Page 59 of Evening Shadows

Staying hidden, they observed the foyer for activity, alarm systems, and the locks on the front door, before they made their move into an open space.

Adrenaline pumped through his body, forcing his heart to hammer in his chest and excitement to flood his nerves. He could barely even describe how his senses calmed, honed in on success and every step, every thought, every emotion, required such discipline to see it through to the end.

Assured the coast was clear—although he didn’t doubt that possible guards were hiding—and with a nod, they moved to the door.

He figured since Alejandro had a compound and guards, he must’ve felt safe enough to not have security active on his home. Fool.

With a tug on Sam’s hand, they slipped outside.

Since the east gate lay before them, they followed the front of the home to the north side as planned. When they ran out of cover, they found the path that held the barest of light, something they slipped through as only a shadow.

Letting go of her hand, he used hand signals to count them down. At the ready, they darted toward the wall. As they progressed, Ken noticed his limp became more pronounced as the struggle to use injured muscles increased. His gut clenched with fear that they’d get recaptured or killed. Biting back that emotion, he turned back to observing his surroundings and getting the hell out of there.

Once they reached the wall, he stopped, cupped his hands together, and boosted Sam over. Although she had the strength to pull herself over a wall, she couldn’t reach the eight feet height.

Damn if even at six-one and with his long arms, he had to hop to reach the top which meant an almost unbearable pressure on his leg when he pushed off. With one try, he almost crumpled to the ground before his feet left from the perched position prior to jumping. If he remained here long, one of the roving guards might spot him. He made to jump again, but the pain radiating through his leg hampered the effort.

Knowing Sam waited on the other side had him making another attempt. He needed less than a foot of airtime to grab the top and pull himself over.

He silently cursed and prayed. He’d done a great deal of both on this op.

Knowing he couldn’t allow the first challenge in their escape to be his last, he shifted his weight to jump. When a masculine arm reached out for him, he froze.

24

Shoving her knife back into the sheath, Sam grabbed the M4 Doc handed her. Alert, she stood guard while he leaped up and reached over the wall to assist Ken out of the compound. It hadn’t taken him long to join her, after her attempts to help Ken had failed. The only thing she could think of was to get to the team and have one of the men help. But she hadn’t wanted to leave Ken either.

Doc must’ve seen her fruitless efforts to scale the wall back into the compound as he appeared at her side in no time.

How the large man moved so silently left her mystified, but his sudden appearance scared the crap out of her. The two remained silent. He’d tossed her his rifle and bolted to the top of the wall as if he’d been born to climb. Facing forward, she hadn’t seen him pulling Ken over, and the silence unnerved her.

She could only surmise that Doc had been patient and remembered Ken had been injured. Since he’d watched when she and Ken had been captured, he’d surely watched the men drag Ken inside the compound. Knowing how she’d feel, it must’ve wrenched at the big man’s stomach for not being able to help one of his own in rescue and give medical attention.

Hearing a whisper of a sound, she guessed their feet had landed. And she’d been right except right after that, Ken collapsed and grunted.

Instead of turning to help him, which her heart screamed at her to do, she remained vigilant.

After Doc helped Ken up and held him tall, he whispered in her ear, “The boys have the guard towers and gates. You watch the jungle.”

With a nod, they moved forward and she kept her focus on potential threats, fighting her instinct to check on Ken. With Doc holding him up, they walked at a fast clip.

Less than fifty yards from the jungle, the high-pitched cry of an alarm ripped through the air. Fear climbed up her throat and churned in her gut. While her teammates were exceptional agents, none of those remaining were snipers. Although glad Jesse had left, having him now would’ve assuaged her worry. But if their men could keep the threats busy, that’s all they needed.

As dawn met the skies, they entered the jungle and were plunged again into near darkness.

Doc stopped the group and turned to Ken, “Tell me.”

“Through-and-through on the thigh. Bruised ribs. Not broken.”

Sam added, “Don’t forget cigarette burns.” She could single-handedly kill Bev after all she’d put Cody and Ken through.

Doc raised an eyebrow at that. “Can you make it, Boss?”

“Yeah, I’m a little slow going, but we’ll make it. You’ll need to house me at Point Charlie because I’ll never make it to Bravo today.”

Gunfire from the fortress broke their conversation and Sam wondered if the men could prevent too many tangos from escaping through the gates.

Doc nodded. “I’ll pass it along. Here.” He thrust a GPS tracker toward Ken. “Don’t get lost and end up in Guatemala,” the big man joked.

---