Chapter 7
Mila’s heart continued to race as she followed Joker back to the camp, but she wasn’t sure whether it was because she’d been certain they were going to be swept up by the wave again, or because of the moment she’d shared with Damien.
The intensity in his eyes, the way he’d held her so tenderly, his soothing words when she’d been close to meltdown, replaying being sucked under the wave over and over in her head.
She placed a hand on her heart as Joker set down the stretcher next to Ethan who even in the dark looked pale. He smiled at her. “Hey, Angel. I thought I imagined you.”
Oh. He was still high on the drugs. She squeezed his hand to soothe herself as much as him. They were all safe. “I’m real. How are you feeling?”
“OK. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“Good. I’m glad.” The others were waiting to see to Ethan, so she returned to the spot where she’d been sleeping and focused on her breathing.
Radar and Joker gathered around Ethan and helped Axle.
Mila wrapped her arms around herself, despite the humid night. When she’d offered to go with Dobby, she hadn’t considered Agus’s men might be down there.
She frowned.
Why had they been down there? It was still dangerous, and it wasn’t as if there was anything of value to salvage.
Perhaps they’d heard the car and been sent to investigate. She hadn’t heard any other engines, so they’d probably been on foot with the dog.
Her chest tightened and she exhaled to ease the tension.
The dog had survived. Seeing it sucked under by the wave would have been horrific.
She shivered and wrapped her arms around her.
“Cold?”
She jumped at the voice and looked up at Joker who had picked up her silver blanket and was holding it out to her.
She wasn’t, not with the thick sultry night air and the adrenaline pumping in her body, but she accepted it. “Thank you.”
He offered her a protein bar and sat next to her. “Can you tell us what happened?”
Mila glanced around the clearing to find the team watching her. Of course, they didn’t know. She explained about running into the guards and distracting the dog.
Joker sighed. “The dog was half starved. People like Agus seem to think a hungry dog makes a good attack dog, but it doesn’t.”
“Did they see you?” Radar asked.
“I don’t think so. How’s Ethan?”
Axle glanced up. “These things will help. He’s stable at the moment.”
“Any news from base?” she asked.
“Nothing new,” Radar answered. “With the boat out of the running, our best chance is via helicopter as soon as they get permission. Is there a clearing somewhere away from Agus’s house?”
Mila pursed her lips. “How much space do you need?”
“About the size of two tennis courts. Best case we want it to land because it will be quicker and easier to board with Hawk.”
The square would have been ideal, but it was covered in rubble now. “The village on the south coast has a soccer pitch and all the villagers play games there once a month.”
“The road is blocked,” Joker said. “We have to carry Hawk. Anywhere closer?”
“When the tide goes out, the beach is clear.” She sighed. “But not today.”
Joker nodded. “What else? Just throw out ideas even if you think they won’t work.”
“Anywhere else they play soccer or field games?” Radar asked.
“Each village has a market square, but chances are high they’re all destroyed.” She bit her lip. “And the easiest way to get to the villages is by boat.”
“Are there any roads?” Joker asked.
“There’s a dirt track running from the main road to each village, but they’re rough and they always get washed out in the wet season. People travel by boat at this time of year.”
“This just keeps getting better and better,” Radar grumbled.
“The best place is Agus’s cliff,” Mila said. “It’s a clear area and it’s close. Perhaps there’s some way we could lure him away and land there.”
Joker grinned. “I like the way you think. Will he leave to check on anyone in the village?”
She shook her head. “All of his family lives with him.”
“We think he sent them away on his boat,” Joker said.
“Vance might know for sure,” Mila said.
They all looked over to where he slept. Radar stood and tapped him on the foot. “Wake up, Vance.”
Vance groaned and grumbled.
“Do you want to be rescued or not?” Radar barked.
Vance sat up, brushing his long fringe out of his face. “Are we leaving?”
Radar grinned at him, wolfish and a little gleeful. “Not yet. We’re planning and we need your help.”
“Isn’t planning your job?” Vance yawned, then he spotted Mila and straightened. “What do you need to know?”
“How many people does Agus have in his house?”
“I don’t know.”
Mila rolled her eyes. “Did anyone leave after the earthquake?”
Vance nodded. “Yeah. Everyone gathered downstairs and Agus sent the women and children to his boat. He wouldn’t let me go with them.”
“What about his bodyguards?”
“He always has two men with him so I guess they’re his bodyguards.”
“What about weapons?” Axle asked.
“His guards carried rifles,” Mila said. “There were four that I saw.”
“We injured a couple during the rescue,” Joker said. “So the two men you saw in the village might be all he has left aside from his bodyguards.”
“We can handle four armed men,” Radar said.
Axle spoke up. “Not if the helicopter is coming in on the pretence of aid. We go shooting people now and there’ll be questions.”
They didn’t need an international incident.
“If they’re dropping aid, Agus will want to take what he can in order to control the people,” Mila said. “So we need to get him out of the village so he can’t get back in time.” She glanced at Radar. “Are they bringing aid?”
“I don’t know. That’s the excuse they’ll use to fly in here.”
She hoped they would. The only thing that would lure Agus from his home was money, and he’d lost out when they’d rescued Vance. He’d be bitter about that.
But then there was one other money maker on the island.
Nerves fluttered in her stomach. She hated to suggest it, but it was their only option.
She glanced over at Ethan, remembered his firm hold on her arm as the wave pushed them around.
The determination in his gaze that had given her hope.
This was her way to repay him. She would figure out another way to escape.
She stiffened her spine. “There’s one thing that might lure him out. ”
“What’s that?” Joker asked.
“Me.”
***
Dobby walked into the clearing in time to hear Mila offer herself as bait. Anger spiked. “No fucking way.” Not for Vance. He didn’t deserve her sacrifice.
Radar lowered his weapon as he recognised Dobby. “You ditch the car?”
“Hid it three ks up the road on the right-hand side.” He gave them the coordinates.
“Great,” Joker said. “Now how about you take a seat and listen to Mila’s suggestion before you reject it?”
Dobby scowled at him.
“You haven’t heard everything we’ve been discussing.”
He sat next to Mila. “I’m listening.”
She swallowed hard. “Agus doesn’t know I’m with you.” She glanced at him. “We’re pretty sure the guards didn’t get close enough to see us, right?”
He nodded reluctantly. “Best they would have seen is two shapes running away.”
“So Agus is going to think either you’ve left the island, or it’s too dangerous to go after you.
You’ve already injured some of his men.” She took a deep breath as if bracing herself.
“He hates my mother. She had him arrested twenty years ago and ruined his marriage to the chief’s daughter.
He wants to punish her, and now he knows who I am. ”
They all glanced at Vance, but he just stared defiantly back.
“We can set up the extraction at the cliff top,” Mila continued.
“While you head there, I’ll make my way to the village of Desa Agung at the top of the mountain.
” She pursed her lips. “Maybe I can take the car and say I found it abandoned. I’ll tell people the wave knocked me unconscious, which is why I’m only just arriving. ”
He didn’t like that she was making fantastic points.
“And how is Agus going to know you’re there?” Joker asked. “Phone lines are down.”
“He has loyal men at each village. The last time I was in Desa Agung I was visiting a family and heard the father talking to him on the radio. I can ask him to contact Agus. Say I’m worried about Vance and want to make sure he’s safe.”
Smart, and something Agus would believe.
“And how is Agus going to get there? We stole his car,” Radar pointed out.
“He’s got two four-wheel drives and several off-road motorbikes,” Vance piped up. “He showed me his garage when I was there.”
Finally the man was being useful.
Mila looked at Dobby. “I just need to figure out how to time everything so Agus doesn’t get the call until we know when the chopper is coming.”
She was missing one thing. “What about you?”
“I’m not your mission.” Her smile was sad. “I know you’d take me if you could, but I’ll figure something out.”
“You expect us to leave you behind while we get extracted?” Dobby asked. Not happening. The rest of his team were shaking their heads, too.
She shrugged. “The road to the northern coastal village is just before Desa Agung. I can drive there after I confirm Agus has left and maybe the chopper could swing by there to pick me up.” She glanced at Joker.
“It wouldn’t need to land, would it? Someone could throw down a ladder. I’ve seen it done in movies.”
Dobby growled. “This isn’t the fucking movies.”
Joker slapped him on the shoulder. “It isn’t, but it would work.”
“It’s dangerous, and we don’t know when we’re getting the all-clear.” A weak argument, but he didn’t want Mila risking herself. She’d been through too much already.
The blacks and greys of the night were shifting into colours defining his team more clearly. First light wasn’t far away. “I’ll go with you.”
“You can’t. If you’re seen, Agus will know the team is still on the island. You need to be with the others. With two of you carrying the stretcher, you’ll need two people to defend them and Vance if you get spotted.”
He hated she was making very valid points.
“We’d make it work,” Axle said.
Good. Finally some backup.
“I have to go in alone,” she insisted. Her face was a picture of determination and damned if he didn’t admire her more for it.
Radar held up a hand to stop the arguing. “It’s time I called base. They might have an update.”
Dobby nodded his assent, his gut tensing. It went against everything he was to let a civilian risk herself for a mission.
Particularly when the civilian was as kind and selfless as Mila.
Mila got to her feet. “I need to use the bathroom.” Her face flushed.
“Don’t go too far,” he told her.
“I won’t.”
Radar established a connection. “Looking for a sitrep.”
“All clear about to be given,” the operator said.
“What about extraction?”
“Expecting to hear from the Indonesian government at oh six hundred.”
Dobby checked his watch. Soon. Good. He wanted off this island.
“Best extraction zone is the cliff area on the west coast,” Radar said.
What the hell was he saying? They hadn’t agreed to that. He reached for the radio and Joker shoved him back.
“He’s right. It’s the safest location. There’s too much debris in the town.”
“Copy that,” the operator said. “How’s the patient?”
“Drugged,” Radar replied. “We’ll need space for six and a stretcher.”
“Six?”
“Picking up Major-General Watkins’s daughter as well,” Radar explained.
Dobby exhaled. Good.
“Standby for extraction time.”
“OK, we need ideas on how to get Agus away from his house,” Dobby said. “Mila saved a bunch of people. Maybe we can get one of them to tell Agus she’s with them.”
“She won’t do it.” Hawk’s voice was weak.
Dobby moved over to him so he didn’t need to speak loudly. “Why not?”
“Because Agus’s wrath would come down on them when he discovers they lied.”
Damn it. He was right. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I’ve been hit by a truck.”
“Not long now and you’ll have the best pain meds the army can buy.”
He grimaced and Dobby laughed.
The radio crackled. “Extraction has been green lit. Extraction time oh eight hundred.”
“Copy that,” Radar replied.
Two hours. He could drive Mila to Desa Agung and they could use a moped to return to town. They could hide on the side of the road when Agus drove past.
It was weak, but he was coming up empty on other options. “Let’s pack up.”
He glanced around the clearing. There was plenty of light, but Mila wasn’t there. He checked the time. She’d said she was going to the bathroom over fifteen minutes ago. “Where’s Mila?”
The others looked around.
“She’s gone to the mountain village,” Vance said.
Dobby swore. “What do you mean?
The man shrugged. “She said it was the best option.”
Dobby clenched his hands. “Why didn’t you stop her, or tell one of us?”
“Because it is the best way. You weren’t here to save her.”
He growled and Radar slapped a hand on his chest to stop him doing something stupid, but even Joker stepped forward before he caught himself.
This prick wasn’t worth saving, but they had a job to do. He clenched his jaw so hard it hurt.
Axle spoke. “Go find her. You’ve got about an hour and a half before we need Agus gone from his house. We’ll head for the cliff clearing and we’ll swing by the northern beach to get you if you don’t make it to the cliff.”
Radar pressed something into his chest. “Take the sat phone just in case.”
Used for emergencies only. “Copy.” He grabbed his pack and strode away.
There was a selfless, frustrating woman he needed to have words with.