Manny frowned. “If you knew…why…?” He glanced over to Anna.
A long sigh followed, exasperated and bored. “Just making sure no one was attempting some deceptive tactic. It seems I’ve lost contact with my own agent in your party. And that always arouses my suspicious nature.”
“Agent?” Manny asked.
“Spy,” Kouwe said from the end of the row of prisoners. “Richard Zane.”
“Indeed.” Favre turned toward the tree and raised the radio to this mouth. “Nate, if you can hear me, stay put. We’ll be coming over to join you.”
There was no answer.
Manny hoped somehow Nate had fled with Kelly. But in his heart, he knew Kelly would never leave her brother’s side. All of them must still be hiding in the ancient tree.
As the Frenchman stared at the white-barked giant, his eyes narrowed. After a moment, he swung back and focused on Manny again. “That leaves me only to address the insult upon my lady here.”
The stubby Uzi again was raised in his direction.
“Not very gentlemanly of you, Monsieur Azevedo.”
Favre pulled the trigger. Shots rattled and sprayed out.
Manny winced, but not a bullet struck him.
A grunt sounded behind him. The guard at his back collapsed into view, his upper body riddled. He lay on the ground, gasping like a beached fish. Blood poured out from his mouth and nose.
Favre lowered his weapon. Manny stared up at the Frenchman. Favre cocked one eyebrow. “It’s not you I blame. Brail should have minded you better. He should never have left that damn whip at your side. Sloppy, sloppy work.” Louis shook his head. “Two lieutenants gone in the same number of days.”
He turned away and waved his weapon. “Bring the prisoners.” He strode toward the Yagga. “I’m done chasing after Carl’s boy. Let’s see if we can coax the shy fellow to come out and join us.”
11:09 A.M.
Nate hid in the shadow of the Yagga’s buttress root. Smoke clouded the glade. He heard intermittent gunfire and muffled shouts from the direction of the nightcap oak. What was going on?
The only object within sight inside the glade was the cratered husk of his father’s log cabin. A mingled sense of dread and despair settled over his body like a shroud. Then, like ghosts from a grave, figures appeared out of the smoke, shadowy and vague.
He slipped deeper into the root’s shadow, leveling his shotgun in their direction. Slowly, with each step, the apparitions took form and substance. He recognized Manny and Kouwe in the lead, guarding Anna between them. Kostos and Carrera flanked them, a step behind. Even the tribesman, Dakii, marched with them.
Blood stained all of them and they walked with their hands behind their backs, stumbling, prodded from behind by shadowy figures. As they approached, the others grew clearer: men in a mix of military and jungle fatigues. They had weapons of every ilk pointed at his friends.
Nate aimed down the barrel of his shotgun. A useless weapon against these odds, these numbers. He needed another plan. But for now, he only had stealth and shadows.
His teammates were drawn to a stop by their guards.
A man dressed all in white lifted a small bullhorn to his lips. “Nathan Rand!” he bellowed, aiming for the Yagga’s treetop. “Show yourself! Come out freely or your friends will pay for your absence. I will give you two minutes!”
His teammates and the Indian were forced to their knees.
Nate lowered himself further into hiding. Without a doubt, the man out there was the leader of these mercenaries, a Frenchman judging from his accent. The man glanced at his watch, then back up to the treetop, tapping a toe impatiently. He clearly thought Nate was still in the upper bowers, relying on the last bit of intelligence from his dead spy.
Nate wavered. Show himself or flee? Should he take his chances in the woods? Perhaps try to get around behind the soldiers? Nate mentally shook his head. He was no guerrilla warrior.
“Thirty seconds, Nathan!” the man roared through the bullhorn.
A tiny voice echoed down from above. “Nate’s not up here! He left!”
It was Kelly!
The Frenchman lowered his bullhorn. “Lies,” he muttered under his breath.
Kouwe spoke up from where he knelt. “Dr. Favre…a word with you, please.”
Nate found his fingers tightening on his shotgun, instantly recognizing the name. He had heard tales from his father about the atrocities attributed to Louis Favre. He was the bogeyman of the Amazon, a devil whispered about among the tribes, a monster banished from the region by his own father. But now here again.
“What is it, Professor?” Favre asked with irritation.
“That was Kelly O’Brien. She’s with her injured brother. If she says Nate’s not up there, then he’s not.”
Favre frowned and checked his watch. “We’ll see.” He raised his bullhorn. “Ten seconds!” He then held out a palm, and a wicked weapon was handed to him: a curved machete as long as a scythe. Even in the smoky sunshine, it shone brightly—freshly sharpened.
Favre leaned and placed the curve of the blade under Anna Fong’s neck, then lifted the bullhorn. “Time is running out, Nathan! I’ve been generous giving you an initial two minutes. From here on out, every minute will cost a friend’s life. Come out now, and all will be spared! This I swear as a gentleman and a Frenchman.” Favre counted the last seconds. “Five…four…”
Nathan struggled for some plan…anything. He knew Louis Favre’s sworn word was worthless.
“Three…two…”
He had seconds to come up with an alternative to submission.
“One…”
He found none.
“Zero!”
Nathan rose out of his hiding place. He stepped out with his shotgun over his head. “You win!” he called back.
Favre straightened from his crouch over Anna, one eyebrow raised. “Oh, mon petit homme, how you startled me! What were you doing down here all along?”
Tears flowed down Anna’s stricken face.
Nate threw his shotgun away. “You win,” he said again. Soldiers trotted around to circle him.
Favre smiled. “So I always do.” His lips turned from amused to feral.
Before anyone could react, Favre twisted from the hip and swung the machete with all the force of his arm and back.
Blood flumed upward.
His victim’s head was shorn clean off at the neck.
“Manny!” Nate cried out, falling to his knees, then his hands.
His friend’s body collapsed backward.