Lydia's head was swivelling around, trying to see if they had been spotted. The rushing of the wind in her ears, and the rattling of leaves at their feet, kept her from getting a clear idea if anyone was near them.
As they entered the space between two bungalows, Lydia looked back. She gasped.
A man was now standing at the corner of the building, exactly where they had been moments before. And he was looking right at her. Then she moved out of view.
"He saw us!" she said.
"Keep going," Paul said. They were moving along the side of a bungalow. "We'll try and lose him in the jungle."
It sounded like a good plan to Lydia's panicked mind. Of course, it was their only plan.
Paul checked around the corner of the bungalow, glancing in both directions. Lydia could feel the other man approaching them from behind. He would be there in seconds.
Then they saw the last of the buildings, and the jungle beyond. Once there, she was certain they would be safer.
Suddenly, from behind she heard a shout. She turned her head, still running.
The man was behind them now, pistol in hand. He was very close, and at a full run. He was getting closer. There was no time to get into the jungle.
They weren't going to make it.
Chapter 10
Lydia
"He's here!" Lydia said.
Paul turned to look, his eyes widening at the sight of the other man so close to them. They had seconds before he was upon them.
"Here!" Paul said, and altered their course to run around the corner of a bungalow.
But instead of continuing on, Paul stopped and turned.
"Stay back," he said, the tension in his voice was palpable. He pushed her back away from him. He crouched at the corner of the building, like a football player about to tackle someone.
"What are you - ", she started to say when she gasped in surprise.
The other man ran around the corner at that exact moment. He hadn't altered his speed and was running flat out. His eyes widened in surprise at finding them right there in front of him.
Then Paul jumped at him.
With a loud grunt Paul connected before the man could react to the new situation. Both men tumbled to the ground.
Something landed beside Lydia. Not wanting to look away from the Paul and the man now wrestling on the ground, she found herself looking to see what it was.
It was a pistol. The man must of dropped it when Paul connected with him.
Lydia blinked at it then over at the men.
Paul was larger than the other man, but that didn't stop his opponent from putting up one heck of a fight. They grappled in the dirt, Paul trying to keep him pinned.
For several moments Lydia watched transfixed, unable to move.
Paul now had the other man pinned to the ground beneath him, but didn't seem sure what to do with him. Then Paul punched him once in the face.
The other man grunted in pain, but was not knocked out. It just seemed to annoy him.
Oh, God, Lydia thought. What could she do? Jumping into the fray didn't seem to be the best idea. She wasn't any kind of fighter herself. Kick him, maybe?
Just then, the man got an arm free and punched Paul across the jaw. Paul's head snapped back and caused him to tumble off the man.
Oh, no! She thought.
Both Paul and the man stood, eyeing the other wearily.
The other man was definitely smaller than Paul, but wiry. He was Filipino, and wore dark trousers and a black shirt, which was now torn at one sleeve.
Paul seemed to have recovered and started to step toward the other man, his fists raised up, ready for more.
Then, the other man suddenly produced a small knife from his pocket.
Paul froze.
The Filipino grinned. He was missing some front teeth, and what was left was stained a deep yellow.
"To bad I can't kill you," the man said. His voice was high pitched, almost squeaky. "But I can still cut you good. Sell you piece by piece."
Paul looked grimly at the knife but he didn't back away. "Not today, you're not," he replied.
Lydia was certain that it was pure bravado on Paul's part. She had a partial awareness of her research of him, and disarming thugs in a tropical setting was not in his skill set.
The little man was enjoying the moment. The knife gave him all the advantage he needed now, regardless of Paul's size.
"Gonna carve my name in you," the man said, still grinning. "Then I'm gonna have a go at your stupid woman."
Lydia felt anger flare in her chest like a torch. Without thinking she scooped up the pistol. It felt odd. Not what she expected a pistol to feel like but she didn't care at that very moment.
The man took a step toward Paul, knife held out, ready to do damage.
Lydia pointed the pistol at the man. "Who's stupid?" she asked, and fired.
The man had started to turn his head toward Lydia when a dart pierced his throat. His eyes widened. Then they went cross eyed and he dropped the knife.
He fell to his knees, clutching the dart in his neck. He made a strange gurgling noise, then pitched forward onto his face. Then he was still.
Paul looked from the man to Lydia, then to the man again.
"Wow," he said. "Thanks for that."
Lydia was staring at the man in shock. "I... I shot him. I shot someone." Her hands were shaking, and she dropped the pistol to the ground. What had she done?
Paul leaned over the man, cautiously. He scooped up the knife.
"Did I kill him?" Lydia heard herself ask. She never in her life thought she would have to ask that question. She stared down at the inert form of the man with growing apprehension.
Paul put his finger the man's neck. After a few moments he shook his head. "No. He's not dead at all. Just out cold."
Relief flooded through Lydia. Thank God. She wasn't a murderer. Still, the panic coursed through her veins and she found she could not stop shaking.
Paul was examining the dart that stuck out of the man's neck. "It some sort of knock out toxin. Not meant to kill. Just render you unconscious. Looks like it works really fast, too."
He picked up the pistol Lydia had dropped. "Just a dart gun. Can't fire bullets." He opened the pistol exposing an empty chamber. "Just a one shot affair. Not much use to us." He tossed it to the ground.
It was then he noticed Lydia shaking. He looked at her in concern. "Hey, easy there." He put his hands on her shoulders, like he had when they were in the closet. "He's not dead. Just asleep. You did the right thing. Trust me."
"Yeah," Lydia managed to say. His closeness was reassuring. She felt herself calm down. Her shaking subsided.
Paul pocketed the knife, and looked around. "Well, we can't stay around here. Best we stick to the plan."
"Plan?" Lydia asked dumbly. Was she still in a state of shock?
"Yeah," he said taking her hand again. "Running away."
Then they ran into the jungle.
Chapter 11
Oswald
This was not good.
Oswald stood at the bottom of the west wing fire escape, glaring up at the second floor's open door. They had been here. Morgan and the woman. He cast his gaze about the dense jungle that crowded around him. They could be anywhere by now.
Things were not going according to plan.
After landing, and an initial search of the buildings immediate to the docks, his men then moved to scour the main complex. It was huge with hundreds of rooms. But neither he, or his men would be deterred. Their prey was here. They just had to find him.
But once it was clear that the Billionaire had vanished his men started to get irritable. Hadn't he promised them an easy catch? Shouldn't they be at sea by now, heading to the next staging area, then off to the Philippines. At least there no one would find them amongst the thousand of islands in the chain.
It had not happened that way, but Oswald had remained firm. He had to remind himself these were paid mercenaries, not
true loyal soldiers.
"Find him safely, and I will triple the bonus," he had announced. This had the desired effect, and the men were off again. And if Oswald was being honest with himself, he was relieved. If they did not find the Billionaire, and soon, he could be in trouble himself. Triple bonus or not.
Suddenly, Reeka appeared at the north corner of the building. "Sir!" he said, "You should see this."
"Did you find him?" Oswald asked, as he starting moving. That would be a relief.
"No," said Reeka. "But bad news."
Oswald fumed, but followed. They passed the huge resort balcony and then through a small maze of bungalows. There he found several of his men standing over another man, who was leaning against a wall.
"What is this?" Oswald demanded. "What happened to him?"
The man was groggy, almost drunk, and Oswald immediately suspected what had happened. When the man spoke, Reeka translated. "He saw Morgan with a woman leave out the fire escape. He gave chase, but when he came to this spot he was jumped. He said Morgan and him had a great fight, but Morgan managed to wrestle his dart gun away and shot him with it."
Oswald frowned down at the man. It sounded plausible. Then he had a realization. "Did you have a machine gun? Did he take it?"
The man shook his head. Reeka said, "Just a knife. He only had the dart gun."
"Here it is," said another mercenary, holding up the spent gun.
"Well at least he isn't armed with a machine gun," said Oswald. "That would make this far more difficult." He turned to look at the jungle canopy before them.
Thick, and choking. If Morgan wanted to hide he could do it in there. Oswald cursed himself inwardly for not bringing any heat vision equipment. There hadn't been any time.
If Morgan took to hiding then his men still had a chance of finding him. And if night fell, so be it. His men would wait until dawn and try again, but not for much longer. By then, someone would come looking for the Billionaire.
There was another potential wrinkle. One they did not really consider because the mission had appeared to be so easy at first.
"Are there any other docks on the island?" he asked Reeka.
The head mercenary considered. "Not on the last set of maps we have. But that doesn't mean there could be a simple boat left behind by a fishermen, or tourists."
This was a potential hazard. There was no way to secure the entire shoreline of the island from other people coming ashore. Instead, they had pinned their hopes on scooping up Morgan at the resort. Now, if there was a boat somewhere on a beach, he could get away, or at least get far enough out to sea to not be detected.
Oswald noticed the other men watching him think. He needed to stay the man of action. "Okay," he said, "we need to ensure he can't get off the island. We need to find any other boats and take care of them. Then, we flush him out."
He turned to Reeka. "Take some men and head up the east side of the island, and check the beaches. I'll take our boat and head around the west. We'll leave a guard behind here in case they double back. The rest of the men should search inland."
Reeka didn't react at first, but then turned and barked orders to the other men. They ran off into the jungle.
As Oswald turned to head back to the ship Reeka said, "We better find him soon. Boss."
Was that a scowl on his face? Oswald thought. Instead of getting angry, he said, "We will."
Reeka took some men and then headed into the jungle, going east.
Oswald walked back toward the dock. Reeka's disposition wasn't helping. Even dangerous, to a degree. But they would find that Billionaire soon.
Allowing himself to smile again Oswald just kept telling himself the same thought over and over in his mind.
There was no where Morgan could hide.
Chapter 12
Paul
The jungle was difficult, but they pushed through.
At the point they had entered there were no paths, so they had to scamper and climb around the thick foliage. The topography of the island was hilly, and the trees were very tall which kept them from seeing exactly where they were going.
But it also meant it was far more difficult for them to be followed.
As Paul pushed aside a thick set of branches for them to move past, Lydia sighed.
"I have to rest," she said, looking as tired as she sounded. "Can we risk a small break?" She then went over to a nearby fallen log and sat down.
Well, that settles it, Paul thought with a slight grin. He was tired, too. Dog tired. And we felt they could stop for a little while. They had been running for well over an hour non-stop. Their pursuers would probably be as lost as they were right now.
Paul sat beside her.
Lydia seemed to remember she was still carrying her day bag, and pulled out a half full bottle of water. She guzzled at it with relish.
Paul watched her. This was one impressive woman. She had kept her wits about her despite all that was happening. He worried she might have a break down, or worse, become totally paralysed with fear. Yet, she was keeping up with him with little complaint.
Lydia noticed him looking at her and offered the bottle. He took it and sipped.
"We should check our phones again. Just in case."
Still no signal for either of them.
"How long can they keep this up? Blocking the phones like this?" she said. Her face was sheened with sweat. Paul found himself thinking it made her look even more attractive.
"I really don't know," he answered. "Not really my area of expertise. But I do know they are working against the clock."
"Our people," Lydia said nodding.
"Yeah. Soon someone is going to start to wonder about us. And our would-be-kidnappers want to have use whisked away long before that."
"At least they don't want to kill you. They're use of the darts proves that," Lydia said.
But that doesn't rule out harm to you, Paul thought. He did not say it aloud. "Yeah, how kind of them."
Lydia eyes perked up. "Do you hear that?"
"What?"
They listened. Sure enough, there was a low rumbling noise coming from a short distance way.
"What is that?" Lydia said, perplexed.
"Sounds like water."
"We could use some," Lydia said, taking the empty bottle from him and putting it in her bag again.
"Let's take a look," he said and stood. He offered his hand to her, and she took it with a smile and stood.
"Such a gentleman," she said. "Even in all this."
"Gentleman to the end," he said and lead them further through the jungle.
They almost immediately came upon a break in the jungle. They stood on the edge of a wide river that snaked off into the jungle to their right. To their left was a large waterfall splashing loudly which fed into a pool, the source of the river.
For a moment they both were stunned by how beautiful the sight was. Such an unexpected thing to come across.
"This looks so inviting," said Lydia. "Do you think we have time for a bath?" She grinned.
It took a moment for Paul to realize that she was joking. "Maybe some other time. For now lets refill the water - ".
There was a distinct noise from behind them. They crouched and turned to look. Somewhere in the jungle something was moving toward them. Paul suspected it was more than one individual.
There was no time to head back into in the jungle and try to lose them. The only way to go was the water in front of them.
"Quick, hide your bag," he said, pointing to some thick bushes.
"Why?" she asked, but did as he said. She shoved her bag out of sight.
He took a few steps into the water. "Because were going to hide in that." He nodded toward the waterfall.
Lydia's eyes widened, but didn't protest. It wasn't like they had many options at this point. She stepped into the water, too.
"Stay under and swim behind the falls if you can," he said. He submerged himself up to his shoulders, the bottom of the river
too deep to touch with his feet anymore.
"Okay," Lydia said. She took a few quick deep breaths then dove out of view.
Suddenly, at the jungle tree line, Paul saw several men push their way through.
Tropical Trouble (Billionaire Romance) Page 6