Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Jungle Buck (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Sealed With A Kiss Book 3)

by Margaret Madigan

  “They live high up in the trees where it’s húmedo…humid and wet…and come down once a year to mate,” Pedro said.

  “Will you ask her when they come down?”

  Matcha listened to Pedro, then shook her head and said, “Not for many months.”

  Then Melinda would have to go climbing. She spent the next half hour clarifying specific types of trees and locations, and asking questions about the secretions and how Matcha synthesized them. The salamander seemed to be the most likely candidate of study. Matcha used the secretions to vaccinate against the bite of a specific insect, but the remedy had the added side effect of preventing dementia. At least, that was Melinda’s hope.

  After her meeting with Matcha, Melinda and Pedro went back to the building in the center of the village. She found Buck, April, and Cody there. The evening came together in a warm community gathering full of food and laughter and chatter. Melinda didn’t understand most of it, and since Pedro left them to mingle with his family and friends, he didn’t sit with her to translate everything. It didn’t matter. She let it all wash over her and refill some of the emptiness that had been growing inside her, but having a new target for her research filled her with excitement more than anything.

  Having Buck, April, and Cody at her side, laughing and enjoying themselves made it even better. She felt Buck’s tension, though. He looked like he was having a great time, and he may have been, but Melinda sensed his concern about having to deal with the loggers. She shared it. While she took pleasure in the celebration, a dark cloud hung over it.

  That night as she snuggled up to Buck, a sense of urgency tugged at her. She could almost feel the loggers breathing down on them. Once again something stood in her way and threatened to hamper her research. Well, she wouldn’t let it happen this time. She was so close. She could feel it.

  “Relax,” Buck said. “You’re wound pretty damn tight tonight.”

  “I just don’t want to fail again.” The words came out more of a breath than even a whisper, but he heard her confession. Maybe not the best time to take Jayla’s advice to talk, but keeping it in felt like dancing around the enormous elephant in the room, or picking at unhealed wounds.

  She held her breath waiting for what he’d said.

  He listened and after a moment he said, “You’ll get there. I know you will.”

  “I don’t know. I hope so. But I’m afraid to hope. What if I dedicate my entire career to this and never achieve it? What if Amaranthine is my only accomplishment? I’ll go down in some dusty military archive as a mad scientist who got brave soldiers killed.”

  Tears slid down her cheek onto his chest. She hated that she felt like such a failure, but she also hated admitting it. It hurt her heart and her pride.

  Buck reached down with his fingers and lifted her chin up so she was forced to look him in the face, even if it was hard to see in the dark.

  “You’re a brilliant scientist, Mindy, and better yet you have a big heart. But you’ll never accomplish what you want to if you don’t keep trying.”

  “What if I fail?”

  “You try again. Everybody fails. But you’ll never succeed if you don’t keep trying.”

  She sniffled and settled her cheek back onto his chest. “You’re too good to be real.”

  “What?”

  “You say the right things at the right time to make me feel better. You can’t be real.”

  His quiet laugh jiggled his chest. “I’m not that good, but I’m real enough.”

  They lay in silence for a while, failure still taunting Melinda’s thought. But Buck was right, she had to keep trying. And ultimately, no matter how many times she failed Melinda didn’t think she could stop trying. Even if her emotional health tanked, her intellectual drive wouldn’t let her quit.

  “I’m sorry you got roped into talking to these people tomorrow,” she said, changing the subject.

  “I’m not really doing anything useful right now, anyway. These people need help saving their home, so it’s worth a try. I’d feel bad if I didn’t do anything.”

  She draped an arm and leg over his body and leaned up to kiss him. “If anybody can hold back the destruction of the rain forest, it’s you.”

  He snorted. “I’m glad you have such a high opinion of me, but don’t get your hopes up.”

  “You’ll always be my hero,’ she said.

  He made a self-satisfied sound that vibrated the space between them. “While I’m gone, you go climb the trees and find some salamanders. You’ve got people to save, too.”

  CHAPTER 5

  The next morning Buck rounded Pedro up and they headed through the jungle to the village Pucu and Matcha had visited. Buck insisted they skirt the village and hike directly to the logging camp. He didn’t want to waste time with pleasantries and polite chatting—or worse, more people imploring him to save them. He knew the stakes and didn’t need reminding.

  Now they stood in the forest watching the camp.

  “Why do we not go talk to them like you said?” Pedro whispered.

  “I’m doing reconnaissance,” Buck said.

  “Que?”

  “Watching them to see what I can learn. It’s always good to know your enemy before you have to deal with them,” Buck said.

  Buck brought his binoculars to his face again. So far these guys looked sketchy at best. What kind of logging company had armed mercenaries as guards? Armed to the teeth, they patrolled a clearing filled with industrial-looking equipment, a handful of tiny portable trailers, a man camp of tents and fire pits and other mundane things necessary for the loggers to live, and a small fleet of vehicles. Granted, he wasn’t familiar with rainforest logging outfits, but his WTF radar pinged watching the mercenaries. Something wasn’t right.

  He’d left his weapons back in the village, though he’d hid them to prevent anybody nosy enough to dig in their stuff from getting their hands on his guns and knives. Now he wished he’d brought something with him. Watching all those armed guards he felt naked unarmed himself.

  “C’mon Pedro. Let’s go see what they have to say.”

  He stowed his binoculars in the pack he’d brought along and slung it over his back before stepping out of the trees and down the rise they’d been standing on, into the camp.

  Several of the mercs noticed him immediately and headed their direction. They didn’t raise their weapons, but had them at the ready. They were probably bored out of their heads with the guard routine, so Buck and Pedro gave them something new and interesting to do. Their sharp eyes and tense stances said they were hungry for action. Buck didn’t like that a bit. It meant itchy trigger fingers.

  Buck lifted his hands in the air and pasted a casual smile on his face. He hoped Pedro took the hint and raised his hands too.

  One of the mercs—a white guy with a very American swagger and a buzz cut—met Buck a little way inside the camp.

  “Who are you?” he barked. The name embroidered on his fake fatigues read “Norris.” Buck stifled a snort.

  Buck put on his best calm act, glad the guy spoke English and he wouldn’t need Pedro to translate. Still, he didn’t want to trigger these wannabe soldier douchebags.

  “We’re here to talk to someone about the native villages in the path of your logging,” Buck said.

  “What about ‘em?”

  Buck lowered his hands. The guy didn’t say anything about it. Buck wanted to shake his head. Norris wasn’t very well trained. He probably didn’t feel threatened by another big white guy. First mistake on his part.

  “You in charge, Norris?”

  The guy jutted his chin. “You go through me to get to the guy in charge.”

  Buck squelched the urge to roll his eyes. “I represent an alliance of the native tribes of the Amazon,” he was making shit up at this point, trying to sound more official than he was. “And we’re issuing a cease and desist on this logging operation.”

  Norris snorted, relaxing his stance when he clearly judged Buck as n
o threat. That told Buck a couple of things; first, he might be a well-armed merc, but he’d become lazy. So, they either never faced any real threats, or they were used to being the threat that nobody fought against. Second, this operation always got what it wanted and probably both literally and figuratively bulldozed anyone who got in the way.

  Buck didn’t like bullies. His life was devoted to honor and protecting people who couldn’t protect themselves. These guys pissed him off.

  He crossed his arms and spread his feet, standing up as tall and imposing as possible. It was his military stance and usually intimidated everyone around him.

  Norris shifted just a bit. The change was subtle, but there. He recognized Buck’s authority. Buck smiled to himself. These guys liked to play at being tough, but they all lived to take orders.

  “Who’s in charge here?” Buck asked.

  “You can lodge your complaints with me and I’ll take them to the owner.”

  Buck shook his head. “Not good enough.”

  “It’s gonna have to be.”

  Buck could disarm this guy and have him down in seconds flat, but talking was a better strategy. Not that whoever owned this operation would listen to talk. With this much firepower, the company wasn’t open to discussion.

  “What’s your boss’s rationalization for stripping the forest and destroying the homes of hundreds of natives?”

  Norris sighed as if the question bored him, reinforcing Buck’s determination. He’d come into this without much motivation to succeed. Norris’s indifference changed that.

  By that time several of the other mercs had joined them, like rubbernecking a wreck.

  “We’re clearing land for farmers. The natives can move. There’s plenty of forest to live in.”

  “Not if you guys keep wiping it out,” Buck said.

  Norris just shrugged, as if it was none of his concern.

  “Look, Norris, you’re clearly not going to say shit to your boss, so in order to avoid me siccing a small army of lawyers on him, maybe we could just talk,” Buck said.

  “What’s going on here, gentlemen?”

  The voice sounded familiar, but beyond that it had steel in it below the nonchalant tone. It spoke of real military experience.

  When the man came into view, Buck couldn’t believe his eyes. “Blitz?

  The man—tall and wiry, his blond hair buzz cut as usual—smiled ear to ear when he caught sight of Buck.

  “What the hell are you doing down here, McCormick?”

  Seeing a former SEAL buddy, one who’d saved his life, in such an absurdly out of the way place, knocked Buck off his game. It came out of left field, startling him.

  “Handling security for a pharmaceutical research expedition,” he said. Then remembering why he’d come to the logging camp in the first place, he added, “And representing some of the tribes in the way of this company’s logging. What are you doing here?”

  Brian “Blitz” Eldridge, former SEAL and Buck’s previous friend walked up to Buck and put his arm around Buck’s shoulder. “I own the logging company.”

  “You own it?” Which made him responsible for all the destruction. Fuck.

  “Let’s go back to my trailer and we can talk.”

  Buck didn’t relish the conversation. Anybody else, he’d be able to face down. Some random guy, he’d be his usual tough SEAL self. Not that he’d be able to convince him to cease logging, but he’d stay focused and on task.

  But Blitz was no random guy. Buck owed Blitz his life, which meant he owed a debt to Blitz. Early on in Buck’s SEAL career, Blitz had been a senior member of Buck’s team. Everyone looked up to him, idolized him as the ideal SEAL. He’d been on more missions than the rest of them combined, and earned all kinds of accolades. He was what every SEAL wanted to be.

  On Buck’s second mission as a SEAL, things had gone south and Buck had been caught in an ambush, cut off from the rest of the team. Blitz had single-handedly taken on a half-dozen enemy fighters to get Buck out. Blitz had been badly injured, and it had brought his career to an end. Buck had been grateful for his life, but felt guilty as hell. He’d said so to Blitz when he visited him in the hospital.

  Blitz had slapped him on the shoulder and said, “Don’t worry Buck. You can owe me one.”

  Buck had never liked having that hanging over his head, and since Blitz had retired Buck had never seen him after that. So he’d always had that debt on his ledger.

  Blitz led him up the few steps and into one of the trailers.

  “Have a seat,” Blitz said.

  Buck looked around the small space. It reminded him of the FEMA trailers he’d seen, only about half the size, and with a desk surrounded by a chair behind it and one in front of it, a tiny walk-through kitchen you’d miss if you blinked, and a bedroom in the back. He assumed there was a bathroom back there somewhere.

  He settled onto the chair in front of the desk while Blitz stuck his head into a mini-fridge and came out with a couple of beers.

  He sat across the desk from Buck and offered him a bottle. They both took long swigs. Buck used the time to compose his thoughts.

  “So, what brings you to the Amazon?” Blitz asked. He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “I never expected to run into anyone I knew out here.”

  “Same,” Buck said. “I’m actually out here with my girlfriend.”

  Blitz raised a sarcastic eyebrow. “Hell of a place for a vacation.”

  “It’s work. She’s a scientist for a pharmaceutical company. She’s been working on a treatment for Alzheimer’s and she’s down here doing research with one of the tribes.”

  “And Uncle Sam didn’t have a problem with you tagging along?”

  Buck didn’t want to get into the long story about the Russian mob and Siberia and Amaranthine and almost dying. It wasn’t relevant, and he didn’t like giving anyone—even a guy he owed his life to—too much information.

  “I’m on leave after my last mission.”

  “Must be a serious relationship if you follow her all the way down here.”

  “How’d you end up all the way down here? Last I heard you lived in Idaho,” Buck asked, turning the conversation back on Blitz.

  Something about Blitz’s attitude was off. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was an accusatory edge to his voice when asking about what Buck was doing there and about Mindy. Like he didn’t like anyone knowing where he was or what he was doing. Or maybe he just didn’t like anything getting in his way.

  Blitz lifted and dropped a shoulder, then sucked another long draw from his bottle. After he swallowed, he swiped the back of his hand across his mouth and said, “When my old man died I inherited the family business—Eldridge Logging. With my military career over, building the business gave me focus. I bid all kinds of jobs, all over the world, and the company grew.”

  Buck cringed at the mention of Blitz’s military career being over. He still bore some responsibility for that.

  “You bid this job?” Buck asked.

  Blitz nodded. “Local farming consortium. Well, local to Peru. Local local farmers couldn’t afford me, but a regional consortium can. They need more land to feed more people and the only way to get it is to clear forest.”

  “You know you’re destroying rain forest and displacing people from their homes, right?”

  “Don’t tell me you’re one of those climate changing tree-huggers who think cutting down a few trees will lead to global warming and apocalypse?” Blitz snort-laughed, his contempt for ‘those’ people obvious.

  “I know enough to know it’s not good. I live with a scientist, after all. Beyond that, she’s close to curing a horrible disease and you’re heading right for the area where she’s researching.”

  “It’s a big forest. She can research somewhere else.”

  “It’s not that simple. It has to be done here. She could save millions of lives, Blitz. That’s worth a lot,” Buck said.

  “She could save lives. The difference is
by clearing this forest I will help feed people. She may not find what she’s looking for and never save one life. But I’m saving people from starving. Local farmers and people right here in Peru,” Blitz said. They sat in silence as the moments ticked away. Both causes were important, but they’d hit an impasse. Buck sucked on his beer, uncomfortably stuck between the man he owed his life to, and the woman he wanted to spend his life with. And the lives and homes of a village of natives—and who knew how many other villages behind theirs.

  Blitz finally broke the silence. “I’ll tell you what,” he said. “If your girlfriend moves her research just over the ridge, out of our way, we’ll stop there. We won’t go over. She’ll still be in the area and we’ll stay out of her way.”

  It sounded like a reasonable compromise. He’d never be able to talk Blitz into just walking away from the job completely, and even if he could there’d be another logging company right behind him willing to do the job. While feeding people was admirable, stuck between hunger and the environment, principles were more difficult to adhere to. Not that Blitz appeared to have any principles where the environment was concerned, but Mindy sure did and for the most part Buck agreed with her.

  When it came down to it, though, cutting down the rain forest was a problem bigger than one logging company, and not something he could solve single-handedly.

  “Fine,” Buck said. “I’ll take the offer back to the village and to Dr. Emerson, and let you know what they say. The village elders aren’t going to be happy about leaving their homes. It’s their ancestral land.”

  “I understand completely. But if I don’t do it someone else will. Things change and sometimes you can’t do anything but get out of the way. We’ve told them we’re willing to pay a fair price. Maybe if you present it to them they’ll listen.” Blitz held up his hands like it was all out if his control. “I wish there was something I could do, but the people I work for are working hard to take care of the people of Peru.”

  “I’ll talk to them,” Buck said, draining his beer. He stood, signaling he meant to leave. He had a lot of walking, and eventually talking to do. He wanted to get on it.