But what if-
If we dont walk out by tomorrow morning, were all dead or about to be dead. Nothing you can do will save us at that point.
Her eyes went big and dark with apprehension. You have to make this work, John. For us.
For them. The words were like Cupids arrow straight through his heart, sharp with pain and soothing with balm at the same time. Honey, Im gonna do my level best.
She smiled up at him, and he leaned down to kiss her. He paused, inches from her mouth. Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?
She laughed up at him and reached up behind his neck to drag him down for a kiss. I love you, John Hollister.
He lifted away from her far enough to gaze down into her warmlovingeyes. I love you, too.
Still fresh on their lips, the words flavored their kiss of farewell with unbearable sweetness. They broke the contact with the greatest of reluctance, and it took all the strength of will he had to straighten up and take a step back from her.
Go get em, tiger, she murmured.
He grinned jauntily. A walk in the park, darlin.
But when he turned to walk away, a suspicious wetness on his cheeks threatened to smear his greasepaint.
Chapter 14
Melina stared at the maps John had left with her until she could see every last detail of them perfectly in her minds eye. Much of the terrain she recognized from their trek into this valley, and it helped her to visualize what the various routes John had marked on the map would look like on the way out. She snacked on one of the power bars hed left her and sipped at one of the bottles of water in her pack.
And she waited.
It was nerve-racking in the extreme to just sit here like this, with no idea what John was doing at this exact moment, not knowing whether her family was all right, or whether Huayar had lost patience with her and decided to kill them all. She told herself a hundred times that Huayar wanted the drug formula bad enough to wait for her to show up, especially since John had made a big deal of the fact that they were going to take their sweet time getting here. It would be all right. It would be all right. It would be
Although she didnt think it would ever get there, the sun finally began to dip into the west, sliding down toward the line of mountains behind her. She couldnt see the mountains because of the thick canopy of forest overhead, but she felt their massive presence looming, solid and immovable, measuring time in eons her puny human mind couldnt begin to comprehend.
John should be in position near the camp by now. Hed told her his goal was to get close to the camp today, so that as soon as it got dark he could start his move into the compound. She couldnt imagine how he planned to work his way right into the middle of a heavily populated place like that, but he seemed confident he could pull it off. And since their future rested on it, she had faith he was plenty motivated to succeed.
She was so proud of his progress. He really seemed to have turned the corner last night when he finally gave himself permission to consider staying alive. Once hed made that leap, the rest of it had been easy. Hed figured out immediately that the best way to honor the memories of his fallen comrades was to stay alive and keep their memories alive in his heart. Shed seen the whole argument play out in his wonderfully expressive eyes. She hadnt done half-bad for only having one rotation in medical school in psychiatric counseling. But she still wanted him to talk to a pro when they got home.
She occupied herself for a while imagining moving to Timbalo, the island where Pirate Petes delivery service was based. It was a sleepy little place, sunny and golden and sexywith John around, she could definitely see herself living there.
That was, assuming Huayar and company could be persuaded to leave her the heck alone, and she didnt have to go into hiding or take even more drastic measures. Shed hate to undergo plastic surgery or give up all contact with her family after fighting so hard to get them back. But if shed learned nothing else from John, it was that sometimes extreme measures were necessary to stay alive. After finding him, shed do whatever it would take to have a future with him.
The sun slid below the mountains, unseen, and the light began to fade around her. The vivid greenery faded to olive, and then to gray. Night creatures began their chorus, and she shrugged into the sweatshirt John had thoughtfully left for her. A macaw screeched nearby and she about had heart failure before she recognized the distinctive caw. But then she settled down once more and began to wait in earnest. John was actually moving into the camp now.
And then she began to worry.
How long she sat there, feeling useless and exposed by turns, she didnt know. Impatience built in her, a restless need to move. To know what was going on. But John had been adamant. She was supposed to stay right here. At all costs. An hour passed. Two. And the tension of waiting became nearly unbearable.
Then the screams began.
They started as a series of indistinct sounds coming from the direction of Huayars camp, and grew into a horrible sound of fear and pain. Oh, God. Had they discovered John? Her palms broke out in a cold sweat. She prayed fervently that he was safe and still hidden.
But then the screams morphed into something sharper. More urgent. It was definitely the sound of someone in terrible trouble. Her entire body broke out in a cold sweat. Panic made her shaky, and a need to do something dug into her until she thought shed tear her hair out.
The thick vegetation distorted the noise, making it bounce crazily around her until she could hardly tell where it came from. But it was definitely the sound of torture. Was that John? Should she do something? Hed said to stay here. But, if he was in trouble, she couldnt do nothing.
He would tell her there wasnt anything she could do. Hed tell her to leave. To save herself. Except everyone she loved was down there in that camp. What did saving herself matter if her parents and her brother and her lover all died?
Another scream split the night. She about leaped out of her skin at the piercing sound of human agony. Ohgodohgodohgod
Was that her mother or father? Mike? Now what was she supposed to do? She had to take action. It would kill her not to.
A new scream erupted, louder and even more agonized than the last one. She stood up. Took a step forward, then crouched back into place. Should sheJohn had said to staybut someone was in troublewhat could she doshe wouldnt know if she could help until she saw what was going on
She inched forward, relieved beyond all reason to be moving, to be acting upon the adrenaline pounding frantically through her. Shed just creep a little closer. Shed go slow like John talked about. Shed stick to the shadows, and only go close enough to catch a glimpse of what was going on. Shed be careful.
Thankfully, because of the maps hed made her study all afternoon, she had little trouble staying oriented as she moved toward Huayars camp. If she slid to the left a bit, the map showed a high outcropping that overlooked the camp nicely. She should be able to crawl out on it and get a decent view of what was happening below without ever coming much closer to the camp than she was now.
In theory it was an easy task. Except she failed to take into account the paralyzingly thick vegetation, the even more paralyzing open patches of ground, and the sick nausea of fear rumbling in her gut. Every time another scream pierced the night, she lurched, pushing herself to keep moving forward, to set aside her own safety and keep pressing closer to the danger.
How on Gods green earth did John do this so casually? It was a no-brainer to guess that hed been a soldier of some kind before he got shot. Hed referred to his Special Forces skills just before he left, in fact. Her heart was about to pound right out of her chest, and she was alone and safe in the shadows. What must he be experiencing, down among Huayars men in the open, without cover to speak of? Please, God, let that not be John down there, his voice growing hoarse from his screams
Finally, she crouched behind the drooping branches of a tree fern and peered out at the rocky outcropping shed sought. Yikes. It was really open out there. Only rocks and moss for cover. She shed her backpack and lay down on her belly. She commenced edging forward, and rapidly gained new respect for snails. The further out the ledge she went, the dumber an idea it seemed. She was way exposed out here. But John wouldve taken a risk like this for her-heck, was taking a greater risk for her at this very minute.
Just a little bit further, and then shed be able to see down into Huayars camp. She dragged herself forward a few more inches on her elbows, and then froze, staring down in horror.
A tiny red dot illuminated the top of her right hand. It slid up her arm, across her shirt pocket and disappeared, presumably centering itself somewhere in the middle of her forehead. She dropped flat, breathing hard. Crap. Shed watched enough television shows to know that was a laser sight from a rifle. She waited for the bullet to slam into her entirely vulnerable flesh. But nothing happened.
Her body went hot, then cold. And belatedly, her brain kicked back into gear. That had to be one of Huayars men. Of course they wouldnt shoot her-Huayar wanted to take her alive! The sniper had probably radioed down to the camp that hed spotted her. Heck, there was probably a welcoming party of armed men heading for her position right now.
She jumped up and took off running, heedless of the sniper tracking her movements. She had to get back into the trees. Out of sight. She crashed past the tree fern, not bothering to scoop up her backpack. Bug spray and spare bottles of water were meaningless to her if Huayars men caught her.
Faint crashing sounds came from behind her.
She put on a new burst of speed. She tried to traverse the steep mountainside on the assumption that Huayars men would expect her to run downhill. Oh, how tempted she was to barrel down the slope. But she was pretty sure that path spelled disaster.