Page 60 of Fear No Evil
With his concerns thus surrendered, Jake slipped into a sleep filled with dreams.
He awoke to an uproar outside their bungalow. Amidst the shouting came Gallo’s grating voice. “Find the woman who took the map.”
The rough-cut planks of the bungalow shuddered as rebels stormed it, searching the cubicles for Lena. With no time to don their boots, Jake grabbed Lena’s arm and hauled her out from under their mosquito netting. They had just slipped through the flap and jumped from the bungalow barefooted when the rebels raised the alarm that the spies were gone.
Jake tugged Lena straight into the cover of the forest while praying he could find them a place to hide. They couldn’t flee in the dark with no shoes on. What a nightmare, to be stuck in this hostile environment without a single weapon, no shoes, and responsible for the woman he loved.
Wait, could this be just a nightmare?
With a start, Jake woke up. His heart still pounded. His breath sawed in and out over the drone of insects on the other side of the blinds. Closing his eyes, he breathed a great sigh of relief to find him and Lena still safe and still together. But could the dream be a warning? Hadn’t he just prayed for the wisdom to know if and when it was time to leave?
Did he believe some dreams were divinely inspired? Sure, in the Bible, God had spoken to Moses, Jacob, Solomon, and even Joseph in their dreams. But Jake was a modern man. He’d been taught that dreams were the brain’s way of processing sensory information picked up that day.
Uncertain of what to think, Jake prayed again.Father, if I need to get Lena off this mountain, please give me a clear sign, one that I won’t question. Sorry. Amen.
CHAPTER 12
“Wake up, sleepyheads. We’re leaving camp in thirty minutes.”
Jarred from a deep sleep, Maggie raised her cheek off Jake’s chest to blink at the Frenchman poking his head into their cubicle at daybreak, disturbing their slumber.
“Going where?” Jake articulated her question in a raspy voice.
“To the place where Arias has been meeting with Rojas. Arias himself is ill. Boris will take his place and speak with Rojas in the Argentine’s stead, I guess.”
Maggie sat straight up. Were they about to meet Rojas in person? From an intelligence perspective, that would be an incredible opportunity. On the flip side, if Arias was too sick to continue negotiations, he might end up dying like Mike had.
Hearing a light rain pattering their frond ceiling, she groaned at the prospect of leaving their warm, dry cocoon just to dress in damp clothing, then hike for hours, which would exacerbate hernearly healed incision. But Jake tossed off the blanket that was covering them, leaving her no choice but to rise and shine.
Sentimentality washed through Maggie as she rose from their cozy nest. She wasn’t ready for this assignment to end. Her heart felt heavy in her chest as she donned her socks first, then adjusted the dagger in her left boot so she could pull it on. It wasn’t until she was tying off her laces that she noticed Jake’s preoccupied silence.
She searched his face in the gloomy light. “What are you thinking about?”
He shrugged into his jacket, grimacing either at its dampness or its muskiness.“Rien.”Nothing.“Just…stick close to me these last few days.”
Nothing would please her more—a circumstance that was starting to scare her.
“And if anything happens to me,” he tacked on, “just find water and follow it downstream. The guys at the JIC will eventually find you.”
Talons of fear sank into her shoulders. It wasn’t like Jake to bring up worst-case scenarios. “Why are you talking like that?”
“I don’t know. I had a dream last night, and I’m hoping it wasn’t a sign.”
“Oh, come on.” She pushed to her feet. “You’re worrying yourself for nothing. Watch and see. In a few days, we’ll be flying out of here with Jay Barnes and Mike’s body, and this wet, muddy nightmare will be a memory.” A memory she would cherish for years to come.
He turned to face her, his quick smile flashing in the shadows. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
“I’m always right.” Stepping toward him, she succumbed to the urge to slip her arms around his waist and lay her head on his shoulder. Premonition tolled like a bell in her brain. “Even so, be careful.”
“If we stay together, we’ll be okay.”
His words brought her head up. At this rate, they wouldn’t be together much longer. “Teamwork,” she heard herself say.
“That’s right.” He pressed a sweet, memorable kiss on her forehead. “Finally she gets it.”
“Sir, they’re moving.”
Chief Harmony’s alert brought Lobo across the floor of the JIC to study the topographical map over Harm’s shoulder. Sure enough, the two dots, red for Jake and blue for Magdalena, were creeping toward the north side of the mountain, making slow but steady progress.