Shiva (24 page)

Ducking, Rebecca kept the door open even as the jungle tried to push it closed. Levont scrambled out from the brush as the helicopter bucked and fought Lopez. They lurched up four feet. Levont tossed his weapon over his shoulder and leapt for it. His body hit the opening.

Rebecca grabbed his hand, trying to help haul him up. One of Levont
’
s feet caught some purchase on the helicopter
’
s struts. He was about to push himself into the chopper when one of
the
mercenaries charged. Rebecca didn
’
t even think. She just shot.

Blood splattered across the man
’
s shoulder. Howling, he dropped his gun. Shaking, Rebecca dropped her gun as well. She
’
d shot someone. She could see the pain in his features. She could see the blood she
’
d
freed from his body.

“
A little help,
”
Levont groaned, hanging on with one hand to the door
frame. The other arm was tucked up against his abdomen. Where his arm was hit or his belly, Rebecca couldn
’
t tell.

She reached over him, grabbed him by the belt
,
and pulled. He was nearly inside the chopper when he became twice as heavy. The mercenary had jumped up and grabbed Levont by the leg.

Seriously, give it up.

But the guy seemed intent on taking Levont down.

“
Close the door!
”
Lopez yelled.

“
He
’
s not in yet,
”
Rebecca responded
,
still tugging up with all her might.

“
Do it!
”
Lopez shouted.

She had no idea what he had in mind, but it was probably incredibly stupid. And dangerous. So with one hand still on Levont
’
s belt, she used the other one to bring the door as closed as she could under the bizarre circumstance
s
.

Lopez tilted the helicopter precariously thirty degrees to the right. The blades chewed up branches, sending wooden shrapnel everywhere, but especially at the mercenary. Levont grit his teeth as his own le
g
took some of the damage.

Still
,
the guy would
not
let go. As a matter of fact, he was climbing up Levont, trying to make it into the chopper. Rebecca gripped the chopper door
,
then
threw
her weight into it. The metal hit the guy in the head, knocking him back. He lost his traction on Levont
’
s tuxedo pant leg and slid down to his shoe.

With one good kick, Levont freed himself of the mercenary.

Now half as light, the point man easily made it into the helicopter. Once inside, Rebecca slammed the door shut.

Despite a bleeding arm and half a dozen scratches, Levont beamed.
“
Off. The. Hook.
”

Then bullets flew as Lopez banked them away from the forest. The bulk of mercenaries had clearly returned.

“
Thor!
”
Vakasa
cried, pointing to two men approaching.

Thor?

Hell no, that was Brandt
—a
nd Talli
—
running across the clearing
!

Only
,
Lopez
had
to climb higher and higher and push the chopper faster and faster to avoid the storm of shots coming from the forest.

* * *

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

They were too late. The helicopter had been forced to take off as the rest of the mercenaries arrived.

“
Retreat,
”
Brandt ordered.

Talli obeyed, backing into the jungle, laying down what cover fire he could while clearly still trying to conserve ammo. The only lucky break they
had
got
ten
was that the Disciples were way too busy worrying about the helicopter getting away than chasing them down.

Lopez
’
s chopper, with a hail of bullets chasing it, sailed overhead. Pressed against the glass was Rebecca
’
s face. She was
alive
.

He wouldn
’
t be much longer if he stood there all doe-eyed. Heading back into the jungle
,
Brandt tried to think like Lopez. Which kind of made his head hurt. They didn
’
t have a third staging area. What were they thinking? From now on
,
they needed about five of them.

Retreating outside the range of the mercenaries
’
guns, Brandt studied the enemy. There were still eight of them, not including their leader. So storming the second helicopter wasn
’
t an option. Besides
,
he wasn
’
t much of a chopper pilot
,
and he wasn
’
t about to risk it to Talli.

Most of the mercenaries loaded quickly into the chopper
,
leaving only a few on the ground to provide protection for their launch.

Which
,
it turn
ed
out
,
was going to be a while. The pilot
had
tried to start the helicopter when smoke plumed out the engine. Brandt took a moment to feel just a little satisfied. Lopez didn
’
t have any C4
,
so he did the next best thing to prevent the other chopper from taking off.

Good old-fashioned sabotage.

The only problem? Now that the enemy didn
’
t have a quick pursuit to care about, they all turned their attention to the jungle.

Time to hightail it.

But where?

“
Any thoughts on where Lopez is heading?
”
Brandt asked as he cre
pt
deeper into the jungle.

“
You are asking me?
”
Talli asked.

True. The two men couldn
’
t be more diametrically opposed.

Great. Time to play
“
Where in the
W
orld is Lopez
?
”

Not his favorite game.

* * *

“
We
’
ve got to circle back,
”
Rebecca demanded.

“
Can
’
t, darlin
’
,
”
Lopez answered
,
swerving the chopper under the canopy, avoiding the tree trunks. Which was about as difficult as it sounded. Chunks of bark
flew
all around them. It was like flying through a wood chipper.

Rebecca hissed out a breath, trying to regain her composure. It was just a little hard to do after flying over your husband
-
to
-
be, abandoning him to the Disciples. But she knew, after everything Lopez had done, that he couldn
’
t possibly be leaving Brandt and Talli behind.

She took another breath before asking,
“
So you have a plan?
”

“
Duh,
”
Lopez said
,
ducking his head as they mowed through a palm
tree
, its leaves smacking the windshield.

She counted to ten before speaking.
“
Do you care to share?
”

“
Isn
’
t
it obvious?
”

“
No
!
”
Rebecca just couldn
’
t help it.

Lopez only smiled
,
though.
“
If you
’
ve only got two staging areas and one is compromised, what do you do?
”

“
Go to the other,
”
Levont answered from behind her.

Vakasa
kneeled next to the large man as he prepped ropes and riggings. It seemed like he was getting ready to pull the men into the chopper from the ground. But what if the men weren
’
t there to pull?

“
That
’
s great and all, but does Brandt know this?
”
she asked.

Lopez made a face.
“
Um, he better
,
or we are so screwed.
”

* * *

Brandt glanced over his shoulder to Talli
,
who was having a hard time keeping up. He
’
d twisted his ankle or something. For a guy with not the best aim in the world, you would think he would keep the klutziness to a minimum. Clearly
,
Talli was a contrarian.

At
full speed
,
were they even going in the right direction? Brandt was operating on gut instinct alone, returning to their last rally point. Would Lopez think to double back? The man did have a fairly linear
—
make that acceleration-oriented
—
mind.

Still
,
it was their best shot.

He broke through a particularly stalwart pair of branches and stumbled into the clearing around the hut. Although
,
it wasn
’
t exactly clear any longer. And the hut wasn
’
t exactly a hut
,
either. The Disciples had torn it down to nearly its last thatch. Leaves, pots
,
and snake parts littered the ground.

“
Incoming!
”
Talli yelled, limping over to the right.

Sure enough
,
a speeding helicopter swooped and dodged trees, making its way to them. A most welcome sight. Only
,
one slight problem. They weren
’
t slowing down. Or landing.

“
We better take this at a run,
”
Brandt suggested as the helicopter
’
s door opened. Talli tried, he really did, but he was never going to make it on his own. So as the chopper sped toward them, Brandt fell back, throwing Talli
’
s arm over his shoulder, urging him along.

The helicopter flew overhead, pausing only briefly to hover over them.

Levont reached
out
a bloody arm to help Talli up.

“
Why can
’
t you land?
”
Brandt yelled over the rotor wash.

“
Giraffe!
”
Levont shouted back.

Giraffe? What the hell did
—

Then Brandt saw them. Giraffes. Tall, lanky
,
and apparently pissed, coming right at them.

Giving Talli
’
s ass one good shove, Brandt got his sniper in the chopper, then running, keeping up with the now traveling helicopter, Brandt got a foot onto the strut. Hauling himself up
,
he dove into the chopper just as the door was slammed closed by a tree.

Then giraffes were all around them. Their long necks rocking back and forth as they ran. One took a swipe at the struts, nearly knocking the helicopter ten feet off course.

“
I swear I didn
’
t challenge them to anything,
”
Lopez yelled from the front of the chopper.

Brandt was about to answer when Rebecca was suddenly in his arms. He hugged her fiercely
,
then pulled her away, enough to look into her eyes.

“
Don
’
t you ever follow me again,
”
Brandt said, but joy danced in her eyes. Brandt would have kissed her
,
except for, you know, the giraffes.