by Janie Crouch
He couldn’t let that happen. Especially when they were this close to the plane. Derek thought about contacting Jon, but it was too risky, the guy might overhear. Plus, even if he sprinted it would take Jon too long to get here to be much help.
The guy kept talking on the radio and although Derek couldn’t tell what he was saying, his tone wasn’t frantic or excited so that was good. He didn’t think they were around here.
Just keep talking, moron. Give me a chance to sneak up on you. Derek didn’t want to use his gun, which would be heard for miles. He needed to take this guy out up close and personal. Derek considered going around the opposite side, just in case there was a problem. It would lead the guy away from Molly, but decided speed was more of the essence.
Silently Derek stalked through the jungle. His Special Forces missions in Afghanistan may not have been in the jungle, but they had still required the same patience and focus.
The man never knew what happened, and Derek had not one iota of remorse as he came up behind him, covered his mouth with his hand, and stabbed him quickly where his cranium met his spinal cord at the back of his neck.
The man was painlessly dead before Derek laid him on the ground.
And if this was another black mark on his soul, so be it. This man may have been the one who hurt Molly. Or even if he wasn’t, he was in with the group who had. Derek had killed for much less reason.
He heard the unnatural cracking of a tree limb at the same time as he heard the safety being flipped off of a semiautomatic rifle behind him. Derek realized his mistake immediately. He had not checked for a partner.
But there was one. And he had either been smarter or just not as talkative, but Derek had never heard or seen him. And now his weapon was pointed at Derek.
The man spoke to him in harsh Spanish. Derek didn’t understand him, but he held both hands up and got up slowly, making no sudden movements as he turned around. He still had a knife in his hand, but that wasn’t going to do him any good against the weapon the man had pointed directly at him.
The man nodded at the knife with his chin. “Down,” he said.
Derek let the knife fall to the ground. At least the man hadn’t already shot him, which meant he didn’t have instructions to kill them on sight.
“Woman,” the man said. “Dónde está la mujer?”
Where is the woman? That much Spanish Derek could understand. “A woman? Dude, I haven’t seen any women out here. I wish. Your friend snuck up on me and I got a little carried away with the self-defense, I guess.”
The man was obviously trying to pick out whatever words he could understand. Derek had hoped the confusion might buy him more time, at least allow him to lead the man away from Molly, but he was reaching for his radio. Derek listened as the man reported in.
“Matalo. Encuentra a la mujer.” The words came from the radio. Derek didn’t know what they meant, but by the evil smile that spread across the big man’s face, it wasn’t good news for Derek.
The man put the radio back in its holder and lifted his weapon. Derek was about to make a dive for it—a total gamble, but better than doing nothing as he got shot—when the man crumpled to the ground.
Molly stood behind him, a large branch in her hand. She had obviously belted the guy over the head with it.
But he wasn’t completely unconscious. He turned himself and his gun toward Molly in a rage. Derek didn’t hesitate, but dove forward, landing on the man in a flying tackle. The gun flew from his hands and Derek pounded his fist into his face.
The larger man didn’t want to go down without a fight. He got in a few punches that had Derek grunting in pain, before Derek was able to get behind him. Derek wrapped his arms around the man’s neck and gave a quick twist, breaking it. The man fell dead.
He landed near Molly, who immediately backed up to get away. Derek saw horror in her eyes.
Something in his heart froze. Now she knew Derek was a killer, could kill a man with his bare hands. He supposed she had already known academically that taking lives was sometimes part of his job. But she didn’t know the sorts of things he had done when he’d been in the military. The people he’d killed while his skin was touching theirs. Just like the two men he’d killed tonight.
When Molly looked over at him the horror was gone from her eyes, but he knew it would be back. This was why he had always tried to distance himself from her. To keep this blackness away from her light.
“Matalo means ‘kill him,’” she whispered. “That’s one of the few phrases I remember from my high school Spanish.”
“What?”
“That’s what the voice said on the radio. Matalo. Kill him.” She was swaying on her feet.
Derek rushed over to her. “Well, he definitely would have if you hadn’t clocked him. Thank you. And thank you to your high school Spanish teacher for teaching completely inappropriate phrases.”
She started to smile, but then paled even more, if possible. “I’m not feeling so good.”
The words were hardly out of her mouth before she turned to the side and was violently ill. Derek tried to brace her at her waist and held a hand at her forehead.
So much for all the food and water he’d tried to get into her. It was on the jungle floor now. Any fortification in her system was gone. They had almost two miles still to go and the second dead guy had called for backup.
They needed to leave now, but Molly wasn’t capable of going anywhere.
“I can run,” she said.
Derek actually scoffed right in her face. “You can’t even stand up straight, much less run.”
He took his backpack off and set it against a tree. He would just have to leave it here. “Time for a piggyback ride.”
“What?” Despite how she was feeling she still managed to look at him as if he was crazy.
“Carrying you on my back will be much easier than carrying you in my arms. And much more comfortable for you than me carrying you over my shoulder fireman-style.”
Evidently the thought of being upside down made her turn a little greener.
“Piggyback.”
They didn’t have any more time to waste. He swung her up on his back. Her small arms wrapped around his neck.
“Jon,” Derek spoke into his mic.
“Damn it, man, I was worried about you. Are you guys okay?”
Derek started to run.
“Yes. We’re about a mile and a half out and are probably going to be coming in hot. Someone found our trail and reported back before I could stop him.”
“What’s you’re ETA?” Jon asked.
“I’m carrying Molly, so I’m aiming for twenty minutes. I don’t have any guns on me.” Talking was harder now as he picked up speed.
“We’ll be ready. Liam’s already here.”
“Roger. Over and out.”
Derek focused on running. He still had his machete to cut through brush and whacked away now that he didn’t care about whether the trail could be followed.
He felt Molly try to hold her own weight as much as possible with her legs and arms grasping him tightly. But he could feel her muscles start to fail her as they got closer to the plane.
“Hang in there, baby,” Derek told her.
As he reached the clearing a half mile from the plane, Derek felt her start to slip from his back, her strength obviously spent. He tossed his machete to the ground, caught her by the arm and swung her around so he was carrying all her weight in his arms.
He heard shots coming from behind them in the jungle.
“Liam.” Derek hit the mic on his throat to talk.
“I’m out here and got my sights on you. Just keep running with her.”
Having Molly over his shoulder would probably be faster, but Derek wasn’t going to take the chance of them shooti
ng at his back and hitting her. She was totally slack in his arms.
Derek heard more gunfire and forced more speed out of his legs. Not only did they have to make it on the plane, it had to take off. The plane wasn’t bulletproof.
Five hundred yards.
Four hundred yards.
He heard gunfire coming from in front of him. That was Liam, which meant Belisario’s men had broken the tree line.
Three hundred yards.
“I see you, Derek. Keep going.” It was Jon in his ears. Derek could barely hear him over the sound of the jet’s engines.
Two hundred yards.
“Liam. Let’s. Go.” Derek had no breath left for full sentences.
A bullet flew wide, over his head. Belisario’s men weren’t close enough for accuracy yet, but it wouldn’t be much longer.
One hundred yards.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Liam sprint up beside them, then he passed them and made his way up the stairs into the plane. Derek forced one last burst of speed and followed him up the stairs a few seconds later.
He dove for the ground inside the plane, twisting so he wouldn’t land on Molly’s unconscious form.
“Go!” Liam yelled and the jet began to roll even while Liam was pulling up and securing the door.
There was nothing Derek could do but hold on to Molly and pray that Jon’s skills as a pilot could get them out of this. A few moments later he felt the plane leave the ground at a much steeper rate than normal, and make a sharp turn that threw them back against the side of the aircraft.
But then it evened out and they began a more normal ascent to a higher altitude.
Derek heard a loud woot and laugh from the cockpit. Jon called out, “We hope you enjoy your flight on Save Your Ass airline. Now just sit back and relax.”
Chapter Thirteen
Once they were safely in the air Derek got Molly up into a seat. Her color was still pale—in the places of her face he could actually see not covered by bruises—but her breathing was pretty even. She’d be waking up soon.
Derek and Liam put headsets on so they could talk to Jon without having to yell.
“Molly okay?” Jon asked.
“She’s waking up,” Derek told him. “The eight miles was a lot for her in the shape she was in. Although she was a hell of a trouper.”
“Looks like someone pounded on her pretty good.” Liam winced.
Derek reached over to stroke a stray wisp of hair off her forehead. She moved just the slightest bit at his touch.
“Well, she’s alive.” Derek looked over at his friend. “And the worst didn’t happen, so we’ll call this a win.”
Liam knew what he meant. “Thank God. I couldn’t have stood the thought of that for her.”
Derek’s jaw tightened just thinking about it.
Molly shifted again and her eyes began to flutter open. Derek positioned himself in the seat next to Liam, across from Molly, so she could have a little space as she awoke.
“Hey, kiddo,” Liam said. “Don’t be scared by this ghoulish monster sitting next to me. It’s just Derek. But he often scares small children.”
Derek heard Jon chuckle over the headset.
He watched as Molly became more aware of what was going on. She sat up a little straighter in her seat and looked out the window, then across at them.
“We made it to the plane,” she said.
“Yep.”
“What is she saying?” Jon was demanding. “Give her some headphones.”
Derek got up and grabbed a set, then handed them to her, smiling. “Jon wants to be able to talk to you, too.”
She put them on. “Hey, Jon.”
“You have no idea how happy I am to hear your voice, Molly.”
“Well, you have no idea how happy I am that you guys figured out where I was and came to get me.”
“Are you okay?” Jon asked.
“Nothing that won’t heal. No broken bones.”
“I still want to take you to the hospital when we get back to Colorado,” Derek told her. “Whatever drug they pumped you full of, we need to make sure there are no residual effects.”
“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” She nodded at him.
They both noticed Liam was looking kind of strangely at Molly.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing.” Liam shook his head, smiling. “That’s just the first sentence I’ve heard you say to Derek without stuttering in years.”
Molly looked away for a minute and Derek thought he might have to punch Liam for bringing it back to her attention, but then she regrouped.
“I guess my life being threatened by a real ghoulish monster like Pablo Belisario taught me there are much bigger and badder things to be nervous about than Derek.”
“Atta girl,” Jon murmured over the headsets.
“Molly, what did Belisario want with you?” Derek asked her.
“I still don’t know, exactly. But it definitely had to do with the explosion at the lab. He wanted confirmation that everything had been destroyed.”
“Did you have evidence dealing with Belisario in the lab?”
“No.” She sat up straighter. “That’s just it. It wasn’t about him. It was about someone he called his ‘partner’ and the evidence you guys brought into the lab yesterday.”
This was getting even weirder. “Who is his partner?” Derek asked her.
Molly closed her eyes, obviously concentrating on her memory of the conversation. “He didn’t say. He just said someone who couldn’t allow me to be found on US soil.”
Derek met eyes with Liam. Common criminals wouldn’t care about Molly’s questioning and/or murder happening on US soil. But a politician sure as hell would.
“That Secret Service vehicle,” Liam murmured.
“Exactly.” Derek nodded.
“Evidently this partner had a very bad day and needed to absolutely confirm that all evidence had been destroyed in the lab,” Molly continued. “I was supposed to have died there. And the partner wanted the names of you guys, too, the ones who brought in the evidence.”
“Whoa,” Jon said from the headset. “Sounds like someone was going a little overboard in making sure he cleaned up his mess. We’d better watch our six.”
“Don’t worry.” Molly was quick to jump in. “I didn’t give them your names. They wanted names, but I told them the agents were Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner.”
“Who are they?” Liam asked.
“Superheroes from The Avengers,” Derek answered. His eyes met Molly’s. Did she remember that was the movie that was playing in the background that night he’d shown up at her house? Derek hadn’t been able to think of the film since without thinking of Molly.
Molly flushed and looked away, fiddling with the headset. Yes, she remembered.
“That was good thinking,” Jon told her. “I’m sure you were under a lot of pressure. We appreciate you trying to look out for us.”
“I’m sorry I don’t have any more useful information.”
Derek wanted to take her hand, but forced himself not to. He needed to keep his distance from her now more than ever. “Don’t be sorry. You confirmed some important details we’ve been working on with Director Drackett.”
Her look said she didn’t believe him.
“Seriously. Even before the explosion in the lab we were considering that it might be someone high in the US Government—someone who Drackett’s been reporting to—who has ties to the Chicago bombing,” Derek explained.
“Oh, no.”
“It’s how they’ve kept ahead of us on all our leads, knew when we had critical evidence and knew to take you to find out more details,” Liam continued. “Belisario wouldn’t be able to ge
t that information on his own. It’s highly unlikely that he has any clout or inside knowledge when it comes to Omega, without his ‘partner’ feeding it to him.”
Molly nodded. Derek could tell she was exhausted again. “Why don’t you rest? We have to stop in Miami to refuel, but then we’ll be going straight to Colorado.”
She wanted to argue, but couldn’t find the strength. Her eyes were closed within moments.
“She still has too much of that damn drug in her system,” Derek muttered. He slid a pillow under her head where it rested against the plane.
“Not to mention the trauma of all those miles getting out of the jungle,” Liam said. “She’s a lot tougher than you would think, just by looking at her. I know I’ll never call her mousy again.”
Derek heard Jon’s quiet, “Amen to that.”
Derek remembered the horror that filled her eyes when that man had fallen dead at her feet. The man Derek had killed with his own two hands right in front of her.
He looked at her sleeping form. “She’s strong, definitely.”
But Liam was wrong, Molly wasn’t tough. Nor was she hard or cold. She didn’t belong in their world. She needed to be back at a lab where she could be safe. Protected from people like Belisario.
Hell, protected from people like Derek.
“Doctors will get her situated, Derek. She’s made it through the worst part,” Jon said.
Derek hoped so. He tucked another strand away from her sleeping face, but quickly moved his hand back when she turned toward him.
He hoped she’d made it through the worst part. But somehow he knew she probably hadn’t. And that the worst part for her, was him.
* * *
SIX HOURS LATER, after a brief stop in Miami for refueling, which Molly slept through, they landed in Colorado. Even though she was feeling better, Derek wanted to get her straight to a hospital. Jon and Liam would take care of the plane and report back to Steve Drackett at Omega HQ.
Everyone agreed that they all needed to watch their backs. Outside of the four of them, and Drackett, no one was trustworthy.