Chapter 13
Dobby watched in amazement as Mila broke out of her restraints and blocked the entrance to the bedroom with a tallboy.
She came to the window, leaning out to check what was below and then placed her singlet on the windowsill.
He smiled. Letting him know where she was.
He tried to use his scope to flash her, but the tree provided too much shade.
What was her plan? She’d blocked the doorway, so the only other exit was the window.
He couldn’t see her anymore and he waited, debating whether he should get closer so he was in position to act, or whether he should stay where he was so he could see into the room.
It wouldn’t take much for Agus to break down the door and from here Dobby could shoot anyone coming through.
A motorbike roared up to the house and a man got off and jogged inside. Dobby smiled.
Transport.
He scanned the downstairs rooms and saw Agus and two men in the ground floor office. Agus was waving his hands about, clearly angry.
Dobby wanted Mila away from that room before Agus returned.
Which meant he needed to move.
He gave the grounds one last scan. The guards were at the front of the house. Agus was leaving the office with a jug and the man who’d been on the motorbike was with him. The third man hesitated before following them.
Shit.
He checked Mila’s window in time to see her appear there with a handful of white fabric.
She spotted the guards and moved backwards away from the window. A loud banging caused her to whip her head towards the door.
Agus had discovered she’d locked herself in.
More thumps that Dobby could hear from where he sat and the two guards ran inside.
Mila returned to the window, saw it was clear and dumped the handful of fabric out the window. It cascaded down the wall in a braided rope to about a metre from the ground.
She had to be shitting him. She was using bed sheets to climb down?
He wanted to laugh, but he was more concerned about what she’d anchored the sheets to. Would it hold her weight?
As she climbed out the window, the pounding intensified. Damien wanted to go to Mila, but he could cover her better from where he was. At this moment all hostiles were inside and Mila’s only danger was falling.
He scanned the room below her. It looked as if it was a lounge room, but it was empty.
She tugged on her rope and started climbing out the window.
The woman was incredible.
Dobby prayed the rope would hold, and she’d have enough arm strength to lower herself down.
When she passed the second storey window, he slid down the tree and ran across to the motorbike, keeping his gaze roaming for hostiles.
An almighty crack at the room Mila had just vacated and he paused next to the motorbike as Agus’s head appeared at the window. His arm moved, gun in hand and Dobby raised his rifle and shot. Blood spurted from Agus’s shoulder and he stumbled out of view.
Mila was on the ground and limping towards him. He kickstarted the bike and sped over to her, half an eye on the window above, but no one else appeared in it.
He slid the bike to a stop next to Mila and she jumped on.
There was a shout from above but he didn’t turn. He accelerated towards the jungle, keeping low against the handlebars.
Gunshots rang out and Mila squeezed him tighter as he bumped into the jungle and followed the path he’d taken to get here.
As much as he would have preferred to take the road, he didn’t want people to see them.
It would raise too many questions.
He slowed out of necessity as he bounced over roots, but the bike’s suspension was state-of-the art and handled it with ease.
He couldn’t take his eyes off his path to glance behind as he tore through the jungle, the village not far to his left.
Mila relaxed against him, holding tightly, but not stiffly, moving with the bike.
They burst out of the trees, crossed the road that led up the mountain and back into the jungle again.
Not far now until they’d reach the beach where he’d left the zod.
He bounced over a high root and Mila shrieked, her weight lifting from the seat behind him.
They landed with a thud, the shocks absorbing the impact, but Dobby waited for Mila to settle again before accelerating. In the distance he heard dogs barking.
Damn it.
Not far now. He couldn’t go fast through the bumpy terrain and those dogs were quick.
A hundred metres, fifty, twenty, ten.
He braked and Mila was already climbing off, keeping her weight off her sprained ankle. Dobby dumped the bike and carried her to the boat.
He ripped the leaves and camouflage from it, and released the rope as Mila threw the backpack inside.
“Does it work?” Mila asked.
“Yes.” He pushed it down the shore into the water and then turned to help Mila into it.
She was already at his side, her face pale, skin clammy.
“Get in.” He held the boat steady as the dogs burst out of the jungle onto the beach. He pushed the boat deeper and leapt inside as Mila scrambled to the back and started the engine, shoving it into reverse.
He shifted his rifle into position, monitoring the dogs and jungle as Mila grabbed an oar and used it to move debris out of the way behind them.
One dog stopped at the water’s edge barking frantically, while the other plunged straight into the murky water and swam towards them.
It was the same dog as at the medical centre.
Shit. Maybe it would get tired and turn around. There was too much rubbish in the water and the currents were unpredictable.
Mila turned the boat so it was pointing out to sea and the dog kept coming, only a few metres from them. Dobby saw her worried gaze.
They couldn’t save the dog. It might attack them.
The dog yelped as a heavy tree trunk bumped into it and its head went under the water.
Mila gasped and stretched her oar out to it. It surfaced, splashing, and latched onto the oar with its teeth.
Dobby swore as she pulled the dog towards the boat. The jungle was still clear and the other dog stood on the shore. “Mila, we can’t…” His words died as both she and the dog looked at him with wide imploring eyes.
He swore again. “If it attacks us, it’s going back into the water.”
She nodded and he swung his rifle around and hauled the dog into the front of the boat, keeping between it and Mila. “Take us out of the bay.”
He readied his gun as the dog lay panting in the bow and then vomited sea water all over the boat. Dobby shook his head as Mila laughed and accelerated.
“I’ve got half a mind to send you to the front to clear debris,” Dobby said. He eyed the dog who had finished retching and then shook itself, the water spraying all over Dobby. Then it wagged its tail and lay down, avoiding the vomit which had slid to the middle of the boat.
Well damn.
“I think she likes us,” Mila said.
It certainly looked that way. He checked the jungle and then shifted his pack so it stayed out of the vomit.
He approached the dog who was watching him with cautious eyes now.
Staying low, he reached his hand out and let the dog sniff him and then stroked its chest. Its bones could be seen sticking out beneath its fur.
It really had been starved.
The dog wagged its tail again, this time a little hesitantly.
“You’re all right,” Dobby said. “You’re safe now.”
He sighed.
What the hell was he going to do with a dog?