Page 81 of No Questions Asked

“I don’t know,” he said, bending over to catch his breath. “Damn, I’m not sure which way from here.”

I closed my eyes, fighting back the frustration and anxiety in my emotional half, because my intellectual half was telling me to stay calm and think. Focus and compartmentalize, as Slash told me a million times.

How did ancient navigators find their way? I peered up into the midday sun. Nope, that only worked when you had some idea where you were in the first place. I’d been turned around so often, I didn’t know which direction I was facing. I searched for evidence of people, a path, trampled leaves or brush, but came up with exactly nothing.

“We’ve got to pick a way,” I said. “We’re wasting time.”

Vicente’s face was beet red and he was sweating as much as I was. We agreed on a direction and headed uphill when a young native girl stepped out of the trees.

I was so startled, I nearly fell backwards on my butt. It was the one who wore my bra as an empty quiver. Quiver Girl, as I’d started to call her in my head.

“A-muh-suh-ne,”she said and looked behind me if looking for the others.

Vicente immediately spoke to her and I assumed he was asking her if she could lead us back to the village. She darted off into the vegetation, leaving us behind.

“Hey, wait,” I called out as we ran to catch up with her. “Vicente, did you tell her it was urgent to get us back fast?”

“I did. Let’s try to keep up.”

We’d been closer to the village than we thought. I began to recognize more and more landmarks. As we neared the village, the young girl raced ahead of us, alerting all of the remaining villagers. By the time Vicente and I dashed into the village, they were waiting for us, all of them looking alarmed. He gave them a quick explanation what had happened while I found the third satellite phone. Vicente took the phone, handed me the phone around his neck, and walked away to make his call. I pressed the phone to my ear, listening for Slash’s voice. I heard nothing except for shuffling and the murmur of voices. When I looked up, I saw the entire village watching me. I glanced over at Vicente, who was speaking rapidly on the phone, pacing back and forth. Finally, he hung up and came over to me.

“Help is coming, but there’s no way the agents can assemble the team, their gear, the helicopters, and the agents until morning. Even with special training, it would be too dangerous to land the helicopters in the dark. There’s also going to have to be multiple helicopter landings in order to bring as many agents as we’d need to take on the drug runners. They’re going to try and send one group before sunset, so I’m going to leave shortly to wait for them at the same place where we landed the helicopter before. All of us will camp there for the night and wait for the others to arrive. When we have the entire team in place, I’ll lead them to the compound. IfEl Esqueletocomes tonight, the odds are high he’ll stay the night.”

“But what if those men change their minds and start shooting?” I asked, panicked. “What then?”

“We have to pray that doesn’t happen. I’ve got to head out now. I don’t want to be trekking in the jungle in the dark. Let’s switch phones.”

I considered and shook my head. “No. I want to keep this phone. If I hear thatEl Esqueletohas arrived or if they’re planning to start killing the prisoners, I’ll hang up and let you know right away. Either way, I’ll hang up the phone by six in the morning, so you can call me and we can discuss where you’re at with the rescue.”

He thought about it. “Okay. Fair enough.”

He gave the villagers a quick rundown of what had happened, and what he intended to do. Then with a sympathetic glance at them and me, he set off for the helicopter landing spot.

After he left, the village fell completely silent. I counted thirty-seven men, women and children all staring at me. There were three men—two other elderly men and the one guy who’d been shot in the arm—and nine children all under ten, including an infant. That left twenty-five—no, twenty-six—women including me. I’d never felt so helpless and useless.

Suddenly, Amana stepped forward and took my hand. She smiled with calmness and confidence.

“A-muh-suh-ne,”she said, pointing at me.

To my astonishment, the women came forward one by one to stand in front of me...warriors ready for battle.

It was a moment of epiphany.

The women were upset, but they weren’t paralyzed like me. They were ready to fight for their men and the future of their village. They were the trueAmazonas.

I was just the scared woman who was going to help them.

Chapter Forty-Seven

Lexi

Once it became clear the women weren’t going to wait for the worst to happen, the planning began. I sincerely hoped the federal agents would arrive in the morning and handle everything before anyone got hurt, but in case they couldn’t, we’d be there to step in to save the men as needed.

There was nothing new happening on the phone, including gunshots or screams, which was just fine with me. That meant, for the time being, everyone was relatively safe. It gave us time to work together and focus on the plan.

Given our small numbers and lack of guns, it was clear our advantage would be the element of surprise. No one would expect us to come and everyone, other than me, could move with incredible stealth. Another advantage would be knowing and understanding the rainforest. The women could use its resources in ways I couldn’t even fathom.

Amana made it clear we should leave as soon as possible, and the man who’d been wounded in the arm seemed confident he’d be able to lead us back to the compound. Moving through the rainforest at night concerned me, but the women weren’t afraid and it would provide us the cover of darkness. Plus, it was likely some of the drug runners at the compound would be asleep, leaving fewer of them to deal with, at least initially. We certainly had to expect roving guards and men watching the prisoners both inside and outside, however.

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