by Nick Thacker
“This isn’t a team , Reggie,” Ben said. “This is a kid .”
“And this kid has gotten the jump on us quite a few times already. I don’t intend for it to happen again, and I know you don’t either. That’s why we need to figure this out. Why send both of them? ”
Reggie waited for a response, but Ben was silent.
“If these guys really are working for the same company,” Reggie continued, “I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s telling the truth — this organization might send more. That means logistics are more difficult, communication is harder…”
“Can we use that to our advantage?”
“I really do like the way you think, Ben,” Reggie said. “But no, not really. Not out here at least. We need to get to the end of the line, find the city, or whatever it is that’s out there, and get the girls back. Then we tackle the problem of who’s behind all of this.”
Ben nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”
They walked along in silence for a minute or two, neither man speaking as they followed directly behind Rhett. They crossed a few small streams and trudged through some low-lying swampland, eventually reaching a higher platform of trees and bushes.
Reggie wondered if Ben was still thinking about the exchange they’d had with Rhett a few minutes ago, but it was Ben who broke the silence first.
“And Reggie?” Ben asked.
Reggie looked over at Ben, waiting.
“You just say the word. Let me know when I can kill this little runt.”
Reggie smiled a true, genuine smile, nodded once, then continued pushing through the rainforest, toward whatever lay ahead.
Chapter 45
“What do you mean, he’s your brother?” Julie asked. She’d just told Joshua Jefferson about Rhett and his supposed sabotage.
“Keep your voice down,” Joshua said. “That’s not information I would like my men to overhear.”
Julie sighed. “You’ve got us tied up, guns pointed at us, in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. The least you could do is explain what the hell is going on.”
Joshua glanced around, making sure — for the hundredth time — none of the men walking around and in front of them could overhear them. “I told you already,” he said. “The company has been lying to me. Something’s going on, and it involves my father. There’s no way he would send my brother out here, and certainly not on company business.”
“But you? He would send you?”
“Look around, Julie,” Joshua said, his whisper raised to an excited level. “I’m trained for this. I’ve led men into the darkest corners of the earth, and brought just about every one of them back alive. This is what I do.”
“Steal innocent women and tie them up to use as bargaining chips later? ”
Joshua looked away, then down at the ground as they walked. “Julie, come on. I told you the truth. I thought this was… I assumed something different.”
“You assumed we were murderers and the only way to protect your company was to kill us?”
“Stop. Be reasonable for a second. I know it’s hard to ask, but trust me. I was given orders, just like always. I always follow the orders, and then I get paid. I’m good at what I do, and I don’t ask questions.”
Julie just stared at him.
“I’m starting to ask questions, Julie.” He looked over at Amanda. Julie followed his gaze, and her heart immediately fell. No one had touched her since they’d tied her wrists, but she looked beaten. No one had spoken a word to her, but she looked distraught. Julie wanted to call out, to say something to her that would lift her spirits, but it was hopeless. There was nothing she could say or do that would make Amanda feel any different about the situation. She almost wanted to ask Joshua to speak a little bit louder so that Amanda could overhear their conversation, for whatever good it might do.
Instead, she just waited for Joshua to continue.
“My father has worked for this company for as long as I can remember. After I quit my job with a private security detail, the company recruited me. It didn’t take much — I was always intrigued by what my dad did, even though he rarely spoke about it at home.
“I was trained, given a brief overview of the expectations, then went through a barrage of psychological examinations. After that, I started running missions for them. I’ve been leading a group of men since then, all chosen by the company, and never the same group.”
Julie was slightly taken aback by this statement. It seemed honest; genuine. At the same time, it didn’t seem like any sort of military structure she’d ever heard of.
“They’re secretive, all of them. I’ve only been contacted by three or four members of the organization since I’ve started working there, including my own father. But I haven’t actually heard his voice in months.”
“Why are you telling me all this,” Julie asked?
Again, Joshua looked around. “They’re working on something, and my father is a part of it. But I’m a pawn, someone they can send to do their dirty work for them. And that ‘dirty work’ has been getting a lot dirtier lately.”
“Sounds like it’s time to put in your letter of resignation,” Julie said.
Joshua scoffed. “If only it was that easy,” he said. “This isn’t the type of company you just leave . Once you’re in…”
“Okay, so what do you need from me?”
Joshua looked at her strangely. “Need? What you mean?”
“There’s a reason you’re telling me all this,” Julie said. “And I think it has something to do with the fact that you don’t trust your employer, and that I am out here because I want to find your employer.”
Joshua still didn’t speak.
“So how can I help?”
“That’s the thing,” Joshua said. “If you’re asking how you can find my employer, I’m sorry. I don’t think there’s anything you can do to find them; they’re good at staying under the radar. But if you’re asking how you can help me get away from these guys and back to your group…”
Julie paused. She considered what he’d said. Bringing Joshua back to their group could be disastrous. She didn’t want to ratchet up the tension by bringing the leader of their enemies directly into the hands of Ben and Reggie. On the other hand, it would mean she and Amanda might have a better chance at survival.
“How do I know this isn’t just a trap? How do I know you’re not using me to get back to my group?”
“Julie, listen to yourself. You and I both know that you are nothing more than a bargaining chip. Amanda is the reason we are out here, and once my team acquires whatever it is we’re looking for, we won’t need you, and possibly not even her. I’m offering you a chance.”
The group of mercenaries, still surrounding Joshua, Amanda, and Julie, were walking through an area of the basin that had a lower elevation than where they had come from. The ground was starting to get mushy, and soon Julie found herself stepping into sections of forest floor that gave way to water. Within a few minutes, she was wading through a swamp. Her shoes, the same flats she had been wearing since they disembarked the plane, were starting to wear thin. Reggie had offered pairs of boots to the men only, as he didn’t own any women’s sizes. She knew it was only a matter of hours before she would be better off barefoot.
She wasn’t prepared for this — none of them were. She took a long, hard look at the men surrounding her. Joshua was mostly at ease, save for a hardened look in his eyes that spoke volumes about his experiences. The rest of his men alternated swatting at insects and pointing their guns outward as they marched through the rainforest swamp. These were men who had seen combat, but they were not men fully prepared for an expedition into one of the most grueling climates on earth.
She wondered how her own group was holding up. Amanda, obviously, was struggling. Julie was no doctor, but she knew Amanda would be fine, so long as she had the strength to continue on. Paulinho seemed to be recovering well from his injury, and aside from any new injuries or an infection, he would
heal well. The professor, Archie, was stronger than he looked, and probably had more hours in the rainforest logged than any of them. She had no idea whether or not Carlo was most comfortable on a boat, back home — wherever that was — or in the jungle.
It was Reggie and Ben she worried about most. Reggie seemed to be the epitome of a leader; someone they could all trust with the challenge in front of them. He could carry them through just about anything, she thought, thanks to the way he carried himself and his obnoxious smirk. But every leader could crack; after a certain amount of pressure applied to them, and different scenarios thrown at them, every leader was capable of falling.
She never considered Ben a leader until this moment. He was, absolutely, a strong man. Capable of things she never thought possible for a mere mortal, but she admitted to herself a slight bias toward him. Still, he had proven himself worthy of her affection, and that wasn’t worth nothing. She knew he would not stop until he was either dead or had accomplished his goal.
“Okay,” she said suddenly, stopping Joshua in his tracks. “What are you thinking?”
Chapter 46
It had been a long time since Joshua had felt this confused. Usually, his orders were clear. Achieve this objective, accomplish this task, acquire this target.
The company was never arbitrary, never vague, and rarely unclear. Any instances he’d experienced the latter had been of his own failing, quickly remedied by a clarifying email or two.
Only in his thirties, Joshua was humble enough to know that he had a lot to learn. His father had drilled into him and his younger brother the power of a good work ethic and the necessary skills to succeed in social circles. Joshua was young, but he was already showing the signs of great leadership. All of the missions he had been assigned had gone successfully, with few casualties. His men, accustomed to high turnover and rapid replacement of their leaders, were pleasantly surprised at Joshua’s longevity, even for his age. None of them had outwardly expressed any contention with the father-son relationship that existed in the company, if they even knew of it. They respected Joshua, and he respected them back, so long as they completed their objectives and proved to be a valuable asset to the team.
He adored — and even idolized — his father, a strong-willed, altruistic man. An officer in the Navy, he had retired and gone to work at the Company when Joshua was only a few years old. Rhett, his only sibling, was born shortly after. Growing up, he and Rhett were seen as equals by their father — a man who sought the best for his only sons. Joshua, no doubt due to age, excelled sooner than Rhett in just about everything. Rhett was hot-tempered, and was constantly upset that his older brother seemed to earn the most praise from their father. As they grew up, Rhett began drifting apart from both his brother and his father, eventually choosing law, instead of military, as a career path.
It was a devastating blow to the family, a single-father household with no direct relatives. Joshua and his father were closer than ever when he reached adulthood, and Rhett quickly became the “other child.” Neither purposefully treated him that way, but it was apparent at family dinners and gatherings that Rhett was the black swan of the group. He grew further apart from his family, and soon was nearly out of the picture entirely.
Shortly after the Company had hired Joshua, they’d asked about his brother. Was he a good fit for the Company? Did he have potential, like Joshua, to lead men into battle and achieve somewhat ambiguous goals?
Joshua remembered his answer well. ‘No, he’s not like me. I think he’s a good kid, but he’s still a kid. He’s a hobbyist — someone who’s interested in learning to fly one day, then learning how to manipulate the jury’s emotions in a courtroom the next. He’s a hotshot; he’s not the type of guy who will focus on mastering something before moving on to the next.’
Joshua knew his assessment was still true, even though he hadn’t heard from his brother in over a year. Rhett had told him about a year and a half ago he was interested in getting his pilot’s license, but couldn’t exactly clarify what he was hoping to accomplish by doing so. Joshua had pressed him on it, but Rhett grew cold, flighty, and disengaged.
It wasn’t a good memory, and Joshua wished it had been different. But family wasn’t something you could change — what you were born with, you were stuck with. He’d even tried reaching out to their father, but didn’t hear back. He wrote off the conversation as youth; Rhett was a young gun trying to live up to his brother’s and his father’s expectations. But deep inside, Joshua Jefferson knew the truth.
Rhett Jefferson was a loose cannon. He was unreliable, unfit for duty in any military, and not someone Joshua wanted to associate with professionally. It was a difficult decision, but he told the Company that Rhett was the type of man who would lead them to far more problems than solutions, and should only be used — if they still decided to employ him — in extenuating circumstances.
So when Julie asked him how she could help, and what their next move should be, he answered her the only way he knew how.
“We need to get control of the situation,” he said.
They’d been walking side-by-side for an hour, and he wasn’t sure if she even remembered that she’d asked him the question.
“And how do you suggest we do that?”
“Two of my men are loyal to me, and the rest are loyal to the company or just in it for the money,” Joshua said. He motioned toward two men walking on their left side. “Riggs and Alan are good, but the others I can’t vouch for yet. We’re going to have to move quickly, so I’m going to need you to get Amanda and try to get ahead of us. I’ll talk to those two and see about setting up a distraction.”
Joshua looked at Julie to gauge her reaction. She was staring straight ahead as they marched through the forest, her expression steely and firm.
Good , he thought. She’s going to be just fine .
“Also, I’m going to need you to hit me.”
Julie snapped her head up and looked at Joshua. “I think I can manage that.”
Joshua smiled, then slowed down slightly and walked behind Julie for a moment. He slid the edge of his knife against the ropes binding Julie’s hands, and the cold steel cut easily through. Julie kept her hands held together behind her back, even as the ropes loosened and fell. Joshua continued onward, this time matching pace with the two men he had identified earlier.
“Change of plans,” he said, his voice barely audible. The two men nodded once, quickly. “I need you two to buy us some time. Don’t let the others follow us until we are safely out of range, got it?”
Again, nods.
With Riggs and Alan squared away, Joshua turned once more to Julie and caught her eye. He mouthed the word “Ready?” and waited for her response. She glanced over at Amanda, then gave her approval.
Satisfied, Joshua returned to her side and explained the rest of the plan. When he’d finished, they walked along in silence for a few more minutes. Just when Joshua was about to ask if Julie was comfortable with their plan, she struck.
The force of the blow was harder than Joshua expected. It landed perfectly, her fist crushing the side of his head and nearly knocking him unconscious. He had little left to fake, as he stumbled sideways and fell to his knees. She attacked again, this time finding the underside of his chin with her knee.
He groaned and fell on his face. Joshua heard two of the men at the back cry out and start running forward.
“Go,” he whispered, barely able to speak.
The world around him was spinning, but he could see Julie grab Amanda’s arm and pull her along, the two of them disappearing into the woods as the rest of his men tried to make sense of the attack.
Alan and Riggs were at his side. They lifted him up and waited for him to catch his balance. Three of the others had already broken off to go after the girls, and Joshua gave the order to Alan to have them called back. Alan ran off to accomplish the task, and Riggs looked down at Joshua, waiting. His gigantic body swayed slightly in front of his boss.
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“Round them up,” Joshua said. “Regroup, and have them continue forward. Our goal is to find the city. Let the women go.”
Riggs didn’t respond, but his eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
“Riggs, you hear me?”
“Boss, our mission — “
“I determine our mission, Riggs. Is that clear?”
Riggs stared, then finally answered, his voice low and menacing. “Yes, sir.”
Without another word, Riggs turned and ran off into the jungle.
Chapter 47
Ben saw the gate between the trees just as Archie and Paulinho reached it. Both men stopped and stood in the light, waiting for the others to catch up.
The gate, nothing more than two huge trees twisted together and interconnected, was like the end of a tunnel they hadn’t realized they were walking through. The bright sun, normally dampened by the thick covering of canopy trees high above their heads, had now found an entrance to the denseness of the forest. It bled in, enshrining everything in front of Ben in light.
The silhouettes of Paulinho and Archie were like beacons, and Ben found himself hustling to reach their location. It was already hot, multiplied by the humidity of the jungle. He had been sweating profusely since they’d stepped foot in the rainforest, but the directness of the sunlight still felt warm and life-giving as Ben stepped out onto the platform with Archie and Paulinho. Carlo and Reggie, pushing Rhett along in front of him, joined them soon after, and the six men stood silently for a moment as they stared downward into the valley.
Ben knew from Archie’s descriptions of the area that the Amazon basin was mostly flat, by definition. Runoff and mountain rivers in the Andes joined together in a myriad of tributaries called the Amazon River. Over millennia of flooding, erosion, and the natural cycle of geological life, the entire basin had been flattened and pressed downward .