Page 76 of Wild Idol
“They’re going to attempt to extract the whereabouts of the idol from people who don’t know where it is.”
“Are we going to let that happen?”
This was all just an exercise in psyching ourselves up. I knew from the minute the mercenaries hit the beach, we would have to do something.
I told Star and Sunshine to go to the boat. “If we’re not back in 20 minutes, I want you to go to San Montego and don’t look back.”
She nodded, and I gave her a pistol I had taken from Boone.
Sunshine took my hand and gave me a delicate kiss. “I’ll see you in 20 minutes.”
I nodded, and the two girls took off. We watched as they raced across the beach and down the dock. When they were safely aboard the boat, JD and I headed back toward the village.
Gunshots near the retreat rang out, drifting through the trees, echoing through the night air.
JD and I shared a concerned look.
We advanced toward the village as an exchange of bursts rattled through the jungle. I figured Solomon’s goons had returned from the mountain and engaged the mercs.
By the time we got to the outskirts of the village, the mercs had taken cover in the tree line, exchanging fire with Solomon’s crew at the other end of the compound.
JD and I took cover behind some trees and assessed the situation. The mercs had forced several of the residents out of their cabanas and had taken them hostage.
Solomon had interrupted their operation.
Now the mercenaries were scattered in the trees, with a few hostages, trading bullets with Solomon and his crew.
The mystery man held a gun to a hostage’s head. When thegunfire paused, he shouted across the village. “Give me the idol, and I will let your people go.”
I got a better look at the hostage. It was Whisper. Terror twisted her face, and she trembled in his arms as the mystery man hunkered down behind a tree with a gun to her head.
Rage boiled on JD‘s face.
One of the mystery man’s goons must have gotten tagged in the firefight. I only saw three of them now. Combined with the mystery man, that made four.
I wasn’t sure how many men Solomon had.
Maybe three or four at this point. There could have been more armed personnel, but the guru was running thin on security staff at the moment.
From our current position, we didn’t have a line of sight on Solomon. He shouted back to the mystery man, “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
“Bullshit!“ the mystery man replied. “I’m going to shoot every one of these hostages until I get what I came here for.”
If Solomon was smart, he would try to flank the mystery man’s position. But I didn’t know how smart Solomon was in a tactical sense.
Solomon said nothing.
The mystery man nodded to one of the mercenaries who held onto a hostage of his own. He put a gun to the man’s head and pulled the trigger.
The report echoed through the jungle.
The man’s head exploded, spraying bits of blood and bone across the trees.
“I’m going to count to five,“ the mystery man shouted. “Lay down your weapons and surrender. Deliver the idol to me, and you can go back to your business. You’ve already lost one of your congregation. I’m sure you don’t want to lose anymore.” He asked Whisper what her name was.
She told him in a terrified squeak of a voice.
The mystery man smiled, then shouted at Solomon. “You don’t want to make Whisper scream, do you?”
