Beth tried to break the fall. The heel of her hand slammed into the ground, and as she sprawled forward in the mud, excruciating pain shot up her arm. Her gasp was near silent, drowned in the noise of the skirmish. She held her breath waiting for the pain to subside before lifting her chin to see how the others had fared.
“Keep your head down,” Zach commanded, pushing his hand on the back of her head and shielding her body with his. When she tried to rise, his weight kept her pinned, and his breath fanned her hair.
The shooting ceased with a profound silence. Not a thing to be heard. Even the jungle creatures stayed quiet. Zach crawled off her and was on his feet in a flash, and before she had time to protect her wrist or read his intention, he hauled her upright. A faint whimper no louder than a puff of air escaped and she felt her face crumple.
“You okay?”
She nodded, unable to speak. Her wrist was on fire, possibly broken, but how could she voice that fear—Zach had enough on his plate, and it wasn’t like the jungle was overrun with doctors, so nothing could be done until they reached civilization anyway.
“You okay, man?” Zach asked Havoc.
He gave Zach the thumbs-up as he shuffled to his feet. He was pale but resolute and moved off without complaint. She could do no less.
Three injuries now, and the odds of safety were lessening, she thought as she squelched through the mud. Her clothing hung from her frame like sodden rags, molding her body like a second skin, but she barely noticed, she kept glancing over her shoulder in the hope Nick and Christian would appear. Instead, they came across Hernandez, who she’d almost forgotten about, still tied and gagged where they’d left him, and looking like a drowned rat, small and pathetic.
Her lip curled in a sneer. “What are we to do about him?” she asked.
“Leave the sewer rat right where he is.” Zach’s eyes darkened to a wintery hue, and his frosty tone made her glad she wasn’t on the receiving end, still, could they leave Hernandez at the mercy of the jungle?
“But…”
“I’ll remove the gag, that way he can call for help, and his asshole buddies can untie him. You keep moving, honey, and don’t waste your energy worrying about him. After what he did to you, he’s lucky I left him breathing.”
Yes, he was. Without another glance at Hernandez, she did as Zach asked and kept moving. Every step, though, sent pain radiating up her arm. She searched for a more comfortable position, and draping the injured arm across her midriff, tucked in her elbow.
That seemed to pay off as the altered position absorbed most of the shock, but it still throbbed like the dickens.
“Almost there now.” Zach caught up and wrapped an arm around her. The strength of his body against hers was bliss, and she leaned into him for support just as the bridge came into view.
It was reassuring to see. Hawk and Loretta were more than halfway across. He still carried her, but with each step he took, the bridge swayed over the mighty chasm like some giant swing. Her stomach roiled, and she felt the color leave her face, her arms, her legs, her toes, and she bit down on her bottom lip.
Havoc was waiting by the bridge when they reached it, and she wondered why he hadn’t crossed over.
“Go ahead. I’ll wait for your brothers,” Zach said, taking her face in his hands and smoothing the pad of his thumb over her lower lip. His blond hair, appearing almost black, was plastered to his head in thick wet ropes. Droplets of rain dripped from the ends and ran down the sides of his handsome but battered face, and she wondered, not for the first time, what on earth he ever saw in her.
“You’ll be fine,” he said intuitively, pushing an errant curl off her forehead with a gentle hand.
She brought her chin up and stared into fathomless blue-gray eyes beneath sandy arched brows and gave him a nod. “I know,” she said, trying to sound convincing.
When he smiled back, her heart jumped out of rhythm. She lifted her uninjured hand to his jaw and stroked his five o’clock shadow with her fingertips. His chin and cheeks rough, bristly, from the two-day growth. God, she thought she loved him before, but that was only puppy love, this was so much more. Her heart constricted as she traced her thumb over his full bottom lip in a tender caress. His mouth opened and trapped it inside, catching her by surprise. She giggled and tugged it away.
“Kiss me.” His eyes darkened and the lids half lowered with the command.
She stilled, and as he bent his head she tilted her chin and opened for his sweet caress. His tongue delved between her lips, his mouth moving against hers in a sweet dance that was over too soon, and as he pulled away she gave a small heartfelt cry.
Havoc came up beside them. “Come on, love, take my hand,” he said with a wink. “Remember, a deal’s a deal.”
But he’d misjudged her cry. Her fear of losing Zach far outweighed her fear of heights. So she summoned some courage and with a deep breath placed her good hand in his. “Okay, let’s do this.”
“It’s always easier the second time around. Just remember, don’t look down.”
The first few steps were steady as she counted them off, but by the time she reached eight the wind had picked up and the bridge started to sway like the hips on a hula girl.
Havoc glanced over his shoulder, and as her legs began to wobble like a lame duck, he squeezed her hand. “You’re doing great, little lady.”
His thick fingers curling around hers were comforting and she took another step before she had time to freeze.
“Good girl.”
Up ahead she saw Hawk step off the rickety bridge. It had to have been tricky for him with Loretta draped across his shoulder, but he’d made it okay, and that gave her courage.
Without breaking stride, Hawk marched a few yards into the jungle and was lost from view even as she watched.
Havoc and she continued their slow walk and stumbled off the bridge mere minutes later. The camouflage fabric of his shirt was dark with blood though he hadn’t complained once.
She drew her eyebrows together, but before she could ask, he released her hand and gave her the thumbs-up. She’d passed the endurance test, maybe not with flying colors, but still, she was proud.
Hawk had set Loretta on the ground and was mopping her face with his dampened handkerchief when they came upon them.
Beth crouched down, and with a tender touch placed the back of her hand to Loretta’s brow. “She’s burning up.”
“I know, and she’s soaked through, but there’s not much we can do about it now.”
Loretta’s eyelids fluttered open, dull eyes stared back from a colorless face. “Zach,” she moaned.
“No, it’s me, Hawk. I’ve got to leave you for a minute, sugar, but you’re safe here. Stay with her, Beth.”
“Absolutely.” The throb in her arm was constant but bearable, and she was glad for the rest to catch her breath. Loretta, on the other hand, was real sick. The rise and fall of her breast was hard to detect. Beth had been around long enough and proofread enough of Brett’s medical assignments to know her condition was serious. Without urgent medical attention she could very well die.
Beth peered through the jungle. She had a filtered view back to the ravine. Hawk had hunkered down left of the bridge, Jacinta resting in the crook of his arm. Zach was on the other side. At any given moment, Nick and Christian could emerge; so, too, could the enemy.
There was still no sign of her brothers, and that bothered her. It more than bothered her when Hawk removed a knife from its sheath and commenced severing the ropes—it terrified her. Havoc distracted her as he policed the surrounding area. “What are you doing? You should be resting,” she admonished.
“The narcotic setup could attract interest from any of the factions operating in the area, attack could come from any quarter.”
“Shit.” That hadn’t crossed her mind. She presumed they’d be safe on this side.
Her gaze darted back to Hawk at the bridge. The sound of raised voices carried across the open void, but the words were unintelligible, whipped away by the wind. Relief washed over her as her brothers appeared, and together with Zach, commenced making their way across the ravine at a steady pace.
The relief turned to horror, though, when Hawk bombarded the jungle across the chasm with rapid bursts of gunfire at an unseen enemy.
She forced her eyes wide and focused on the spot he was spraying. If the men were followed, then that’s where the enemy attack would come from, and anyone on the bridge would be sitting ducks.
Nicholas was in front, Zach in the middle, and Christian behind. With a pounding heart and whispered words of prayer she urged them on. Loretta’s captors would be in pursuit and bent on revenge, and safety was many rugged miles away.
“Come on, guys, move your asses,” Hawk yelled as Havoc hurried over to join him. He whipped out his blade and started sawing the hemp ropes anchoring the bridge where Hawk had left off.
Another succession of gunfire ripped the air. The enemy had arrived and was returning Hawk’s fire in spades. Clods of earth spat up and showered Havoc and Hawk. The bullets were close, too close.
Nick and Zach sprang from the bridge without injury.
“Where’s Loretta?” Zach shouted, his first concern for his sister. The stab of pain to her heart was like a knife wound.
“In the clearing to your right.” Hawk jerked his head in the general direction and squeezed off another round. A projectile must have found its mark as one of the tangos executed a perfect dive with pike straight off the cliff, accompanied by an earsplitting scream.
As she watched, Christian did a forward roll off the bridge and came up beside Hawk in one graceful movement. He rolled again, and taking aim emptied a magazine in a faultless display of marksmanship as four Columbians bit the dust.
Nick dropped beside Havoc, palm outstretched. “I’ll do that, you get yourself attended to, then get the women on the move; it’s not over yet.”
Havoc relinquished the blade without argument and rose to his feet. This ordeal was far from over and there were still a lot of miles to cover if they wanted to make the village before nightfall.
Beth was slow to drag herself upright. “Let me take a look at that,” she said, pointing at Havoc’s shoulder with her good hand as he drew close. She had no experience with gunshot wounds, but he co-operated and tugged off his shirt, exposing a pattern of five stars tattooed over his heart but no exit wound.
“Turn around.” She wanted to check the wound, but as he obliged what she also saw was an eagle, white-tipped black wings spread in flight reaching from one shoulder to the other, white tail feathers almost touching the small of his back, its legs extended with talons drawn up ready to strike. She reached out and stroked the head of the majestic bird without considering her actions.
Havoc flinched, and jerked away.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…it’s just your tattoo is so impressive,” she finished, bewildered by his violent reaction to her touch.
He was slow to turn and face her. “No problem, love, just caught me unawares, that’s all.”
The words were wooden, and his startled eyes resembled those of a deer poised for flight, but like a shutter coming down, his easy smile slipped into place, prompting her to ask, “So, stars on your chest and an eagle on your back, any significance?” It was nosey, and he didn’t reply right away but took a moment to gather his thoughts.
“My dad was Australian. It’s where I grew up and will always hold a special place in my heart, hence the Southern Cross. It forms part of our flag and also represents my family, one star for each. As for the eagle, well, when I was a SEAL I fought for the States and my home’s there now, so it’s for America and my Yankee mum, of course.”
“What lovely sentiments.”
“Yeah, so how’s the shoulder?”
“I’m afraid your eagle’s had its wing clipped.” She wrinkled her nose at the grisly wound but was saved further reply when Zach arrived and nudged her out of the way.
“Stand aside, honey,” he said as he broke out the medical kit from his pack. A syringe and a small vial labeled penicillin appeared in his hand, and he hit Havoc with a good dose of the antibiotic.
“There, that should stop any infection until we get home.” He replaced the vial and unwrapped a sterile package.
“Don’t put it away, mate, Loretta could do with a shot of antibiotics too, her fever’s way high,” Havoc informed Zach as he cleaned the wound and stuck a plaster patch over the torn flesh.
“Uh-uh, can’t risk it, she’s allergic to penicillin.”
“That complicates things.”
It sure did. Beth closed her eyes briefly. The sooner the jungle was left behind, the happier she would be.
“Ready, man?” Zach addressed Havoc with a considering look.
He was pale beneath his tan, and she wondered if he could make it back unaided. But he straightened up and started to move.
“Sure.”
“You look like shit.”
“Don’t sweat it, Wolf, you’ve dealt with worse than this and pulled them through.”
Beth recalled Loretta saying Zach’s team leader had been shot and almost died last year while rescuing a nuclear physicist and his daughter from terrorists. It had been touch and go, but Zach had kept him alive until they reached a hospital. Her heart had swelled with pride as Loretta told the tale, and the memory eased her mind now.
Hawk and Christian had ceased shooting and joined the group. It was quiet on the other side, not a flinch or whisper of movement from the downed men. The bridge ropes had been severed, and the ruined structure hung into the abyss, cutting off any chance of pursuit, but that didn’t preclude attack from this side.
“We don’t know who else could be lurking in the jungle, and we’ve got to get to civilization pronto, if you can call anywhere in this godforsaken land civilized.” Hawk looked over the group, halting on the big man’s bandaged shoulder. “You good to go?”
Havoc winked. “Always, mate.”
The impression he was a determined man and would in no way let on he was in pain gave her encouragement.
Nick came up alongside her and touched her shoulder, but before he could ask any tricky questions she blurted out, “I’m sorry for getting you and Chris involved in all this, and I’m sorry I lied, but I’m not a child and you cannot keep treating me like I am.”
She stepped back, waiting for the explosion, instead a slow smile coasted across his face and he tipped her chin up.
“You’re something else, Sis. The way you’ve handled yourself makes me proud of you. A lot of women would have gone to pieces.”
She shot up her eyelids and dropped her bottom lip. “Th-thanks, Nick, that means a lot to me.”
“But you’ll always be my baby sister.”
It was so like him to get in the last word, but the flat of his hand at the small of her back was comforting and she smiled as he ushered her after Havoc who was on the move. Up ahead, Zach lifted Loretta and shifted her into position across his shoulder. When she moaned, Hawk offered to take her, but Zach wouldn’t hear of it. Christian followed last in line as they made their way down the mountain in single file.