“You will. They will kill you if you don’t. Just one more day.”
“They will kill us even if we do. You think they’ll let any of us live? Hardly.”
The first woman started crying, so Connie moved to the next couple of tents, puzzled by the woman’s reference to standing in water. Squatting behind another tent, Connie listened to a French conversation, and though her French was somewhat rusty, she could make out most of what they said.
“Our side of the cavern mine is nearly finished. We have two, maybe three days of work left.”
“How much is enough for those bastards? Our section came up with almost three kilos today.”
“I’ve heard there may be another cavern to the south. I’ll bet they take us there.”
“Aren’t you scared?”
“Of course, but I am happy those warthogs leave me alone. I’ve heard stories about what they do to the other women.”
Other women.
Megan was probably one of them. But what were these women doing when not ‘satisfying’ the men? What “job” were they talking about? There were too many questions and not enough answers, so Connie moved on, wondering how she’d find Megan without hearing the other woman’s familiar voice. Her pulse banging loudly in her head, Connie pressed on, hoping and praying Megan was not in one of the larger tents.
Stopping in a low crouch, Connie made her way back to the two French women. “Psst,” Connie hissed, tossing a rock against the back of the tent. Both women became silent. “Don’t be scared. I’m from the other side of the camp and I’m looking for my sister, Megan. She’s a very pretty blonde. Tall. Would you know which tent she is in?”
Neither women responded.
“Please. I need to see her,” Connie pleaded. “I don’t know if I can hold on much longer if I don’t see her.”
Connie could hear them whispering now, but could not make out what they were saying. Their suspiciousness was a good sign. If they were suspicious, maybe they wouldn’t tell anyone anything and she could get out of there undetected.
“She’s two tents over to the left,” one of them whispered, “but she’s not there now. She’s...with the general.”
“Thank you so much. I appreciate it.”
Creeping back into the bushes, Connie’s heart raced. Suddenly, the picture took on a whole new meaning. There were other women who needed their help. How could they possibly just take Megan and leave the rest in the hands of these animals? Didn’t that go against everything she and Delta stood for? And what would Megan want them to do? Connie heaved a sigh, then started back up to the cliff. Somehow, some way, they had to figure a way to get everyone out of the grasp of these bastards.
Quietly maneuvering around the still-passed-out guard, Connie stopped in front of him and contemplated taking his weapon. When he snored and twitched, she thought better of it and hurried quickly back up to the cliff.
“Gold?” Delta asked when Connie relayed her story.
“Unless my French has taken a serious nosedive, I’m almost sure the women were talking about gold. Five pounds of gold.”
“Do you know how much pure, cold, hard cash that is?” Sal asked, adjusting her cap.
Connie nodded. “Enough to bankroll quite a few drug operations. Whoever these guys are, they’re definitely not penny-ante drug dealers.”
“Then who are they?” Delta asked, crossing her arms, her patience wearing thin.
“I don’t know,” Connie said, uncapping the canteen and taking a sip. “But at least we now know why all the guard posts and secrecy. Somehow, these yahoos found caverns filled with gold, and I think they’ve kidnapped their work force.”
“You’re sure these women worked in the caverns?” Sal asked.
Connie nodded. “I heard them.”
“Then why—” Delta could not finish the sentence. She didn’t want to know why Megan had done what Delta saw her doing. “Did they tell you Megan had a tent?”
Connie nodded. “Two tents down from them. You can’t see it from here because of that boulder.”
Delta put the binoculars to her eyes and looked down at the camp. “I don’t understand.”
Connie glanced over at Delta, who lowered the binoculars and returned her gaze. Even in the crescent moonlight, a flash of understanding flew between them.
“No way, Consuela. I know what you’re thinking, and I’m not going to do it.”
Connie stepped closer to Delta. “We can’t just pull Megan out of there, Del. There are—”
Delta waved Connie’s words away with her hand. “No way.”
“But Del—”
“But nothing!” Delta growled. “I’ve spent my entire career putting it all on the line at the cost of my own life. Not this time. We came for Megan and that’s it. I’m not going to put our lives in jeopardy for people we don’t know.” Crossing her arms over the dangling binoculars, Delta continued shaking her head.
“We’ve never turned our backs on anyone, Storm,” Connie said quietly.
“There’s a first for everything,” Delta spat.
“You don’t mean that.”
Delta pulled her hand away. “The hell I don’t. I will not put Megan’s life in danger out of some skewed sense of saving the universe. I don’t care how many people need saving, they can count on someone else. Damn it, Con, haven’t I given enough? Don’t ask me to risk Megan’s life. I won’t do it.”
“Risk is risk.”
Delta shook her head. “What do you want from me? I’m nobody’s heroine, I just want my lover back. I just want the chance to make things right with her, with my life, with my job.” Delta bowed her head and squeezed her eyes shut. “I just want to be back home with Megan.”
“We’re going to get her back,” Connie said quietly. “You believe that, don’t you?”
Delta slowly looked up and nodded. “And the others? Do you agree to leave them?”
Connie sighed and brushed a stray hair from Delta’s face. “We’ll think of something.”
Two hours later, Connie led the way to Megan’s tent, with Sal and Delta close behind. The guard had shifted positions, but it was clear by the booze smell coming from his open mouth that he wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon.
Connie motioned to Sal to stay with the guard, so Sal tucked herself away behind a large palm frond and nodded for Connie and Delta to continue.
As they moved around the rear of the tents, being careful to stay in the shadows, Connie and Delta maneuvered over to the tent Megan was supposed to be in. To their surprise, they found the back of the tent cut open. The gaping hole revealed a frightened woman, who scurried to the opposite side of the small tent when she saw them.
“Where’s Megan?” Delta whispered, struggling to keep her voice down.
Stammering, the woman shrugged. “I...I don’t know. I was sleeping and—”
Delta reached in, grabbed her arm, and slapped her hand over her mouth. “Listen to me. Don’t be afraid. We came here to help. Do you understand?”
Nodding slowly, the woman’s eyes grew wide as Delta pulled her hand away. “You! Megan said you two would come for her.”
“Where did she go?”
“She…escaped…” The words were stammered, and tears began to well in her eyes.
“Escaped? What do you mean, escaped? She cut this hole in the tent and took off?”
The woman nodded. “To Panama.”
“How long ago?”
“Two, maybe three hours ago. I...I couldn’t really say.”
Delta’s heart sank.
“She stole a carving knife and was determined to cut her way out. She’s in the rainforest trying to get help.”
Delta released the arm and stared helplessly at Connie, who motioned for her to hurry up.
“Did she say anything else?” Connie asked, glancing out to the camp. Time was running out.
“She said you would come, and that you would bring help.”
“What’s your name? How many
of you are there?”
“Siobhan. There are about twenty or so. Are you going to help us?”
Delta opened her mouth to answer, but Connie spoke first. “Yes. But we have more to do before we can. Do not mention our visit to anyone, or you could get us all killed.” Connie checked her watch. Fifteen more seconds and the guard would be rounding the corner.
Siobhan nodded. “You must hurry, though. Once they find out Megan is missing, they could take their anger out on the rest of us.”
“We’ll do whatever we can.” Connie pulled away from the tent and grabbed Delta with her. “Remember, tell no one,” she said over her shoulder.
Siobhan nodded.
“Go!” Connie whispered, pushing Delta to the rear of the tent. In a matter of minutes they made their way back to where Sal waited anxiously.
“Where is she?” Sal murmured when she stepped out from her guard post amidst the palm fronds.
“Escaped.”
Sal’s eyes bugged. “Into the jungle? Megan is wandering out here in the dark all by herself?”
Delta and Connie could only nod.
“How could we have missed her?”
“The back of the tent faces away from us. She cut herself out of there about three hours ago.”
Sal shook her head. “And then did what?”
Connie looked out into the darkness of the jungle. “My guess is she took off from the back of the tent.”
“Umm...so, now what?” Sal asked, jamming her hands on her hips.
Unsheathing her machete, Delta leapt into the darkness. “We go after her.”
Her heart pounded, her legs ached, and her clothes were shredded, but Megan was determined to put as much distance between herself and the camp as she could. It was important for her to maintain a straight line, otherwise she could end up back where she started. Her survival now depended on her ability to keep a clear head, keep moving using the crescent moon hanging overhead as a touch point, and keep believing in herself.
Megan made her way through the rainforest with more speed than she thought possible. As long as she moved forward, as long as she was free, nothing else mattered except the distance she could put between herself and the general. Thank God Professor Juan Carlos had made her study the geography of Central America, not just of Costa Rica. She silently thanked Augustine for imparting crucial knowledge of the flora and fauna before his death at the hands of the general’s men.
Stopping to rest, Megan couldn’t help but smile. She was free, and freedom had never tasted so sweet. Even if she didn’t make it out of here, she would at least die a free woman, in possession of her soul, once again.
Megan wiped her face with the front of her shirt and paused when she heard a familiar sound. Plucking the knife from her belt loop, she held it fast in her hand. There it was again—that sickening hissing sound a snake makes when it slithers over dead leaves. Augustine had told her that La Amistad was full of poisonous snakes, but they were seldom seen because they waited until it cooled off to move about. Megan held her breath and listened. Whatever kind of snake it was, it was huge. The dead leaves crunched beneath its weight, and Megan was sure it was just a foot or two away.
Megan didn’t know how long she stood there, motionless and barely breathing. Finally, she took off, and ran faster than she ever had before. As she pushed through the jungle, she suddenly felt a presence. She was not alone. Something lurked out here...and it was watching her. Whatever it was, she hoped it was one of the friendly animals in La Amistad.
Megan knew La Amistad Park had very few ranger stations, and that the park itself crossed over into Panama. That was where it got its name—“The Friendship Park.” If she could continue to move toward Panama, she just might get to a village before the Colombians could find her. Megan was certain that her death at the hands of the Colombians would be horrible, ugly, and very, very painful. It was not something she wanted to think about; it frightened her too much to think of Zahn making an example of her. Instead, she focused on staying free and finding a way to safety.
She had watched the soldiers’ movements enough to know that only a few of them were adept at getting through the jungle with any sort of speed. They were overly cautious, loud and lazy, taking breaks at every opportunity. These men were not men of the jungle, and it showed. This, she would use to her advantage.
With less than three days’ worth of work remaining in their current caverns, it was a matter of seventy-two small hours before the soldiers shot the slave laborers. After the gold was successfully removed, the Colombians would destroy any witnesses to their crimes, and leave much richer than when they had arrived. Of course, there was always the possibility that the second set of caverns also had deposits. If so, the workers would be moved there. Either way, time was Megan’s greatest concern. She felt the weight of dozens of lives sitting on her shoulders. On one hand, the enormity of the responsibility frightened her, while on the other, she found it exhilarating. No doubt this was the same sort of emotional seesaw Delta experienced every time she pulled someone to safety or prepared to save someone’s life. It was the first time since they had met that Megan fully understood what it meant to be Delta Stevens. Delta was a saver of lives, a giver of gifts. She did what she did because she was obligated, just as Megan was somehow obligated to go back for the others once she had found help. There was no other decision to be made, yet it was a decision she had questioned every time Delta went to work. Megan understood, at last, why Delta did what she did; it only made her love Delta that much more.
Delta! She’s probably sick with worry, tearing around Costa Rica trying to track me down.
Megan had no doubt that Delta and Connie were in the country somewhere. She simply knew Delta was here. She could feel it as easily as she felt her own heart beating. Megan also knew that she was the proverbial needle in the haystack deep within the rainforest. They were, after all, city women, whose idea of the forest was something out of Kipling’s Jungle Book. But bless their hearts, Megan knew they would try. They would turn this country on its ear, and they would not stop until they either found her or got some answers. Just knowing that Delta was in Costa Rica made her heart swell. Was it even possible to love Delta Stevens any more than she already did? Megan laughed for the first time in a week. Of course she loved Delta more now than when she’d left; the time away had done that.
Just stay alive so you can tell her that yourself.
It was almost dawn when Megan paused long enough to look at herself as far as she could without a mirror. When she did, she got a real good dose of just how dangerous the jungle was. Her arms were bloody, and long scratch marks and bug bites dotted her fair skin. Her hair was wet and plastered to her head, her clothes were torn, but her legs, although trembling, still managed to hold her upright.
Still, the smell of freedom, the feeling of independence pushed all of the pain aside. Today, she would not be working her fingers to the bone, nor would she be forced to give any blow jobs, hand jobs, or quick, rear-entry fucks that so many men demanded. She had found her way to freedom, and nothing, not even the fear of getting caught, could dampen her spirits. She had made it through the night in the jungle. All she needed now was to get somewhere where there were decent people who could help her.
Megan knew that if she could make it to the river, she could follow it to the Caribbean side of the country. From there, she would follow the coast and head south until she reached Panama. No doubt General Zahn’s tentacles extended far and wide; there would be men on the lookout for her. But Megan hoped that once she described to the Panamanian authorities just what the Colombians were doing, they would act swiftly to save the lives of the remaining captives.
Now, if only she could get there.
Breathing hard, she pushed forward and formulated a plan. What would she do when the sun was at its peak? Should she slow down? Rest? Stop? What would she eat? She must think ahead—prepare for the unexpected. She should play this like a chess game against Delta.
Look beyond the next move. She knew enough to stay hydrated, and was aware of the possibility of heat stroke. Around every corner lurked some kind of danger. She had managed to avoid the snake last night, but she still had an eerie feeling of being followed.
She parted two huge fig leaves, spotting a small stream tumbling into an area where the water swirled silently around three large rocks before continuing on its way. It was an inviting place to rest, and beckoned her weary limbs to sit for a moment. As she sat on a smooth, flat rock, Megan dipped her hands in the cool water and splashed it on her face. The water felt refreshing as it ran down her neck and into her cleavage. Augustine would have been angry with her for not checking for snakes, but she was just too tired to care.
Stretching her legs out, Megan mentally checked off her immediate needs. Drink a little water, take a short a nap, and collect her thoughts. After that, she would continue on, aware that Zahn’s men might be closing in on her. She was trying so hard not to be scared. After all, she’d made it through the jungle in the dark. What could be scarier than that?
Megan lowered her hands and her head for a drink, then jerked back. The answer to her unspoken question was staring back at her in the reflection from the water.
Whirling around, Megan realized, too late, that she was not alone.
They’d been moving all night, and when dawn came, it took everything Connie and Sal had to convince Delta they needed to rest and eat. When Delta finally agreed, the three of them sat down heavily on the forest floor and munched on granola bars.
“I wish Manny and Josh were with us,” Delta sighed, resting her head against a tree. Closing her eyes, Delta thought about Rikki, the beautiful blue-and-gold macaw she’d wanted to give Megan as a welcome-home gift. It was Delta’s small way of getting involved in the important things in Megan’s life, to let Megan know that her passions and interests were important to Delta as well.
Opening her eyes, Delta blurted out, “I sure as hell hope Megan learned a lot about the rain forest and the macaws’ habitat. Maybe that Augustine guy taught her enough about the jungle to keep her alive.”
Delta Force Page 14