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All the pleas in the world wouldn’t hold him back, not when Martina’s life hung in the balance. If there was a chance of any kind, he would take it. But if he died…oh, God, if he died, there would be nothing of worth left in Gabby’s life. Tears welled up in her soft green eyes as she tried to imagine a world without him. She wanted to go with him, to risk her life at his side, to die with him if that was what lay in store. But even as she thought it, she knew that nothing would convince him to take her along. He might not love her, but he was fiercely protective of her. He wouldn’t allow her to risk her life. And she couldn’t fight him.
With a resigned sigh, she got up, combed her hair, and went into the living room where the men were assembled. It took the last ounce of courage she possessed to smile at them. She couldn’t meet J.D.’s searching gaze at all. It would cut her to the quick to see indifference in his eyes.
There was a new face in the room. It belonged to a dark, lithe man with pale blue eyes.
“Semson,” J.D. told her, indicating the newcomer. “He’s been out scouting for the past day or so.”
“Gabby?” the new man murmured and grinned at her. “How do you stand working for this guy?”
She smiled wanly. “Oh, it has its moments,” she confessed, but she didn’t look at J.D. as she said it.
J.D. had picked up an automatic weapon something like a machine gun and slung it over his shoulder, but he was carrying the crossbow. Gabby stared pointedly at it and suddenly realized what it was for.
She looked up, and he seemed to read the thought in her mind.
He nodded. “Sentries,” he said, confirming her suspicions. “If there are any.”
She felt her throat go dry. She’d never been in a situation like this, and she could have kicked herself for coming along. It was one thing to watch an operation like this in a fictional TV show. But to realize that any one of these men, especially J.D., might never come back from the rescue attempt…that was altogether different.
“Hey, Gabby, don’t look so grim,” Apollo chided. “I won’t let this big turkey get himself hurt.”
Gabby laughed despite herself. “Thanks, Apollo,” she said. “I’ve gotten kind of used to him.”
“That works both ways. Laremos, take care of her,” J.D. told the other man.
Laremos nodded. “Be assured that I will. Now, shall we double-check our coordinates and codes?”
They did, and Gabby felt her palms sweating as she rattled off the codes from memory. She knew how important they were, and that made her more nervous than ever.
“Calm down,” J.D. said quietly. “You’re okay.”
She smiled for him. “Sure. You guys take it easy out there, okay?”
“We’re sort of used to this kind of thing,” First Shirt said with a wink. “Okay, guys. Hit it.”
And just that quickly, they left. Gabby stood at the front door with her wide, unblinking gaze riveted on J.D.’s broad back. He didn’t turn or say anything to her. It hurt terribly.
“How long will it take them to get there, Diego?” she asked the man at her side.
“At least an hour or two, Gabby,” he replied. “The terrain is rugged, and they require much stealth.”
She glanced up to see that his eyes were concerned. “Are you worried?”
“Of course not,” he said, but he was lying and she knew it. His smile didn’t reach his eyes.
“I’ll get a cup of coffee, if I may, and sit beside the radio.”
He studied her closely. “Archer—you care very much for him.”
“Yes,” she said simply.
“Will you believe me if I tell you that of all the men I have known, he is the most capable under fire?” he said gently. “I have seen him come back from the grave. And their opponents have traveled far, señorita, and are already decimated in numbers. They will not expect such an attack here. We have seen to it that their intelligence is distorted.”
“But what if something goes wrong?” she burst out.
He sighed. “Then it is in the hands of God, is it not?”
She thought about that for the next three hours, pacing and sweating and worried out of her mind.
“Shouldn’t we have heard something?” she asked finally, her face contorted with fear.
Laremos frowned. “It is rugged terrain,” he reiterated.
“Yes, but…listen!”
The radio broke its silence, and Gabby made a dive for it. She gave the correct identification and waited.
“Panther to Red Rover,” J.D.’s voice said curtly. “Bravo. Tango in ten. Out.”
She keyed the mike. “Red Rover here. Alpha. Omega. Out.”
The code words meant that the group had arrived undetected and would make their play in ten minutes. She’d radioed back that the message was understood and that there was no new intelligence to convey.
She looked up at Laremos, feeling her heart go wild as she realized how close the danger was. “Ten minutes,” she said.
“The waiting is the hardest, is it not?” he asked quietly. “I will have Carisa fix us another pot of coffee.”
He strode away, and Gabby prayed and chewed her nails and stared at the radio as if it held the key to salvation.
Long, agonizing minutes later, it came to life again. “Panther to Red Rover,” J.D. said tightly, as gunfire and an explosion of some sort sounded in the background. “Charlie Tango! Heat up the coffee. Out!”
Her fingers trembled as she returned, “Red Rover to Panther. Bravo. Omega. Out!”
She’d just signed off when Laremos came tearing into the room, eyes flashing.
“Raise them quickly! One of my men just reported that he’s sighted a group of what he thinks are drug smugglers moving toward Archer’s position!”
She grabbed the radio. “Red Rover to Panther. Red Rover to Panther. Come in, Panther!”
But there was no answer. Frantically she tried again and again, and still there was no answer. Her frightened eyes went to Laremos.
“They must be under fire,” he said heavily, “or they would answer. We can only pray that they spot the newcomers in time.”
She stared at the radio, hating it. She tried it again, and again she gave the message. There was no answer.
Her mind went wild. J.D., answer me, she pleaded silently. I can’t lose you now, I can’t!
As if he heard her, somewhere miles away, the radio blared. “Red Rover, we’re cut off by another armed band—nasty-looking guys, and lots of them,” J.D. said sharply. “They’re heading into the jungle coordinates two clicks from position Delta. Gabby, get the hell out of there, they’re going in your direction…!”
The radio went dead. Gabby stared at it helplessly and then at Laremos.
“Madre de Dios,” he breathed. “I should have realized…Carisa!” he yelled. A stream of Spanish followed, and Laremos grabbed one of the weapons. He thrust it into Gabby’s numbed fingers.
“Carry it. I will teach you to use it when I must,” he said curtly. “Come, there is no time. Aquilas!” he yelled, and the short man who’d driven in from the airport with them came running in. There was another stream of Spanish.
“My men will cover us,” Laremos said curtly. “We must hurry. The smugglers will not care who are terrorists and who are not, they will cut us down regardless. Aquilas says there are government troops not too far behind. But we cannot involve them.” His wary eyes sought hers. “You understand?”
“Because of the rescue,” she said, smiling wanly. “It’s all right, señor. Just, please, get me to J.D.”
He looked at her searchingly. “I understand. But do not underestimate the group, señorita. We were once…quite something.”
He led her out of the house, and together they headed quickly into the jungle. She carried the heavy weapon with no real sense of its weight and no earthly idea of how to use it. As she followed Laremos through dense undergrowth at a breakneck pace, she wondered what her mother back home in Lytle, Texas, would think if she knew where her only daughter was.
“Quick, get down,” Laremos hissed, pushing her under the dense foliage and cautioning her to be quiet.
She froze, her heart pounding painfully in her chest. She felt weak all over. What would happen if they were seen? She couldn’t fire the weapon, she didn’t know how! Her eyes felt as if they were going to pop out of her head, and she wished she were with J.D. Laremos would do his best, but if she had to die, she wanted to be with Jacob when it happened. Her eyes closed and she prayed silently while sweat poured down her cheeks.
There was a wild thrashing nearby, and she had a glimpse of ragged-looking men with rifles. She knew without being told that they were the drug smugglers Laremos had spoken about. They were muttering among themselves, but they didn’t seem to be looking for anyone. They were joking and laughing, their weapons hung over their shoulders as they trailed through the jungle.
Gabby bit almost through her lower lip as she studied the weapons they were carrying. She could feel terror in her throat, strangling her. What if they were spotted? There were worse things than being killed, especially for a woman. Her eyes closed. The bravery she’d thought she had was nowhere to be found.
It seemed to take forever for the men to march out of sight and finally out of earshot.
“Courage,” Laremos whispered. “We will wait just another minute and then proceed.”
“We can’t go back to your finca?” she whispered back, hating her own cowardice.
He shook his head. “This is only a small part of the main force. Unless I am badly mistaken, the rest are camped at my finca.” He shrugged. “The government troops will come and drive them out. But for the meantime, we have little choice. We either try to join our comrades or risk being killed.”
“I’m much too young to die,” she told him with a quiet smile. “How do I shoot this thing if I have to?”
He showed her, quickly and efficiently, and she felt a little more secure as they started out again. But her eyes darted every which way, and she was so afraid that she could taste the fear in her mouth. Death seemed to lurk behind every tree.
She was learning something about courage. It wasn’t being unafraid. It was being stubborn.
It was slow going. They had been walking for over an hour when suddenly gunfire erupted all around them.
“Oh, my God,” Gabby squealed, dropping down with her hands over her head, the rifle falling to the ground.
“Don’t panic,” Laremos said tautly as he came down beside her. “Listen.”
She heard bullets whizzing, but Laremos was grinning!
“What…?” she tried to ask, gathering enough courage to grab her weapon and hold on to it with cold fingers.
“The Uzi,” he whispered. “I know the sound, oh, so well, señorita,” he said with a grin. He moved behind a tree and peered out into the jungle. All at once, he stood up. “Archer!” he yelled. “Here!”
Then there was a flurry of wild movement, crashing sounds, gunfire, and explosions, and in the middle of it came J.D., with a small, dark-haired woman under one arm and the Uzi under the other. Around him, Shirt and Apollo and Semson and Drago were covering each other and firing on the run as they joined Laremos and Gabby.
“Martina, Gabby,” J.D. said as he piled in with them and let go of his sister. “Okay, honey?” he asked Gabby with a quick glance.
“Fine, now,” she whispered shakily, clutching the weapon.
“They’re right on our tails,” J.D. said. “Apollo, got any of that C-4 left?” he yelled.
“Working on it right now, big man,” came the reply. “Just enough to make a big splash. We’ll have to draw them in.”
“Tell me when,” J.D. called back.
“That group of men you ran into were probably drug smugglers. They’ve taken my finca,” Laremos said. “We barely escaped in time.”
“I’m sorry about that,” J.D. said as he reloaded the small automatic weapon.
“Are you both all right?” Gabby asked J.D. in a quavering voice as she crawled over to Martina and clutched the frightened woman’s hand.
“A few scratches, but we’ll make it,” he returned, but his eyes were fierce and tormented as they searched Gabby’s face. “How about you?”
“I’m learning to be a crack shot,” she replied with a nervous laugh. “Laremos even told me how to cock this thing.”
“If you have to fire it,” J.D. said intently, “be sure you brace it hard against your shoulder so that the recoil doesn’t break a bone. Take a breath, let half of it out, and squeeze the trigger, don’t jerk it.”
“I’ll be a natural,” Gabby told him, but she was trembling.
“I wish I could help,” Martina whispered shakily. “But I’m so tired…!”
“God knows you’ve reason to be,” J.D. said. He ruffled her hair. “But you’re a trouper, sis.”
She managed a smile for him. “Like my big brother. I knew you’d come, I knew you would. Thank God for your Special Forces training.” Martina added with a laugh, “But however did you find these other men?”
J.D. and Gabby exchanged a quiet look. “I hired them,” he said blandly. “Roberto can reimburse me.”
“My poor darling.” Martina sighed. “He’ll be so frantic.”
“How are we going to get out of here?” Gabby asked J.D.
“Wait and see.” He glanced toward Apollo. “Ready?” he called.
“Ready!”
“I’m going to draw them out for you. Don’t let me down!”
“J.D., no!” Gabby burst out as he leaped out of the brush and started firing toward rustling noises in the undergrowth ahead.
She lost her mind. Afterward it was the only explanation she could come up with. The enemy came forward in a rush, and suddenly Gabby was on her feet. She saw a sniper taking dead aim at J.D.; she turned and lifted the heavy weapon and sighted it and pulled the trigger.
It was a miracle that she even hit the man’s shoulder, her aim was so wide. But she did, and with terror she realized that he had taken aim at her and was about to fire.
“Gabby!” J.D. yelled wildly.
