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The depth of her sorrow grew deeper as she nodded. “I hate that he’s staying here. And he should pay for endangering lives.”
“You’re assuming he survived that bullet wound.”
She nodded. “That’s true.”
As I looked into Layla's troubled eyes, something shifted inside me. I would do anything to take away her sorrow. And in that instant, I knew I was more than just attracted to Layla. I was in love. And I would do anything to prove my love to her.
“Xavier,” I hollered into my mic. “We have another person to pick up.”
“We do?” both Xavier and Gunn said.
“Yeah. If he’s still alive, that is.”
As I told them about Neville and directed them to where I thought the abandoned church would be, Layla smiled at me through teary eyes.
I just hoped that fucker wasn’t dead or Layla may never get her answers.
CHAPTER 16
LAYLA
The helicopter banked sharplyto the left, nudging me closer to Hunter.
“Thank you,” I whispered to him.
He gripped his large hand around mine.
As the helicopter cut through the air, Hunter spoke in his microphone to his team. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but the way Gunn nodded, frowned, and looked at me, I had a feeling Hunter was telling them about Neville shooting at us.
The thud of the helicopter’s blades drowned out my thoughts, which was good because I had so much crashing through my brain, I could barely think anyway.
Hunter leaned in closer to me and his hot breath brushed my ear. “Can you believe we walked all that way?”
I shook my head. We didn’t just walk; we survived.
Hunter and Gunn shifted to peer out the open doorway, and I leaned forward to look out too. We were following above the muddy brown river that we’d drifted along in the bullet-riddled boat.
The abandoned church came into view, and I gasped at the five lifeless bodies that lay scattered around the church and derelict jetty. Their tattered clothing and dirty militia uniforms were a haunting reminder of their violent attack. A wave of nausea rolled through me. I’d seen some of these men get shot, but seeing them from this view, sprawled out and still, made the reality so much worse.
These deaths were on Neville’s head too.
I searched for Neville’s body as the pilot circled the building twice, but I couldn’t see him. I also couldn’t shake the dreadful feeling that more horror was heading our way.
Hunter squeezed my hand and leaned toward me. “We’re putting the bird down to see if we can find him. You can stay in here if you want.”
I shook my head. “I’m coming with you.”
“I figured you’d say that.”
The pilot lowered the helicopter onto the small field of rocks next to the river, creating ripples across the water. A short distance away was the jetty I’d stolen the boat from. I’d been so terrified when I’d swum out to that boat, that I could hardly remember doing it.
As the helicopter rotors slowed, Hunter grabbed my hand.
“Keep your head down,” he said as he pulled me out and onto the ground.
Crouching over, we raced across the loose rocks, heading toward the old church that was choked by creeper vines.
I froze. Na-lynied, the tribal elder's son whose manly shouts had once echoed through the jungle, lay lifeless among the dead.