Page 69 of Fear No Evil

I don’t know if I can live that way.

Just go to sleep, Maggie.

She squeezed her eyes shut, undecided. It didn’t help to know that she would be slumbering peacefully at that moment if only Jake were holding her. Memories of all those sleepless nights back in Arlington, turning in her bed, filled her with dread. She would have to take those antianxiety meds all over again.

Oh, help.She would be a mess without Jake.

CHAPTER 14

Daylight was just beginning to wane on yet another impossibly long and uneventful day when the door of thecasitaflew open, admitting a large moth that fluttered in as David poked his head in. “Someone is coming!” he said with a smile.

Maggie watched Jake step out of his hammock so he could look out the nearest screen at the mellowing landscape. “It’s Boris and a few of the FARC. He’s back!”

Anticipation and dismay warred within Maggie. She forced herself to get up, ignoring the discomfort that pinched her hip every time she moved. The lead negotiator had been gone for thirty-six hours. She’d been thinking about Jake’s suggestion of a date for the last twenty-four, and she was no closer to a decision.

By the time Boris appeared at the door, Esme had scraped together what was left of their last meal into a bowl for him. Noting the German’s satisfied smile, Maggie’s emotions wheeled. It was obvious he had met with success.

“I have much to tell you.” Stamping the mud off his feet, he crossed the threshold, leaving the door open behind him as a gesture of politeness.

Peering past him, Maggie glimpsed only Gallo and two of the hardened rebels fromKi-kirr-zikis.Marquez must have gone elsewhere with the rest of the rebels. She was glad when they remained outside, giving the team a modicum of privacy.

“Is it done?” Bellini demanded as Boris unbuttoned his jacket.

Esme rounded on the Italian. “Give the man a chance to sit and eat, Leo. We saved you some food just in case you came back, Boris. Here, rest.” She gestured to one of the two chairs.

With a weary sigh, Boris sank onto the chair closest to the hearth’s embers, then dug into his dinner with gusto.

Maggie gnawed on the inside of her lip as she waited for Boris’s news. Would she and Jake be parting ways in a matter of days? Hours?

When Gallo stepped up to the still-open door, Boris stopped chewing, cutting him an uncomfortable glance. The entire team regarded Gallo with mistrust as he lounged against the doorjamb, a ceramic jug in one hand.

Charles broke the awkward silence. “What’s the news on Señor Arias?”

Boris pawed his bowl. “Last I saw him was in the little town we went to, El Olvido.”

The Oblivion, Maggie translated with a shiver of premonition.

“He was left with the local healer there, who was given instructions to call his family. I imagine he is home by now. Thank you, Esme.” Handing her the empty bowl, he took the cup of water she held out to him and drained it.

Esme’s face shone with hope in the dimming light. “Does that mean we’ll be heading home ourselves, soon?”

“Yes, yes.” Boris cut another uncomfortable glance at the door. “The process is underway.”

Maggie sought Jake’s gaze, drawing his attention to the doorway. Why was Gallo just lounging there, holding that jug? And what did his peculiar smile signify?

Perhaps sensing her disquiet, Jake stepped closer, looped an arm around her waist, and pulled her against him in what was blatantly a primal claim‍—one that Maggie didn’t mind at all in this instance…or perhaps, ever.

Boris, lowering his voice, described his activities in the last two days.

“We traveled by ATV down the mountain to the small town I mentioned, El Olvido. There, I met a woman who gave me her cell phone to use, as it had Wi-Fi access. She took me to see a lawyer who is sympathetic to the FARC. With the lawyer present, making everything legal, I took a picture of Jay Barnes’s request for his ransom to be paid‍—someone must have asked him to write it‍—and I sent it via email to the insurance company. The lawyer followed up with an email of his own, giving the company a routing and account number I wasn’t privy to.”

The kiss Jake pressed to Maggie’s temple distracted her briefly‍—another memory to be filed away for later.

“Next, I made calls to my contact in the Colombian Army and arranged for the five FARC prisoners to be released. Then, I contacted the Red Cross and begged them to deliver the prisoners to the location specified by Rojas. All I had were the longitude and latitude to give them, but I believe it’s in a valley on the east side of El Castillo. With all of that done, Gallo brought me back here while Marquez went to collect Jay Barnes, the body of his colleague, and the three JUNGLA. If all goes as it should, the Red Cross will fly us out and back to Bogotá tomorrow.”

Tomorrow.Dismay steamrolled Maggie. She couldn’t wrap her head around it.

“Morning or afternoon?” Bellini asked.

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