Page 28 of Evening Shadows

Her breath caught in her chest. Yet, her next few breaths became heavy, and for someone who had to perfect her breathing behind the scope of her rifle, her reaction knocked around something in her heart. “You—” She gulped. “—you need me?”

“Sure.” He shrugged as if it meant nothing to him. “You’re one of our most valuable assets.”

Those words were the type of sweet-talking she preferred. Not once had she heard something so heartfelt as that from the PD or SWAT. In reply to his statement, she snorted. “’Bout time you noticed.”

“Oh, Sugar.” His fake drawl needed work. “I’ve always noticed.”

Okay, that got too personal right away. She had to remain focused and rid her brain of all that crap and pay attention to the op. Nothing else mattered.

Turning the conversation back to a safer topic, she mock shuddered. “I hope we don’t run into any big f—” She caught herself and her gaze snapped to Jesse in the passenger seat. “—snakes.” He didn’t turn, but she could’ve sworn Jesse’s chest moved, hiding a chuckle. Their challenge in living up to his daughter’s request had made some headway, but the men had been right that on an op, sometimes it slipped out. They’d try and try again until they got it right because they loved the little girl and all the other Hamilton children.

Ken chucked, whether at her for almost saying the f-word or her aversion to snakes, she didn’t know. “I’ll protect you from them. Especially while you’re lying there as a perfect target for them to wrap themselves around your prone body.”

That thought made her want to toss her piece and go home—even if she had to hitchhike back to Baltimore. She’d dealt with plenty of critters to include small, non-venomous snakes and had remained still. But boa constrictors that could be up to fourteen feet long? Hell no didn’t even come close. Instead of reaching out and choking Ken liked she would have liked, she smiled sweetly. “Thank you, oh knight in Kevlar.”

“Anything for you, milady,” he shot back and leaned forward as if in a bow. When he rose, his smile settled her, and she relaxed, caught up in their usual easy banter.

Jesse had the driver stop out in the middle of nowhere in the near pitch-black. They hadn’t seen a house or soul for miles and the paved road ended a mile or so back. There’d only been jungle on either side. Who lived out here? Immediately, the stupidity of that question sprang forth. Apparently, their kidnapper and possible arms dealer did. Snakes must not bother him.

Before the drivers turned their vehicles around, the team had slipped into the jungle on the right side of the dirt road with her, Ken, and Doc wearing backpacks, and the remaining agents their war belts, with rifles in hand, and night vision goggles ready. They wore determined looks on their painted faces. By some of their excitement, she figured they missed their war games and looked forward to this trek. While she’d hike in the jungle to rescue Cody, at no other time would she even consider this trip. Something was wrong with those men.

Jesse remained close to the edge of the foliage, watching to ensure the drivers turned back instead of continuing to possibly warn Alejandro. They’d already learned that besides the indigenous Lacandón people, a small number of others lived out this way since the government sold only a few plots of land. It seemed Alejandro had enough money to grease some palms for his large parcel.

Sam didn’t care about all that crap. She cared about a snake dropping down on her. She shuddered at the thought.

Even though they were miles from their destination—to throw off their transports and avoid the direct entry into Alejandro’s home, they moved swiftly through small well-used and new trails, striving for the closest thing to silence. While not completely possible when brush couldn’t be skirted, all the animal sounds nearly drowned out their movements.

Ken led the group with his rifle in one hand and a GPS in the other to ensure they didn’t end up chasing their tails in the brush. At one point, they split to approach from different angles. Franks, who’d also had his handheld in use, led the remainder of the team off to the north side, but not before Cowboy grabbed her free hand with a “Do us proud, Sugar” before he joined the other agents.

That left her with Ken. He looked back at her for only a moment before he led them east. At one point, he did a comm check with five responses of “Lima Charlie.” The two of them would take longer to settle on a location than the team. The distance didn’t bother her, and with no wind, her shot would be assured. If she had a shot.

Darkness receded as the morning light arrived, but only a bit of light filtered through the tree and brush overgrowth in the jungle. Because the lack of light didn’t stop her from doing her job since she had a night scope in her pack, she preferred it. She didn’t worry about her location being spotted because, like the rest of the team, sunlight didn’t glint off their weapons due to some special coating Devon had ordered or added.

The humidity stifled her breathing, and her hair, even though slightly damp, wanted to spring from its holder in a frizz like nobody’s business. Looking at Ken’s back, his hair pulled back at the base of his neck, she wondered if his would also frizz when released. Wow, that’s what she chose to think about?

Seeing something in their path that stopped her, her heart skipped a beat, and she stood rooted to the spot. Was it a snake hanging down from the bushes? A shudder rippled through her, and her heart pounded in a fearful beat that made it difficult to breathe normally.

Realizing she hadn’t followed, Ken stopped and turned around. Maybe seeing her distress had him closing in on her. In a low, worried voice, he asked, “Sam, what’s wrong?”

Her voice quivered as her shaky hand pointed to the possible snake. “Snake.”

Without a word, he moved to where she pointed, and Sam wanted to cry out for him to stay away. As he surveyed it, then used his rifle to prod it, her pulse zinged back and forth.

Ken turned back to her. “Branch.”

She gulped, then as if her legs were concrete she struggled forward, skirting the limb as best she could. He said no word about it or her fear.

“We’re closing in on the location Devon marked,” Ken noted.

Giving herself a mental kick, she cleared the clutter and focused on the op. Once again.

Her mind had cataloged their escape route or at least one of them. Part of it contained primitive trails where it’d been traversed before. Not very wide, but better than forcing through the overgrowth with only KA-BARs. As the small potential area for her to set up came into sight, she knew it wouldn’t work. But they tested it anyway because of the slight elevation. Her fear had been right, and while she wanted bushes to conceal them, she had to be able to find a hole that allowed her to have a clean shot into the compound and all around it.

“I don’t know about this,” she let slip.

“Aren’t you a member of the one-mile club?”

Like distance would ever be a challenge. With the foliage around them, she doubted she’d find a clear shot from this far away.

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