Liam nodded and led Toby back to gather their supplies and meet at the second Hummer. At this point, they’d messed up enough that they were more agreeable to Dane’s orders.
Dane returned to his tent to pack a few things and discovered his backup gun was gone. At least Eve was armed. He didn’t know whether to be relieved she’d been smart enough to pack a weapon or terrified for her safety. If she was armed, she was headed to kill a man. A man with more guns, power, and protection than the head of a small country, against a woman with a body to die for and a vendetta as large as the entire village that had been burned to the ground.
…
Eve entered the village and skirted around the outside of the camp to avoid running into anyone until she figured out a plan to infiltrate the compound. Ten minutes later, her ride arrived—an old Toyota pickup escorted by two Red Hawks. They were probably there to raid food from the place they’d already annihilated. Several of the local men brought out crates of food and medicine. Supplies the villagers needed more than the rebels. They loaded them into the back of the truck. She approached the edge of the clearing and stepped forward. One of the villagers, Henri, saw her there. He could have yelled to the fighters to give her presence away, but he didn’t, maybe because she’d spent extra time teaching his son to read. Hopefully, the child was spared in the pillaging of the village. Her stomach knotted. Keep focused. Jenny needs me and the dead were all dead. She pointed to the back of the truck to indicate where she wanted to go. Henri nodded.
He whispered into the ear of the man beside him, Ramon Something, if she remembered correctly. Henri waved her forward. Step by step she crossed the dirt courtyard to the truck, walking as though she was merely a village woman running an errand. Then she heard one of the men call out to a fighter.
“Did you want more tomatoes? I think we have another crate somewhere.”
The fighter headed toward him to debate the need for more food, and Eve hopped up on the back of the truck and wedged herself between two crates. If the men looked up, they’d see her as clearly as a crow against a blue sky. One of the women of the village came over with three sacks of rice and placed them over the crates, effectively blocking Eve from view. Wow. They were on her side. Her confidence blossomed.
What felt like a year passed before the engine turned over and the truck rumbled away from the burned-out wreckage of the village, heading into the lion’s den. There were so many ways her attempt to save Jenny could go wrong. The fighters could find her while they unpacked the truck. She could be recognized walking around the camp. She could be gunned down by Simon’s team in their attempt to save Dane’s sister. She’d acted too quickly, not thinking through the consequences of going on a solo mission. No going back now. Perhaps she could rescue Jenny and leave the revenge stuff to Dane and Simon.
The temperature cooled as the truck climbed to a higher elevation. One of the large wooden crates slipped and smashed down, slamming into her nose. She could taste the blood dripping down her face. Damn it. She wouldn’t get far looking like someone had punched her.
She shifted the box away from her and moved the rice bags to the side and then waited until they hit a turn. When the truck slowed, she leaped straight back. One moment in the air, lifting up and then falling. She tensed her muscles in preparation for the harsh landing. If she’d jumped to the side, she might have lucked out and fallen into a grassy area on the side of the road. She also would have been seen in the rearview mirror. The boxes in the back of the truck ensured no one was able to see out the back window, so she hit the dirt road instead. She’d be bruised on her back, especially with the backpack wedged into her side with nothing too soft to land on. The truck continued down the dirt road that led to her destination. For several minutes, she remained on the ground, watching the truck driving away and hoping they didn’t notice the large lump lying in pain behind them. She squeezed her nose, like she had as a child, to stop the steady stream of blood. Once she made it into the woods, she rinsed her face and prepared for the hike up the rest of the mountain.
A hug and some comfort from Dane would feel great about now, but he might not be in the mood to comfort her after her abrupt departure. A thought prickled in the back of her mind. Did he assist in drugging her and help plan to send her away? He’d fought to have her on his team, agreed to send her to Mexico to sell the sniper rifles, and even helped her learn to use the weapon. Don’t rush to conclusions. Simon was more likely than not behind this. He’d already told her in a hundred different ways that he was hesitant to have her in the field. She’d wait to pass judgment on Dane until she saw him again.
Dirt covered part of her clothes. She brushed herself off and, after a quick drink of water, headed into the woods. The compound didn’t have a fence, but it did have cameras, and she needed to avoid them. Could she make out any cameras attached to trees? Nope. Maybe they weren’t there, or maybe she had no idea what to look for. She walked a few steps and then stopped again. She’d never been taught how to infiltrate an enemy camp, and the last time she’d walked into this one, they saw her coming. A different approach was necessary. She pulled out a large black scarf from her backpack and covered part of her face, as many local women did to avoid the sun, dust, bugs, and bad hair days. A confident walk straight into the camp would be the safest manner of entry, cameras be damned.
…
Knowing Eve was headed into hell to save his sister screwed with Dane’s psyche in a hundred different ways. He had a team of the best warriors looking for his sister which allowed his mind to remain on his wife. His wife. The woman he wanted with him forever. And damn it all, Eve made forever damn near impossible. Hopefully, she’d rendezvous with Gunther, and he could keep her contained until they arrived. Eve’s intelligence and instincts, however, could outmatch the skill of most of the team members.
Joe had been monitoring the cameras they’d set up, and no activity had been reported in the area. Once the second Hummer was packed, Dane, Liam, and Toby set out to rendezvous with Gunther. They stopped in the village to see if anyone had seen Eve. Nothing. Or if they had seen her, they weren’t saying. She wouldn’t remain there anyway. Not when Jenny was up at the compound. The hike, however would take all day and through the night.
They parked the Hummer in the same location they’d left it the first time they’d driven up the mountain.
“Liam, take the group up. If it’s clear, go. I’ll follow when I reestablish communication with Gunther. He’s not responding.”
“What about Joe?”
“I just spoke with him. Mitch and Simon are back at base. They didn’t find Eve.” Dane pulled out a tablet with a satellite map. “If I don’t hear back from Gunther in twenty minutes, I’m calling you all back here. Otherwise, reconvene with him and head in. The generator is located in the back of the bright blue building. Here.” He pointed on the map to a small red-tile roofed building on the edge of the compound. “Take it out and then hit the main house. Jenny should be there.” Standing in the background was not his favorite place to be on a mission, but, in this case, it was necessary. The team had more experience. They could handle the matter. In and out.
“You’re not rushing in to support your wife?”
“You’ve led your team before. They trust you. It’ll be more efficient if I don’t run around half-cocked because Eve disappeared. Am I happy about it? No. But I’ll kick her ass later.” And then hold her so close, she’d need to exhale when he inhaled.
Liam nodded and waved Toby over, then the two of them headed into the jungle.
Dane spent the next twenty minutes monitoring the cameras and trying to contact Gunther. Nothing. He contacted the team to tell them Gunther had disappeared.
“We’re too close to the generator. We can handle this if you give us a few more minutes,” Liam complained over the radio.
“Gun’s MIA. Return to base.”
“Not yet.”
Son of a bitch. This was why Dane preferred working alone
—idiots who didn’t know how to take orders.
“Joe, you reach Gun yet?”
“No. His radio’s on, but I can’t pinpoint the location.”
Liam contacted Dane. His sentences were garbled and unintelligible. Shots were fired in the background and then the radio went dead.
“Liam? Answer me.” Dane called into the radio. There was no reply. “Joe, I’ve got two men non-responsive.”
“I can’t reach Toby, either. Do you want Simon and Mitch to head up?”
“Have them on standby. Tell them to prepare to move to my location if I need backup.”
He checked out the cameras Simon’s team had set up earlier, rewinding and watching the past hour. Nothing of interest moved in the area. Had Gunther wandered too close to the compound and ended up under Red Hawk surveillance? Dane waited a few more minutes and received no contact from anyone near the compound. He seemed like the last man standing. Except for Eve.
“Joe, I’m going in. Keep radio monitoring silent. If you don’t hear from me or anyone else in an hour, send Simon and Toby up and prepare to evacuate to a lower point down the mountain.” Simon, however, wasn’t nearly as good as Dane in the field without a large team supporting him. Dane needed to get in and out on his own to ensure the mission succeeded.
He walked part way up to the compound along the same route they’d traveled that morning. He then veered off farther into the underbrush. The walking was slower and messier—not many men liked to be surrounded by thorns, snakes, and unknowns. He needed stealth to evade the security placed around the compound by the Red Hawks. Within a quarter mile, he was on his stomach moving inch by inch under bushes, on alert for any sound.
Although the sun was dropping fast and limiting his ability to see colors with clarity, he noticed fresh blood splattered across a few small trees almost a mile from where he’d started his trek. He paused and waited until ten minutes passed with no movement before approaching the area. The worse case scenario had occurred. Man down. Gunther’s bloody body had been placed face up to show the extent of the devastation. His hands were tied behind him. He’d taken a bullet to the neck, just below his helmet.
Dane continued moving up the mountain. A brisk wind masked the crunching of leaves and twigs under his feet. His movement out of the brush to check on Gunther must have given away his location to a camera or other monitoring device, because a soldier trotted through the woods toward him. He pointed an AK-47 at Dane. More annoyed with the delay than nervous, Dane lifted his arms to surrender. The soldier moved forward with a self-satisfied grin.
Dane had slid a knife out of his sleeve and into the palm of his hand an instant before he held his hands over his head. The blade rested flat toward his wrist. He stepped up in surrender mode, as close to his enemy as he could go without drawing suspicion. Two more steps, then one and…
The AK-47 was now held too tight to the soldier’s body to use effectively. Dane grabbed the man’s hair with one hand and slit his throat with his knife. Besides the obscene amount of blood, the man fell without a struggle and without a whimper.
Dane wiped the blood from the knife on his victim’s sleeve and continued on. His focus on the mission, his morals pushed back into black areas of his mind.
If Simon’s professionals were failing to outsmart these armed rebels, how would Eve survive?
…
Eve entered the compound without incident because of the sunset. With the final rays of the sun creating interesting patterns and muted colors across the landscape, she strode into the courtyard without any attempt at hiding her presence and headed to the house, the place where the team had last spotted Jenny.
Five or so women were finishing work in the beautiful garden surrounding the house. Buckets held weeds and clipped flower buds awaiting transport to a compost pile somewhere away from the perfection of the main house. Eve edged her way between two bushes and kneeled to simulate weeding or some other task a gardener would be doing. She remained about forty feet away from the nearest person to keep someone from speaking to her. It worked. The other women ignored her as they picked up their tools and buckets and departed the area. The darkness provided a perfect cover for her within the bushes until she rallied her confidence to make the trip to the back of the house and an entrance more likely to be open and unguarded.
A loud commotion from the edge of the jungle caught her attention before she left the safe confines of the bushes. Two men in camouflage walked with their hands over their heads, followed by armed fighters. Eve’s ability to breathe stopped. Was Dane one of the men? Eve pushed down the panic rising from her stomach and tried to steady her shaking hands. They’d be useless if she needed to shoot something.
With a slow and controlled knee bend, she lowered herself onto her stomach to watch from under the bushes. The men were prisoners. There were five fighters, armed and ready to kill, versus the two prisoners. The first man was short and dark haired. Toby. He was limping on his right leg, but otherwise appeared in good health. The other one was tall like Dane, but his blond hair and mannerisms suggested it was Liam. Dane moved with the grace of a cat, whereas Liam had distinct, military precision. Her throat finally released its stranglehold on her, and she rose onto her feet. While everyone in camp was focused on the prisoners, Eve moved to the back of the house and entered without any trouble.
She wiped her feet on the rug at the door. An odd thing, perhaps, when a person wasn’t an invited guest, but wet, muddy footprints would lead people straight to her. The house had two floors and maybe a basement, but probably not. This was an extremely rocky area. Blasting a basement wouldn’t be worth the effort. She tried to act casually in case someone found her in the wrong place, but her hand had started shaking, and her heart was pumping furiously. She checked every door she came upon. None were locked, yet all the rooms were empty of life. A muffled voice caught her attention from farther down the hall to the right. She managed to take soft steps, using the woven rugs placed over tile floors, toward the sounds.
The hallway opened into a large living room—the one she and Dane had spent a frustrating few hours in, getting to know each other and trying to convince Juan Carlos and his wife that they’d known each for a long time. A chair moved in the dining room. Damn. She ducked behind the sofa and waited. Her gun wasn’t in her hand, because she didn’t want to kill again. She didn’t even want to injure someone. Would it be possible to remain working for Simon without ever shooting a gun at another human being again? She’d try. Although right now, her focus should be grabbing Jenny and getting out of this spot.
She pinched her nose to slow the bleeding, and tried not to think about the pain.
The sound in the dining room had been Liliana. Jenny limped behind her. They paused at the front window, and then headed to the door. Jenny’s sobs echoed across the room. Eve almost went to help her, but held back.
Heavy footsteps came from the front foyer. Was Liliana bringing Jenny to her execution, or rescuing her?
“Liliana? She is not free to go,” Juan Carlos said in Spanish.
“Please, she’s an innocent woman.”
“Don’t challenge me.”
“No. I do not agree with this.” Liliana could be heard running, or was that Jenny?
Eve heard a commotion and then a gunshot. A woman screamed. Who? What? Damn it.
Staying put wasn’t easy, but she couldn’t rush into an unknown situation, so she rested in a squatted position until the time was right. The terror coursed through her body, but she held in her emotions to keep from giving away her location.
…
“Joe, you there?” Dane spoke into the radio in an almost whisper as he trekked toward the camp.
“Good to hear from you. No one else is responding.”
“Gunther’s shot. Recovery only.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. Liam and Toby are still MIA. Can you find them on satellite?”
“Not easily. The satellite system sucks right now.
It’s like we were pushed from what we normally use to something less powerful.”
Cassie. She must have pulled out before going to the hospital so the owner of the system couldn’t track who was linking in. “Keep trying.”
Dane had another two hours to herd everyone down the mountain. And for once, he didn’t think he could do this alone.
…
Heavy steps moved in Eve’s direction. She crouched lower and slowed her body to a silent pattern of survival breathing, not loud enough to be heard, but enough to keep her alive and alert. One large gulp left her throat tighter than before and Eve concentrated on placing her body in suspended animation using the steady breathing techniques she’d learned while scuba diving, adapted for survival in a drug lord’s lair.
Long breath in; long, slow, silent breath out. Repeat. Stay calm. Don’t move.
There was a scuffle and someone whimpered. Jenny? Damn, it would be easier if she could see what was happening only steps from her.
“I cannot tolerate disloyaty.” It was Juan Carlos, but there was another man nearby.
“Too bad. Your wife was pretty.” Federico? It was definitely his voice. She’d heard it only a few days ago in Mexico. Why was he here in Columbia?
“If I can’t trust her, she is nothing to me. Put the girl back in the other room, and do not take any additional time with her. Not yet. I want to watch the execution of Mr. Dunn’s invincible team.”
A woman exhaled in a huff as though someone had yanked her off the ground. Probably Jenny.
“I’ll be right back,” Federico called out.
The sound of Jenny struggling stung Eve’s ears. At least she was alive. She had a chance.
Juan Carlos lit a cigar. The smoke filled her sinuses. She held back a sneeze. He paced across the living room. Four steps in one direction, pivot, four steps the opposite way.
When Federico returned, the men departed.
True Peril Page 21
