Loud shouts yanked Ellie out of her restless sleep. She opened her eyes and glanced toward the locked door, where Arias had assigned a guard to stand on the other side. She sat up, trying to swallow the lump of fear in her throat. Instead of sleeping, most of the night her mind had raced, fueled by worry and waves of panic. Because everything about their plan to save the doctor had gone horribly wrong.
Arias was now planning to use her as insurance, Ryan and the others were dead and no one else knew where she was or even that she was alive. And even if Ryan’s father sent people to look for her, she was hidden somewhere inside thousands of square miles of endless terrain. No one would ever find her.
She fought back the tears and glanced around the empty room. The mat she’d slept on was filthy, but that was the least of her worries. She pulled up her pant leg in order to study her ankle. While it was still sore to the touch, thankfully it was only slightly swollen and discolored. But even if she could run, she wasn’t sure it was wise. Arias had made it clear to both her and his armed men what would happen if she tried to run. And knowing Arias, he wouldn’t hesitate to follow through with his threats.
She pulled her pant leg back down, wishing desperately Ryan was here with her. Somehow, over the course of the past few days, he’d managed to become the calming force in her life. And for the first time in months, she’d stopped feeling alone. It was as if with him at her side, she could finally see an end to this nightmare, and a time when she was going to be able to put all of this behind her.
But not anymore.
Now any remaining hope had vanished. And no matter how much she longed to see him again, he wasn’t going to come to her rescue.
The thought left her panicking. How had Ryan managed to become such an intricate part of her life in such a short time? Lance had broken her heart, but there was something about Ryan that had made her want to trust again. Because as much as she’d fought it, she’d started wondering what it would be like to get to know him better after this was over and they were back home. She could see them together...
But none of that mattered now. Ryan was gone and she was alone. If she was going to get out of this situation, all she could do was hold on to her faith, pray and search for a window of opportunity. But at the moment—with an armed guard outside her room—that didn’t seem possible.
She heard the key twist in the door’s lock, and she sent up another prayer for wisdom and strength. A second later, Arias appeared in the doorway. “Get up. It’s time to go.”
“Where are we going?” She didn’t move from the corner of the dirt floor. As far as she was concerned, she wasn’t going to do anything to make things easier for him. “You said there was a plane.”
“You don’t have to worry about the details.” He touched the butt of his weapon as if he felt he needed to remind her who was in charge. “All you need to do is follow my instructions and keep your mouth shut.”
Or else what?
She pressed her lips together instead of spouting off and asking the question out loud. All that would do was make things worse. As long as he kept her alive, there was still a chance of getting out of this. It was the only thing left she had to hold on to.
The sun had barely risen above the horizon a few minutes later, when Arias shoved her into the back of a rusty jeep, then jumped into the front seat beside the driver. Pain shot up her throbbing ankle as she slammed her injured foot against the floorboard in order to catch her balance. Her stomach clenched, and the tears threatened to spill again. She glanced behind her as they left the camp, the sun reflecting off the water. Ryan was out there somewhere. Or at least what remained of his body. She blinked back the tears. She wanted to believe he’d somehow managed to escape, but she’d seen the explosion. No one could have survived that.
She glanced out the window as they followed the dirt track that cut through the jungle. In the distance, a large field burned, its smoke curling upward. Surrounding it was the unending maze of trees. Diego had mentioned the changes in the rain forests. How ranching had brought with it the necessity of fields for their cattle to graze. And how on top of that logging had become another huge business in the region—both legal and illegal.
Their driver slammed on the brakes. Ellie braced her hand against the passenger seat, then looked out the front windshield to see what the problem was. Dozens of cows blocked the road.
She felt Arias’s agitation growing from the front passenger seat. “Keep driving. We don’t have time for this.”
The driver pressed on his horn, trying to maneuver through the throng of cattle, but he was making little progress. She glanced at the door handle. Getting out of the car wouldn’t be difficult at this speed, but then what? It was probably more dangerous out there than it was in the vehicle. Dust swirled around the cattle, making it hard to see very far as they stampeded past. And while her ankle thankfully hadn’t swelled and the pain was manageable, she wasn’t sure how fast of an exit she could make.
Their driver yelled through the closed window. She could see one of the cowboys leading the cattle drive, but he was too far away to catch his attention. With his jeans, leather chaps, Stetson hat and machete, he looked like he’d stepped out of the North American frontier a hundred and fifty years ago. Her fingers squeezed the armrest. Even if she could manage to get his attention, then what? She frowned. There had to be something she could do.
The massive herd was now completely surrounding the vehicle. She glanced in the rearview mirror and saw behind them that another rider was coming toward them in the opposite direction of the cattle. He was partially obscured by the dust, but she could see that this one wasn’t wearing a Stetson.
Her heart tripped.
Ryan?
No. That wasn’t even possible. She’d seen the boat explode with him on it. Arias had made sure he was dead. She was just seeing what she wanted to see—Ryan coming to her rescue one last time, saving her before Arias killed her.
The rider kept moving in the opposite direction through the herd. She studied him again. Khaki pants, pale blue shirt... She had no idea how, but it was definitely Ryan.
She glanced again at Arias, who was looking out the other side of the vehicle, his impatience distracting him. Ryan was now about a hundred feet from the car. She weighed her options, but it was now or never. She had to make her move. She made sure the door was unlocked, grabbed the handle, then stepped out into the hazy cloud of dust surrounding the vehicle. A large bull brushed against her as she got out, pushing her into the back fender of the car. Flies buzzed around her. The air smelled rank. She squirmed out of the way, praying fervently that she could get away before Arias came after her.
Her chest automatically constricted as she breathed in the dust and started coughing, but she didn’t care. Instead, she ran toward Ryan as fast as she could, ignoring the sharp pain radiating through her ankle.
Arias shouted from behind her. She started running faster, more terrified of her capture than the horned bulls surrounding her. Ryan was closer now. Twenty...maybe thirty feet ahead. All she had to do was make it to him without being stopped by Arias.
* * *
Ryan worked to keep the horse he’d borrowed under control as he made his way through the throng of cattle. His only plan was to find Ellie and get her out of here. Beyond that there was no plan. Diego, though, had apparently been right about Arias. Ryan had managed to find a boat heading downriver, where he was finally able to track Arias to this point. He could see the car ahead, surrounded by a sea of cattle. It had to be Arias. And if that was true, Ellie was no doubt with him.
The noise from the cattle drowned out the motor of the jeep. He needed a plan. Except he had no weapon, nothing really other than the advantage of surprise. Which meant all he had to do now was snag Ellie’s attention and get her away from Arias.
A piece of cake.
Right.
He sent up another prayer, begging God for the impossible.
His gaze focused on the vehicle. One of the back doors opened, and a second later, he watched Ellie jump out of the jeep and head toward him. His heart stilled as she shouted at a bull pressing against the jeep while he fought his way upstream through the cattle as fast as possible.
“Ellie!”
He caught her gaze but couldn’t hear what she was saying above the noise of the cattle. All he needed was another ten feet...another five... The front passenger door of the jeep swung open, and Arias bolted out of the vehicle behind her. But Arias was too late. Ryan reached down to grasp her arm, and in one fluid motion, he managed to pull her up onto the horse behind him. Ellie automatically wrapped her arms tightly around his waist and leaned in against him. Ryan glanced back as Arias pulled out his gun. A shot could cause a stampede, but if the man was motivated by rage and not thinking... Ryan turned his horse around and started weaving through the herd of cattle away from the man as fast as he could. A shot rang out. Ellie’s arms tightened around him. The cattle started running to the left, away from the road.
He listened for the sound of a second shot, but they’d already disappeared into a cloud of dust, leaving Arias behind them and out of range. A dozen scenarios raced through his mind. A dozen ways things could have gone wrong.
But God had done the impossible. He’d found her, and she was now out of Arias’s grip. That was all that mattered at the moment.
But this still wasn’t over. Not yet.
Her arms tightened around his waist. “Ryan...”
Up ahead, a dozen armed men stepped out on the ridge surrounding them. They were dressed in black and shouted out at them to get down off the horse and put their arms in the air.
Ryan helped her off the horse, then dismounted himself.
One of the uniformed men approached them, then held up his hand for the other men to stand down. “Ryan Kendall?”
Ryan nodded.
“We got here as quickly as we could. We’re spread a little thin.”
“Wait a minute...” Ellie looked up at him, confusion evident in her wide eyes. “What’s going on?”
“The cavalry’s arrived. These are the good guys, Ellie. They’ve come to arrest Arias and his men.”
“How?”
“I found one of the camps of these cowboys who had a satellite phone. I spent half the night tracking down someone who could help us.”
Her smile brightened. “Looks like your hard work paid off.”
Ryan looked behind him. One of the men was handcuffing Arias and his driver.
“It will be just a matter of time before we get the rest of them,” the officer said. “And in the meantime, we’ll escort you back to Manaus so you can get home.”
Ryan thanked the officer, then turned back to Ellie.
“You okay?” he asked, wrapping his arm around her.
“My ankle’s sore, but yeah...” She smiled up at him. “I don’t think I’ve ever been better, actually.”
He pulled her into a bear hug, relishing in the fact that she was safe.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she nuzzled her face into his chest. “I thought you were dead. I saw your boat blow up.”
He pulled her in tighter. He could feel his heart racing against hers and felt the relief sweeping through his own body.
She took a step back and ran her fingers gently across the bruise on the side of his face. “I have so many questions. How did you get away?”
“When they hit me I was dazed, but when I smelled the fuel and realized what they were doing, I managed to warn Diego and the doctor and we dived into the water. Another few seconds, though...”
“So they’re okay?”
“Diego’s leg was burned, but I left the doctor with him. I’ll make sure they are picked up so we can get them out of here safely and get Diego the medical help he needs.”
She turned toward Arias, who was now handcuffed. “He was going to kill me. He was going to use me as a hostage until he got away and didn’t need me anymore.”
“I know, but he didn’t. You’re okay now. We’re all okay. And finally—finally all of this is over.”
“How did you find me?”
“Diego thought—rightly so—that if Arias didn’t take the river, he would head for the airstrip by car. Unfortunately for him, he got caught in the cattle drive, which gave me time to catch up with you.”
He brushed back a strand of hair. All he wanted now was a hot shower and a meal, but somehow none of that mattered. She was here, with him.
“There’s still one more thing we have to do to put an end to all of this,” she said. “We need the evidence, and Arias burned that evidence we had.”
“I don’t think we’re going to have to have it,” Ryan said. “Diego took photos. Photos of Arias’s men unloading drugs and stolen merchandise. And on top of that, we have the attempted murder of the three of us and your kidnapping.”
Ellie looked up at Ryan and smiled. “Enough evidence to put them away for a very, very long time.”
Ryan nodded. “Are you ready?”
“More than ready. Let’s go home.”