.”
“Good. Then follow me.”
He turned away, surveying the camp.
“Hey, what’s your name?” Jessica demanded.
He ignored her once again, striding around the side of the building. Jessica hesitated for a brief moment, watching the rebels and the fire which was slowly growing smaller, but then she hurried after her rescuer.
She was almost at the corner of the hut when a shout of warning went up. They’d spotted her. She quickened her pace, sprinting after her rescuer where he slipped through a gap in the fence. He wasn’t hurrying. Not until he glanced over her shoulder and his eyes widened.
As Jessica pushed through the gap, brushing against the tall American’s hard body as she did so, she took the opportunity to look back.
Half the rebels were still battling the fire. The other half ran towards them, raising their semi-automatics. Jessica’s heart jumped. The fence wouldn’t protect them from bullets.
General Moreno stepped from the shadows to stand in front of his men. He was a tall man, in good shape, with an aura of gravitas. She’d encountered him a few times in her week there, when he visited to ask her disconnected questions she didn’t always understand.
He was the leader of the rebels. And if he and his men got their way, he’d be the new ruler of Zolego before the year was out.
Their eyes met, and a cold shiver went down Jessica’s spine at the fury there. He’d gone to a lot of trouble to arrange her kidnapping, and now she was slipping away.
He held up a hand to his men and barked an order in Portuguese. Her limited understanding of the language told her that it was an order not to fire their weapons. Jessica’s brow tugged down in confusion.
Then, Moreno and his men advanced as one, striding towards Jessica. His gaze was focused on her, freezing her to the spot. Even her breath stilled in her lungs.
The American held up the assault rifle he carried and fired a stream of bullets near the rebels. They ducked, all except Moreno, who seemed unconcerned. He must have somehow known that the bullets were intentionally fired wide, a fact Jessica was grateful for.
Jessica’s rescuer stopped shooting and grabbed her hand, startling her from her staring contest with Moreno. He dragged her the rest of the way through the fence and into the rainforest beyond. She stumbled, then righted herself, conscious of the rebels behind her. The crunching of her feet on the forest floor as they ran drowned any sounds of pursuit there might have been. She was tempted to look back, but didn’t want to trip on the undergrowth and slow them down.
Jessica’s breath sawed painfully in her lungs and her head swum. She hadn’t slept, eaten or drunk properly in a week, making her tired and weak. But she determinedly continued forward.
Before long it grew almost unbearably dark beneath the trees as the fire got farther and farther away. But her rescuer didn’t stop, didn’t pause except to pull out a long blade, like a curved sword. He used it to hack at the worst of the undergrowth they encountered. But mostly he plowed through it, taking the brunt of the impact on his body.
Finally, he slowed to a stop beneath a large fern. Jessica gratefully stopped, too, panting. He pulled out a flashlight and clicked it on, then shone it right on her face.
“Can you hear any sounds of pursuit?” he asked.
She shut her eyes, partially against the glare, and partially to focus on her ears. After a long moment, she shook her head. “No.”
The light left her face and she snapped her eyes open in time to see her rescuer nod in satisfaction.
“Tell me if you do.”
He crouched at her feet, kneeling in the squishy mud beneath them. The ferns had collected water and concentrated it into a small puddle. Her rescuer had the flashlight between his teeth, pointing at his hands as he scooped them into the earth. Jessica frowned in confusion. What the hell…?
Her confusion changed to outrage as he stood and slapped the mud on her face.
“What the fuck?” she yelled.
“It’s the best I can do for the moment to keep mosquitoes off you,” he explained, smearing the mud over the exposed skin of her face, neck, and chest even as Jessica squirmed out of reach. His touch was clinical, impersonal, but it still made her heart race.
“I can live with a few bites,” she muttered.
He paused. “Mosquito bites can be deadly out here. Malaria, Zika virus, all kinds.”
Jessica’s stomach churned. The rebels hadn’t given her anything to keep the bugs off. She’d been fastidious about bug spray right up until she’d been kidnapped. Then, all protection stopped.
“I had all my shots,” she said weakly as he continued smearing the mud. But she knew there was no immunization against Zika.
Her rescuer didn’t answer her, kneeling to smear mud over himself, too. Once done, he didn’t stand. Instead, he took off his pack and yanked out an old shirt.
Jessica jumped as he tore it into strips, the sound of the fabric ripping echoing into the darkness. She peered around, half-expecting to see rebels leap from the trees, but there was only the usual sounds of the night beyond whatever the American was doing. He set the strips of fabric aside and turned to tear large chunks of bark from the nearest tree. He pressed the bark against her shin and calf, surrounding the lower half of her left leg.
Jessica stepped back and placed her boot against his shoulder to hold him back. He looked up at her with a raised eyebrow and swung the flashlight with his jaw so the beam landed in her face.
“What are you doing now?” she asked. The mud was drying on her skin, tightening it uncomfortably like the world’s worst facemask. She wanted to scratch it off, but the thought of getting the Zika virus kept her hands by her side.
Her rescuer sighed. “Just trust me. We don’t have much time.”
Jessica glanced back into the darkness in the direction she’d last seen Moreno. He was undoubtedly coming after her, considering what she represented for him and his cause. And she didn’t want to go back to that hut, not for anything. She wanted safety, freedom, and a really hot shower.
And her rescuer was her best chance of making that happen. Despite his terrible manners, she had to trust him.
She removed her foot from his shoulder and stepped back into his reach. Without hesitating, he tied strips at her ankles and knees, over the bark, plastering her cargo pants to her leg.
When all that was done, he dug into his pack and pulled out two items Jessica had never seen before. It wasn’t until he strapped them to his lower legs that she noticed they were the professionally made version of what he’d created for her with the bark.
When he was done, he stood and hefted the pack onto his back once more.
“Ready?” he asked, shining the light on her face again.
Jessica shielded her eyes. “What the hell are these things for?” she asked, pointing at her shin.
“So no deadly spiders, leeches, or other kinds of bugs get in there. They like warmth and skin.”
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Jessica swallowed and nodded. She’d always stuck to more populated areas of the country during her numerous visits here. When the rebels had kidnapped her from the orphanage she’d been volunteering in, they’d taken her to their stronghold deep in the forest. Government forces had driven them out of everywhere else, leaving only the depths of the Amazon as a safe hideout.
She’d never had to consider the deadly wildlife too much in the cities. But, now, she knew she had to, in the depths of the untouched parts of the Amazon.
“Why do you get the good ones?” she asked.
“Too big for you,” he replied.
She nodded. That made sense. He obviously had his own equipment he’d brought with him, that didn’t include lady-sized…whatever the hell these things were called. Shin guards?
He turned away at her nod. The patch of rainforest they’d been standing in was no longer so dark. Dawn wasn’t far off.
Jessica frowned at her rescuer’s back. “What’s your name?” she asked for the third time. He ignored her once again, still continuing forward.
Jessica jogged forward. When she caught up, she took hold of his arm and wrenched him around. He gave her a confused look, then shined the light on her face. He was doing it to annoy her, she was sure.
She held a hand up to shield her eyes, then growled, “Why do you keep ignoring me?”
“What was the question?”
She rolled her eyes, teeth grinding. “What’s your name?” Would it be fourth time lucky and she’d get her answer?
“Mike,” he said simply. “Mike Ford.”
“Was that really so hard?” she snarked. Then, she took a deep breath, pushing down her annoyance. She reminded herself that this man was her rescuer, and she needed him onside to get out of this place alive. She held out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Mike.”
He took her hand in his, engulfing it, and shook. His palm was warm and strong against hers.
“Nice to meet you, Jessica.” His voice was low and rough, causing a shiver to run down her spine.
He disentangled their hands. “I wasn’t ignoring you, by the way.”
“What?” she asked, focusing on Mike’s words, not on how inconveniently attractive she found him.
“I wasn’t ignoring you, I couldn’t hear you.” When she stared at him in confusion, he elaborated. “I’m deaf.”
Chapter 3
“Deaf,” she repeated.
“That’s right,” he replied, unconcerned. Only his eyes were visible behind the mud he’d applied, having the added effect of blending his formerly-pale face into the darkness of the rainforest.
“How are you understanding me?”
“I’m reading your lips.” He turned to leave and she grabbed his hand.
“Sorry. I’m not being mean, but you have to explain more. Who are you? I thought you were military, but if you’re deaf…” she trailed off. “And you’d have a team, too.” It finally occurred to her that it was strange that he’d come alone. They’d sent one guy to face off against a small army of rebels?
She’d trusted him because he was American, and because he’d focused on rescuing her. But perhaps she’d been wrong to jump to conclusions.
“I was in the military. A paratrooper. Until this.” He waved his hands near his ears. “Now, I work for a private company called Soldiering On Security. Your parents hired us to get you home safe.”
She swallowed. “My parents? Really?”
She didn’t know why it surprised her, and yet it did. She’d half-expected them to leave her to the rebels, as punishment for what they saw as her disobedience. They’d never approved of her choices since she refused to go to law school.
“Yep,” he confirmed.
“And they only sent you?” She eyed him suspiciously. “One man?”
“Yes. I was the only one with the experience at treejumping.” He glanced behind them, eyes concerned. “I can explain it all later, but we have to get moving.”
“But…”
“Is anyone coming?” he asked, then fell silent.
Jessica was tempted to keep pressing him for answers, but the reminder that they were likely being followed made adrenaline rush through her, and her heart pounded with the urge to flee. She closed her eyes and focused her hearing back in the direction they’d come from. Past the sleepy sounds of birds, the rustling of animals in the undergrowth, and the steady drip of water from close by, distant sounds reached her. Vines being viciously hacked, men shouting. All muffled by the oppressive force of the rainforest around them. It was impossible to say how far away they were.
Her eyes snapped open, and she again squinted against the glare of the flashlight. But she wasn’t tempted to complain, now she knew he couldn’t read her lips without it.
“They’re coming,” she told him. “But I don’t think they’re close.”
He nodded once as if this was the answer he expected. “We’ll have to move fast. I’ll lead the way. If you need to get my attention, throw something at me. Don’t feel bad, doesn’t matter what it is. Just do it, since we need to be efficient and don’t have time for pride. Okay?”
She swallowed, thinking of the men and the guns behind them, and the unknown darkness ahead. Only, it wasn’t so dark anymore. The sun had started to rise while they’d been talking, shining a muted light on the world beneath the thick canopy above. Thank God. She hadn’t relished plunging into the jungle, unable to see where she put her feet.
She eyed Mike. He didn’t appear concerned about traversing the rainforest with one of his senses missing. He bounced impatiently on his toes, waiting for her to show him she was ready.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“There’s an airport about a day’s hike from here. If we hustle, we can get there before dark. My friend, Charlie, made a deal for them to let him land the plane he’s hired. We only get one shot, though, so we better get there fast.”
“And then you’ll take me home?” Her voice came out far smaller than she’d like, almost childlike. All through her ordeal of being kidnapped, the long car ride, the trek through the jungle, she’d stayed strong. She hadn’t shown any weakness to her captors. They hadn’t indicated any particular desire to hurt her, but she hadn’t known if that would change—particularly if her parents refused to pay the ransom, which had been a very real possibility. No matter what, she hadn’t let herself break down.
But now the possibility of home was very real, a tangible thing within her grasp. A day’s walk and she’d be on her way. The force of her want almost choked her. The comfort of home. A soft bed instead of a chair. A hot shower. And her parents pampering and coddling her. Not that they were ever inclined to do that, since they’d never been the warmest parents. But after what she’d been through, the fantasy was nice.
Mike apparently hadn’t noticed her moment of weakness, because he nodded impatiently. “Back to the US.”
She felt a brief pang at his words, but followed Mike as he slid into the undergrowth, hacking and chopping only when they reached impenetrable barriers of vines and bush. Clearly, Mike knew his survivalist stuff, which Jessica appreciated. Her parents had chosen her rescuer well.
She stared at the broad breadth of his shoulders as they walked.
Would she ever come back to Zolego? The country had been good to her, for the most part. Welcoming, caring. And she knew she’d done some good here, through her charity work and volunteering. She’d partnered with many local organizations to bring everything from medical care to education to the neediest in the country, employing locals at every step.
But she didn’t know if she could return after being kidnapped and held against her will. It wasn’t the fault of the people she’d helped. It was the rebels in the country. Even though she understood their motives, she didn’t approve of their actions. The Zolegan government was corrupt. She’d experienced that first hand, having to pay off numerous officials to continue her work, and even then they often still stood in her way.
She didn’t hate the rebels for kidnapping her. They’d been desperate, and they no doubt believed the ends justified the means. The money from her ransom could have funded their rebellion for a year, allowing them to make real inroads against the government with a stranglehold on the nation. A government with immense power.
But Jessica couldn’t quite forgive them for it, either.
Intellectually, she understood. Emotionally, she was furious.
She didn’t want to punish the people of Zolego she’d been helping because of the rebels’ actions, but she still didn’t know if she could ever return to finish her work.
At least she didn’t have to decide now. She shouldn’t even be thinking it.
She needed to focus on getting out of here first, then think about the future. Even if she didn’t come back to Zolego, there were plenty of other places that needed her help. Her heart sank, figuring most of them would be equally dangerous or unstable. She’d always known it was a risk, doing what she did. But the threat hadn’t seemed real until it actually happened.
And now she was trekking through the jungle behind a man she didn’t know, hoping to get home safely. Once she was there, she’d need to reevaluate her whole life. If she wasn’t brave enough to keep volunteering like this, what would she do? Work for her mother’s campaign?
She snorted. Not a chance.
Jessica stumbled, snapping her out of her thoughts. Mike didn’t notice, so Jessica righted herself and kept going. But her head swam as she straightened.
What was wrong with her? Had the mosquitoes Mike mentioned got to her? Her heart skipped a beat in panic. Surely she wasn’t sick? She didn’t remember getting bitten, but would she have noticed?
Wait, when was the last time she’d eaten anything? She couldn’t remember, which clued her in to the most likely cause of her dizziness. She came to a stop, breathing hard. Sweat beaded her face, making the mud mask slide over her skin. The air was like being wrapped in a humid cloud, and she struggled to suck the thick air into her lungs.
On the Move: Soldiering On Security #6 Page 2
