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 souls.
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, Ricky," 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, pulling 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.
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 circumstances.
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 leg 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-and 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 gotten 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 turned 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 crept 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 World 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.
Rebecca grabbed hold of a seat as the helicopter rocked when it was hit by another giraffe.
"Why are there so many freaking animals?" Lopez demanded.
Nursing his ankle, Talli answered, "We are smack dab in the middle of a wildlife reserve."
"Still..." Lopez exhaled. "And is somebody filming this?"
Rebecca plunked her forehead against Brandt's extremely stained white shirt. For a moment, amongst all the chaos, she just let his chest lift her forehead, then lower it as he breathed in and out. His heartbeat pounded against his breastbone, creating a beautiful symphony. He put a hand on the back of her head, stroking her hair. She felt his lips brush the top of her head.
Brandt was not just alive, but safe too. Well, as safe as any of them as Lopez struggled to keep them somewhat aloft. Rebecca barely noticed. Instead, she took in the moment. Then the little girl threw herself at Brandt, wrapping her little arms around his leg.
"Thor!"
Yes, Vakasa's dark-haired, green-eyed Thor was Brandt. There must be a story there, but they certainly didn't have time to tell it, as Lopez yelled, "Hold on!"