11
Shanti repeated what he’d said, sure she’d misunderstood. “Leave the phone?”
“As long as we’ve got it, they’re going to be able to find us. Keep the encrypted cell you got from Cobra. Shields can use it to ping your location.”
She unzipped an inner pocket in her bulging handbag, drew out the soldier’s phone. “Bram told me to hold onto this.”
“Bram didn’t know you were going to be abducted and crash in the jungle. This is about our survival now. Better an angry boss than ending up dead.”
Shanti dropped the phone. “I’m ready.”
Behind them, the guar bellowed again.
Crunch!
Connor checked the compass from the survival kit and pointed northwest. “The pilot took us about a hundred fifty miles inland, heading southeast. Bangladesh is roughly a seven-day walk in that direction.”
Sevendays?
Shanti followed him, glad she’d worn pants and boots and not a skirt and heels. Then she remembered all the things her father had told her about the monsoon forests. Her gaze jerked to the forest floor, looking for any sign of snakes.
Connor looked back at her. “You walking on eggshells? We need to go faster.”
“There are so many poisonous snakes here—cobras, kraits, vipers on the ground, vipers in the trees. There are tarantulas, too.”
“I would worry about the creepy things that carry guns, not the ones with fangs. Just watch where you step. We need to put a lot of miles between us and the crash site before nightfall. This area will be crawling with soldiers soon.”
Rifle in his hands, he set a brisk pace, leading Shanti uphill and down, through muddy gullies and over streams. She did her best not to slow him, sweat pouring down her face, gibbons and other monkeys chattering in the trees around them, the air thick, humid, and buzzing with insects. She was grateful for the bug repellent she’d brought with her—and for every hour she’d spent on the elliptical trainer at the gym. Still, her thighs burned, her lungs hurting for breath as they made their way through underbrush and up a steep hillside.
Connor stopped, cocked his head as if listening. “Hear that?”
“Monkeys?” She tried to catch her breath.
“Choppers, flying in from the south, heading to the crash site. Keep moving.”
“Won’t they know where we’re going?”
“They’ll know we’re headed generally toward Bangladesh, but that’s it. The farther we get from the crash site, the tougher it is for them to find us.”
Onward they went, Connor leading the way, reminding her to go easy on the water, helping her up steep pitches thick with vines, his gaze always searching their surroundings, his confidence keeping her panic at bay. The handbag on her shoulder seemed to grow heavier with every step, the strap pinching her skin.
The sky was thick with clouds when he stopped. “Let’s take a quick break.”
She sat on a rock—and shot to her feet again, remembering she needed to check for snakes and spiders. Seeing nothing, she sat, took out her water, and drank. How the small amount of water they had was supposed to last seven days, she didn’t know.
He unzipped a pocket on his backpack and drew out a phone with a small antenna. “It’s O’Neal. Did you find Hatch and Davis? God, I’m sorry to hear it. Nah, I’m fine. Got creased on the temple. It knocked me out cold for an hour. She’s unhurt, just shaken up. They’re dead. We’ve got five MREs plus the water we can carry. I’ve got the M4 from the bird, two Glocks, a Hi-Power, and a Norinco.”
He listened now, saying, “copy that” or “good copy” every so often.
“I’ll check in after we make camp,” he said at last.
He ended the call. “Cruz and Jones are uninjured. Shields got drone footage of the abduction. They found Hatch and Davis dead in a hangar at the airport. Right now, the ICC, UN, and US government are putting pressure on Myanmar to allow a search-and-rescue operation. So far, the government of Myanmar has not responded.”
“If there’s footage, they can’t say I’m here as a spy.”
“They can say whatever they want, but the world can prove them wrong.” He helped her to her feet again. “We’re going to keep pushing till dusk and take cover. Shields is using our GPS coordinates and drone footage to guide us. She wants us to veer a little more to the north.”
“The drone is still following us?”