Page 10 of Last Chance

“You can put me down,” Janie said. “I can hold my own for a while, at least.”

“Have you eaten or drunk anything since the hijacking?”

She shook her head.

“You won’t last more than a couple of minutes.”

“To haul your pack and me through this jungle is too much,” she protested.

“If I need help, one of my teammates will carry you for a while. Right now, I’m fine.” In fact, he was better than fine. He felt as though he could carry Janie for many miles.

She fell silent, but squeezed his neck a little tighter for a few seconds.

He smiled. He’d take a quick hug that like any day of the week. Perhaps she was trusting him a little.

On and on Sawyer ran with his teammates, dodging live trees and hopping over fallen ones while following in Logan’s footsteps to reduce the possibility of Janie being injured by branches and bushes smacking her in the face. The team didn’t want to cut a path through the jungle unless it was necessary. The fresh path would lead the enemy right to their landing zone.

Even at this early hour of the morning, the heat and humidity made Sawyer sweat as he ran. Dragging in air felt as though he was sucking pea soup through a straw. Nope, he wasn’t a fan of the jungle. The beach was more his speed.

Again, Logan held up a fist and paused. Sawyer and the others froze in place. One minute passed, then two. Another signal from Logan sent Sawyer into a crouch. He set Janie on the ground with a finger pressed to his lips to remind her to remain silent. He palmed his weapon and waited.

Five minutes. Ten. A stick cracked to Sawyer’s right. He hovered over Janie, his body barely brushing hers, as moved between her and the potential threat.

Without turning around, Brody signaled Max to circle around and get behind the approaching threat.

They were being stalked. Whether by man or beast, he didn’t know. Either way, they needed to get the tracker off their backs and resume the journey to the LZ. If they didn’t move soon, they risked a daylight pick up, and that was too dangerous for everyone, including the chopper and pilot.

Max disappeared into the shadows.

Still, they waited. To her credit, Janie didn’t move or ask questions. She lay perfectly still, watching Sawyer for a sign that all was well or danger was imminent.

Absently, he reached over with his free hand and squeezed her fingers. After he released her, Janie wrapped her small hand around Sawyer’s calf, gently massaging muscles beginning to cramp. How had she known exactly where to massage?

When the muscles relaxed, she switched her attention to his other calf and went to work on those knotted muscles.

Sawyer shuddered with relief as the pain subsided. Good grief. Janie Moran had serious massage skills. Where had she learned such a great technique?

He crouched lower until his mouth was close to her ear. “Thanks,” he whispered.

That earned him a pat on the back of a calf.

Sawyer smiled. He didn’t know where this woman lived, but he’d love a chance to get to know her better if she was open to the possibility of dating him.

Another stick cracked, followed by a muttered curse.

Brody looked at Logan, who melted into the shadows. Two minutes later, a muffled grunt told the story. Either Max or Logan, perhaps both, had taken down the threat.

“Clear,” Max murmured. “Heading back.”

Both men reappeared a minute later. Their uniform shirts appeared wet. Good thing their uniforms were black. Harder to spot blood on the fabric or bullet-resistant vest.

At a signal from Brody, Sawyer scooped Janie into his arms again and set off at a faster pace than before. They needed to get out of this jungle. No telling how many terrorists had been sent into the interior to find them and either retrieve Janie or kill her.

Texas Team ran for a mile before Logan once again signaled.

Sawyer scowled. How many terrorists were in this Vatos Locos group? How could they track the team through the dense jungle in the dead of night?

Didn’t matter how they were doing it. The fact was, they were tracking the team with deadly accuracy.

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