Chapter 14
T hey made it a few hundred more miles until the gas gave out again. By that time they were close enough to the border to give up on the Jeep entirely and go by foot.
Ethan could have made it across the border, but Amelia was exhausted. She’d been through an ordeal, physically and emotionally traumatized, and she’d had one power bar in the last thirty-six hours. And yet she didn’t complain.
“I think you could have made it as a SEAL,” he told her, putting his arm around her shoulders and drawing her close so he could kiss her temple.
“I’m not the strongest swimmer,” she said. “But if I understand the SEALs correctly, it’s not necessary to be good in the water.”
“Spot on. There was very little water training involved, as long as you don’t count pretty much everything we did.”
“I knew I was right,” she said, squeezing his waist. “Is Africa where you go when you pretend to go to Canada?”
“Yes, but not here. This area’s too far gone. I usually go to Nigeria, Libya, Morocco, Egypt. Sometimes Liberia and Somalia.”
“Are you going to have to kill me now that you’ve told me the truth about your life?” she asked.
“No, but I might have to do something else with you,” he said. His hand smoothed up and down her arm. “Cold?”
“Yes, that’s precisely why I have goose bumps. Brr.” She feigned chafing her hands up and down her arms.
Ethan laughed and then stopped short, studying the town before them.
“What’s the problem?” Amelia whispered.
“That woman was wearing a burka,” he said.
“So am I,” she said.
He shook his head. “You’re wearing robes and a scarf.”
“What’s the difference?”
“About twenty pounds of fabric. Think of the difference in our country between someone who is a conservative evangelical and someone who is old-order Amish.”
“Why is it concerning she’s wearing a burka?” Amelia asked.
“It means the area’s been infested by either Boko Haram or Isil,” he said. “It means this area is hostile and dangerous.”
“Can’t we go around?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Stay behind me, keep your head down, don’t speak unless I tell you to, and do exactly what I say.”
“Okay,” she agreed, taking a step behind him and dropping her eyes demurely.
If the area had been infested, the only chance they had of making it through was making people believe they weren’t alone. “Amelia, if I lie, don’t show it. Don’t act surprised. Go along with it, no matter what I say. Got it?”
She nodded.
“Okay, here we go.” He took her hand and they walked the remaining mile to town.
Amelia felt conspicuous, as if everyone was staring at her. She wasn’t sure if all of Ethan’s warnings had made her paranoid or if it was because people were actually staring at her. She had rarely been more afraid, mostly because she knew Ethan was afraid. He was one of the most fearless, adventure-loving people she had ever met. If something made him nervous, it was because there was good reason to be nervous.
They made it a half-mile or so when a man holding a gun stepped out of a building and yelled for them to stop. Ethan kept going, and it occurred to Amelia that he had no idea what the man said.
“He told us to stop,” she whispered.
Ethan stopped and faced the man, tucking Amelia behind him.
“Who are you and why are you here?” the man demanded. Amelia translated. Ethan answered, and she translated that, too.
“My team and I are mercenaries sent by an animal rights group to stop the rhino poachers. We became separated on a raid. This is my translator. They’re waiting over the border.”
The man regarded them, looking them up and down. Amelia tried to look brave and important, a nearly impossible task when she was close to losing bladder control.
“How many of you are there?” the man asked.
“Twenty,” Ethan replied without missing a beat.
“All American?”
Ethan shook his head. “Mostly Australian, some New Zealand. Besides myself there are three other Americans. If we don’t meet when we’re supposed to, they’ll come to find us.” He was holding his weapon, Amelia realized. It was tucked against his chest, but it was in plain view and his hand was on the trigger. He might actually shoot this man. The man might shoot them. They were a hairsbreadth away from being a free-for-all, based on the believability of Ethan’s lie.
He looked Amelia up and down and spoke to Ethan. “Is the translator for sale?”
Ethan shook his head, his hand tightening on the gun. “We’re leaving now, getting out of the country before the poachers retaliate.”
The man frowned, looking to the east. “The poachers are coming here?”
“They’re a couple of hours behind us, armed and angry.”
The man was now frowning at the eastern horizon, his hand tightening on his gun. “Go,” he directed, nodding his head in the opposite direction.
Ethan didn’t need to be told twice. He turned and walked briskly away, practically dragging Amelia behind him. When they were safely out of town, she spoke.
“Can you explain to me why that worked?”
“American agents are high-value targets, but no one cares about mercenaries. They like Australians better than they like Americans who have the stigma of being Americans attached wherever we go. And ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ came into play. They don’t like the poachers, a brutal, ruthless group, and the poachers don’t like them, a brutal, ruthless group. Pitting them against each other was enough to buy us an escape.”
“What will happen when the poachers don’t show up?” she asked.
“Nothing. Maybe he’ll figure out I was lying or maybe he’ll think the poachers heard they were arming up and changed their minds. Either way, he won’t pursue us.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he was emaciated and barefoot. He doesn’t have the energy for wild goose chases against an armed man. Like all predators, he was looking for an easy target. We weren’t one.”
“That’s brilliant,” Amelia said.
“Thank you, but this is kind of what I do for a living,” he said. They walked in silence a while before she spoke again.
“Ethan, please don’t resent what I’m about to say, but how can you consider quitting to become a high school football coach? I mean, don’t get me wrong, shaping young minds is important. But you could do that on a volunteer basis. A lot of men could coach football, but only one in a few hundred thousand could do what you do, and you’re so, so incredibly good at it.”
“It’s different when you’re here,” he said.
“How so? Do you bumble like the Nutty Professor when I’m not with you? Drop your gun and accidently shoot yourself in the foot? Yell out classified information whenever you get nervous?” she asked. Somehow she couldn’t imagine him being bad at anything.
“No, but having you with me gives me a purpose. Keeping you safe and well is my number one priority. I have a clear objective. I always had a clear objective in the SEALs. Most of the time at work, I don’t. I follow bad guys around and take pictures, tail important men to make sure they haven’t gone rogue. It feels boring and pointless.”
“Can’t you transfer somewhere else? I mean, Maggie and Ridge seem to do a lot of stuff that has a point, a clear objective. Why can’t you work with them?”
He opened his mouth and closed it again. “To be honest with you, I never considered it. This is where the Colonel placed me, so this is where I’ve been. I’m used to taking orders from people who rank higher. But you’re right, there’s no reason I have to stay here when I hate it so much. I’m not in the navy anymore. I can switch jobs, I can go where I want, do what I want.”
“You’re a real boy, Pinocchio,” she agreed.
Laughing, he picked her up and twirled her around. “This little talk has been life changing. You have no idea.”
“It was almost worth getting kidnapped and taken to Africa by armed Russians so we could have this moment,” she said.
He laughed again and set her down. “You are a crazy child. This is not a laughable situation, especially because we’re about to enter Carnot.”
“What’s bad about that?”
“A few years ago it erupted into crazy violence.”
“Boko Haram or Isil?” she guessed.
“Neither, an anti-Muslim group, a local tribe. They rounded people up, killed them with machetes, forced them out of the city. It’s better, but crazy volatile. It could erupt again at literally any moment. We can’t stay here. Our number one objective is to score a ride to Gamboula, a border city.”
“Why can’t we go all the way to Cameroon tonight?” she asked.
“Because you don’t have a passport. We’re going to have to sneak in,” he said.
“Oh, is that all?” she asked. “We just have to survive a night in a country that wants to kill us so we can sneak into another country that wants to do the same?”
“Once we get out of the northern part of Cameroon, it will be better, as long as we don’t go too far west because they’re fighting in that part, too. Southern Cameroon is on the ocean. It’s kind a resort place, believe it or not.”
“Will we have time to go to a spa?” she asked.
“You’ve got to be joking,” he said.
“I am,” she assured him.
“Good because I promised your boyfriend I would return you safe and sound as soon as possible. And Maggie and Ridge, I have no idea if they know we’re gone. I couldn’t get ahold of them before I left. The Colonel was going to try.”
“Quick question: who is the Colonel? Because every time you mention him, I picture the unseen villain in Inspector Gadget , the one who sits in the chair and pets the cat.”
“That’s probably a fair depiction. The Colonel is my boss. Actually, my boss’s boss. He’s the intermediary between us and Congress.”
“Do you like him?” she asked.
“If by ‘like’ you mean fear and respect? Then yes, I like him so much I tremble every time he enters the room.”
“Am I allowed to talk in this town?” she asked.
“I think so,” he said. “Was there something particular you wanted to say?”
“Yes. ‘Where is food’?” she said.
Carnot was a bigger city. They followed the sounds to an outdoor market where people had laid their wares in the dirt. Amelia stopped to look at several stalls and, despite his scoffing, bought a headscarf. Several street vendors were selling food. They bought the cleanest looking, best smelling morsels along with bottles of Coke. The Coke was warm, but so was the food, and Amelia thought it delicious. The bread reminded her of naan, only thinner, and she also ate okra and some type of meat.
“Goat, if I had to guess,” Ethan said. When their bellies were full, they found someone to give them a ride to Gamboula. He saw Ethan’s gun and nodded in approval, adding his own weaponry into the mix.
“The road is danger,” he said when he saw Amelia eyeing his gun. It was something they’d already been warned about.
Despite the danger, despite the painful bouncing on the rutted road, it was nice to rest a while, to sit in the back seat with Ethan and feel his arms around her, safe, warm, and secure. If not for the fact that she had to hold on tightly to avoid being bounced out of the car, she might have fallen asleep.
The driver took them to a place he knew in Gamboula, a makeshift hotel of sorts that would keep them overnight. It was basically a tiny room in someone’s home, but it was private, and they had indoor plumbing. After taking turns in the bathroom, they met back in the bedroom, eyeing the tiny bed. Amelia peeled off the hot, heavy robe until she was wearing only her shorts and t-shirt, unwound her hair, and climbed in, patting the spot beside her.
Ethan set his pack on the floor beside the bed and climbed in beside her, still wearing his Kevlar vest.
“That vest may be bullet-proof, but it won’t protect you from my advances,” she said.
“I’m sorry, but years of training have taught me I need to be ready to roll at a moment’s notice in situations like these,” he said.
“When an attractive woman is beside you making kissy faces?” she asked, scrunching her lips together in an exaggerated kiss.
“When a town could be thrown over by an armed militia at any moment and we might have to flee for our lives,” he clarified.
“Oh, that,” she said. She rested her palm on his chest. “I can’t even feel your heart through that thing.”
“That’s how you know it’s well made,” he said. “They tried making thin, see-through ones that had a big outline of the heart on them, but they weren’t popular sellers among soldiers and policemen for some reason.”
“I’m glad you’re protected, but I was really hoping for a bit of warm comfort tonight,” she admitted, sounding uncharacteristically serious and maybe a little bit needy. Her cheerful demeanor had fooled him into forgetting how much she’d been through the last couple of days and how much it had to be affecting her.
He sat up, took off the vest, laid it on his pack, lay back down, and opened his arms to her. She snuggled close to him, resting her head on his heart. His hand smoothed over her hair.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
“You’re right, this is way better,” he said.
“I meant thank you for everything. Thank you for coming to get me, for saving my life.”
“Don’t mention it.” His hand continued a slow progression over her head. “I mean really don’t mention it. You could get me fired or prosecuted.”
“Your job’s a secret, I get it,” she said, slightly annoyed.
“Not from you, not anymore. I’ve needed someone to talk to about things, but I couldn’t because of clearance. But I don’t think you count as one of the people I’m not allowed to talk to anymore.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” she said, her fingers trailing lightly over his chest. “Hey, Ethan Becket, Becket Ethan.”
“Mm,” he said. He was getting drowsy. The room was warm and the gentle pressure of Amelia’s head on his chest was immensely comforting.
“I’m in love with you.”
His eyes popped open; he was wide-awake now. “Oh. I…”
She shifted slightly and pressed her fingers to his lips. “I don’t want a response, that’s not why I said it. I said it because I thought I was going to die, and when that happens, life takes on unusual clarity. Priorities shift, and fear falls away. I’m telling you because I think you should know, regardless of how you feel or where you stand.” She rested her head on his chest again. “I didn’t want it to be you. I tried so hard to make it Piedmont. Piedmont is a good man. He’s handsome, funny, smart, sweet, attentive, and so wonderfully, beautifully rich. You should see his house. I mean, I could cry thinking about it. He’s twenty-eight, and he has an actual art collection. You’re twenty-eight, and you have a toaster. Your apartment is as crummy as mine, probably crummier because a lot of times it smells like unwashed gym socks. He’s been talking marriage and children. You lack the emotional capacity to even send me one of those ‘do you like me, circle one yes or no’ notes. But Piedmont has this one glaring character flaw: he’s not you.”
He resumed sifting his fingers through her hair and, after a few minutes of silence, she was asleep. Ethan, meanwhile, lay awake for a long, long time.