There was no sign of Kristi. She was probably inside one of the huts. Then again, those drone images Shields had sent were now a good six hours old. These bastards could have moved her, sold her, shot her.
Focus.
All they needed was one glimpse of Kristi, and David would call it in. Then the two of them would wait for reinforcements to arrive and take these fuckers down.
It was getting close to evening when some of the men started making a meal. Then an older man limped out of the hut that stood closest to the fire, supported by a boy. And behind them…
Malik’s heart gave a thud.
Kristi.
Malik nodded to David, who pulled out his satellite phone and sent a message.
She seemed unhurt. She watched the men, keeping her distance, a wary expression on her face. She had no obvious injuries apart from bruising on her cheek—or was that dirt? Her scrubs were filthy, her hair tangled.
The man with the limp—probably the man she’d been abducted to save—sat on a log, while the young man who’d helped him filled a bowl from the cookpot. Most of the bastards gathered around the fire. But not everyone.
One fucker sat at a table off to one side, talking with a few others, their heads bowed together. Malik got a look at his face and recognized him as the son of a bitch who’d abducted Kristi and pulled her hair. Then Malik noticed the firearms.
All of the men had weapons.
“Wahala,” David whispered.
Malik knew that word.
Trouble.
“We don’t let anyone harm her,” Malik whispered back.
“Agreed.”
The small group of men broke up, moving toward the fire, casually surrounding the others, their weapons concealed behind their backs or tucked into their trousers. The one who’d abducted Kristi walked up behind the older man with the limp, drew his pistol—and shot him at point-blank range.
BAM!
The older man fell into the dirt, probably dead.
The bastard who’d shot him put his pistol in the waistband of his trousers and strode over to Kristi, who tried to back away. He struck her so hard she fell into the dirt. He reached down, grabbed her by her hair once more, and dragged her to her feet, shouting words Malik couldn’t understand.
Malik sighted on the bastard’s head, finger on the trigger. “What is he saying?”
“I can’t understand it all. Something about how she should be shared like all women and how the other man had kept her to himself. He says he is their leader now.”
Well, he wouldn’t be for long.
Malik willed himself to relax, to focus on his breathing and his sight picture. If he wanted to hit his target, he couldn’t let anger or adrenaline get the better of him. An elevated pulse or erratic breathing would throw off his aim.
But, God, it wasn’t easy.
The fucker dragged a struggling Kristi toward the hut, while the other men laughed and cheered, some of them following to watch.
Malik couldn’t sit here, waiting, while they took turns brutalizing her. “I need a diversion.”
“I’m already working on it.”
Malik glanced over, saw that David had taken the drone out of the bag and was about to launch it. “You’re going to give us away, man.”
“Get ready to fire.”