Shiva (23 page)

* * *

Brandt dropped to his knee and pulled the trigger. Only
,
nothing came out. He didn
’
t bother cursing. He simply pulled his sidearm out of his waistband and fired. This time squeezing off the rounds one by one.

Talli pulled up beside him rather than leapfrogging.

“
I
’
m almost out as well.
”

What the hell were Lopez and Davidson doing?

Brandt and Talli were in place. Actually
,
they had pushed past
“
the place,
”
just to keep up the charade of trying to reach Rebecca. Now
,
though, with limited ammunition? Something had to happen. Something
big
or they would be pinned down within minutes.

“
Spare your rounds,
”
Brandt said
,
letting Talli provide the cover fire while he thought through the mess they were in.

What could have gone wrong with the plan? Besides about sixteen thousand things?

Brandt cocked his head. Talli wasn
’
t firing.
“
Run out?
”
he asked as he fired into the jungle.

“
No,
”
Talli said, pushing Brandt
’
s gun arm down. He was about to complain, quite stringently
,
when Talli put his finger to his lips.
“
Listen,
”
he whispered.

And Brandt did. And people were still firing at them. Or were they? Sure
,
shots were being fired, but they seemed to be going east. At a clipped rate. What the hell was going on? It was like the enemy was chasing ghosts.

They stayed silent in the brush for a few more moments, letting the enemy charge in the wrong direction. Could he trust this bizarre golden opportunity? Could he trust that somehow an escape path had opened up?

Given how light his gun felt in his hand, Brandt figured he could.

“
Ready?
”
he asked Talli.

After a deep breath, the corporal nodded.

This was it.

Brandt took a step to the west. Then another and another, gaining speed as he went.

After all of that, their plan might still work.

CHAPTER 9

═══════════
═══════

Congo Jungle

11:18
p
.
m
.
(
CAT
)

Ahead of them
,
Levont skid to stop, putting his hand into a fist. Rebecca pulled Vakasa close as they hunkered down in the brush. There had been several other times men
had
r
u
n past their location. Strangely shooting in the wrong direction. It had forced them to take a far more circumventous route than Levont had proposed.

Through the heavy leaves, Rebecca spotted their final destination. Awash in moonlight
,
two helicopters sat on an outcropping of rock.

Rebecca inched her way to the point man.
“
What is the plan?
”

“
Not sure,
”
he answered
,
sweeping night
-
vision goggles over the area.

“
Um…
”
Levont was new to the team
.
M
aybe he wasn
’
t used to sharing intel with her.
“
Can you give me any specifics? Brandt is totally candid with me.
”

“
Oh, it
’
s not that I
’
m withholding,
”
he said with a grin.
“
It
’
s because I don
’
t know.
”

Rebecca rocked back onto her heels. That was not the answer she was looking for.
“
Then why did you have us haul our butts over here?
”

Levont nodded to the helicopters.
“
Those are the only vehicles for twenty miles. You think Lopez could keep his hands off of them?
”

Well, Levont may be new to the team,
but
he certainly had Lopez pegged.

“
So what do we do?
”
Rebecca asked as Vakasa crawled onto her lap. The young girl leaned her head against Rebecca
’
s shoulder. Somehow the terror faded. At least a little.

“
Wait.
”

“
For what?
”

One of the helicopter
’
s blades slowly start
ed
spinning.

“
For that…
”
Levont said with a broad grin. Guards, attracted by the sound
,
rushed the helicopter. Levont took aim, knocking each one either down or back.
“
I may not be Davidson, but I
’
ve got my uses.
”

Apparently
,
the point man did.

“
You know how cover fire works?
”
Levont asked.

“
Yes,
unfortunately
,
”
she answered.

“
Al
l
right
,
then,
”
he said
,
getting his shot lined up.
“
On my mark
,
you are going to get the girl to the helicopter. You are not going to worry about me. You are not going to look back. You are not going to wait for me to catch up. Got it
?
”

“
Got it.
”

Levont turned to look her straight in the eye.
“
I mean it.
”

“
So do I,
”
Rebecca answered.
“
You are on your own.
”

The point man grinned
.
T
hen his face got grim.
“
Three
…
t
wo…
”

Ugh
. Rebecca knew the rest as she gripped Vakasa
’
s hand.

* * *

“
Stop!
”
Frellan yelled
,
yet his men charged forward. Had he heard something?

“
Simama
!
”
Ugudo
yelled in Swahili. The group of mercenaries
was
so diverse that it was the only common language amongst them. The dark
-
skinned commander waved the men back.
“
Your orders?
”

Frellan cocked
his
head
,
listening. Nothing. In the deep jungle
,
was his mind playing trick
s
on him? He looked to the video feed of the heat signatures, then to the jungle. Beyond where his men had just come, there was no movement. Not a single branch out of place. Brandt and his team were good, but not that good. No one was that good.

Then gunfire erupted.
Behind
them.

“
The helicopters,
”
Ugudo
confirmed.

No. It could not be. Brandt and the rest were in
front
of them.

However
,
as more and more shots sounded, Frellan had to accept this new reality.

He
studied his handheld receiver. The signal had been a decoy. A
decoy
. Someone dared bait him? Bait the
Disciples
?

Was this how Aunush failed? He had read her reports. He had
shaken his head
at her constant
blaming
of faulty intelligence. Yet here he stood
,
in the middle of the Congo
,
with a device that had betrayed him.

God truly was testing him
.

Once he caught Brandt, Monroe
,
and the child
,
though? Ah, then he would
have the
time he craved. All the time in the world to etch betrayal into their very soul
s
.

* * *

Rebecca turned the handle of the helicopter
’
s door and jerked it open as the rotors wound up.

Lopez winked at her.
“
Long time no see.
”

“
Just fly, Rick
y
,
”
Rebecca urged
,
even though she couldn
’
t help but grin as she helped
Vakasa
into the helicopter.

“
Why, how lucky can a guy get?
”
Lopez commented.
“
His two favorite girls loading into his helicopter?
”

Vakasa
had no trouble flashing a huge smile at the corporal
,
until a bullet bounced off one of the blades.

“
Levont should be right behind us,
”
Rebecca said as she got
Vakasa
hooked into her seat, latching the restraints in place. What did it say about her life that she could do so without even looking?

“
Doesn
’
t look like it,
”
Lopez commented as he lifted them a few feet off the ground. Rebecca looked to the tree line
,
to see Levont retreat back into the brush as bullets flew.
“
He
’
s going to need some cover,
”
Lopez added.
“
And I
’
m
,
well, a little busy.
”

He eyed the gun sitting on the seat next to him. Rebecca shied away. Despite their rather desperate need, she was loath to pick up the gun. She hated guns. She hated everything they represented. She hated that her life and that of everyone else
’
s relied on them.

Then
Vakasa
was there. Her little fingers picked up the heavy weapon.

“
No!
”
Rebecca shouted, pull
ing
the gun from the girl
’
s hand.
“
No.
”

The girl looked puzzled. Clearly
,
she
’
d grown up in the war
-
torn region.
Vakasa
probably had more shooting experience than Rebecca. Yet she could not allow the girl to be the one to shoot. She couldn
’
t let the girl be the one to carry the burden.

Opening the helicopter door, Rebecca braced herself and pulled the trigger. The recoil shot pain up her wrists to her elbow and all the way to her shoulder. She fired again in the general direction of the guards. Still
,
Levont couldn
’
t poke his head out of
the
leaves without bullets pushing him back.

“
Fine. Lopez to the rescue,
”
the corporal stated, lifting the chopper up and tilting it toward the tree line.
“
Keep that door open!
”

They skimmed the damp grass, speeding toward Levont
’
s position. The others must have realized what Lopez was attempting
,
as they moved to cut the chopper off. Rebecca raised the weapon and squeezed off another two joint
-
jarring shots. This time the men paid attention to her errant bullets, firing back.