Page 345 of The Black Trilogy

My heart stopped then restarted again with a stronger beat, the one that had faltered when I watched a taxi blow up outside the Green Mountain hotel on the outskirts of Richmond.

And with that pounding came the realisation I’d left the love of my life to spend eight months festering in a Colombian cellar.

“Emmy, what’s wrong with you? Get me out of here.”

And if I didn’t rectify the situation, we were both going to die in it.

I snapped out of my stupor. “Do you know where the key is?”

“No.” He looked past me to the pregnant chick. “Jane, do you?”

Jane shook her head helplessly.

Not to worry. Black had taught me to be a good Girl Scout, so as usual, I was prepared.

I shrugged out of my slim rucksack and balanced it on one knee. Spare knife, bullets, paracord. The mangled remains of the satellite phone Nate had made me bring, which I’d somehow broken clean in two earlier. Now, where were the explosives?

Ah, there in the corner, a couple of small charges, just big enough to take out a door lock and equipped with Nate’s special remote detonators.

I slipped one of them through the bars to Black. “You need to put it on from your side. It’s shaped to blow outwards.”

If I put it on myself, the force of the explosion would be directed right at him.

I grabbed Jane’s wrist and pulled her along behind me as we got out the way of the blast. The uneven floor had seen better days, and when she stumbled going around a corner, I barely managed to keep her upright. Then there was an ear-splitting bang, and Black belted along the corridor towards us.

He grabbed Jane’s other hand, and we half carried her towards the stairs. The smoke on the floor above had thickened into a dark blanket that invaded my lungs, and I could hardly see my hand in front of my face as I tried to get my bearings. But Jane knew the house better, and she led the two of us outside before collapsing onto the ground.

Black fell to his knees beside her, coughing, while I gulped in clean air. The smoke stung my eyes. I didn’t dare to rub them—my hands, along with the rest of me, were coated with a fine layer of soot. Black and Jane were the same.

I quickly came to my senses and pulled my gun out. With Black now holding Jane’s hair out of the way while she threw up, one of us had to keep an eye out for trouble. The far end of the house collapsed as I took stock of the situation. I guess it could have been worse.

We were only stuck in the jungle fifteen miles from anywhere, surrounded by bodies and burning buildings. Fudge, I hated the smell of charred flesh. It reminded me of Black’s… Hold on. He wasn’t dead anymore. Right? I struggled to take that in. My eyes told me one thing, but...but…

I reached out and poked him.

He gave me a grumpy look. “What are you playing at?”

“Just checking.”

Jane’s eyes darted from side to side as she took in the devastation. “What do we do now?” she asked, voice quaking.

I watched the tree line as I answered. Was anyone still there? “I saw a couple of trucks in a shed out the back. Let’s start driving and go from there.”

Jack’s team had destroyed the plane, and no way could Jane get through the jungle to the boats we’d come in, which was unfortunately where I’d told Nick to meet me. The other option would be for us to split up, and I didn’t like that idea. The only thing keeping Jane on her feet was Black, and if he’d been locked up all this time, he wouldn’t be in the best shape either.

“Let me guess, you broke another phone?” At least Black’s sense of sarcasm was alive and kicking.

“I can’t help it, okay? It just happens.”

He shook his head in exasperation then picked his way barefoot over to the nearest corpse. I kept watch while he pulled the boots off the dead guy and wedged his own feet into them.

“Two sizes too small,” he grumbled as he pulled the laces tight. “But better than cutting my feet to shreds.”

We set off along the path cut through the trees. I say path, but it was more like a tunnel with the mossy green boughs meeting overhead. We’d almost reached the trucks when Jane veered off the track.

“Hey, you’re going the wrong way,” I called.

“I need to pick something up. It’s important.”

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