Fatal 5

by Karin Kaufman

  Jake turned and sped back to the stream.

  * * *

  Eve lowered herself flat against the ground beneath a thick patch of green brush. She could see up through the leaves, but she was sure no one could see her. Immediately, a host of tiny, multiple-legged creatures invaded her body and clothes. No matter. They were nothing compared to the two-legged creatures hunting her.

  The man she had seen return the boat to the yacht came first. He wore glasses and was short and slender, darker-skinned than the other two Filipinos. She barely glimpsed his grim face as he dashed by, pistol swinging in his right hand.

  The second man took her breath away. Her bones chilled to ice. He was taller than Jake, layered in muscles, dark-complected but not fully Filipino. Scars carved pale ridges across his face.

  The Boss. Whimpers crawled up her throat.

  The man ran at a slower pace than his companion ahead of him. The first man’s task must have been to catch up with her. This monster’s was to search the vegetation for her. The stench of her fear radiated into her nostrils.

  The ground shook as he approached. His eyes raked through the layers of brush and leaves and branches. She closed her eyes. Nausea swept over her. Suddenly she was back in The Dream. Wolves were after her, closing in on her. Only it wasn’t a dream. In a flash, she realized the wolves were men—both in her dream, and now, in reality.

  “Eduardon!”

  Eve blinked.

  The black eyes of the monster found hers. Held them. She couldn’t look away.

  Feet pounded on the path. The little man arrived, panting.

  “There, in the bushes.”

  The foliage crunched as Eduardon stepped toward her. The trance broke. She bolted.

  Heavier feet trampled the vegetation behind her. A vise clamped onto her arm. She was jerked backwards. A hollow laugh boomed in her ears.

  “Look what scampered out of the bushes.”

  Mousemeat.

  She screamed at the top of her lungs.

  Chapter 59

  The scream stopped Jake short. His heart lurched as he recognized it was Eve. What was she doing out of the cave? Had the man found it and seized the women? Or had Eve ventured out alone and been caught?

  The racket of a struggle downstream spurred him to action. He crashed heedlessly into the foliage, using the noise from the ruckus to cover his rapid advance. If only he’d headed this way in the first place, instead of chasing after the monkeys.

  A tall, muscular man had ahold of Eve. His hand was clamped over her mouth, but he was having difficulty subduing her. She thrashed about wildly, her eyes bulging from their sockets. Her captor, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying the scuffle. Jake flared red with rage.

  He spotted a second man standing out of the way of Eve’s flailing arms and legs. The little guy with glasses from the motorboat. The one he’d intended to ambush.

  With Eve’s resistance distracting the men, Jake sneaked up behind the smaller one and rammed the pistol into his back. “Drop your weapon, now.”

  “What the—?” The man glanced over his shoulder. His nostrils flared, and he dropped his pistol.

  Eve stopped struggling. Her captor shifted so that he stood with Eve in front of him.

  “Let her go,” Jake growled.

  “You have a pistol in Eduardon’s back?”

  “I do.”

  The man pulled out his own pistol and gouged it into Eve’s temple. “I’m going to count to three. If I get that far and you’re still there running off your mouth, I’m going to put a hole in your girlfriend’s head. So think about your situation: if you kill Eduardon, you lose your shield and I shoot you.” He grinned, showing broken teeth. “You see, the real problem here is that you care about this female, but I don’t care about Eduardon —and that means I win.”

  Jake didn’t dare take a chance. He dropped his pistol.

  “Get down on your knees.”

  Jake complied. Eduardon removed the katana sword and bayonets from their scabbards and flung them into the jungle. Then he picked up Jake’s discarded pistol and examined it. “It’s Miguel’s.”

  “Where are my other two men?”

  “Dead.”

  “Both of them?”

  “Yes.”

  The captor bore his gun barrel further into Eve’s skull, and she gasped in pain. Jake’s eyes snapped to her face.

  “You want me to be nice to your girlfriend, you don’t try anything funny. Now, you get up and you walk all the way down to the beach with Eduardon here. And you,” he barked at Eduardon, “you keep both eyes and both pistols on him. Don’t hesitate to shoot, any excuse you want.”

  At the beach, Eduardon retrieved rope from the motorboat and under the big man’s instructions stood Jake face out against the scrubby tree Betty had sat under a year ago with her injured foot. He looped Jake’s chest in three tight circles around the tree, bound his wrists in back of the trunk, and finished with a last loop pinning Jake’s feet in place.

  Eve’s captor dumped her on the ground nearby and told Eduardon to guard her. She collapsed onto the sand and remained motionless, her eyes dazed.

  “So you killed my two men.” The big man thrust his face only inches away from Jake’s. The man’s breath stank of rotten teeth.

  When Jake refused to answer, the man turned to the side, whipped back, and rammed his right elbow into Jake’s solar plexus. The air hurtled out of Jake’s lungs and his head lunged forward.

  “Nothing to say about what you did to them?”

  Jake couldn’t move. When he finally could breathe, he glanced at Eve. She was sitting up straight, widened eyes glued to his, mouth agape. Her chest shook in stuttered gasps.

  His tormentor looked from Jake to her and back. He stepped away, then slammed his right fist into Jake’s lowest right rib. “Oh, was that a rib I heard crack?”

  Eve whimpered, and he smiled at Jake.

  He slammed his left fist into Jake’s lowest left rib. “Let’s make this even now. Two cracked ribs.” He laughed uproariously, as if he and Jake were having fun. “In fact, let’s just work our way up, rib by rib, you think?”

  “Stop!” Eve rose to her feet.

  The monster whipped around. “Did you tell me to stop?” He took a threatening step toward her.

  Eve rocked back on her feet, as if the force of his words had nearly tumbled her over.

  Quickly, Jake twisted his bound fists around the trunk and fumbled at extracting his knife from his belt. No one had thought to search him after discarding his sword and bayonets. Finding the knife, he palmed it, straightened, and began sawing the cords on his wrists. If Eve could hold the men’s attention for only a few minutes, he would be free.

  * * *

  Eve stumbled backwards to catch her balance. Had she really told the monster to stop? Her heart thumped so hard, her ankles shook.

  “You don’t like my fun with your boyfriend?” The brute tromped over and latched beefy fists onto her shoulders. “Don’t worry, my pretty, I have other plans for your ribs.” He shoved her at Eduardon. “Put her in the boat.”

  She fell against the little man, head spinning, legs numb as he tugged her to the motorboat. He pushed her over the side and she landed, groaning, on her sore ribs. Betty’s sea chowder spurted out of her mouth.

  Outside the boat, Eduardon’s face reflected her terror. Her heart jumped. Maybe he wasn’t a wolf like the others. “Please.” She sat up, choking on a second wave of bile. “Help me.”

  Fear tightened the skin around his eyes. “Shut up.”

  He backed away and shifted his gaze up the stream. A huff of surprise shot from his mouth. The boat tilted as she swung around to look.

  Jake was free, locked in battle with the other man. The brute threw Jake to the ground and kicked out savagely. He missed as Jake rolled away and scrambled to his feet. A hard punch sent Jake sprawling again. This time the monster’s foot made contact. Jake grabbed it and jerked the man off his feet. Jake po
unced on him, but staggered backwards when sand was thrown into his face.

  Eduardon watched with the glee of a spectator in a ringside seat.

  Eve slipped cautiously to the stern of the boat, within an arm’s reach of the motor. Her heart leaped. Yes, the key was in the starter. As unobtrusively as possible, she rocked the boat. Inch by inch, it eased away from the beach. If Eduardon looked at her, she would hang her head over the side and pretend the sway of the boat was caused by her vomiting.

  But Eduardon remained caught up in the fight. She rocked harder, holding her breath. Grain by grain, the boat slid over the wet sand.

  She was an easy target for Eduardon’s pistols. Her breath stiff in her throat, she wormed her way to the motor. Would he shoot her when she tried to escape? Or wade in and chase her? She scooted an oar toward her for a weapon. And if he shot her? She shuddered. Anything was preferable to becoming the monster’s prey aboard that yacht.

  Eduardon stiffened, and for the second time, she glanced at the fight. Jake was dominating. He landed a blow to the thug’s sternum, a right to his jaw, another left to his sternum, another right to his jaw. The big man seesawed back and forth with each blow. At the third repeat, he collapsed. Jake leaped for the rope and hog-tied him.

  “Hey!” Eduardon charged up the beach to the stream.

  Eve grabbed the rip cord and pulled. Three times. Silence.

  Gas. She squeezed the primer bulb on the fuel line. Her heartbeat outpaced her desperate squeezes. Was the motor in neutral? Yes. She tried the rip cord again. Silence.

  She didn’t dare look upstream at the men. Beads of sweat ran into her eyes.

  She tugged on a small, red knob—the choke? This time she stood and jerked the rip cord all the way out. Four times. On the fourth, the motor roared to life.

  The hairs on the back of her neck prickled. They would know now. They’d come after her.

  She mashed the motor into reverse. It vaulted off the sand into the water, throwing her to her knees. Her forehead smacked the closest seat. Blood trickled onto her eyelids.

  Eduardon ran toward her from the stream, shooting wildly with each pistol. “Stop!”

  She gained control of the motor and shifted it into forward, tipping the motor to veer left. This time she braced herself for its leap and gunned it full speed ahead. Her spine tingled, waiting for the impact of a bullet.

  Only when she arrived at the mouth of the cove did she look back.

  Eduardon stood watching her, ankle-deep in the water. His arms hung at his side, pistols dangling. Ha ha! She wanted to wave. Stick out her tongue. Laugh hysterically. She had gotten away scot-free!

  What about Jake? She scanned the area between the beach and jungle. Surely he had escaped into the rain forest before Eduardon arrived with his guns. She would hide with the motorboat in one of the tiny inlets and come back later. Later—after the yacht sailed away. She shivered. After the chance of becoming mousemeat was gone. No matter how long the pirates took, she would wait. Never, ever, would she let them capture her again.

  But Jake and the other man were still punching it out near the three trees. She blinked. Hadn’t Jake tied the man up?

  The scene sorted itself out, and her heart thudded to a stop. They weren’t fighting. Instead, one man was pommeling the other. Battering him. Striking him with hammer blow after hammer blow while the victim hung tied by his hands to the tree.

  Jake would never do that.

  The monster would.

  She melted into sobs. Jake must have yielded to Eduardon’s guns to give her time to get away. How long had she taken? And all the while, Jake had kept his eye on her. Waited for her to figure out the motor. Let them tie him to a tree and beat him up.

  While she ran.

  The brute would kill him.

  In a daze, she cut the motor. She inhaled a shivering breath. Exhaled a prayer for help. Her heartbeat calmed.

  At the sudden silence, the man swiveled around to stare at her.

  “I’ll make you a deal,” she shouted. Her stomach felt knifed in two, but her terror was clamped in tight reins. “An exchange. The motorboat and me . . . for his life.”

  The brute twisted back and punched Jake full in the face. Jake’s head lunged forward. His body slumped until its full weight hung on his wrists.

  “Okay, start swimming!” She started the motor and headed for the open sea.

  Chapter 60

  After a minute—enough time to make her departure believable anyway—Eve glanced back. Both pirates stood on the beach, the shorter one waving for her attention. Funny he didn’t shoot his pistols to gain her attention. Was he out of bullets . . . or saving them for her head? Her stomach melted to hot lead. Her heartbeat tapped faster. She made a U-turn and returned, cutting the motor at a distance she hoped a bullet couldn’t reach.

  “Do we have a deal?”

  “Yes, come get us,” Eduardon yelled.

  Under better circumstances, she would have laughed. “I’ll meet you at the yacht.”

  “Don’t you want to check out your friend?”

  She stood with the rip cord ready to yank. “Yes. Prove he’s alive, or I leave.”

  Even at a distance, the big man’s murmur to Eduardon sent chills down her spine. She swallowed three times to keep her terror under control. Eduardon trotted up the stream to where Jake hung by his hands, still in a slump. He slapped Jake twice on the face.

  Jake raised his head. It wasn’t hard to imagine his groan as his chin slipped back to his chest.

  But he was alive. And the sooner she got the yacht out of there, the sooner Betty and Crystal could free him.

  The cost to her own life was worth it. A sweet relief filled her soul, and she knew it was from God.

  As soon as the two men splashed into the cove, she restarted the motor and sped to the yacht. The pirates had submitted to her demand way too easily. No question but that they had something up their sleeve. She needed to outwit them before they reached the yacht.

  She idled the motor when she arrived. Immediately, the swimmers altered their paths to intercept her.

  Of course, that was what they wanted—the motorboat. Then they not only had her, but they could swiftly return to finish off Jake.

  Well, they could have the boat. But first, they’d have to chase it.

  She aimed the bow at the cove’s entrance, set the motor to full throttle, and jumped off. She treaded water to see if it stayed true to its destination or curved away with no hand to steer it.

  It sped straight ahead and out the cove as if drawn by a magnet.

  Then, what had to be the beefy hand of the monster pushed her head under water.

  * * *

  “No, Eve, they’ll kill you,” Jake howled. But she jumped out of the motorboat instead of riding it to freedom. He struggled against the rope dangling him inches above the ground. Eve’s captors mounted the yacht’s ladder, lugging her after them by her right arm as if she were a string of fish. He needed to get loose, needed to rescue her.

  He spun around to the tree trunk and walked himself up it. The rope cut deeply into his wrists, so that it took three tries to reach the limb. Though the branch had borne his weight under the brutal attack of his torturer, it broke as soon as Jake climbed onto it. He smacked against the packed earth and cried out. Every bone, every muscle, every organ in his torso clamored.

  He gulped in a breath and hurried to slip the rope off the severed branch and free his hands. The yacht motor purred to life and the boat dashed out the cove before he broke loose.

  “Noooooo!” Biting back an avalanche of pain, he staggered up the incline between the stream and cave. The pirates must be chasing the motorboat Eve had set loose.

  “Jake!” Crystal peered up at him from the trench. Behind her, Betty hobbled toward them like a three-legged frog in a race. He slid down and hugged them. “We saw them take Eve,” Crystal bawled. “What are we going to do?”

  “They’ll come back for me. I’ll rescue her th
en.” He ran the length of the trench and climbed to the small plateau over the cave. The yacht was a white speck on the immense blue of the ocean.

  His heartbeat accelerated. They’d return any minute. He needed a plan. Some way to board the yacht. Gain their weapons. Free Eve.

  But the white pinpoint disappeared over the horizon. He stared at it in disbelief.

  Crystal scrambled up beside him. “Where’s the yacht?”

  The answer drowned in a boil of darkness rising within him. He pushed it back. Waited for the boat to reappear. The darkness churned higher. He stood. Sat. Watched. Waited. Nothing changed on the horizon.

  Trembling, he descended to the trench. Crystal followed and shrank wide-eyed against Betty as he paced back and forth. The darkness pressed harder. His chest heaved with the weight of drawing his breath.

  The darkness clawed for release. Why should he hold it in? Hadn’t evil wiped out his future with Ginny? Then demolished any hope of one with Eve?

  A shard tore away and rushed to the surface. Why hadn’t God protected them? Weren’t believers the beloved of God, committed to His care? What hope was there if God wouldn’t look out for them?

  The darkness surged upward and exploded to the surface. “Why didn’t You do something, God? What’s wrong with You!”

  Shaking so violently he couldn’t walk, he halted near the Lone Soldier. His hand hovered over the sun-bleached skull, then reached down and wrenched the skull free. With all his might, he hurled it at the sky. It arced up and up, penetrating the deep dome of the heavens—the same heavens that had sheltered two lighters before they shattered fragments of people over the sea. The same heavens that had curved over a white pearl of a yacht before it disappeared over the horizon.

  Betty’s gasp stabbed his ears. He stood, dumbfounded, as if the skull had rocketed itself upward under its own volition. It sped upwards, growing tinier and tinier, until suddenly, as if batted by an invisible hand, it turned and plunged back to earth.