by J Theron
“Stop daydreaming and get to work. We don’t have time to admire the scenery,” Ryan said, visibly irritated.
Gabrielle glared at him but did not say anything. She had tried to avoid both Ryan and Carlos these last few days, only speaking to them when absolutely necessary. She was doing what she did best. Ignoring the problem and hoping it would go away. She did not want to examine her feelings and completely put it out of her mind. She would be home soon and then she could forget about this nightmare.
“We need to go back to the hut and get our gear. The plane is going to land soon,” Ryan continued.
“There are still some rocks on the field,” Carlos replied.
Ryan nodded. “We can get our stuff and then come back to keep clearing until the plane lands. I’m starting to feel uncomfortable here. We need to remove our bags from the cabin and hide the jeep. I have a bad feeling all of a sudden.”
“The CIA has made you psychic?” Gabrielle asked sarcastically.
“No, Gabrielle. My training has made me cautious,” he snapped.
“Fine,” she replied. “I’m more than ready to get out of here!”
They walked back to the cabin and Gabrielle was relieved when they reached the cabin without incident. The first thing Ryan did was to hide the jeep in a cave a few hundred yards down the road. It was invisible from the road and they could retrieve it later if something prevented them from leaving on the plane. He also removed all signs that the cabin was inhabited. He erased the footprints in the dust outside and pulled all the curtains once they were all back inside.
Nobody spoke a word and Gabrielle started to pack her bag when she noticed both Carlos and Ryan had stopped moving. Ryan pointed to his ear and when she listened she could hear the sound of a vehicle approaching. Ryan looked at her and put his index finger over his mouth, indicating that she should keep quiet.
He motioned that she should get down on the floor. She sank to the floor and crawled to the stone fireplace. She crouched down next to the Dover stove and watched as both Ryan and Carlos pulled their handguns from their jeans. They crouched down on either side of the door and waited. Her heart was hammering in her chest and she could feel the fear choking her throat.
Ryan slipped another gun from the holster around his ankle and pushed it over the floor towards her. She grabbed it and lifted it to aim at the door.
“Shoot to kill,” Ryan whispered.
“No,” she mouthed. She was a doctor, not a killer.
“Do it!” he hissed.
She pursed her lips then nodded. He gave her one last look and then turned his attention to the door. He motioned to Carlos to take a peek through the window above his head. The vehicle had stopped a few hundred yards away judging from the faintness of the sound of the engine.
“I don’t see them,” Carlos said almost inaudibly as he crouched again.
“They have to approach from the front. There is no way they can come over the cliff at the back of the cabin,” Ryan whispered.
Before they could take any action, a loud voice called in Spanish from somewhere outside the front of the cabin. Gabrielle guessed the person was standing in the road, judging from the sound of his voice.
“Carlos, are you in there? I brought a gift for you!” the man shouted.
A female voice called out, “Don’t come out Carlos! He’ll kill you!”
Carlos jumped up and gripped the handle of the door, but Ryan stopped him. “Who is it?” Ryan asked softly.
“It’s Maria. The fucker has my sister,” he hissed.
“O my God!” Gabrielle exclaimed.
Ryan let go of Carlos’s hand. “Who has her?” he whispered.
“It’s Alejandro Alvarez.”
Ryan looked shocked. “Your cousin?”
Carlos nodded. Gabrielle could see the fear on his face. She knew he worshipped his sister.
“I’m waiting, Carlos. My finger is getting mighty tired on the trigger here and it could go into a spasm at any moment,” Alvarez shouted.
Ryan frowned. “I thought you said she was in Germany?”
“They must have intercepted her in Bogotá. I have to go out there. He’ll kill her without thinking twice!”
Ryan nodded. “Okay. I’ll cover you. Maybe he doesn’t know I’m here and we can surprise him.”
Carlos stood up, turned the handle of the door and stepped out. Ryan was just inside the open door but hidden from view. Gabrielle could not see what was happening but she could hear their voices clearly.
“Alejandro, why do you have a gun to my sister’s head?” Carlos asked nonchalantly.
“Just making sure I have your attention, cousin,” he replied.
“Well you have it. You can drop the gun.”
“Why did you sneak off to this remote cabin?”
“I’m on holiday.”
Alejandro burst out laughing. “That’s precious. Now come closer, slowly.”
“Why did you bring six men to a one man party?”
Gabrielle knew he was trying to tell them what was going on outside. She glanced in Ryan’s direction. She motioned that she wanted to join him next to the open door. He shook his head vigorously.
“Stay put!” he mouthed.
She felt frustrated. She had military training and she was an excellent shot, but she had never taken a life. It went against everything she stood for as a doctor. She stared at Ryan. His attention was back with the conversation outside.
“Please don’t listen to him, Carlos!” Maria sobbed. “I don’t care if he shoots me. I love you!”
Gabrielle had to swallow back the tears. Maria was a sweet, beautiful girl. She had the same dark hair and blue eyes Carlos did and she was tall and slender. She wasn’t only physically beautiful, but she had a pure heart and she loved Carlos desperately. They only had each other after the death of their parents.
“Don’t worry my love. Everything will be fine,” Carlos said in a soothing voice.
“Don’t be so sure,” Alejandro mocked.
“How did you find me?” Carlos asked.
“Please don’t insult my intelligence. I had you tracked. My guys always find their target. I knew something was up when you disappeared without taking any men with you. ”
“Why did you do that? Am I not allowed to go away for a few days?” Carlos sounded slightly irritated.
“Not when an American doctor escapes from your compound the day before you disappear and your sister conveniently goes to visit her grandmother in Germany.”
“I took care of the doctor. I have disposed of her body. I don’t want the American authorities on my back, so I did it myself. If you want to do something right, do it yourself.”
Alejandro chuckled. “Of course. I should have known it was something like that. How silly of me to think that you were in league with the Americans. My friend at the DEA must be hallucinating. I’ll tell him to go slowly on the coca he gets from me.”
“Let Maria go.”
“Fine. Go to your precious brother, Maria.”
Gabrielle decided that she could not stay put any longer. She crawled on the floor, careful to remain out of sight and crouched next to the wall under the window. Ryan was gesturing furiously for her to get down, but she ignored him. She raised her head and peaked through the window. The curtain let just enough light through for her to see out, but they could not see in.
She watched as Maria walked away from Alejandro and towards Carlos. Carlos stood dead still, watching Alejandro and the five men standing around him. They all had guns in their hands, but the guns were down.
Alejandro turned around as if to walk away and the next moment he spun around unexpectedly and shot Maria in the back of the head. Gabrielle was horrified as she watched Maria fall to the ground. Carlos was like a man possessed. He ran forward and grabbed Maria’s body, lifting her from the ground.
“Maria! Maria, my God!” he exclaimed as his hands roamed her face and her head. He pulled his hand away from her head and
it was full of blood. He hugged her body and pushed his face in her neck. Gabrielle could hear his sobs as he sat in the dirt, rocking her body back and forth.
Carlos did not seem to notice anything around him and showed no reaction when Alejandro lifted the gun to kill him as well. “Such a waste,” Alejandro said. “Your father must be turning in his grave now. You’re a disgrace to this family.”
Gabrielle put her fist in her mouth to keep from making a sound. The tears were streaming over her cheeks and her whole body was trembling. She looked at Ryan and she could see the shock on his face.
“Can you do this?” he whispered. “We have to kill them.”
She nodded once.
“Okay. Through the windows. Aim right. I’m left. On three,” he mouthed and started to count down with his fingers.
They both pulled the trigger when he hit the count of three. The men never knew what hit them as the rapid fire ensued. They fell to the ground before they could fire back. Alejandro was the first one down and he lay motionless in the dirt only metres from Carlos. Gabrielle killed three men and she could feel the bile rising in her throat. She jumped up and ran to the small toilet where she started retching violently.
“I’m going outside. Are you okay?” Ryan asked from the door.
“Yes,” she groaned. “Go to Carlos.”
She sat up and took a deep breath. “Pull yourself together,” she whispered.
She got up slowly and splashed water on her face and rinsed her mouth. After she felt slightly better she turned to the door and walked out towards Carlos. He was still sitting with Maria on his lap. He held her tight and was smoothing the hair from her face. Ryan was nowhere in sight and Gabrielle assumed he was scanning the area to see if there were more cartel men waiting to ambush them.
Gabrielle sat next to Carlos, but he did not look up as she said, “Carlos, look at me.”
Carlos seemed as if in some sort of trance and he whispered repeatedly, “Perdóname María. Perdóname María.”
Gabrielle was heartbroken as she watched Carlos. She did not know a lot about Carlos, but she knew how much he loved his sister. She reached out to touch his arm and was startled when she heard Ryan shout, “Get the fuck up! We have to leave now!” She looked up and saw that he was scrambling down the rock face behind them.
“Did you not hear me? Move! I saw four jeeps from the lookout point and they are about ten minutes away.”
Gabrielle was frozen as she stared at Carlos. He was not moving at all. Ryan reached them and he crouched down next to Carlos and said forcefully, “Carlos, we have to leave. Now!”
Carlos finally looked up and he had a blank expression on his face. “I’m not leaving without Maria.”
“I’m sorry. I know you love your sister, but we can’t travel with a dead body,” Ryan said emphatically.
Gabrielle was startled when Carlos’s hand shot out and locked around Ryan’s throat. “I’m not leaving Maria,” he hissed.
Ryan slapped his hand away. “Fine,” he growled. “You can stay here. You weren’t supposed to be here anyway.”
He got up and walked towards the hut and then stopped abruptly. Carlos was looking down at Maria and did not see Ryan approaching him from behind. Before Gabrielle could say anything, Ryan took the gun from his jeans and delivered a crushing blow to the back of Carlos’s head, rendering him unconscious.
Gabrielle jumped up. “What the hell! You’ll fracture his skull!”
“He fucking deserves it for leading these men to us! Now go get our gear. I can’t carry him and our packs. And move your ass!”
“You’re crazy!” Gabrielle shouted.
“I’m leaving with or without you, Gabrielle. Go get our packs,” Ryan said as he carefully picked up Maria’s dead body and carried it into the hut.
“What will happen to Maria?” she asked as she hurried after him.
“I have contacts in the area. I will get in touch with them when we’re safe and ask them to arrange for her body to be shipped to the States. It’s the best I can do.”
Ryan placed her body on the bed in a gentle fashion, as if he was handling something fragile. He pulled the blanket over her face and seemed frozen for a few seconds. She got the impression that he was saying a prayer and an overwhelming feeling of grief washed over her for the senseless loss of life of a beautiful young girl. She briefly wondered how they were ever going to get out of this mess. She looked back at the drawn features of Ryan and suddenly it dawned on her that she trusted him implicitly to get them home.
She followed him wordlessly as he hurried outside and lifted Carlos from the ground and over his shoulder. She grabbed the three packs and pulled the door of the cabin shut as she stepped out. The packs were heavy but she managed and she prayed that they would reach the airfield in time. Otherwise they were all dead. No doubt about that.
CHAPTER 9
Afghanistan, 3 years ago.
Ryan felt like a stalker as he waited in the dark outside the hospital tent for Gabrielle to make an appearance. He had to speak to her. She had been avoiding him for weeks and he was going crazy. He had difficulty eating and sleeping was impossible. He had to know if he was completely wrong when he thought that she felt something too.
Initially he was so convinced that she felt the same way, but he was starting to doubt himself. If she did have feelings for him, something was holding her back and he could not figure out what it was. He could understand it when she was his doctor, but he had not been in her care for weeks and he had to know.
The fact that he knew her routine did not make him feel any less like the main character in the famous Sting song. When she was not doing surgery, she did her last rounds at ten and then walked back to her tent to sleep. She had her own quarters because she was the only female doctor on base and an officer.
He was immediately aware of her as soon as she stepped outside. He had the feeling that he would be able to feel her presence even with his eyes closed. He waited patiently in the darkness until she was almost next to him and then stepped into the light and onto her path. She gave a small cry because his sudden appearance startled her.
“You scared the shit out of me, Ryan, I mean, Captain Evans!”
“Why are you avoiding me, Gabrielle?” he asked.
“Please address me as Captain Durand or Doctor,” she replied irritably.
“We are a little beyond that, Gabrielle, and you know it.”
Gabrielle ignored him and started to walk in the direction of her quarters. He followed her and she stopped dead in her tracks after a few steps. “Why are you following me?”
“May I please come to your quarters and speak to you for a second,” he asked politely.
“This has got to stop, Captain Evans. I don’t know how else to say it.”
“Please talk to me. Don’t just brush me off. There are things that I have to say to you.”
“Fine. I’m listening.”
“Not here, Gabrielle, please,” he replied, trying not to let his exasperation show.
She sighed. “I’m not going to get rid of you, am I?”
He grinned. “Nope.”
“Five minutes,” she said and resumed her brisk pace to her quarters.
Ryan studied her surreptitiously as they walked. She was dressed in scrubs and her braid was hanging down her back. She looked tired and he felt sorry for her. There had been another ambush that morning and four men were severely injured. Fortunately there were no casualties.
“I’ve missed you,” he said.
She glanced at him and she had an unreadable expression on her face. Then she smiled as she said, “I’m not surprised. I’m a pretty good doctor, much better than Captain Smith.”
“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” he said.
She did not reply and simply kept walking. When they reached her tent, she stepped inside. He entered after her and closed the entrance as she lit the lamps. He studied her living quarters. It was spartan, with a bed, a
desk with a chair and a closet for her clothes and other belongings. Next to the desk was a small fridge with a kettle and cups on top. There was a bookcase full of medical books and two chairs in front of the bookcase with a small table in between.
“Please sit.” She indicated the two chairs. “Can I get you something to drink?”
He nodded. “Coffee?”
She busied herself with the coffee and he noticed that she was nervous. Her hands were trembling as she poured the water in the cups. He was unable to remain seated and rose from the chair. He could see that she was aware of him and it gave him the courage to approach her. She jumped when he reached around her and took the cups from her hand and placed it on the desk.
He took her arm and turned her gently, trying very hard not to startle her. She refused to look at him and he lifted her chin with his finger. “Why are you nervous?” he whispered and placed both his hands on her shoulders, rubbing her neck with his thumbs. He could see the goose bumps travelling over her skin where he touched her.
“You make me nervous,” she replied softly.
“Why?” he asked gently.
“Because this is wrong, Ryan.”
“How is it wrong?”
“You’re my patient!” she exclaimed.
“I was your patient. Was being the operative word.”
“We’re in the military…”
“Stop right there,” he interjected. “We’re of the same rank and a relationship between us will not affect the chain of command, but you know all of this!”
Gabrielle pressed her thumb and forefinger on her eyes. Ryan took her hand away and looked at her intently. “You’re making excuses.”
“Because I’m scared,” she whispered.
He frowned. “Why are you scared? I’ll never hurt you.”
“You can’t promise me that. People start off with the best of intentions and then they end up hurting the ones who love them the most. We’re essentially selfish creatures and eventually we all do what we want, not what is right.” She looked away and he could tell there was more to her reluctance than what she was admitting.