by Serena Zane
She focused her attention back on the forest, and pushed through thick vegetation, shoving aside large plants and ducking past vines. Shots whizzed by her as she raced through the jungle. Thoughts swam wildly in her head and she crashed through the underbrush as the slap of leaves stung against her bare skin.
Rivera’s pursuit sounded loud as he followed her. She didn’t dare stop to adjust the halter-top that Rivera had pulled around her waist. Her slacks caught on a branch and she heard a tearing sound which she ignored. If she didn’t find a hiding place soon Rivera would be upon her. And then, God only knew what he would do.
Lucy paused briefly. She surveyed the landscape. If she could climb one of the trees maybe he would pass her by. She grabbed at the nearest trunk and gasped as the rough bark scraped her breast. With a grimace she started to climb, and her legs hugged the tree in a death grip. She settled herself into a high branch out of sight and waited.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Kevin paced, impatient for Avery to arrive in the Conference room. When the man finally showed up, he’d brought two others with him.
“Hello. This is Saul and Nico. They’re both great members of the Agency here. Shall we begin?”
Kevin and Cindy listened intently as they went through all the information they’d recently uncovered.
“When do we go?” Kevin asked annoyed. They were wasting time. No telling what was happening right now at Rivera’s estate. Kevin didn’t like not being in contact with any agent, let alone Lucy. His fists clenched and he tried to hold it together. Playing cowboy wouldn’t do her any good. That could possibly ruin any evidence that the team could collect to take down Rivera’s operation.
“Go?” Avery met Kevin’s gaze with a steady one. “I’m afraid we don’t just storm people’s homes as you do in America. We must plan.”
Kevin’s fist came down on the table. “While we sit here and plan, one of our Agents is out there in danger— no telling what the guy will do once he finds out that the diamond is fake. We need to get moving.”
“I agree,” Cindy said from across the table. “This is not just any agent. She’s my friend, and I don’t want to see her get hurt if we can prevent it.”
“It appears as though this agent means more to both of you than the job.”
With affirmative nods from Kevin and Cindy, Avery’s analytical gaze moved to each one of the other members on their team assessing the situation. “Right. We know where Rivera lives. The only unguarded spot on his property is through here.” He pointed at a small inlet on a map and continued talking, “If we’re to go in this soon, that’s the best route. We can only offer backup support I’m afraid. We’re down men since most are out dealing with the guerilla problem in the area. We’ll give you all the necessary supplies and ammunition. We can leave immediately, since you are in such a rush. It should only take us about a half hour to reach his backyard.”
Kevin paid attention as Avery laid out the plan. He paced back and forth exchanging worried glances with Cindy. Lucy had better be safe, or he didn’t want to answer for what would happen to Rivera.
The briefing ended abruptly, and the other men filed out of the room. Avery turned to them. “This agent must be someone special in order to command your loyalty. We are with you.”
The night turned cold as they made their way through the thick brush outside Rivera’s estate. Kevin’s felt nervous, alert and on edge as they neared the fence in the backyard. His wore his pistol strapped to his thigh. Although he was in no shape to get into a scrap, his gun would come in handy if something did occur. His leg hurt, but he wouldn’t let that deter him. The Agency might want this guy, but Kevin wanted him more.
Three guards paced the perimeter of the fence, oblivious to Kevin and Cindy who watched them from the other side of the fence. The guys moved at a steady pace along the perimeter, guns at ready, looking anything but professional. A large gap formed as the guards paced away from one another.
Kevin felt Cindy move beside him, and he got down on one knee. Cindy placed her foot on his leg. He controlled a wince as she pushed off. She caught the top of the fence and launched herself over. Kevin followed.
If the diagram was correct, the back doors that opened onto the patio would be right ahead. He could barely see through the dark as they slunk through the porch area, but reached the doors without mishap. Not too many guards were left on the premises and the lights were darkened. They proceeded in a stop and start motion so as to not alert those guards that were left. Kevin could hear animal calls in the night air and sweat trickled down his back in the humidity as they made it to the tiled patio.
He reached out to try the handle and Cindy stayed his hand. She pointed to the red flashing light above them, a telltale sign of an alarm. Kevin slid down the wall. Cindy disappeared for a moment.
As Kevin waited for her to return, he watched the blinking red light while taking occasional glances around. Cindy remained to be the best tech he’d ever worked with, but it seemed like an eternity until she came back around the corner. A huge grin filled her face. Kevin glanced at the spot where the red light had been and it was black.
Too easy, he thought as she stepped through the entrance door.
“We’re in. Move now,” Cindy whispered into the link on her wrist to the team that waited for them just beyond the fence in the jungle and hiding in spots around the property. They glided down the hall quickly needing to get to the room before the other part of their team entered the building.
Kevin followed the diagram for the inside of the house he’d memorized. They would be able to make it to the study with the hidden room without interference. It seemed strange that no one guarded the hall, but Kevin kept going, thinking that the guard must be on his rounds. The room they looked for would be four doors down the hallway on the right hand side.
Cindy followed closely behind Kevin, and they pressed against the wall making their way cautiously down the hall. Sounds came from other areas in the house where the F.I.U.W. team entered the building. Gunfire sounded in multiple areas. Crap!
There was no light in the hall other than the soft glow of a lamp which came from the study. They moved forward and listened for a moment. Silence. With the door slightly ajar, Kevin noticed the shadows of a couple people pacing the room. He motioned to Cindy with his hand that they should enter the room together. She signaled back that she understood and agreed. He gave up all pretense of trying to sneak in. There was no point now. With a shove, the door swung wide. The men inside opened fire the second they stepped through the door.
Already alert to possible danger, Kevin rolled to the side, dodging bullets as they thudded into the wood behind him. Kevin raised his gun, and fired, aiming at the man closest to him. The first guy fell with a thud on the carpet.
He located Cindy on the other side of the room.
She pressed herself up from the floor, and her eyes shot to a spot behind him, “Garrett! Behind you!”
Kevin whipped around just as a large object slammed into his head. It crashed into the floor as it fell, and shattered. The man who’d swung the heavy vase struck out and caught Kevin in the leg with a kick.
Shots fired from the other side of the room, but Kevin didn’t have time to worry about Cindy, he raised his gun and fired as his injured leg crumpled in pain. The other man fell to the ground in front of him and barely missed Kevin as he hit the carpet.
Footsteps echoed on the wood floor, and Kevin tried to turn his head.
Cindy ran across the room and knelt in front of him. “Are you okay?” She placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Yeah, but it looks like we may have gotten here too late.”
He surveyed the room. The case on the table drew his attention first. He shoved up from the floor and limped over to the desk. It lay open with the fake Hope Diamond inside. Kevin cursed silently and wondered where to find Lucy.
“Garrett, over here.” Cindy’s voice invaded his thoughts. He went over to where she stood. �
��Look.” She pointed to a small separation of the wall behind a tall bookcase.
“Okay, together.” They pulled the wall open, just enough to slip through. “You bring your flashlight?”
“Yes, hold on a minute.” Shuffling noises sounded for a minute until a small beam came on. Cindy slowly scanned the room with her flashlight. “This is it.” The lights in the room flickered on, revealing paintings, sculptures, and jewelry displayed neatly along the walls and in cases. “Bingo.”
Kevin glanced around. Lucy wasn’t there. The paintings, the artifacts, were right in front of them, but she wasn’t there.
“Right. This will keep; we need to find Lucy.” They edged out of the room and moved toward the door. Cindy stopped not far into the outer room over a dark puddle. Kevin noticed Cindy back away. He went still when he saw Chuck Conner lying in a pool of blood. They hadn’t noticed him before in all the action.
“Now. We’ve got to find Lucy, now.” Urgency threaded his voice.
Cindy nodded in agreement. “We’ll split up. I’ll take the upstairs.”
“Right.” They moved off as one in the inky blackness in search of their missing teammate. Kevin went through each room methodically, taking time they couldn’t afford to spare. She wasn’t there. The only thing he came across was F.I.U.W. agents and their prisoners. Rivera left quite the force behind, several of them now dead, the rest captured, but no Lucy.
“She’s not here,” he growled into his wrist communicator.
Cindy’s tone sounded concerned as she replied, “Not here either. They either have her, or she escaped.” He met Cindy on the stairwell. Both of them somber, they walked out of the house in heavy silence.
Avery approached as they exited. “Did you find her?” He appeared as though he’d been through quite a scuffle, his hair mussed, and his clothing torn.
“No, we need to keep looking. We don’t know if he has her.” Kevin wasn’t about to give up on Lucy. He turned toward Cindy. “Look by the pool. Maybe we can find something out there.” The illumination from the swimming pool provided enough light to see that no one else was there.
“Search for clues.” Kevin narrowed his eyes as he scanned the area. He ignored the other team members as they gathered up the remaining guards.
Avery took control and directed the team to load them into vans so they could be interrogated back at the base.
Kevin’s gaze passed over the lounge chairs, his sharp eyes fell on the jacket Lucy had worn. He lengthened his stride and picked up the garment half afraid of what he might find. No blood. He let out the breath he didn’t realize he held. Kevin turned to Cindy and held it up.
“She’s definitely here. This is the jacket she wore. Damn it!” He slapped the garment against his thigh and sat on the lounge chair running his hand through his hair.
Cindy came to stand beside him. “Lucy probably realized that her cover was blown and bolted. If I know her at all, she’s trying to make it in the jungle.”
Kevin shook his head, turned his gaze up to Cindy, and took in her steady calmness. Cindy certainly believed in Lucy. He should too, but his mind struggled to grasp the idea that Lucy might be safe. “She doesn’t know the first thing about jungle survival techniques. She won’t stand a chance.”
Cindy cocked her head to the side and stared at Kevin. “You really don’t know much about her if you think that. I’ll bet she’s safely in a well- hidden place, waiting for us to come get that jackass.”
“Fine.” Kevin threw the jacket over his arm. “Let’s go.” He raised his wrist and spoke into the com link.
“Avery. This is Garrett. We’ve got a situation.” Kevin rose pacing back and forth in front of the pool, wearing a path in the concrete. Avery was busy directing the round-up.
Cindy continued searching the area. Kevin kept an eye on her as she walked over toward the edge of the forest. Cindy bent over and examined the leaves on a plant.
It took a moment for the response on his unit. “Avery here. Report.”
“Montgomery’s cover’s been blown. She’s must have flown into the jungle and I believe the un-sub is in pursuit. If that’s the case, then we’re going after her. We can’t hear them from here. I can only assume they haven’t found her yet. Cindy is tracking her now.”
“Do you need assistance?” Avery sounded a bit put out over the handset, and Kevin didn’t want the man involved if his heart wasn’t in it. That wouldn’t do Lucy any good.
“No, you take care of the guards and the art. We’ll find Montgomery.” He turned off his wrist communicator with a frustrated snap. “Right.” He looked at where Cindy crouched on the ground, and wiped a hand over his face. “Cindy, can you find out which direction they headed in?” He strode over to where she checked the vegetation.
“What do you think I’m doing?” She gave him a look full of daggers and then turned back to the plant life.
“Right,” he leaned down to get a better look. “Did you find something?”
“These are broken,” she said and pointed to several points in the greenery, “on both sides of this entry point. It looks as though they followed her. It would take more than just Lucy to do this; she’s too small to make this large a break. Plus the prints in the ground here prove more than one person came through at this point. This is where we should start, but I would recommend waiting for Avery and his team.” Cindy eyed the trees with a weary look. “I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not up on my Jungle 101.”
Kevin moved to the side of the jungle closest to where they stood and stared out into the darkness. “This can’t be much different than tracking someone in the country. We can follow these tracks and the breaks in vegetation. She’s out there and in danger; I’m not waiting for anyone.” He took his light and flashed it on the ground following the signs of entry.
Cindy followed his lead and started to walk the trail into the rain forest. The dense foliage didn’t help matters any, and sweat trickled down Kevin’s back as they began their search.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Lucy clung to the branch for all she was worth, feeling the humidity as a drop of moisture ran off her nose onto the bark. Rivera passed by twice as she crouched in the tree. The second time, she assumed he went back to get his men. She hadn’t heard any sound for some time, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t out there looking for her. She didn’t know how long she’d clung to the tree, and her hands began to get tired.
She leaned back, rested against the trunk, and took a moment to look around, assessing her situation. Lucy pulled her halter off. She wiped the sweat off her face then slipped it back into place. If she waited it out until morning she might make her way to the road and see if she could find a nearby village to seek refuge and contact the team.
The sound of animals moving around her set her teeth on edge; closing her eyes, she sent up a silent prayer that she wouldn’t encounter any snakes. Lucy’d handled a lot of things, but snakes, wasn’t one of them. Skin crawling at the thought, she wished for the power to make morning arrive all the sooner. She felt the splash of a raindrop on her hair and tried not to groan.
Well, at least they won’t be able to find my tracks if they get washed away. As soon as the thought hit her, she smiled with another brilliant idea. If my tracks get washed away I can move without being detected in the rain. Yes.
Lucy shimmied down the tree, and used all the stealth she could muster to backtrack to the villa. It’d be easier than trying to find the road from another route and Rivera wouldn’t be there. He would either be out looking for her or long gone. Either way she was relatively safe. Lucy grinned to herself in the darkness as she slipped from tree to tree. Once she got back she needed to contact the team. Now that they knew who purchased all the goods they could bring down the whole operation. She shouldn’t be that far away.
Fickle luck, if it stayed with her, she would only need to deal with one sort of snake tonight. The ground remained moist, and mud squished between her toes as her feet sl
id across the wet ground. Her shoes fell off long ago. Heels didn’t work in the jungle, she sighed as the cool earth seeped between her toes.
Compared to the oppressive heat of the area it felt nice, a relief. She needed to cover her feet though. No telling what may be crawling around out here. She grabbed a nearby plant, tore off two leaves, and used another to tie on her makeshift shoes. Lucy shook her head as she caught a glimpse of her bedraggled slacks and soaking halter. She groaned.
What a way to live. As the rain started to pour down she remembered the start of this adventure, when she got caught without her umbrella in New York. She seemed doomed to remain wet. Her thoughts strayed to Kevin and a vision of silver eyes flashed and took her breath for just a moment.
Best to keep your thoughts in the present Lucy. No telling what might happen out here in jungle land, she giggled as flashes of Amazon warrior women soared through her mind and then stifled her laughter before it could get out of hand.
Trudging on, Lucy was thankful that the swath Rivera’s team of cut a path through the jungle foliage making it discernible in the dank moonlight provided through the trees.
Here’s to hoping he’s not at home.
Her lithe body made its way easily through the jungle. Lucy tried to stay quiet as she neared the edge of the forest.
She let out a scream as a beefy hand clamped over her mouth. Lucy tried to bite the hand, and an arm came around her waist closing painfully on her ribs.
Rivera stepped in front of her. “Well Senorita, it seems we get to have that date you tried to run out on. Tsk, tsk, that’s not acceptable. It seems you must be coerced to finish. If you’ll come with us, we can do so in a more appropriate place.” He moved away and the man who held her waited as another pushed in and took Rivera’s place. She watched as he pulled back a fist and let loose. Her eyes flashed with pain and everything went black.