Marked in Mexico (23 page)

Jack pulled back and wiped the hair from her brow. He hated seeing the tears clouding those brilliant violet-blue eyes. Blood ran down her arm, but somehow he knew she was crying for him and not for herself.

“It’ll be okay, but we better keep moving. We have no idea how many men showed up in the vehicles we heard. There may be more out there and if so, they’ll be mad as hell and show no mercy if they catch us.”

Jack didn’t like it one bit. They had stayed close to the river for the rest of the day and hadn’t detected anyone else following them, but something didn’t feel right. He could sense they weren’t alone. He felt as if they were walking into a noose that was slowly tightening around their necks.

The river still looked too dangerous to cross, but they couldn’t go back with the carnage they had left in their wake and they couldn’t return to the road to the west. That left only one way to go, straight ahead along the river, and it felt as if even that corridor was about ready to squeeze shut.

Jack wasn’t sure how far they had ridden on the back of the truck before they had been stopped or how far they had walked, but according to the map he had seen in the little shop at the last village, they were still quite a ways from Villahermosa. And now, he wasn’t entirely confident the city was still their best hope for help.

He was sure there would be telephones there, but if the news of the lost officers had been reported, he doubted they would receive a warm welcome by the city’s police force. By now, he figured they were not only wanted by the criminals and crooked cops, but were probably wanted by the legitimate authorities for the slaying of at least four officers, maybe more, depending on how many of the six grenade victims had been police.

They stopped in the shade to catch their breath. Jessica and Megan sat, but Jack was so anxious that he found it impossible to remain in one spot for long. The jungle was too quiet and too still. He saw nothing as he paced, but the hairs on the back of his neck continued to tingle. He couldn’t shake the feeling that the silence was about to shatter and death would rain down on the jungle and everyone who sought shelter in its dark embrace.

Megan doled out the remaining biscuits and passed the last water bottle around. Jack shoved a biscuit into his mouth and popped the clip out of the gun to double check his bullet count, while he continued to pace and scan the trees for movement. He had two left.

Jessica stood and went to Jack and peered over his shoulder. She was surprised he had any bullets left. She had counted nine shots, so clearly the officers had gotten a few off. Jack had wasted no bullets. He had shot four rounds and four officers went down. They had fired five shots and had hit nothing.

“You’re pretty accurate.”

“One of my many talents,” he mumbled with a frown as he snapped the clip into place and returned the gun to his waistband. He hadn’t told her that he had been a sniper. It was a role he had been trained for and had been good at it, but wasn’t something he often shared. Those who knew always seemed to be uncomfortable with the knowledge.

She could tell his shooting skill was something he wasn’t terribly proud of, and she hated he’d been put in this position and it was all her fault. If her father wasn’t who he was, she had no doubt the men pursuing them would have given up the chase long ago.

“I’m so sorry, Jack. I can’t stand the fact that you’ve had to relive such a painful part of your past on my account.”

“It’s not your fault we were abducted.”

“No, but it’s because of me they won’t give up.”

He turned and clutched her shoulders harder than he intended to. “I don’t want to ever hear you say that again. Do you understand?”

She could see the rage in his eyes again and it frightened her. He had so much anger and guilt bottled up that she felt like he could explode at any minute.

“I hope so,” she whispered.

It wasn’t the first time he had seen that look of fear in her eyes and he despised himself for it. He pulled her to him and held her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean scare you. I just don’t want you to blame yourself for anything. It’ll just eat you up if you carry it around for too long.”

Jessica stepped back so she could look up at him. “When are
you
going to quit carrying it around?”

“I don’t know if I can. I tried to forgive myself for living when seven others died, four of whom I had been sent to rescue, and I almost managed to until…”

His words trailed off. They couldn’t rest much longer and Jessica didn’t want to push him, but she felt like it was now or never. “Until what?” she demanded.

He was silent for a few seconds and she could see his mind had begun to drift. She raised a hand to his arm and gently stroked his warm skin until his focus returned to her.

“Until Elaine died I always led, it should have been me swept over the cliff by the avalanche. Everyone said there was nothing I could have done, but no one else saw her go over the edge. No one else heard her cry out for help. I was there and I couldn’t do a damn thing to save her.”

“Did you love her?”

He nodded and she left it at that.

“I think I hear something.” Megan’s whisper brought them back to the present.

The sound was a long way away, but to Jack’s trained ear he identified the noise instantly as a helicopter. The craft was heading in their direction and this time he would make sure those on board would see them.

They waited and listened until the Black Hawk came into view. It was the same one they had seen before. The helicopter hovered and circled on the other side of the river, too far away to see them.

“They have to be looking for us. It can’t be a coincidence they keep coming into such close contact with us,” Jessica stated.

“I hope you’re right, but this time let’s make sure we get their attention.” Jack pulled his grenade out of his pocket.

Jessica wasn’t sure what good the grenade would do. Surely with the noise of the helicopter they wouldn’t be able to hear the explosion and they wouldn’t see anything through the trees, but she trusted Jack, so didn’t question his judgment.

Jack quickly scanned the area, looking for a spot with some dry fuels that might catch fire. He pulled the pin and tossed the grenade and ushered Jessica and Megan away from the area and closer to the river’s edge.

Jessica glanced over her shoulder when the grenade detonated, but saw none of the flying debris she had witnessed with the first explosion. Instead, a huge plume of smoke billowed high into the sky. Some of the dry vegetation had caught fire and ignited a dead log, creating more smoke.

“Smoke grenade,” Jack stated in response to the confused look on her face.

They watched from the river as the helicopter set down. They listened until the power had been cut and silence restored to the jungle.

“How far away are they?” Megan asked hopefully.

“They’re probably still a couple of miles away.”

Jack gazed at the river. He remembered how strong the current had been when he had tried to cross and it looked even worse here. Being a strong swimmer, he had no doubt he could make it, but it wouldn’t be easy. A person would have to work with the current. If they didn’t panic, took hard strokes and let the current take them down stream, eventually a person could work their way to the other side.

He glanced at Jessica’s tiny frame and thought about Megan’s bout with malaria, and couldn’t in good conscience suggest they jump into the river. But, it wasn’t his decision to make. They would assess the risk and come to an agreement as a team.

“How good can you two swim?”

“All-state champion,” Megan replied.

“I should have guessed.” Jessica rolled her eyes. “I’m decent, but that current looks pretty strong.”

“Don’t fight it. Work with it. Take strong strokes and keep your head above water, but let it pull you. If you gradually edge your way across, you’ll eventually end up on the other side, but well down stream. The key is not to panic. Treat it like a rip tide.”

Megan and Jessica nodded and looked determined, but that didn’t ease the sick feeling in his gut. He wished there was another way out, but at the moment, he just couldn’t see one. The shouts were getting louder. It was now or never.

“Give me your grenade. When you reach the shore, head in the direction we saw the helicopter land.”

Megan handed over the small oval weapon and kissed Jack on the cheek. He slipped the grenade into his pocket and walked over to the bank.

“Okay, let’s go.”

Megan stepped into the water. With the first step, the water hit her mid-thigh, but she didn’t go down. She took a second and it had risen to her waist, but she stood. With the third step, the current knocked her off her feet. She went under and Jessica gasped. Megan’s head popped back up ten yards downstream and she began to stroke. It looked like she was edging closer to the opposite bank when the river turned around a bend and she was lost to their view.

A shot rang through the trees and the voices were upon them. Jack grabbed Jessica and kissed her hard on the mouth and then shouted at her to go.

Jessica wasn’t as tall and strong as Megan, so she decided on a different approach. She took a running start and dove as far as she could out into the river. The last thing she heard as she went under was a string of gunfire and as she surfaced in the middle of the river downstream, a loud explosion rumbled through the corridor between the trees.

She flailed frantically and went under again. She swallowed a mouthful of dirty river water and spit as she surfaced. She tried to remember what Jack had told her. As his voice eased into her head, she quit fighting. She took slow strong strokes as the current pulled her down the river, but she kept her head above water. As she edged closer to the far side she could see Megan running down the bank screaming at her to keep stroking.

Just as Jessica thought her muscles had nothing left to give, she felt Megan’s hand grasp her wrist. She began churning her legs and realized she could touch the bottom. With Megan pulling and her feet pushing at the bottom, Jessica was able to scramble up the bank. She rolled over onto her back and gasped for air. It took several moments to realize she was still alive and once she was certain she would live, her thoughts quickly returned to Jack.

She pushed herself to a sitting position and looked upstream. All she could see was a plume of smoke. They had been carried a long way from the scene. She tried to get her bearings. Jack had said to head for the helicopter, but she didn’t want to leave him.

“Have you seen Jack?”

“No, but he set off the last grenade.”

“What do we do? We can’t just leave him behind.”

“Jack said to head for the helicopter and we have to trust him. He hasn’t let us down yet. Besides, if he made it into the river, he may have climbed out further upstream and may already be on his way to the helicopter.”

Jessica knew Megan was right, but it still tore at her to leave without him. If they could make it to the military helicopter, they would be safe and help would be available if Jack wasn’t already there.

Megan pulled Jessica to her feet and they jogged in the direction they’d spotted the helicopter. Jessica kept looking back over her shoulder, but saw no sign of Jack. Smoke billowed high in the sky. Sporadic gunfire continued to ring out and shouts could be heard in the distance. As much as she wanted to go back or wait, she pressed on for Megan’s sake.

Jack had thought the helicopter was only several miles away, so if they kept a decent pace they could reach it in fifteen to twenty minutes. Jessica glanced at her watch. They had been running for over ten minutes already. She was out of breath and her legs ached, but she picked up her pace and pressed on.

They heard the sound of the helicopter firing up. They were close, though a little off course, and the noise helped them correct their direction, but sent panic racing through Jessica. What if it left before they could reach it? She knew Megan had the same thought as she watched the younger woman accelerate her pace and leave her behind. If Megan could reach the helicopter before it took off, she could make them wait, so for once Jessica didn’t envy the youthful, long legs of her athletic companion. She only hoped Megan would be fast enough.

As Jessica emerged into a clearing, she saw that Megan had made it and her eyes welled with tears of relief. She ran until she could throw herself into the arms of the first soldier she reached. She clung to him and cried.

After sobbing hysterically for several minutes, Jessica felt the soldier’s strong arms ease her back.