CHAPTER 4 #3
Logan froze in place as she motioned him to stop. Monty was silent but pulled eagerly, frantically, at the leash. Sarah put her hand on his head, and he instantly quieted. Then she turned and strode back to Logan. “There’s something up ahead. I think he’s found the source.”
“How do you know?”
“I just know, dammit.” She glared at him. “And I’m not going to take Monty any farther and chance having some guard shoot him.”
“No one’s asking you to.” He took off his backpack and set it on the ground. “I’ll go ahead and make sure before I radio Galen.”
“And probably get shot yourself.” She scowled. “You don’t have to check for yourself just because I don’t have any proof that the camp’s up ahead. I tell you, Monty knows.”
“And you know what Monty knows.” He opened his backpack. “I believe you. I have a great respect for instinct. Just stay here.”
“Of course we’ll stay here. Why should I—” She stopped as she saw the assault weapon he pulled out of his backpack. “Shit. No wonder you had room for only a couple bottles of water.” She moistened her lips. “Do you even know how to use that thing?”
He smiled. “Oh, yes, I know how to use it. I took lessons at the country club.”
Thirty minutes passed.
Then fifteen minutes.
Why the hell wasn’t he back? Sarah wondered.
He’d probably been caught or killed. Just because she hadn’t heard anything didn’t mean anything.
Not all weapons were as loud as that gun Logan had handled with suspicious familiarity.
It was clear his time with Galen had been spent in more deadly pursuits than recovering from grief over his wife’s death.
Monty whimpered, his gaze on the dense foliage where Logan had disappeared. He wanted to go too. His search had been cut short and he didn’t understand why he couldn’t bring it to a satisfactory end.
Find?
“No, it will be okay. We don’t have to go after him. Logan will do it.”
But where was Logan?
Why was she so worried? She and Monty could find their way out of this jungle. She didn’t care about Logan. He had caused her nothing but trouble.
But he didn’t deserve to die when he was trying to save a life. He might be totally relentless, but he wasn’t a murderer like those men in the camp.
No sound but the shrill sound of birds.
Then Monty’s tail started to wag and he rose to his feet.
Relief surged through her. He was coming. She couldn’t hear him or smell him, but Monty could.
It was another five minutes before Logan appeared through the leaves. “The camp’s there.” He moved toward his backpack as Monty ran to him, whimpering in an ecstasy of greeting. “About a mile ahead.”
“I told you. What took so long?”
He knelt down and gave Monty an affectionate pat, then reached into his backpack for his radio. “I don’t flatter myself that you were worried about me.”
“No,” she said coolly. “Monty was worried. I was just curious. Could you tell if Bassett was there?”
He gave Monty a hug and then pushed him away. “There’s a tent with a guard posted out in front. I’m assuming Bassett’s inside. The camp’s small. Six tents and the numbers Sanchez gave us seem accurate.”
“Did you run into anyone patrolling the area?”
“One man. I managed to avoid him.”
“Obviously, or you wouldn’t be here.”
“Not so obviously. Another pinprick at my ego. But if I’d taken him out, it might have triggered an alert.”
“So now you call Galen and get him here? Won’t the people in the camp hear the helicopter?”
“The pilot will drop Galen and his men off at the clearing we passed about a mile north. We’ll rendezvous with them there. Then the pilot will pick us up at Rudzak’s camp when it’s clear.”
Her mouth tightened. “You mean when everyone’s killed.”
“I mean when we’ve gotten Bassett out.” He looked directly into her eyes. “Whatever that takes.” He bent over the radio. “You can lecture me later. We’ll have plenty of time. I figure at least an hour before Galen gets here. Now I’ve got to talk to him and tell him to attack the decoy camp.”
“Six dead. One wounded,” Carl Duggan told Rudzak. “But we managed to repel the attack and save the helicopter. And I think we got one of their men. Shall we go after the rest?”
Rudzak gazed around the camp. Two tents were in flames and Duggan was wrong. Rudzak could see seven dead. It had been a savage attack and brilliantly executed. “I didn’t see Logan. Did you?”
Duggan shook his head. “But Galen was there and he’s Logan’s hired man.”
Rudzak gave him a scathing glance. “I know that.”
“Shall we go after them?” Duggan repeated. “It doesn’t have to end here. Give me a chance and we’ll still capture them.”
“Shut up, I’m thinking.” Galen and not Logan. The attack had been brutal, but had Galen been repelled too easily? Seven deaths but no push to completion of the mission.
“I have the men waiting,” Duggan said. “We don’t want to lose them.”
Duggan didn’t realize they had probably already lost them. They had not heard a helicopter, but no doubt Galen had one if he intended to get his men out alive.
And transport them quickly to another location.
Ah, Logan, you think you’ve fooled me.
“We won’t lose them.” Rudzak turned away. “I know where they’re going.”
It was almost nightfall when Galen and his men were dropped off at the glade where Logan and Sarah waited. They streamed out of the helicopter like a Delta Force. Galen’s expression was grim as he waved the helicopter to leave before turning to Logan. “Let’s go.”
Logan turned to Sarah. “Stay here until you hear the helicopter come back. Then come to the camp. We won’t radio the pilot until it’s safe for him to land.”
“How long do you estimate that taking?” Sarah asked.
“At least forty-five minutes.” He shrugged. “Maybe longer. Just don’t come until you hear the helicopter.”
“I’ve no intention of getting close,” Sarah said. “My involvement in this is over. We’ve done our job.”
“Come on, Logan.” Galen was moving down the path into the forest, closely followed by his men. “I lost a man to Rudzak. Let’s get this bullshit over.” The words were curt and his attitude was different from when she had first met him. This was Galen the mercenary, and it was an intimidating change.
The entire situation was intimidating, Sarah thought as she watched the men disappear from view. What was she doing in the middle of a jungle with a bunch of mercenaries and Logan, who carried that damn assault weapon as casually as if it were a briefcase?
Monty pressed closer to her, his gaze on the path.
“No, we wait here, Monty.” So many others could die to save a man who might already be dead. Galen had said one of his men had already been killed.
Logan could die.
Don’t think about it. Just sit here and listen for the helicopter.
Ten minutes.
Twenty.
Thirty.
Thirty-five minutes passed before she heard the helicopter.
Faint.
Far away.
But coming closer every second.
She snapped the leash on Monty. “Come on, boy.”
He eagerly bounded down the path in front of her, dragging her forward through the brush. He knew exactly where he was going even if she didn’t.
Gunshots.
Explosions.
She caught sight of the camp and it looked like a war zone. Acrid smoke. Bodies. Blood. Fighting. She stopped on the path, staring in astonishment. What was going on here? When the helicopter came back, the battle was supposed to be over. It wasn’t over.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Logan was beside her. “Never mind. Just don’t come any closer.” He said over his shoulder, “Bassett, stay with her.”
The tall, lanky man behind him nodded. “I’m not moving a muscle until you come back for me. That’s a promise.”
Logan turned and ran back toward the camp.