Shiva (18 page)

Before he could give the order
,
several gunmen burst from the brush. In a panic a
t
the site of an entire herd of elephants, they sprayed the animals with bullets. Talli had been correct
.
T
he gunfire barely scratched the adults. But now they had a new focus to vent their anger upon.

The herd charged in unison, stampeding toward the gunmen.
The bull took one last look at the SUV, then turned as quickly as a two
-
ton elephant could and charged after the herd.

“
Classic, man!
”
Lopez yelled
,
turning his digital camera back to himself.
“
Can
’
t wait until you
’
re old enough to get chased by elephants, RJ.
”

Brandt wasn
’
t so sure Maria was going to be quite as up for
“
take your son to work
”
day.

Lopez lowered the camera and revved the engine, getting them the hell away from the cliff as Davidson scrambled down from the tree. He waved the SUV over, then leaped onto the roof
then
squeezed this lean frame through the damaged window frame.

Once settled, Davidson turned to the rest.
“
Does it seem like that was way too easy?
”

Brandt couldn
’
t agree more. That wasn
’
t an escape. That was a release back to nature. It should have been impossible
,
but the Disciples must have
had
the frequency for his intra-dental tracker.

“
All right,
”
Brandt said with a grunt. This was not going to be pleasant.
“
Who is up for removing my tooth?
”

When no one replied, Lopez
’
s hand shot up.
“
Not me, but I
’
ll film it!
”

Great
.

* * *

“
What
’
s wrong?
”
Bunny demanded.

Emily held up a hand as
s
he listened on the phone. Prenner stood over the technician at the keyboard, his stiff body language asking the same thing.

Still
,
static filled the screen. It had been like that for nearly ten minutes. Davidson had been ready to take out Brandt
’
s two remaining escorts and then poof. The feed was gone.

“
The feed was overwritten,
”
the technician finally announced.

“
We
’
ve been hacked?
”
Prenner demanded.

That couldn
’
t be
,
c
ould it? They were in the Pentagon. They should be hack-proof, right?

“
No,
”
the tech reassured them.
“
Someone within this building overrode my commands and turned the feed off from the satellite itself.
”

“
Who would do that?
”
Bunny asked.

Emily hung up the phone.
“
That is something my boss would like to know.
”

“
It is something everyone wants to know,
”
Prenner shot back.

“
Yes,
”
Bunny agreed
.
“
However
,
that isn
’
t going to help Brandt and the rest in real time. What are we doing
to
help them right now?
”

Prenner shrugged. He actually shrugged.
“
Like I said earlier
,
t
hey are on their own.
”

“
On their own?
”
Bunny couldn
’
t keep the exasperation from her voice.

“
The men went AWOL.
”

“
To save a decorated hero!
”

Prenner pulled up to his full height.
“
Black ops men know the risk.
”

Bunny was about to launch into the tirade to end all tirades when Emily stepped between them.

“
Now, now,
”
she cooed.
“
I
’
ve asked the Brits for a spot of help.
”

Bunny
’
s mood brightened.
“
Vanderwalt?
”
she asked. He had been super helpful during the whole Jordan debacle. And
his
crooked smile was kind of sexy.

Emily nodded.
“
We should have a feed on the area within the hour
,
and they have some
‘
aid
’
workers even closer than I do.
”

Bunny sank into her chair
,
not realizing tears were at the edge of her eyelids. She wasn
’
t built for this. She always read the last page of a book so that she didn
’
t have to stress about the characters the whole time. And if the heroes didn
’
t win in the end? She just didn
’
t read the book.

Her CIA handler squeezed her shoulder.
“
It is going to be over forty-five minutes before we can even get a glimpse of the area. Why don
’
t you go lay down?
”

Wiping the tears away, Bunny shook her head.
“
No. I want to be here. I
have
to be here.
”

“
Very well,
”
Emily stated.
“
Then
I
think it is best we all get some food
—
some
real
food
—
in our bellies.
”
She turned to Prenner.
“
Is the Moulin Rogues still in the Pentagon Row?
”

The technician shook his head.
“
Nope. Closed down last summer, but Panda Express is just around the corner and has a drive
-
thr
ough
.
”

“
Well then, Panda Express it is.
”
Emily turned to Prenner.
“
I
’
ll write our order down.
”

“
What the hell?
”
Prenner countered.
“
I
’
m not your dinner bitch.
”

Emily cocked her head in that really cute way.
“
Really? Because I am pretty sure that the department that has a big fat mole that ruined a black ops mission
,
putting all of our assets in the region in danger, gets to go get the food.
”
She looked to Bunny.
“
Right?
”

Bunny might just have a new hero.
“
Right.
”

“
It
’
s a rule
.
”
Emily turned back to Prenner.
“
Maybe not written
,
but a rule nonetheless.
”

To Bunny
’
s surprise
,
Prenner sighed.
“
Give me the list,
”
he said
,
“
and I
’
ll get a private to do it.
”

Bunny could taste the egg rolls now. Although
,
even the best soy sauce wasn
’
t going to make the next forty-five minutes go by any faster. She could only prey the men were safe until then.

Safe. Not dead.
Safe
.

Maybe if she repeated that frequently enough
,
she could make it come true.

CHAPTER 7

═══════════
═══════

Undisclosed Location

9:47
p
.
m
.
(
CAT
)

Rebecca awoke facedown on a cool earthen floor. She felt like she
’
d fallen out of a plane, through a rain
forest
,
then squeezed by a python.

Oh
,
wait, she had.

A little worried about where she had ended up, Rebecca was loath to open her eyes. The Disciples were in the area and had already snatched Brandt. Had they found her too? Would she be staring at a room filled with torture instruments?

Squeezing her eyes shut against the horror wouldn
’
t make it go away. At the least she needed to get her bearings.

Cracking her eyelids open, Rebecca found a typical African hut. The curved walls were made of braided vines. Although
,
these had some adornment. Scattered throughout the walls were brightly colored strands. The contrast created a random yet beautiful pattern.

Tied to these walls were a line of gourds, primitive storage vessels. The roof above was made of wide green fronds. Unlike the round huts of the African planes, tribes in the moist Congo region could not use dried thatch
.
O
therwise
,
they
’
d have mildewed walls within days.

No, the rain
forest tribes had adopted nature
’
s own waterproofing
, u
sing the waxy plants of the forest to construct their homes. Which would have all been great fodder for a scientific paper on aboriginal African hut building. Unfortunately
,
she was not on an academic assignment.

Rising up on one elbow, her eyes explored more of the hut.

There was a small central fire pit that sp
i
t sparks at a chunk of meat being grilled on a skewer. Her fingers felt the soft ground beneath her until she realized it wasn
’
t ground at all. It was a loosely woven rug of moss.

Again, ingenious use of natural resources
,
but not exactly information she could use to formulate her escape.

Soft footsteps carried from outside the hut. Rebecca lay back down, closing her eyes.

“
Jambo,
”
a sweet voice called out.

So Rebecca hadn
’
t been hallucinating. She opened her eyes to find the same little girl sitting on her haunches next to her. The girl opened her small hand to reveal half a dozen burgundy berries. Strangely
,
they smelled of rose petals.

“
Kola,
”
the girl urged.

Tentatively
,
Rebecca took one from her palm. The girl urged her to bring it to her mouth. However
,
when Rebecca bit down, she found it wasn
’
t a berry. Instead
,
it was brightly colored nut. A nut with a rather tough exterior.

The little girl giggled, shaking her head as she sat down cross-legged. Tucking her skirt over her knees, she used the orange fabric as a bowl. Picking out a seed, the girl used her fingernail to crack open the burgundy exterior to reveal a smooth white shell. This
,
too
,
she opened. Inside the shell were four small seeds.

Rebecca accepted one from the girl, sniffing at it. This seed certainly didn
’
t smell like roses. Actually
,
it smelled like her face wash. But the girl pantomimed that Rebecca should put the seed in her mouth.