Shiva (11 page)

Ten hours that the Disciples could spend torturing him.

Not even Lopez and his need for speed could make up that difference.

* * *

“
We are totally going to beat them there,
”
Lopez announced.

Rebecca raised an eyebrow
.
H
owever
,
the other men seemed to believe the corporal.

“
Don
’
t believe me,
c
hica
, but we will,
”
Lopez insisted.

Of course
,
that made no mathematical sense whatsoever. Even without her laptop, Rebecca knew they were nearly half a day behind Brandt. Granted
,
Lopez
had
made up a ton of time over the Atlantic and it
had
turned out to be way faster to simply land and steal another plane in Lisbon rather than wait for a refuel, but still
,
that left a minimum of a four
-
hour gap
,
which Rebecca couldn
’
t see how they were going to make up.

Then she noticed the men getting parachutes out.

“
No,
”
Rebecca hissed
,
suddenly understanding how Lopez planned to make up the difference.

“
Yes
,
”
Lopez teased
,
his eyes wide with anticipation.
“
We are coming in from the other side of the mountain and dropping directly into the village.
”

The corporal raised his hand for a high five
,
which Rebecca did
not
return. Talli fulfilled the action for her. The sniper actually had a smile on his face.
“
All
’
s that stands between us and setting up an ambush is a little low
-
attitude jump. My fav.
”

“
I…I
’
ve never…skydived,
”
Rebecca admitted. Normally a paleo-archeologist whose specialty was genetic migration wouldn
’
t feel ashamed about such a thing, but most PhDs weren
’
t hanging out with
S
pecial
F
orces.

“
Never?
”
Davidson asked behind her as he strapped himself into his parachute.

She shook her head.

“
Dude,
”
Lopez snorted.
“
What the hell were you and Brandt doing all this time?
”

Rebecca
’
s face reddened. Oh
,
they were doing lots of stuff
,
just not
anything
that could be mentioned in mixed company. Besides, having way too much action in their work lives, they liked their downtime to be…
down
.

Not up, jumping from planes.

No matter her hesitation, Davidson handed her a parachute. She studied the myriad of straps.

“
No worries,
”
he coaxed.
“
I
’
ll get you hooked up
.
T
hen we
’
ll tandem jump.
”

“
Yeah, right,
”
Lopez retorted as he rose from the pilot seat. Talli followed.

“
Um,
”
Rebecca stammered.
“
Who is going to fly the plane?
”

The corporal waved his hand at the controls.
“
The autopilot is set to fly past the mountain and crash in Uganda.
”

Rebecca didn
’
t even have time to digest that news when Lopez grabbed for her parachute.
“
No, Ricky. I think I
’
d rather have Davidson.
”

While just as insane as the rest, Davidson did have some concern for her person
a
l safety. Lopez
,
on the other hand? His motto? Personal safety was for the dead. Which didn
’
t even make sense, but he certainly said it frequently enough.

Besides
,
she and the corporal had being staying at arm
’
s length since that unfortunate incident of mistaken identity in Russia.

Lopez was having none of it
,
though.
“
Please.
Chica
. Look at those hips of yours.
”

She glanced down to her tattered gown. Rebecca liked to think of her figure as hourglass.

The corporal nodded to the lean Davidson.

“
Do you really think that skinny
-
ass frame could handle your curves?
”

“
Hey,
”
both Rebecca and Davidson protested at the same time.

“
I am team leader,
”
Lopez said
,
surprisingly serious.
“
Chica
and I are doing the tandem tango.
”

Davidson backed down with a shrug
.
H
owever
,
Rebecca didn
’
t have the same deference to military chain of command. As Lopez started strapping her in, she complained,
“
Ricky, I really think
—
”

“
Look at his hands,
”
Lopez whispered in Rebecca
’
s ear. At first
,
she had no idea what the corporal was taking about
.
T
hen she noticed Davidson shake
out
his arm. When they came to rest again, the sniper
’
s fingers, especially those on his severely scarred left hand
,
began to twitch.

It was no wonder. They were all trashed. After twenty hours on the road, who wouldn
’
t be? And Davidson was under the most strain of all. Usually
,
after a mission
,
he would have to have several hot paraffin treatments to soothe the pain from his tortured hands. Davidson tried to shield it from the rest, but Rebecca had been there through the multiple surgeries to cut out the scar tissue. She knew the pain even routine movement brought on, let alone the strain of an operation. And he
’
d gone right from the conflict in South Carolina to this cross
-
continental plane hop. All of that strain showing in those twitching fingers.

“
If anything happened during the jump
…
I
’
m not sure if he could hold you,
”
Lopez continued.
“
We need his hands for shooting.
”

She looked to the corporal with a bit more appreciation for his leadership skills. Far better to tease her about her hips and Davidson about his slight frame than embarrass the sniper with his much more pronounced weakness.

“
Besides,
”
the corporal followed up
,
“
i
t
’
s been a while since I
’
ve held you.
”

Typical Lopez. Profoundly insightful one moment, then
Lopez
the next.

“
Let
’
s just make sure that weapon of yours is holstered,
”
she challenged back.

With a broad smile
,
Lopez settled the weight of the parachute on Rebecca
’
s back.
“
We shall see.
”

Readjusting the straps onto her shoulders, Rebecca realized this was like wearing the world
’
s most uncomfortable bra. The straps already dug grooves into her skin. Nothing about this experience was going to be pleasant.

As the plane
’
s yoke inclined on its own, dropping altitude, Rebecca frowned. It just seemed wrong they
trusted
the computer to drop them off at the right place.

“
Ricky, are you sure about this?
”

Lopez finished adjusting his parachute before answering.
“
Oh
,
please. In these calm skies? The autopilot will be fine…
”

“
Unless?
”

A boom sounded off to the left. The plane veered as fire filled the sky. Lopez grabbed hold of her, breaking her fall as the tip of the wing shuddered
,
then broke off.

“
Unless we
’
re attacked,
”
Lopez answered, jumping up, springing for the pilot
’
s seat.

* * *

Davidson searched out the plane
’
s window. Scattered clouds blocked the view of the ground. Then bright
-
red flared.

“
Incoming from the left!
”
he shouted.

Lopez banked to the right. Just in time. Still
,
the explosion rocked the plane, sending them careening.

“
Another!
”
Levont yelled.

They avoided another direct hit, but that wasn
’
t going to last long.

“
I
’
m opening the hatch!
”
Davidson announced, making sure Rebecca had tight hold of a seat. Bracing himself so he wasn
’
t sucked out, Davidson opened the door. Wind whipped around them.
“
Somebody get ready to hold my feet!
”
Davidson announced as he dropped to the floor.

As Levont grabbed his dress shoes, Davidson swung his rifle to bear. Ignoring the fact he was only a few inches from falling from the plane, he yelled
,
“
Turn into it!
”

Lopez obliged
,
tilting the plane toward the left. Through the scope, Davidson scanned.
Where are you?

The attackers weren
’
t the Disciples. They were far to
o
north for that. No, this attack was simply the cost of doing business in Africa. Some tribal lord thought that a nice expensive
L
e
a
rjet would bring in some good money. And the chief wouldn
’
t be wrong. Selling the jet scrap metal could probably feed the village for a year.

The only problem was that Davidson and the rest still needed the plane. Intact.

There it was. That flash as the RPG was fired.

“
Into it!
”
Davidson shouted. Lopez
,
as always
,
was right on it
,
c
utting under the RPG as it sailed over them. Davidson fired before the cloud cover obscured the launch site. They were impossible shots. He didn
’
t expect to hit anything or anyone. He just wanted to give the men on the ground something to ponder. Passenger planes usually didn
’
t shoot back.

Unfortunately
,
the attackers didn
’
t seem to care.

“
Here!
”
Tallie said as he shoved an RPG launcher at Davidson. The metal object slid across the floor. Davidson snatched it before it went over the side.

Now this, this might give them something to seriously ponder.

Before he could get the launcher up onto his shoulder
,
Rebecca screamed,
“
Incoming!
”