The moment she put weight on her leg, he thought she was going to pass out. He caught her, lowered her gently to the ground.
“I can’t. I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to be a pain in your ass. I’ve tried so hard to keep up and not make problems for—”
“You’re not a pain in my ass, Shanti. You’re the best time I’ve ever had. I’m going to call this in, and then we’ll get moving again.
Shanti watchedwhile Connor called Cobra from the riverbank, the pain in her ankle not nearly as sharp as her regret. She should have been paying better attention. She should have seen. If she had just taken that one step differently…
Now she was going to slow the two of them down. After everything Connor had done for her, now he had to freaking carry her.
He strode back to her, knelt, his gaze searching the world behind her. “Cobra has been working with DEVGRU to drop a team in to help with our exfil, but we might make it to the river before they get their shit together. China is standing by Myanmar, which makes our situation a political landmine.”
“DEVGRU?”
“What you civilians call SEAL Team Six.”
“Oh.” Wow. “Am I worth that?”
“You’re a prosecutor with the International Criminal Court and a US citizen.” He grabbed his pack. “Let’s ditch the robes. They’re just going to get in the way now. I’ll lighten my pack, strip it down to essentials, and you can carry that while I carry you.”
Connor worked quickly, putting the things he didn’t feel they’d need inside the robes, tying it all into a ball and throwing it into the river where it couldn’t be found. Neither of them wanted Ashin Dempo or Mya to get into trouble because of them. Then he stuffed the contents of Shanti’s handbag into his backpack, consolidating their gear.
“Okay, you stand on your good leg, and I’ll get the pack adjusted for you. Hold onto me for balance.”
When that was done, he walked around in front of her and lifted her onto his back.
“I’m heavy.”
“Not as heavy as the Unit buddy I carried for half a day once. He probably had eighty pounds on you.”
On they went, through stands of jungle and farmers’ fields, Connor breathing hard, his heart thudding beneath her hands as she held on to him. They moved on for maybe an hour when the first rays of light stretched across the sky, giving Connor more light, enabling him to go faster—and bringing the world to life around them.
Smoke from cookfires. Barking dogs. The bleating of goats. Voices. And behind them, back toward the mountains, the whirring of helicopter rotors.
Connor stopped in a grove of trees at the top of a ridge, set her down, and went for his water bottle, drinking deeply. Sweat trickled down his temples and beaded on his forehead. “If we have to, we’ll shelter in place and take the last few miles tonight. If I see a good spot to set up camp, that’s what we’ll do.”
He lifted her onto his back again and started downhill, taking it slowly, Shanti keeping her eyes peeled for people or anything else that might give them away.
“There’s a dirt road ahead,” she whispered. “I see what looks like an army vehicle. There are soldiers.”
“I see them.” He stopped behind an outcropping of rocks, lowered her to the ground, and raised his rifle. “Yeah, that’s definitely—”
A bark.
A dog came up behind them, wagging its tail, meaning no harm.
“Shh!” Shanti held out her hand for the dog to sniff, hoping to quiet it.
“Shit.” Connor drew his knife. “I don’t want to do this, but I—”
A group of five little girls carrying water buckets came around the corner.
Shanti willed herself to smile, but the girls had seen Connor’s weapons and ran back toward their village, screaming.
“Son of a bitch!” Connor sheathed his knife, pulled out the sat phone, and made a quick call. “We’ve been compromised. A group of kids saw us and my rifle and ran away screaming. It’s going to get very ugly here in a minute. If you have an emergency exfil plan, now would be the time. Copy that.”
“Do they have a plan?”
“They’re working on one. Come on. We need to get out of here.”