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“It’s okay,” I said, pushing up from the ground.
Covering her ears, Yamania sprinted into the bushes and disappeared.
That would be the last time I ever saw her or any of her family.
I strode to Hunter and threaded my arm around his waist.
His face lit up with a beautiful grin. “Here come the boys.”
As he hugged me to his side and beamed his massive smile up at the open sky, a sense of calm washed over me.
At the same time, I wanted the world to know what Neville had done. I vowed that nobody would repeat the atrocities he had leveled on this native environment.
Did he survive that bullet wound?
I needed to find out, because if he did, we had to remove him from this place and make him pay for endangering lives.
CHAPTER 15
HUNTER
The brutal downdraftfrom the chopper blade whipped a tornado through the dense jungle around us and swirled the smoke into a frenzy.
My buddy, Gunn, leaned out the side of the chopper, and I waved. He too was an ex-Navy SEAL and just like me, Gunn bore burn scars from that aircraft carrier accident. But the poor bastard had a nasty scar on his face. At least I didn’t have that.
“Here we go, Layla. Stand back,” I yelled over the thudding chopper blades, pulling her to the edge of the clearing.
Gunn whipped down the winch line like a pro, touching down a few yards from the fire.
I strode to him. “Boy, am I glad to see you.”
“Likewise.”
We clapped each other’s backs.
“Where are Booker and Wyatt?” His scowl flicked between Layla and me.
“They’re in the first chopper. We crashed into a tree, and the chopper got trapped sixty feet in the air.”
“Son of a bitch.” His eyes filled with dread as if he expected the worst. “What’s their status?”
“They survived the crash, but Booker’s legs were pinned in the wreckage. We need to cut him free.”
“Let’s get moving then.” Gunn unhooked a harness from his hip and turned to Layla. “Layla, I assume?”
She nodded with a small smile. “Yes. I’m sorry about all this trouble.”
“Trouble?” He cocked his head at me. “This is nothing, right, Hunter?”
Chuckling, I helped Layla into the harness. “Who’s our pilot?”
“Xavier.” Gunn tightened the harness around Layla’s waist.
“Good. We’re going to need his expertise.”
Xavier was practically born in a pilot seat.
“See you in a sec, buddy.” He nodded at me.