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Eve’s eyes narrowed as she caught a certain nuance in Celine’s voice. “How far on top?” Her gaze wandered around the room until she caught sight of Jossland’s crumpled, bloody body. “Oh, I’d say that put me quite a distance on top.”

“It couldn’t have happened to a more deserving person,” Celine said.

“And I don’t regret a minute of it. Cutting his carotid artery seemed a perfect ending for one of the emerald icicle insets on the gown Caldwell so generously gave me.

” She was helping Eve to her feet. “But we’ve got to get out of here.

We don’t know how long it will be before Caldwell will start worrying and decide to bring Zakira to see me and those photos.

Thanks to Jossland being such a thorough bastard, we’ve bought ourselves some time to try to lose ourselves here at Shafira until the people we want to find us show up here. ”

“And you have an idea where we can go?”

“I thought we should head for the hills where they caught me before,” Celine said.

“I became very familiar with that area while I was hiding out, and I can probably avoid Caldwell’s thugs.

And I’ve trekked through enough jungles with Dominic and Quinn to realize they both have the skill to track us there. ”

Eve nodded. “I know Joe does, and I’d bet that Seth Caleb is probably somewhere near him.

” She grabbed Jossland’s gun and phone from the floor and headed for the door.

“Okay, you’ve convinced me. Let’s head for your hills, Celine.

But first we should try to phone Kontara to see if she can give us any hints about how to safely get out of this damn village.

If anyone knows, it would be her. And I’ve seen enough of the weapons Caldwell gives his thugs to know that they’re rarely what they seem.

Along with the phones and radios, the weapons he gives them are lethal and high-tech.

But we might be able to find a way to break the codes and turn them against them. ”

Celine shook her head skeptically. “I admire high-tech but I’m no expert.”

Eve smiled. “Neither am I. But I’ve been surrounded by a good many people who are, and one of them is Seth Caleb, if we can find a way to get the weapons to him… All we can do is try…”

JUNGLE MAZE NEAR SHAFIRA

“What is it, Dad?” Michael took a step closer as he saw Joe’s sudden tension. His father was looking down at the village below them. “You said we were almost there.”

“I thought we were.” Joe lifted his binoculars, and his gaze scanned the cobbled village streets and outlying farms of the lush acreage that was Shafira.

He hadn’t wanted to alarm his son, but his every instinct was telling him that something was very wrong.

“But there’s no harm in taking it slow and easy and being absolutely certain.

You’re sure this is the exit Kontara took when you escaped from the village?

” he asked Michael as he lowered the binoculars.

“It’s familiar to me, too, but the entire village looks deserted from here. ”

“I’m sure. I wouldn’t forget that, Dad.” Michael shook his head.

“But it does look kind of strange. Whenever I went to the well to get water, there were always people around. Soldiers or Caldwell’s men or quite a few women who visited the men in their quarters.

It looks empty.” He frowned. “I’m sorry that Kontara isn’t here to tell you more.

I guess she was the only one who really knew what was going on here. ”

“It’s not your fault, Michael.” He grimaced.

“If anything, it’s mine for being too cocky because I had the map Kontara drew for us.

When Dominic said he had to send her to meet with Seth in the hills to give him directions for the attack, I told him that we wouldn’t have a problem.

After all, I had the map. Evidently I forgot how easy it was to get turned around in this nightmare of a maze. ”

Michael frowned. “Well, you got us here, Dad. You didn’t get turned around.”

“Are you defending me?” Joe smiled wryly.

“Then I’ll have to admit that, for a moment, I wasn’t sure I’d brought us to the right village.

Something’s very strange here. But there’s at least one good thing about the fact that the village seems deserted.

” He pointed to a thick acreage of corn and grain that ran along the north fence.

“It’s almost dark now, and we might be able to slip into that field if we’re careful.

And the field has the same thick vegetation as the rest of Shafira.

Maybe, once we’re actually in the village, you’ll recognize something about it that looks familiar.

Or perhaps they moved your mom and Celine to a different house or farm. ”

“Maybe,” Michael said doubtfully. “But they didn’t do it any other time after they brought me here.”

“It could be the very reason they’d do it this time…

” He looked down at Michael. “Stop worrying. Things seldom remain the same in situations like this. You’re sure about the exit, and I’m sure that I trust you.

But things here have changed, and we’ll just find out what and why.

The important thing is that we have to be close to your mom.

So it’s not going to stop us.” He smiled. “Nothing is going to stop us. Right?”

Michael nodded. “Right, Dad.”

“Stay close.” He lifted his binoculars again. “We’ll give it a few more minutes and then we’ll go for it…”

Joe checked his phone screen as he and Michael moved through the dense vegetation. “If Mom was moved after we got you away from this area, they almost surely took her this way. Any other path would have been too risky for them… Too easy for them to be spotted.”

Michael nodded. “The guards were always worried about that when I was with them. Anytime someone talked about moving us, they decided not to do it. I guess they knew people were looking for us.”

“Well, when you got away, it didn’t leave them much choice. They had to move.” Joe pointed ahead. “And this way offered them the most cover. Does anything here look familiar to you?”

Michael looked around. “Not really. It’s not like our house at the lake where everything is warm and homey. Everything at this village kind of looks the same after a while.”

“I know what you mean.” Joe stopped and crouched on the overgrown trail. “But I can tell someone’s been here recently. Look how the grass is pressed down and the lower tree branches are all pushed in the same direction. I’d say that a group of four or five people moved through here.”

Michael nodded. “You’re a great tracker. I wish I could do that.”

“You can. It’s all about practice. And lots of training.”

“Is that what the SEALs taught you?”

“Them and the FBI.”

“Maybe you can teach me?”

Joe looked at his son. He’d grown up so much in the past year—maybe a bit too much. “Sure. But I hope it’s a skill you won’t need after today.”

“It’s a skill that you still use when the chips are down.” Michael paused. “Though I wish I’d stayed with Mom. Maybe I could have helped her.”

“I don’t think so, and I know that isn’t what she wanted.”

Michael nodded. “I know that she told—” He froze. “Stop!”

Joe whirled toward him. “What is it?”

“Someone is watching us.” Michael crouched in the tall grass. “Get down, Dad.”

Joe crouched next to him. “Where is he?”

“I—I don’t know. But I could feel it.”

With Michael, Joe knew it was always more than just a feeling. The boy knew .

“Any idea what direction?” Joe asked.

“No. But I think he recognized me.”

“If he saw your face, he was probably on the trail ahead of us.” Joe felt for the spearpoint knife in his belt sheath. “Remember those boulders we passed? I need you to go back there and wait for me. I’ll be there in a minute or so.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Just do it, Michael.”

“I want to stay with you.”

“I’ll be back in a minute. It’ll be okay. Just hide behind those boulders.”

Michael’s eyes were wide as he stared at his father. “You’re going to kill him, aren’t you?”

“Only if he tries to kill me first.”

“You know he will.”

“He came after our family, Michael,” Joe said quietly. “And right now, he’s standing between us and your mother. Wait at the boulders.”

Michael nodded. “What if you don’t come back?”

“I promise you I’ll be back. Don’t worry.”

But Michael was clearly worried. Joe hugged him close and then motioned for him to leave. Michael finally pulled away and started back down the trail.

Joe ducked low and moved through the brush, trying his best not to disturb the thick branches.

If someone had indeed been watching him and Michael, he was probably twenty yards farther along the trail, where the path was slightly elevated.

Joe found a hiding spot and looked around.

There was no one to be seen. Maybe Michael was just mistaken, though his “feelings” had never failed him before.

But it was possible that his emotions had caused him to—

Wait. There was something up ahead…

Joe shifted position to get a better look. There was definitely a man up ahead. He was also crouched in the bushes. He had a gun in one hand, a phone in the other. He was punching a number. After a moment, he spoke just loud enough for Joe to hear.

“Strickland here. The kid is back, and it looks like he brought Quinn with him. I lost sight of them, but they can’t be far.

” He jiggled the phone. “Hello, why aren’t you talking?

Is something wrong with my phone? If you send a few guys back, we should have no problem rounding them up.

” The man paused. “Hello? Are you there? Hang on, I’ll send you my location coordinates. ”

Whippp!

Joe’s knife sailed through the air and sliced cleanly into the man’s chest. He slumped to the ground, dead.