Page 64 of Hearts Of Darkness

I nod, the rancid taste of unease in my mouth. “Tell the men to arm themselves.”

Joseph exits the Jeep and jogs over to the other vehicles as I sit back in my seat, with my guts churning. I see Eve’s face again, but there’s no shy smile for me. Instead, it’s one of pain and terror. The hand resting on my knee clenches into a fist.I never should have left her.

There’s a perpetual slamming of doors as my men unpack their weapons and load up with ammo. All the while, I can sense the truth creeping up on us. Everything is about to be revealed, but it’s damn painful in the interim.

“Tomas, get me Ramirez back at base.”

“Sure thing,jefe.”

I listen to the call ring out.

Well, isn’t that the worst goddamn sound in the world?

“Try again.”

No answer.

“Call the main house. Call my housemaid.”

There’s nothing in my voice to betray the dread that’s taking hold of me.

Same thing.

No answer.

Saliva pools in the back of my throat as Joseph returns to my vehicle. “The men are armed and awaiting orders. We have enough firepower to light up the jungle if needs be.”

Emilio wouldn’t dare. He wouldn’t fucking dare…

“Dante, did you hear what I said?”

“We’re walking into a trap,” I say brusquely. “Tomas, turn the Jeep around. We need to get back to the airport as soon as possible.”

We listen to him grind the metal of the stick shift as he forces it into reverse. That’s when the first rocket hits us.

The vehicle directly behind us disintegrates on impact, spewing burning shards of metal outward in all directions. It pitches us forward as the windows blow out, spraying debris in our faces. My ears are ringing. Joseph is screaming in my face, but I can’t hear a fucking thing. One glance over my shoulder tells me there’s nothing left out there except a flaming carcass.

Four soldiers.

Dead.

“Move!” I roar at Tomas, my voice sounding remote as heputs the pedal to the floor, going from zero to sixty in a matter of seconds, skidding across the dirt track as we temporarily lose traction on the loose stones. My eardrums are starting to clear when there’s another loudboomfrom behind us as the second vehicle is destroyed.

“What the fuck is going on?” yells Joseph, staring in disbelief at the two fireballs we’ve left raging in our wake.

It’s just Tomas and us now. Everyone else is dead. That’s when I hear the revving of another engine above our own.

Peering through the smoke and chaos, I see the headlights of a Jeep tearing up the track a couple of hundred meters out. Bullets start to ricochet off the trunk, and we lurch sideways as one of the back tires blows out.

“Grenade launcher,” I snarl, but it’s too late. Out of nowhere, something relentless slams into the side of us, pitching us over the curb and out into the jungle.

Our vehicle hits a boulder and flips one-eighty, and now we’re skidding down a small ravine on our asses. I hear Joseph and Tomas cursing as broken glass starts fucking up their skin. Something smacks into the side of my head, and the other men go quiet.

We slide like this forever until we’re slamming into trees. We’re by a river. I can hear the gushing currents. There’s a groan of crumpled metal as our vehicle rights itself, snapping my neck back against the seat as it slams down to the ground.

The engine dies.

Stillness.

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