Chapter 3
CHAPTER 3
T hey kept going, despite the downpour.
Hawk didn’t mind the rain. In fact, in this heat, he relished it. It reminded him of his days in the SEALs—trudging through jungle training, sweat dripping down his back, boots squelching through the mud. That had been a long time ago—it felt like a lifetime now.
The familiar resolve settled on him. The exertion calmed him, and his mind zeroed in on the task at hand. When you were put to the test, you focused on the little things—the elements you could control. The path ahead, the next step, the feel of the wetness on your face.
It felt good. Fuck, it felt amazing.
For the first time in God only knew how long, he felt alive.
“You okay?” Lexi turned her head. She’d been marching ahead of him, backpack on her slim frame, boots steady and consistent. She had an easy walking style that he admired—especially from behind. Smart, sassy, and cute in a dynamite package, even without makeup and her hair still pulled back in that schoolgirl ponytail.
“Great,” he grinned back, then saw her frown, confused.
She made a refreshing change from the endless string of pampered, coiffed, and self-absorbed women he usually dated. Not by choice, mind you—they were the only women he met, the only ones who hung out in his social circles. Unless he started online dating or paid for the service, he was unlikely to meet anyone else.
Lexi.
He wondered what that was short for. Alexandra?
There was something about her… the fierce defense of the sanctuary, her passion for her job, her love of wildlife… Something that struck a chord in him. Maybe because it reminded him of when he used to feel like that.
But that sensation had long since faded. Running a company, solving problems, driving a desk had made sure of that. He’d thought that was what he wanted—a way to make a real difference instead of kicking down doors and taking out the bad guys. That was important, but he quickly realized there would always be more doors, more bad guys.
Power. That was the way to make a real difference.
Except, was he?
Sure, he built dams in developing nations, bridges in mountain towns, and power plants in the desert. He also owned mines, like the one he was hoping to purchase here in the DRC, one of the world’s most dangerous hotspots and one with the worst humanitarian record.
But was he changing the lives of the people who lived there? Or had he conveniently forgotten about that, caught up in the stressful whirl of commerce, share prices, and budgets? He made a mental note to revisit his early mission statement, to make sure he was doing what he’d set out to do, no matter what his shareholders thought. The thought cheered him.
“I’d forgotten how good it felt to be out in nature,” he said by way of explanation, then gave a low chuckle. Water collected on giant leaves and poured onto other giant leaves, cascading in mini-waterfalls down to the ground. “Even in the rain.”
Her shoulders relaxed. “I love it too.”
With that hood over her head, her eyes looked enormous, and he noticed they were a dark, forest green, the same color as the jungle around them.
“Is that what brought you out here?” He shifted the gurney to his other arm as he fell into step beside her.
“Kind of.” She kept her eyes on the trail ahead. Steam from the sunbaked ground curled around their ankles, turning the path into a mud bath. “I wanted to use my qualification and thought this might be a good place.”
He quirked an eyebrow.
“What?” she said, a tad defensively.
He nodded to the tangled mesh of foliage on either side. “This isn’t the first place most people would think to go. It’s kind of in the middle of nowhere.” Not to mention dangerous.
A hint of a smile played on her lips. “I’m not most people.”
Clearly.
He gave a knowing nod. “So, what are you running from?”
She slipped in the mud, teetering off balance, and would have fallen if he hadn’t shot out his free arm to steady her. “W—what makes you think I’m running?”
“Come on. You’re obviously well-educated, you’re from upstate New York, and you travel out here, to the most dangerous place on the planet? There’s got to be a reason.”
She scowled. “What are you? A linguist or something?”
He shrugged. “I’ve got a thing for languages, yeah. It helps with my work.”
“Mining?”
“Engineering, actually,” he said. “Mining is only part of what we do.”
“Is that why you’re here?” she asked quietly. “You’re scouting the place for development?” Her question was punctuated by another clap of thunder, like an omen from the gods.
“Of course not,” he huffed.
“Really?” She arched an eyebrow.
“Look, Usala desperately needs funding. Your equipment is outdated, you need to hire more staff, and your facilities need upgrading. Robert has grand plans to get the community involved in the sustainability of the park, which I happen to think is a brilliant idea. I’d like to help him with that.”
Those witchy green eyes narrowed. “What’s in it for you?”
He hesitated. “My company needs to raise its corporate image. We’ve had some bad press lately, after… Well, after an unfortunate incident for which we took full responsibility. This documentary will help raise our profile and show people that we care about the environment—and the world around us.”
“You mean it will satisfy your shareholders?” she put in.
He gave a wry grin. “That too. The bottom line is we can help each other. It’s a win-win.”
“A win-win. Right.”
They hiked on. The rain felt like it was lessening, and the rolling thunderclaps were getting further away. After a while, she turned back to him. “So, what happened?”
“Huh?” He frowned, unsure what she meant.
“What was the unfortunate incident?”
“Oh, that.” He ground his jaw. What the hell… It had been in all the newspapers anyway. “The short version is, we were removing the drilling structure from a salt mine when it sprung a leak. The lake flooded the mine, killing five miners who were trapped inside.” He closed his eyes briefly, trying to stem the flood of guilt that always hit him when he thought about it.
“That’s awful,” she whispered.
“I know.” He didn’t need her to tell him that. He lived with it every damn day. “Thankfully, due to effective evacuation procedures, the rest of the men escaped. But five dead are five too many. We compensated the families for their loss, of course, but how do you make amends for something like that?”
She met his gaze. “You can’t.”
“No.” He looked away. “You can’t.”
The path widened, and Edmond stopped swaying his machete.
“Are we there?” Hawk called, breaking the silence.
Edmond didn’t turn around. “Soon.”
Soon turned into another half an hour. Edmond was seemingly guiding them by instinct alone. He had no GPS, nor even a compass.
“How does he know where the injured gorilla is located?” Hawk came up beside Lexi again. Staring at her cute, denim-clad ass was doing strange things to him. Making him think things that he shouldn’t. Thoughts that would just get him all hot and bothered.
“Robert gave us coordinates,” she replied. “A couple of rangers spotted the troop near the estuary.”
“Troop?”
She gave an amused nod. “Yes, but they’re mostly docile.”
“Except for the alpha male,” he remarked.
She eyed him, surprised. “Sometimes he can be volatile, which is why we have the dart gun.”
“I thought that was to subdue the injured gorilla?”
“It is, but it works well against a charging silverback, too.”
He snorted.
Minutes later, Hawk heard the sound of rushing water, and almost like a smoke screen, the vegetation parted, and they were facing a river about the width of a narrow street. It flowed quickly, spurred on by the sudden rainfall. On the banks foraged a group of mountain gorillas.
“Holy shit,” he whispered, coming to a stop. They looked so majestic against the backdrop of the forest, that for a moment, all he could do was stare.
“Beautiful, aren’t they?” Lexi murmured, her eyes gleaming.
“That guy is enormous.” Hawk stared at the head of the family, a majestic adult male reaching up into the branches in search of food. He was easily Hawk’s height and must have weighed close to three hundred and fifty pounds.
“That’s Bongi,” she said almost lovingly. “He’s the leader of the group, the alpha male. Excuse me.”
She moved over to where Edmond stood, watching a female and two infants who were playing at her feet. She looked sluggish.
“That must be the injured female,” he heard Lexi say.
Edmond began moving toward the injured female. The gorilla retracted her lips over her teeth and made a sound that was a cross between a wince and a growl.
“She’s hurt her leg,” confirmed Philipe.
Bongi, the head of the pack, was studying them closely, deciding whether they were a threat or not.
“Big Daddy’s seen us,” Hawk warned, standing very still.
“Keep watching him,” said Lexi, “and if he makes any sudden moves, yell.”
Hawk nodded, his eyes glued to the male.
Edmond raised the rifle to take a shot at the female. He pulled the trigger, releasing a sedation dart with a soft pop.
Hawk didn’t take his eyes off the silverback, not even for a second. Adrenaline made his heart thud in his chest, and he relished the sensation. The female made a low growl, so he figured Edmond’s dart had hit its mark. Moments later, there was a soft thud as the gorilla keeled over. Big Daddy took a few steps toward her, then stopped again. He looked wary, but Hawk didn’t think he was going to charge them. Not yet, anyway.
“Let’s go.” Lexi crept through the low-lying bush toward the unconscious gorilla, Philipe close behind her.
Before she touched the animal, both she and Philipe pulled on surgical masks and gloves. Hawk knew this was more to protect the animals than themselves. He’d heard gorillas were very susceptible to human bugs.
He watched as Lexi checked the gorilla’s vitals to make sure it was sufficiently sedated. It was. Then they went to work.
Hawk was impressed—that didn’t happen often. Not only had Lexi shown stamina and courage by coming out here, but she was also now attending to the wounded animal with its three-hundred-and-fifty-pound mate looking on. That took guts.
Edmond had repositioned himself, his rifle now locked on the male.
Hawk relaxed and watched Lexi inspect the wound. Maybe there were other ways to make a difference. She was making a difference to this gorilla’s life, ensuring it would live another day, raise its young, continue the species, which were close to being endangered. Still, she wouldn’t be able to do it without the resources he was providing to the sanctuary.
“It needs stitching,” he heard her say to Philipe, who delved into his medical bag to retrieve the necessary tools.
Lexi cut the hair back around the wound and sprayed it with a strong disinfectant, or at least, that’s what he presumed it was. Philipe handed her a curved needle, and she got to work. Carefully, with absolute concentration, she stitched up the skin on the prone animal’s leg.
The entire procedure took about fifteen minutes, during which time Big Daddy got increasingly restless. The massive ape shifted from foot to foot and began circling the group of humans.
“He’s on the move,” warned Edmond in a low voice. Hawk felt the hair on his arms stand up. He braced himself for the charge.
Lexi glanced at the male gorilla but didn’t stop what she was doing. “I’m almost done. A few seconds more.”
The gorilla made low, threatening noises and beat his chest, clearly agitated. Philipe put a hand on Lexi’s shoulder. “We go now.”
“Give me the antibiotic.” She held out her hand. “Quick, I don’t want this to get infected.”
Philipe handed her a vial of amber liquid, which she quickly injected into the gorilla’s thigh. She was barely done when he retrieved it from her and shoved it, along with the rest of their equipment, back into the backpack and zipped it up. He knew the silverback was going to charge.
“Gotta go, Lexi,” Hawk called as Edmond crouched to take aim. “Bongi’s not happy.”
The infants began chattering loudly, momentarily distracting their father from his imminent charge. Philipe grabbed Lexi’s arm, and together they backed into the vegetation that immediately closed around them, obscuring them from view.
“Come,” Edmond said, motioning for Hawk to back away too. He did as he was told, keeping his eyes on Big Daddy, who had now swung his attention back to his injured mate.
Edmond was the last to leave, walking backward, not lowering his rifle until they had backtracked at least twenty yards down the path.
Hawk exhaled in a low hiss. “That was intense. I thought he was going to charge there at the end.”
“He would have if we’d been any longer,” Edmond confirmed in French. “They’re patient if they sense you’re helping, but then instinct takes over.”
“That snare left a nasty gash,” Lexi said, frowning. She tugged off her surgical gloves with a loud snap. “But the antibiotics will prevent infection until the wound heals.”
“Bon travail.” Edmond squeezed her shoulder. It was the only physical contact Hawk had seen the stoic ranger offer, and it obviously meant a lot because Lexi’s face lit up. Damn, she was gorgeous when she smiled like that. Dimples appeared in her flushed cheeks. He hadn’t noticed those before. For a fleeting moment, he wondered what it would take to make her smile at him like that.
“Yeah,” he said out loud. “You did well under very stressful conditions.”
Unfortunately, his words didn’t have the same effect as Edmond’s. She acknowledged his compliment with a curt nod of her head. “Thanks.”
Then she turned back to the ranger. “Take us home, Edmond. We’re done here.”