Page 46 of Fear No Evil
“Over and out.” Jake forced himself to hang up. He would’ve preferred to keep talking—anything to distract himself from the hellish pit he was in. But the longer he talked, the more likely he was to get caught.
With the call complete, he put his phone carefully back into his boot, balancing on one leg as there was nothing to hold on to. Once his boot was securely tied, he went to stand where he wouldn’t draw so much ire from the hornets. A rat scuttled under his heel, emitting a squeak.
Jerking the collar of his jacket higher, Jake eyed the vampire bats dangling unperturbed under the eaves. He would pretend he was one of them, putting himself into a deep meditative state while praying for the stamina to endure this.
“Madeleine, wait.” Boris grabbed the back of Lena’s jacket as she made to push off the bungalow platform.
A shout had just come from the forest, preceding Marquez and the Argentine, who’d finally arrived, hours later than expected. Up to then, when she wasn’t circling the shed, calling to Jake to check on him, she was seething on the narrow deck of the bungalow, sweating in the humid heat, tormented by a flesh-eating fly.
Determined to be the first person to talk to Marquez, Maggie ignored the German’s advice. Jake was her partner. And even though Jake had assured her several times that he was fine, her imagination spawned visions of his demise in there. She’d realizedwhyhe’d gotten into trouble, but even if he’d succeeded in having a full-blown conversation with his teammates, she was going to deck him when he emerged. He should’ve cleared his move with her first! That’s what partners did.
Without having to try hard, she behaved exactly as any distraught wife would in her situation, shedding tears of frustration that looked to others like tears of worry for her beloved Jacques.
Jake had gone too far this time. What if the hornets in the shed were deadly? What if a few too many stings led to toxicity? He coulddiein there trying to make a stupid phone call, and what would happen when the FARC leaders opened the shed and found a sat phone in his hand, huh? They would kill her next, that’s what.
The post-traumatic stress she was just beginning to vanquish returned with a double dose. Battling a panic attack, she hurried toward Marquez, furious when Gallo ran right past her, gettingto his commander first. Gesturing grandly, he relayed the story of Jacques nearly shooting the rebels with their own rifle. It was all Maggie could do not to call themondoa liar. She dragged air into her tight lungs and ordered herself to wait her turn.
Marquez was shooting a thoughtful frown in her direction, causing Maggie’s stomach to cramp. Surely, he didn’t believe the mild-mannered Frenchman had intended any harm. He listened at length, then raised a hand to stem the rant still coming out of Gallo’s mouth.
“Release the man.”
Maggie had just opened her mouth to speak. It remained hanging open.
Boris, who’d caught up to her, cast her an encouraging smile. “I told you.”
“But,Comandante—” Gallo protested.
“I said, release him.” Lowering his voice, he added something else that put a cold, resigned look on Gallo’s face.
As that man swiveled toward the shed with the key needed to unlock the shed, Maggie shook off Boris’s restraining hand and raced after him, hoping to reach Jake first—just in case he’d passed out with the phone in his hand. But, with a murderous expression, Gallo waved her back and released the lock before he swung the crooked door open.
As Jake stumbled out, blinking against the hazy sunlight, the desire to deck him disintegrated. A lump on the side of his head disfigured the shape of his skull. Another puffed out just below one eye. His neck was swollen and red.
“Oh, Jacques!” Her dismay was utterly genuine. “Somebody, get me a wet cloth, please.” She eyed the welt on his temple with concern. Could the venom get into his brain?
“Je vais bien.”I’m okay. But he weaved on his feet, prompting her to throw her arms around his sturdy frame.
“Did you get through?” she asked beneath her breath.
His nod was so faint no one else would have noticed, but Lena did, marveling at his courage and wanting, illogically, to sock him again.
“Come sit down,” she urged. With Esme off looking for a wet cloth and the other peacekeepers offering moral support, Maggie led Jake across the field to the tree stumps. “Right here. Sit.”
Jake collapsed on a stump, alarming her when he swayed so far, he nearly fell off the other side. Maggie tackled the buttons of his jacket, parting them to search for more hornet stings but not finding any. At last, Esme ran up to her with her personal wooden bowl and rag. They each kept one in their cubicles to maintain a modicum of hygiene.
Lamenting the filthy rag, Maggie nonetheless dipped it in the cool water before applying it to the welt on Jake’s cheek first, as that was the most obvious.
As she fussed over him, concerned by his silence, she was conscious of the Argentine seating himself wearily on the stump next to them. In her frazzled state, she hadn’t even noticed the man until then.
Boris was the first to greet him. “Welcome back, señor. What news, my friend?”
Arias looked toward Marquez for permission to speak. At the commander’s nod, he drew a deep breath. “Rojas has agreed to let you speak with the hostages via radio.”
Jake’s head came up, letting Lena know he wasn’t so far gone he’d missed the significance of the Argentine’s words.
“When?” Boris sounded as pleased and excited as Maggie was.
“Ahora.”Now. Marquez marched up to them while holding out his handheld radio. “Only, do it out here where there is better reception.”