“All the more reason for us to stick to the plan.” The muscles of Knox’s jaw bunch.
“What do you know about Benefield’s men?” I ask.
“Only what I’ve learned over time. The majority of his forces guard the southern exposure. It’s where the roads come in. Like I said, the jungle to the west is impassable. I’ve seen gaping holes in the fences that took weeks to repair. He’s not worried about an attack from that direction.”
I glance at Knox. This goes against our teams’ plans. Unlike me, Knox still wears the contacts that report our every action back to base. CJ, Mitzy, and Sam will know everything, at least as soon as Knox is able to upload the data to the satellites. That requires a clear view of the sky and communication with the satellites our organization commands overhead.
“Knox? Your call.”
“Mine?” He points to his chest. “What does your gut say?”
“It says there’s only three of us and scores of Benefield’s men between us and the exfil site.”
“Then we head west.” Knox grudgingly agrees with Eve’s suggestion.
The ground trembles beneath our feet as another explosion rips through the building. I tap at my earbud as it squeals in my ear. Plaster and dust rain down from the ceiling.
“That was…”
“…too close.” Knox finishes my sentence.
“How’s your comm? Mine’s fried from those first explosions.”
“Same here.” He taps the side of his head, trying to get his comm to quiet down as well.
What’s with all the explosions? This wasn’t a part of our plan.
“Whatever we do,” Knox says, “we need to do it now.”
I glance at Eve and make a decision. She’s not equipped to make her way through the dense vegetation of the jungle. Not in those shoes.
“We keep to the plan. Head to the southern wall. Meet up with the team there.”
Twenty-Nine
Max
Knox takes a step away from the door. The knob’s busted from when we came through. He places his hand on the wood, feeling for any vibrations that might indicate movement on the other side.
I move up beside him. Eve’s my responsibility; therefore, I give him the lead. Doing this as a two-man team brings several disadvantages. There’s no good place to put Eve. In a full contingent of six operatives, she’d be placed in the middle of the group. Two operatives to take the lead and sweep for threats. Two more would provide coverage to the rear. The middle two would keep tabs on the package, moving her through danger until we made it to the extraction point.
Knox and I must take all those roles upon ourselves. This leaves him in the lead, unsupported, and me bogged down with Eve and a thinly supported rear position.
I glance at the weapon Eve carries with a mind to tell her to be careful of the trigger, but there’s no need. Her trigger finger lies along the barrel rather than sitting on the trigger itself.
She’s one smart cookie.
I nod to Knox, who now presses his ear to the door. We go on his signal. Eve gives a start when I wrap my fingers in the waistband of her jeans, but then she settles down. It’s not the best solution, but I can push her forward, or pull her back, as needed; better this way. It also keeps my right hand free to handle my weapon. The rifle Knox appropriated from Benefield’s men rides over my back. Eve carries my sidearm, and I have the 9mm kindly supplied by Benefield’s man.
Knox moves us out into the corridor and down to the first intersection. Head cocked, he listens for any sign of movement. I would too, but my attention is split by watching Eve and guarding our back.
We cut across a courtyard, moving silently, when all of a sudden Eve pulls out of the grip I have on her.
“Eve…” I growl out her name, ready to chastise her for breaking the line, but she stands in front of one of the many cages.
“I have to let them go.” Eve works the clasp on a cage holding half a dozen tropical birds. The metal squeals as she opens the door.
The birds inside give her the eye and hop to the back of the cage, keeping their distance.
“We have to go,” I call out to her, but she looks back, determined to free the birds.
“They’re scared of you. Leave the door open. They’ll figure it out.”
Knox crouches not too far from us as I get Eve to leave the cage with the birds. I think we’re ready to move out when she heads to another enclosure. It’s the one with the butterflies. She opens this door too and props it open with a rock. Three butterflies escape, flitting over her head as she kicks the rock in place.
“One more.” She heads over to the last enclosure in the courtyard. It’s the one with the spider monkeys in it, and it’s on the opposite side of the courtyard from where we are.
“Eve, no!” I shout as movement on the rooftop catches my eye.
Eve freezes mid-step as a burst of gunfire lights up the courtyard. Knox returns fire as I launch myself at Eve, sweeping her to the side and behind the cover of a neighboring tree.
Her wide, frightened eyes nearly pop out of her head as I force her to scramble deeper under the canopy of the tree. We’ve got marginal cover, but it’s not bulletproof.
Knox shoots off a volley toward the rooftop, then overwhelming silence fills the air.
“We go, now.” I grab Eve, hauling her to her feet, and head back toward Knox.
“I’m not leaving them caged.” Eve pulls away from me, batting at my hand to force me to let her go.
I do, but only because another shooter appears on the roofline. One shot and he’s dead. The body falls into the courtyard and lands with a thud. Knox rushes over to the body, not because he gives a damn, but to salvage the man’s weapon and unspent ammo. He tucks a couple of magazines into his pants and gives me a What the fuck look. I return a shrug.
Eve’s already up and on her feet, sprinting to the far side of the massive courtyard. A quick scan reveals no more movement on the roof, but that won’t last long. The gunfire will attract unwanted attention.
I make it to Eve as she opens the door to the spider monkey enclosure. While she looks around for a rock to hold open that door, two monkeys move to the opening, chittering loudly as they realize freedom is just a step away. Neither of them takes that final step, however, and one of them hangs back, cowering in fear with tiny hands clasped tight to its chest.
“Eve, we have to go.” I’m not happy about the delay.
“Why aren’t they leaving the cage?” Eve turns soulful eyes to me. She squats down and holds out a hand.
One of the monkeys gives her a dubious look, but then it jumps in her hand and scampers up to her neck. It grips her hair as its tiny feet dig in for purchase. Eve leans into the cage, hand outstretched, trying to get the last monkey to come out.
If we weren’t in the middle of an escape, I’d laugh at the sight of Eve trying to cajole the poor monkey out of the cage. The one on her shoulder chitters, talking to itself, or maybe it’s coaxing their fellow to take a leap of faith. Either way, the last monkey finally gets brave enough to sit in Eve’s palm. Its tiny hands grasp her thumb, and that’s all I need.
With my hand in the back of her pants, I yank Eve to her feet and spin her around. The monkeys scream at me, but I couldn’t care less what they have to say. I push Eve back into the courtyard. My head’s on a swivel as we rejoin Knox, who’s guarding our backs. He gives me another What the fuck? look when he sees the screeching monkeys clinging to Eve. All I can do is roll my eyes.