Page 39 of Fear No Evil

“What’s happening?” She eyed the pulse in Jake’s powerful neck, her heart beating fast.

“Don’t know yet.”

The familiar grating quality of Gallo’s voice reached their ears as the deputy returned from his mysterious departure to rail at poor Chucho, accusing him of trying to kill his own leader.

“Guess who’s back?” Jake sounded about as thrilled about themondo’s return as Maggie was. But then Jake stiffened. “And he’s brought company.”

“Who?” Maggie stole a peek around the edge of the building. In the overcast afternoon light, she made out four more men standing in the mist beyond the machine gun. Their uniforms, solid pea-green, were different from Gallo’s. They carried weapons over their shoulders that looked like brand-new AK-74s, not the antique 47s like the FARC had, and vests jam-packed with artillery.

A taut quiet fell over the camp as its inhabitants eyed the newcomers. Even the chickens seemed to stop and stare.

“They’re not FARC dressed like that,” Jake observed. “Maybe they’re ELN?”

Maggie narrowed her eyes. The uniform struck her as familiar. Her gaze slid to the mules they were leading, each one laden with burlap sacks, and her stomach growled. “Please, say they’ve brought food for us.”

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up.”

Rather than lead the strangers closer, Gallo summoned David’s squad over to unload the heavy-looking sacks. Maggie and Jake watched as the four boys who’d playedfútbolhastened toward the mules and took one bag apiece, toting them toward the little hutch that housed the cooking utensils.

“Why don’t they just bring the mules into camp and save the kids some work?” Maggie wanted to know.

“Maybe Gallo doesn’t want us rubbing elbows with these guys.”

“Why not?” She tugged on Jake’s sleeve. “Let’s see what happens when we offer to help.”

He frowned at her. “Are you trying to get into trouble?”

“How is that trouble? We’re peacekeepers. Helping is what we do.”

He cut a thoughtful look toward the newcomers, clearly as curious as she was. “Bien. But stay behind me and let me do the talking.”

They left the corner of the bungalow together, walking casually toward Gallo and his buddies when David stepped into their path.

“Stay back.” His light-brown eyes conveyed worry.

“But we can help.” Jake sounded like an eager Boy Scout. “I can carry two bags at once. Look at them.” He gestured to the young FARC rebels huffing and puffing under just one bag.

“No.” David’s tone brooked no argument. “Gallo will blame me.”

The words convinced Maggie to change her mind. At least she’d gotten close enough to read the lettering on the sides of the bags:Frijoles negros. Thank God! Maybe tomorrow, they would get some beans with their rice.

With the foodstuffs unpacked, Gallo waved off the newcomers who led their mules into the mist on the same pathboth Gallo and Marquez had taken earlier, leaving Maggie with more questions than answers, like where did that path lead, and what about the other one near the bull’s-eyes? No one had headed off on that path yet.

“I’m not good at this.”

Jake lifted a wry gaze to Lena’s longsuffering expression. It wasn’t common for her to admit a weakness, but it wasn’t like Jake hadn’t noticed her frustration. With a weak morning sun brightening the clouds parked over their camp, they sat together on the front ledge of the bungalow, playing a game of tic-tac-toe in the dirt at their feet. Since she’d beat him in the last four games, she wasn’t referring to her strategy, obviously.

“What, waiting?” he guessed in French.

“Yes. How are you not wanting to tear your hair out?”

He tapped his temple. “I’m busy thinking.”

“About?”

“You know.”

It took her a second to guess. Ever since yesterday, he’d been working on breaking the encryption.

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