Soldier of Fortune

by Diana Palmer

  "My men will cover us," Laremos said curtly. "We must hurry. The guerrillas will not care who are terrorists and who are not, they will cut us down regardless. Aquilas says the government troops are not too far behind. But we cannot involve them." His wary eyes sought hers. "You understand?"

  "Because of the rescue," she said, smiling wanly. "It's all right, senor. Just, please, get me to J.D."

  He looked at her searchingly. "I understand. But do

  not underestimate the group, senorita. we were once.. .quite something."

  He led her out of the house, and together they headed quickly into the jungle. She carried the heavy weapon with no real sense of its weight and no earthly idea of how to use it. As she followed Laremos through dense undergrowth at a breakneck pace, she wondered what her mother back home in Lytle, Texas, would think if she knew where her only daughter was.

  "Quick, get down," Laremos hissed, pushing her under the dense foliage and cautioning her to be quiet.

  She froze, her heart pounding painfully in her chest. She felt weak all over. What would happen if they were seen? She couldn't fire the weapon, she didn't know how! Her eyes felt as if they were going to pop out of her head, and she wished she were with J.D. Laremos would do his best, but if she had to die, she wanted to be with Jacob when it happened. Her eyes closed and she prayed silently while sweat poured down her cheeks.

  There was a wild thrashing nearby, and she had a glimpse of ragged-looking men with rifles, wearing some sort of soldiers' garb. She knew without being told that they were the guerrillas Laremos had spoken about. They were muttering among themselves, but they didn't seem to be looking for anyone. They were joking and laughing, their weapons hung over their shoulders as they trailed through the jungle.

  Gabby bit almost through her lower lip as she studied the weapons they were carrying. She could feel terror in her throat, strangling her. What if they were spotted? There were worse things than being killed,

  especially for a woman, and she remembered what she'd read about this part of the world. Her eyes closed. The bravery she'd thought she had was nowhere to be found. It seemed to take forever for the men to march out of sight and finally out of earshot.

  "Courage," Laremos whispered. "We will wait just another minute and then proceed."

  "We can't go back to your finca?" she whispered back, hating her own cowardice.

  He shook his head. "This is only a small part of the main force. Unless I am badly mistaken, the rest are camped at my finca." He shrugged. "The government troops will come and drive them out. But for the meantime, we have little choice. We either try to join our comrades or risk being killed."

  "I'm much too young to die," she told him with a quiet smile. "How do I shoot this thing if I have to?"

  He showed her, quickly and efficiently, and she felt a little more secure as they started out again. But her eyes darted every which way, and she was so afraid that she could taste the fear in her mouth. Death seemed to lurk behind every tree.

  She was learning something about courage. It wasn't being unafraid. It was being stubborn.

  It was slow going. Laremos had a pedometer, a compass, and a map, and he was using all three. They had been walking for over an hour when suddenly gunfire erupted all around them.

  "Oh, my God," Gabby squealed, dropping down with her hands over her head, the AK-47 falling to the ground. "Don't panic," Laremos said tautly as he came down beside her. "Listen."

  She heard bullets whizzing, but Laremos was grinning!

  "What...?" she tried to ask, gathering enough courage to grab her weapon and hold onto it with cold fingers.

  "The Uzi," he whispered. "I know the sound, oh, so well, senorita," he said with a grin. He moved behind a tree and peered out into the jungle. All at once, he stood up. "Archer!" he yelled. "Here!"

  Then there was a flurry of wild movement, crashing sounds, gunfire, and explosions, and in the middle of it came J.D., with a small, dark-haired woman under one arm and the Uzi under the other. Around him, Shirt and Apollo and Semson and Drago were covering each other and firing on the run as they joined Laremos and Gabby.

  "Martina, Gabby," J.D. said as he piled in with them and let go of his sister. "Okay, honey?" he asked Gabby with a quick glance.

  "Fine, now," she whispered shakily, clutching the weapon.

  "They're right on our tails," J.D. said. "Apollo, got any of that C-4 left?" he yelled.

  "Working on it right now, big man," came the reply. "Just enough to make a big splash. We'll have to draw them in."

  "Tell me when," J.D. called back.

  "The guerrillas have taken my finca," Laremos said. "We barely escaped in time."

  "I'm sorry about that," J.D. said as he reloaded the small automatic weapon.

  "Are you both all right?" Gabby asked J.D. in a quavering voice as she crawled over to Martina and clutched the frightened woman's hand.

  "A few scratches, but we'll make it," he returned, but his eyes were fierce and tormented as they searched Gabby's face. "How about you?"

  "I'm learning to be a crack shot," she replied with a nervous laugh. "Laremos even told me how to cock this thing."

  "If you have to fire it," J.D. said intently, "be sure you brace it hard against your shoulder so that the recoil doesn't break a bone. Take a breath, let half of it out, and squeeze the trigger, don't jerk it."

  "I'll be a natural," Gabby told him, but she was trembling.

  "I wish I could help," Martina whispered shakily. "But I'm so tired...!"

  "God knows you've reason to be," J.D. said. He ruffled her hair. "But you're a trooper, sis."

  She managed a smile for him. "Like my big brother. I knew you'd come, I knew you would. Thank God for your Special Forces training." Martina added with a laugh, "But however did you find these other men?"

  J.D. and Gabby exchanged a quiet look. "I hired them," he said blandly. "Roberto can reimburse me."

  "My poor darling." Martina sighed. "He'll be so frantic."

  "How are we going to get out of here?" Gabby asked J.D.

  "Wait and see." He glanced toward Apollo. "Ready?" he called.

  "Ready!"

  "I'm going to draw them out for you. Don't let me down!"

  "J.D., no!" Gabby burst out as he leaped out of the

  brush and started firing toward rustling noises in the undergrowth ahead.

  She lost her mind. Afterward it was the only explanation she could come up with. The guerrillas came forward in a rush, and suddenly Gabby was on her feet. She saw a sniper taking dead aim at J.D.; she turned and lifted the heavy weapon and sighted it and pulled the

  trigger.

  It was a miracle that she even hit the guerrilla's shoulder, her aim was so wide. But she did, and with terror she realized that the man had taken aim at her and was about to fire.

  "Gabby!" J.D. yelled wildly.

  Simultaneously she pulled the trigger again, forgetting to brace the gun in her terror. She was knocked to the ground when she fired. There was a burst of gunfire and, suddenly, a huge, horrible explosion that rocked the ground.

  "All right, let's hit it!" First Shirt yelled out.

  J.D. dragged Gabby to her feet, and his face showed such terrible fury that she closed her eyes. He didn't even speak. He jerked the gun out of her hands and pushed her ahead of him as he bent to lift Martina to her feet.

  "Are you all right, senorita?" Laremos asked gently as he joined Gabby.

  "My shoulder hurts a little, but I'm.. .I'm fine," she whispered. She started to turn around, to look behind them, but J.D. was suddenly there.

  "Don't look," he said in a tone that dared her to argue. "Get moving."

  He was a stranger now, a man she'd never known. His face was like stone, and there was something wild and

  dangerous in his eyes and in the set of his big body. She didn't say another word. She kept quiet all the long way through the jungle.

  "Where are we going?" she finally asked Laremos as they kept movin
g through the endless jungle.

  "In a circle, around my finca," he told her. "We have hopes that by now the government troops have rounded up the guerrillas. Apollo has gone in to check."

  "So quickly?" she asked, brushing back a strand of matted hair from her sweaty face.

  "So quickly," he confirmed. "Your shoulder, it is better?"

  "A little bruised, that's all," she said. She felt sick to her stomach. All she wanted was to lie down and forget the past two days altogether.

  "I'm so tired," Martina murmured. "Can't we rest?" "Soon," J.D. said, gently now. "Just a little longer, honey."

  "Okay, big brother. I'll trudge along. Gabby, are you holding up okay?"

  "Yes, thanks, Martina."

  There was a sudden crackling sound and J.D. and the others whirled with their guns leveled as Apollo came leaping through the growth, grinning.

  "We're clear!" he shouted. "The government troops just marched the guerrillas away."

  "What about the men in the terrorist camp?" Gabby asked.

  "They scattered," First Shirt replied. "The guerrillas would have shot them if they'd found them before the government troops showed up. The terrorists have no friends here in Guatemala."

  "How sad for them," Martina said, but her eyes flashed. "I do not pity them, not after the ordeal they put me through. Oh, I want my Roberto!"

  "We'll send for him the minute we get to my finca," Laremos promised her. "The very minute."

  Gabby dropped back to put a comforting arm around the smaller, older woman and smiled reassuringly. "It won't be long," she said.

  "Absolutely," Laremos agreed. "There. We are home."

  The finca looked so good that Gabby wanted to kiss it. The outside bore no marks of violence, but inside it was a different story. The furniture was wrecked, the floors scarred. Laremos's dark eyes glittered as he saw the evidence of the brief guerrilla occupation.

  "I'm sorry about your house, senor" Martina said gently.

  "Senora, that you are safe is the most important thing," Laremos said with pride, turning to bow in her direction. "My poor house can be repaired. But your life, once lost, would not have been restored."

  "I owe you a great debt," Martina said. Her clothes were torn and her hair hung in wild strands. But she looked spunky for all that. She reached up and kissed Laremos on his tan cheek. "Muchas gracias."

  Laremos looked embarrassed. "My pleasure, senora. I regret that I could not have done more."

  "Is everybody all right?" Gabby asked, looking around at the battle-scarred little group with concerned eyes.

  "Gabby, you'll spoil us if you worry about us," Apollo said, chuckling.

  "Not me." First Shirt glowered at Apollo. "Worry all

  you want, Gabby. I'll just sit here like a sponge and soak it up."

  The others joined in, all except J.D. He kept to himself, looking dangerous and unapproachable until Martina and Gabby left to go up to the room Gabby had shared with him.

  "A bath." Martina sighed, taking advantage of the facilities. "I feel so dirty!"

  "It must have been horrible," Gabby said, digging out fresh clothes.

  "Not as horrible as it could have been. I wasn't abused, at least. That surprised me." She came out of the shower minutes later, toweling her long hair dry. "Your turn. I imagine you feel as mucky as I did."

  "Yes, I do." Gabby laughed. "My shoulder hurts and I feel shaky all over."

  "You saved J.D.'s life," was Martina's quiet comment. "I can never thank you enough for that. But don't expect him to," she added dryly. "I think his pride's dented. He's very quiet."

  "He's been through a lot. They all have. What a great bunch of guys," she said fervently.

  'Tell me!" Martina laughed, and despite the weariness in her drawn face, there was joy. "I'd like to kiss every one of them twice. I can't tell you how I felt when I saw J.D. come breaking in that door! Wasn't it lucky that he had that military training?"

  Obviously Martina didn't know everything about J.D.'s past, and Gabby wasn't about to betray him. "It sure was," she agreed and disappeared into the bathroom.

  Her shoulder was turning blue, but she was grateful to be alive. She still couldn't believe what she'd done.

  It had been pure instinct when she saw the weapon pointing at J.D. Let him be angry at her—she couldn't be sorry about what she'd done. Even if the man had shot her, it would have been worth it to deflect his aim. If anything had happened to J.D., she might as well have died. She loved him—so much!

  The next day, Roberto drove in from the airport and there was a wildly emotional reunion. Gabby, watching, couldn't help the twinge of jealousy she felt. Roberto was crying as he embraced his wife, and unashamedly at that. Gabby's eyes darted to J.D., who hadn't said a single word to her since they'd come out of the jungle. They'd all had a good night's sleep, Martina and Gabby sharing the big double bed this time, but his dark mood hadn't lifted. He wouldn't even look at Gabby, and that hurt most of all. She'd only wanted to save him, but it seemed that she'd committed some unforgivable sin.

  CHAPTER SIX

  ROBERTO WAS VERY ITALIAN, if someone who lived in Sicily could be called Italian, Gabby mused. He was of medium height and thin, with a charm that was immediately apparent when he bent over Gabby's hand.

  "It is a pleasure to meet you," he said. He grinned, glancing at J.D., who was talking quietly with Apollo in the living room. "Martina's brother mentions you often."

  "Does he?" Gabby asked conversationally, privately wondering whether she even had a job to go back to, now that it was all over. J.D. still hadn't looked in her direction.

  "It was bad, Gabby," Martina said from her husband's side, her dark eyes meeting the other girl's green ones warmly. "Jacob and the others... well, it was a miracle that any of us got out. He'll get over it. It has been a long time since he was in the service, you know. It had to affect him."

  "Yes, of course," Gabby said, smiling faintly. She

  couldn't let Martina know the truth. "You look awfully

  good for somebody who went through what you did."

  Martina clung to her husband's arm and smiled. "I

  have my whole world back again. I feel good. Just a lit-

  tle shaken and homesick." She glanced up at Roberto. "Can we go back today?"

  He inclined his head. "As soon as our pilot finishes the meal Laremos was kind enough to provide."

  "It will be good to have familiar things around me." Martina sighed. "But I do not think I ever want to go shopping alone again." She shuddered. "From now on, my husband, I will listen when you warn me against such things."

  "I had feared that it would happen," Roberto confessed, with a glance at the men scattered around the living room. "Thank God your brother and his friends knew so well what to do. I am sure that the kidnappers would never have let you live." He pulled her into his arms and held her convulsively, his eyes closed, his face contorted. "Dio, I could not have lived myself!" he whispered hoarsely.

  "Shh," Martina said, comforting him and smiling. She clung to him, and Gabby could only imagine how it felt to be loved so possessively. She experienced a twinge of envy, because nobody had ever cared for her that way. J.D. surely hadn't. He looked as if he were frankly sick of the whole thing, especially Gabby.

  "You had better spend a little time with Jacob while you can," Roberto said, releasing Martina. "It may be another year before we see him again." He smiled. "Hopefully, the next time will be under happier circumstances."

  "Oh, yes," Martina said wholeheartedly. "Gabby, you must come to Palermo with him next time and visit. Our villa overlooks the sea, and it is so beautiful."

  "I'd like that," Gabby said noncommittally. She was thinking that J.D. would probably never take her as far as the corner again, but she didn't say it.

  Martina approached her brother, and as J.D. stood up Gabby got a glimpse of his face. It softened magically for his sister. When he smiled at her it was like the sun coming out. Gabby couldn't bear
the contrast between the way he'd looked at her in the jungle and the way he looked at his sister. She turned and went toward the bedroom to finish packing.

  Later, as she was folding clothes, Martina tapped at the door and entered the room quietly, smiling sheepishly.

  "I hate to ask, but do you have some makeup I could borrow?" J.D.'s sister asked. "I feel like a hag."

  "Yes, of course, I do," Gabby said quickly, taking her cosmetic case from the dresser. "I didn't bring much, though," she said apologetically as she handed it over, along with a brush. "I kind of figured that we weren't going to be going places that I'd need to dress for."

  "Thank you," Martina said and seated herself in front of the mirror. "There!" she exclaimed, smiling ruefully at her face. "Such pleasure, from such a mundane thing," she murmured. "Gabby, there were times when I thought I'd never live long enough to do this again."

  "It must have been awful," the taller girl said quietly. "I'm so sorry, Martina."

  "My own stupidity," came the reply. "Roberto warned me, but I take after Jacob, I'm afraid. I'm bull-headed and I like my own way." She sat down on the bed and studied Gabby for a long moment. "He will not speak to you, and that hurts, doesn't it?"

  Gabby shrugged, taking a long time to fold a T-shirt. "A little."

  "If you could only have seen his face in that split second before the recoil threw you to the ground," Martina

  said solemnly. "It would have been a revelation to you. In all the years of my life, I can only recall once or twice when I've seen that expression in his eyes. Once," she added quietly, "was just after our mother died."

  Gabby stared at the pale garment in her hand. "I was so afraid for him," she confided. "I saw that man level his rifle at Jacob, and..." She shivered. "It all happened

  so quickly."

  "Yes, I know." Martina stood up. "Gabby, he isn't an easy man. And he's been very restless the past few years. But I think perhaps in you he has found his future. Did you know," she added with a wicked grin, "that you're all I hear about when he calls me these days?"