Page 76 of Fear No Evil
Run!With his feet on fire, Jake sprinted down the torturous trail toward the sound. Thank God for the helicopter that drowned out the sound of his movements, for he ran right up on the two men—David and a larger rebel.
After reining himself in, Jake counted to ten, then stalked the pair, keeping far enough back that the others never saw him.
“There!” Boris Mayer pointed as a Red Cross helicopter burst into view from behind the gauzy clouds. With a reverberating crescendo, it approached the valley. Members of the team, including Maggie, clambered to their feet and waved a frantic greeting.
Maggie’s eyes stung at the heartening vision of a red cross emblazoned onto the sides of the reconditioned “Huey” UH-1 Iroquois. If Jake were safely by her side, she would have gotten satisfaction out of watching its tail flare, watching the tall grass ripple under its rotor wash like rings on the surface of a disturbed pond. Wind, smelling of fresh herbs, whipped her ponytail into her eyes.
In just thirteen days, they’d accomplished what they came here for. But Jake’s tragic accident had turned victory into defeat. How was she supposed to leave without him?
As the giant metal bird nestled onto the field and the thunder of the rotors diminished, Boris held them back. “Wait. The FARC prisoners are to be released first.”
With a clank and a rumble, the helicopter door slid open, revealing a man in a navy blue uniform. He leapt to the ground, cradling an assault rifle. Scoping the area uneasily, he waved Boris over.
“Stay here.” Boris gestured for his team to stay in the trees’ shade as he marched across the field alone to speak to the man.
“Who is he?” Esme wondered out loud.
Maggie hadn’t taken her eyes off him. “Prison guard, probably.”
They all watched Boris shake the man’s hand, then point at the red-roofed building. Peering into the chopper’s cabin, Maggie made out several men in orange coveralls, under the armed watch of a second guard.
One by one, their ankles and wrists were uncuffed, and they jumped down from the helicopter, trotting with gleeful expressions toward the cinder-block building to join their fellow FARC.
Maggie tried to see into the building as they filed through the door. Was Jay Barnes even in there? What about Mike’s body and the JUNGLA hostages? Would an exchange really take place?
With her thoughts still congealed by shock, it was hard to read their situation. Apart from Jake’s horrible accident, everything seemed to be happening as planned. Even so, the suspicion that they would be duped kept her wary.
Boris reached for a briefcase being handed down to him. That had to be Jay Barnes’s “insurance” money. Hefting the briefcase in one hand, Boris faced the building and waited. Now that the FARC had their rebels back, this was when the JUNGLA captives ought to be exiting the building; only they weren’t.
Boris put his free hand on his hip and frowned. When the door on the building remained shut, he started walking toward it, guessing, perhaps, that Marquez wished to count the money before he let the JUNGLA go.
Maggie’s intuition for trouble niggled. “He shouldn’t go alone.” Clambering off the ground, she started across the fieldafter him. Charles seemed to agree and followed suit. A glance back showed Esme and Bellini bringing up the rear.
Uneasiness slithered through Maggie’s gut as they approached the shuttered building. In addition to outnumbering them, the FARC held a strongly defensive position, considering the Red Cross helicopter was stripped of all fighting capabilities. Why had they cloistered themselves inside, exactly? It had to be hot in there.
Boris glanced over as they joined him, a look of gratitude on his face. “I’m sure they want to count the money before releasing the hostages.”
Maggie wasn’t so optimistic. The door swung outward, releasing the odor of unwashed bodies as Mondo Gallo blocked their entrance. Peering past his smirking visage, Maggie spotted Marquez seated at a table. With a jingling of chains, a man sprang into view behind thecomandanteand waved at them.
Jay Barnes! Maggie swallowed her gasp of recognition. Seeing recognition flare in his eyes, she quickly touched her ear in the standard signal for “You don’t know me.”
As he tore his attention to the others, Maggie wallowed in pity while noting his condition. Her once-robust colleague was bent and thin. Four months of captivity had nearly killed him.
Without warning, Gallo stepped forward and wrested the briefcase from Boris, who protested with a, “Hey!”
“Stay outside,” themondoordered, marching inside with the money. At least he left the door open.
Left standing in the sun, the peacekeepers all glanced at each other and then searched the interior of the building. Maggie was the first to articulate what they all had to be thinking. “I don’t see any JUNGLA.” They would be easy to spot, if they were as thin and haggard as Jay was.
“I’m sure they’re here,” Boris insisted. But he didn’t sound sure.
Maggie didn’t see any coffin either. Where was Mike Howitz’s body? The suspicion that the FARC were about to cheat them added a layer of despair over the shattered remnants of her heart. If only this day had never happened. Jake would still be with them, reassuring all of them with his laid-back, this-is-easy attitude. She weaved on her feet, overcome with defeat, and Charles grabbed her arm, keeping her upright.
Marquez, who’d opened the briefcase and riffled through the money, slammed it shut, rousing Maggie from her misery. “Let the captive go.”
Captive in the singular?
At the order, Mondo Gallo stepped up to Jay and, using a key on his key ring, unlatched the padlock that kept the metal collar around Jay’s neck closed. Jay pried it off himself, dropping his shackles and chain with aclink. His huge smile displayed yellowed teeth as he hobbled toward the door as fast as his skeletal body would carry him.