Page 75 of Wicked Suspicion

She’d crouched, trying to stay low to offer a smaller target. Damn, he wanted her at his side. He wanted her on that boat.

And he was pinned down.

The gunfire slowed and became more sporadic. They weren’t out of the woods yet. Case was pretty sure the enemy was moving. Some would be trying to locate Pruitt, BD, Cordy, and Oz. The others would be taking fresh positions.

More advantageous positions.

Ski would watch the river. The rebels wouldn’t be able to hop in boats upstream and come up on their backs. That was their only vulnerability from behind.

Unless they had men positioned on the other side of the river. Ski would watch for that, too.

Case tried to ease around the far side of the building. A few well-placed shots aborted the attempt. More gunfire in the distance. At least one of his teammates was returning fire.

“I can’t get to her,” Case said quietly to Baggs.

“I know, dude.”

Yeah, he knew. They both knew. Nyx was a bargaining chip.

Almost as soon as he had that thought, one of Ramirez’s personal guards went to her, grabbed her by the arm, and hauled her upright.

The good news was she had more protection. She was in the middle of the guard. That was also the bad news. She was in the middle of the guard. Unreachable.

For now.

His team would be working their way in from the rainforest. Working to reach them. A round of gunfire, closer than the previous bursts, told Case he was right. He needed to keep Nyx safe long enough for them to reach the dock area.

Case squeezed off a few rounds, making the dude trying to sneak down the ramp to the dock think twice.

How many men were in the camp?

He knew they moved around, did things during the day, including prowl around Trujillo. The rebels had multiple locations. Would they send out an SOS to their other satellites? Or would they assume they could fight off Case and a few of his mercenary friends without reinforcements?

If they did summon additional troops, how long would it take them to arrive?

Movement to his right. He fired a couple rounds in that direction.

When he could spare a glance, Case saw Nyx was gone. He took a step forward, but Baggs stopped him.

“She’s okay. She’s behind that hut on the left. Ramirez and a couple of his men are with her.”

It was one of the clusters of huts that made the location look like a typical village.

“What if they move her?”

“They’re not risking it. Our team is closing in. They have nowhere to go.”

The gunfire was getting nearer on all sides, but Ramirez was arrogant. Would that be enough for him to play it safe? The area in front of the dock was cleared out.

“Let’s get up that ramp to the bank while they’re occupied,” Case said.

Baggs nodded.

There was a wooden walkway after they got off the ramp, but they avoided it and the noise it would make. Case headed for the hut where his teammate said Nyx was being held.

More gunfire. His team was in the encampment now and closing in fast.

The next shots were almost on top of them.

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