Page 54 of Fear No Evil

Let’s do this right.

With determined stealth, Jake hunkered lower, striving to remain unseen as he slipped around the mule he’d petted to get to the box. Five more feet. He crept closer, scarcely daring to breathe. Four. His sole scuffed a rock, causing him to freeze. No one seemed to hear. He crept closer. Three feet. As a bout of laughter seized the group in front of him, Jake used the distraction to snatch up two grenades and back away.

Returning to Charles without incident, he passed one off to the Frenchman. Assuming both grenades were operational, they would certainly serve as a powerful distraction, allowing the girls to flee, provided they could overcome their fear of the dark.

The best tactic was to detonate the grenades downhill so the girls could flee back uphill to their camp and away from the disturbance. After that, Jake and Charles would have to stay small while the Venezuelans swarmed the area, searchingfor those responsible. Their first guess would be the JUNGLA, of course, which might spook them into leaving El Castillo altogether. Jake could only hope for that outcome.

He and Charles scurried downhill, where the darkness swallowed them, slowing their descent. As they ran into a centuries-old Andean oak choked in vines, Jake pointed it out to Charles, who headed straight for it. A minute later, they sat on a branch that gave them a bird’s-eye view of the twin lanterns twinkling uphill.

Securing his seat on a moss-covered limb, Jake nodded at Charles. They pulled the pins on their grenades simultaneously, then lobbed them into the foliage.

Thwack, thwack, thumpity, thump. The grenades tumbled through branches and leaves before falling to the ground. Jake braced himself.

KA-BANG! BOOM!

Bright flashes of light lit up the wilderness. The shrieking of startled monkeys accompanied shouts of alarm as the soldiers responded. Snatching up their weapons, they scattered from the camp, seeking cover and searching for their foe. From his safe perch up the giant oak, Jake kept an eye on the swiftly emptying camp.

Maife and Ixtabel remained paralyzed, clutching each other. Jake urged them on under his breath. “Come on, girls. Run!”

In the next instant, Maife snatched up the trailing rope and pulled her companion with her. As they scurried up the path towardCecaot-Jicobo, Jake met Charles’s glinting eyes and grinned.

But then his smile faded. The lumpy bark of the oak tree was gouging his backside, and until the soldiers moved some distance away, they would have to stay exactly where they were. By then, the two girls ought to be lying safely in their hammocks‍—at least for tonight.

Maggie’s pulse jumped as the sound of explosives silenced the drone of insects. Her heart threw itself against her ribs.Jake!

She couldn’t do this mission without him. Shrugging on her jacket, she left the bungalow the same way Charles and Jake had earlier. Rounding the building, she flattened herself against the blinds as David and the teen rebels stumbled out of their lean-to and stared toward the path, conjecturing amongst themselves.

In the building behind her, Maggie could hear Boris and the others talking amongst themselves. She prayed they wouldn’t notice her, Jake, and Charles’s silence and then find them gone.

Despite her elevated pulse, the calm that had pervaded her spirit at the waterfall remained, assuring her everything would work out. Jake was trained to handle himself in the dark. And, unlike her, he was versed in guerilla tactics. He’d be fine.

Making up her mind to go back into the bungalow, Maggie was just about to retreat when David looked her way and stared. “Señora?”

Shoot, he’d seen her. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to walk in his direction while looking completely natural. In the shadowy camp, it was impossible to read his expression.“¿Qué ocurre?”She hoped she sounded merely curious.

“Don’t worry yourself.” His tone was subtly harder than usual. “Why are you out at night, all alone?”

“I’m not.” She gestured back at the tree. “My husband is in the trees over there, doing his business.”

David eyed the area she pointed out with nothing to say.

He knows I’m lying. She stuck stubbornly to her story. “Ah, I hear him calling me now. Good night, David. I hope the JUNGLA aren’t attacking us again.” Turning her back onthe squad leader, she marched straight back to the tree line, pretending to call reassurances to Jacques‍—“Oui, oui, j’arrive”‍—as she darted behind the bungalow. Then she peeked around the corner to gauge David’s response.

He had turned away to greet Maife and Ixtabel, who’d just come running from the path Gallo had towed them down earlier. A grim smile curled Maggie’s lips as she watched David usher them back into the lean-to. Jake and Charles had found some way to free the girls‍—only where had they gotten their hands on explosives?

Assured by the girls’ return, Maggie decided to return to Jake’s and her cubicle. Boris and the others had fallen silent. She deliberated on leaving her muddy boots on, just in case Charles and Jake needed her, then decided to trust in their training and to slip back into bed. There would be no sleep for her until Jake joined her.

Thirty minutes later, the camp had fallen quiet, layered again by the hum of insects. Still no Jake.

Fighting the pressure on her chest, Maggie drew deep, calming breaths. A craving for the peace she’d experienced at the waterfall had her clasping her hands together and reciting the 23rd Psalm in her head, surprised to discover she knew most of it by heart.Her stepmom would be happy to know all those Sundays of being dragged to church as a teen had taught Maggie something, after all.

At some point, she must have fallen asleep, for when she snatched her eyes open, the barest hint of dawn brightened the blinds. A draft had awakened her. Two men were crawling into the cubicle. Recognizing Jake’s broad shoulders, even though his face was smeared with mud, her heart cartwheeled with joy. She sat up, bursting with questions, but the answers could wait until morning.

As Charles passed through their cubicle into his own, Jake went to work scrubbing his face, using the bowl of water and washcloth they kept in the corner.

Minutes later, he was back under the mosquito netting, wearing his shirt and pants. She embraced him warmly, savoring the gift of his presence, and received a heartfelt embrace in return. The memory of his kiss earlier made her want to pick up where they’d left off, but she could tell by his averted face that his thoughts were elsewhere.

“Quelque chose ne va pas?”she whispered.Is something wrong?