Page 8 of Keeping Amanda
He felt the wind from the rotors, heard the motor revving as Obi-Wan expertly lifted the chopper. Shouts sounded, and Buck slipped into the trees just before six men burst into the clearing a dozen yards away, rifles in hand. They stopped and lifted their weapons, all their attention on the sky as they aimed for thehelicopter, which was ascending at a rapid rate and already beginning to fly out of range.
As gunshots rang out, Buck saw something out of the corner of his eye. Instinctively he turned, reaching out as someone ran by him. Knowing immediately this was Amanda, even as they went down to the ground hard.
He covered her mouth with his hand, cutting off anything she might say to give away their location to the now very pissed-off rebels.
Her eyes were huge in her face, and he could feel how fast she was breathing as he lay on top of her, trying desperately to communicate to her without words how important it was to stay absolutely silent and still.
She didn’t fight him, simply stared back as her nostrils flared with each labored breath she took. Buck could feel her heart beating against his chest as the rebels continued to shoot at the helicopter, which was now way out of range.
A huge wave of relief swept over him. The kids were safe. The soldiers were safe. Obi-Wan was safe. They’d succeeded in rescuing the children. Even though he and Amanda were fucked, he was still glad the mission had succeeded as well as it had.
But he and Amanda couldn’t stay here. They were way too close to the rebel camp. And those men in the clearing were beyond outraged. He didn’t know who they were in relation to the rebels, but since they were connected to the kidnapping of twenty-three children, he figured it wasn’t good regardless. They were either there for the girls, or to force the boys to kill or die for their cause.
They were the scum of the earth, and Buck wanted to avoid detection at all costs.
Especially since he had no gun. Hell, he had no supplies, period. No food, no water, no nothing. All he had was the KA-BAR knife he always carried in his flight suit and an old-school compass. His dad had given him the latter for his high schoolgraduation, before he’d headed off to boot camp. And he’d carried it on every mission since becoming a Night Stalker. It might be his only saving grace. His and Amanda’s.
Leaning down, he put his lips right near her ear. Speaking in a tone lower than a whisper, he said, “We need to put space between us and them.”
She nodded, and Buck took a chance and removed his hand from her mouth. She immediately lifted her lips toward his own ear.
After turning his head so she could reach him better, and so she didn’t have to speak any louder than necessary, he heard her tortured words. “There’s a boy missing.”
He shook his head. “No. They were all in the chopper.”
She looked confused. And now she shookherhead. “James. He’s five.”
“He was there. They were all there.”
Buck saw the second the information sank in. The exact moment she realized that her desperate search for a missing boy had been in vain. Saw the despair in her eyes. The fact that she’d missed the chopper for nothing.
He wanted to soothe her. Tell her it would be okay. But things were far from okay at the moment. They were in deep shit, and only time would tell if they made it out of the area without being detected.
He should be pissed at her. Furious that she’d run off on her own. And he was. But he also understood making split-second decisions based on limited intel.
Hadn’t he done the same thing less than a minute ago?
“Stay low. Stay quiet. And follow me,” he ordered.
He waited for her to nod, then slowly slid off her body and motioned with his head to the west. They’d have to circle around the camp. Couldn’t afford to get too close to it.
Well,shecouldn’t. Buck would infiltrate their base to see what he could scavenge.
But first he needed to ensure Amanda’s safety. Find a place to hunker down. Then he’d see what he could steal from the rebels and they’d head east, if possible.
Obi-Wan knew his plan. Buck would lead Amanda to the border one way or another. The jungle had never been one of his favorite places, but it was better than the desert. He hated sand, and would choose being wet over being cooked alive in the desert heat any day.
Ever so slowly, he began to army crawl, keeping his head down and checking on Amanda every few seconds. It would be slow going to get out of the area, but he wasn’t willing to risk being captured. Because he knew without a doubt the rebels wouldn’t give anyone a chance to mount a second rescue attempt.
Theironlychance of making it out of there alive was staying under the radar. Making the rebels think everyone had left in that chopper.
CHAPTER THREE
Amanda felt sick. She hadn’t hesitated to run back into the trees to look for little James…and there’d been no need. He was already in the helicopter. She didn’t blame Michael for the mistake. There were a lot of little bodies, and it was dark, and they’d been awoken from a deep sleep to complete terror.
But as a result of her rash decision, she’d missed her chance to escape.
The chopper had left without her.
