Page 25 of Vaquero
“Senator Sullivan, you don’t know me, but I need your help, and I need it right damned now,” she barked.
“You must be Corporal Duncan. What can I do for you, and where the hell’s Julio?”
“He’s on his way to confront Orlando Zapata, but one of my children is missing. A ten-year-old boy, Pepe. I can’t leave without him. I won’t.”
“Then you’d better find him. My men are in transit. ETA in eight minutes.”
He’d no more than said that, when the steady whump-whump-whump of heavy-duty rotor blades echoed from far away. Eight minutes wasn’t enough. “Sir, he’s gone after Oz. I’m sure of it. Respectfully requesting enough men to assist in search—”
“I didn’t send a damned army, Duncan. This is an illegal infil, don’t you get it? The USA military is non-grata in Brazil. There are five men on that Blackhawk, and one of them pilots the bird. That leaves four. Their mission is only to retrieve you and your children. Find. That. Kid.”
“Then you need to change your mission, damn it. I don’t leave anyone behind! Especially not a child!” That earned her a snort. Like Meg cared if she’d pissed off a snooty US Senator. Not on her best day. She’d never put pompous politicians’ opinions above the lives of her troops. “Is Charlie Brown on that chopper? Let me talk to him.”
“Hold, goddamn it.”
She held for thirty achingly-long seconds before Sullivan came back with, “Yes, your boyfriend’s on board. He says he can spare two men, but you’ve only got ten minutes after they land, Duncan. Then you’re on your own.”
“Yes, sir,” she shot back at him. “Find Pepe or you’ll leave without me and without that little boy.”Like the powerful asshole that you are.“Copy that. Understood.”
The line clicked. Either she’d lost the connection, or Sullivan had hung up on her. Either way, it didn’t matter. Everything was up to her now. She’d found Pepe before. She could do it again.
Turning to the Brazilian family she loved with every beat of her heart, she said, “A chopper’s already coming for us. It’s close. You can hear its rotor slap if you listen. It’ll touch down in the flatlands by the river gorge. You’ll have to run,” she told them as evenly as she could. Sullivan had made her mad, damn him. Would he leave a woman and a little boy behind? Undoubtedly. The ass.
“Will it be large enough for all of us?” Fernando asked, his eyes wide with worry.
“It’s a Blackhawk, people. So, yeah. It can handle thirteen passengers easily.” More when needed.
“You’re not coming with us?” Joseph asked.
She shook her head. “Can’t. I’m going after Pepe. Hurry. You can’t miss this ride out of here.”
“Will I ever see you again?” Maria asked softly.
Meg dropped to one knee and hugged the only girl in this rag-tag family of orphans. “You’d better believe it, sweetheart. Now run as fast as you can. Marta and Craig, Fernando and Joseph? Thanks for everything you’ve done for me and these kids. I’ll catch up with you all as soon as I find Pepe.”
Marta’s eyes glimmered with emotion. “Ja.We will see you soon.”
“Plan on it,” Meg lied.
There would be no chopper waiting when she found Pepe this time. If she found him. Not even Charlie Brown would break Army protocol during an illegal op. He’d give Meg ten minutes tops, then like it or not, he’d hightail it out of here before the Brazilian government realized a US Blackhawk had breached their airspace. Charlie was smart. He’d put the children first. But when push came to shove, he’d follow orders. He’d leave.
“Keep this,” Craig said as he tossed his personal service revolver across the space between them. He’d been a police officer in Germany. Marta had worked as a dispatcher at his precinct. That was how they’d met.
Meg easily captured the weapon. “But you might need it.” There was still nearly a mile to the LZ. She didn’t want to take his only means of defense.
“But youwillneed it,” Craig said, his tone grave. “Take care of it. I want it back.”
“Promise,” she answered, wishing she could keep the promise, but pretty sure that her living through this day would be a miracle. She had to find Pepe. Then she had to end Orlando. Or die trying. Securing the revolver in the back of her pants, she told the family she’d come to love, “Don’t worry about me. Get to that chopper! Run!”
Meg went the opposite direction. Into the forest. Tracking Pepe. All the way to Oz.
