Page 17 of Her Faithful Protector

“He said to move your ass,” El Jefe answered in English from the Jeep he was driving. He laughed. “Do you want a ride?”

“Yes,” Roxanne nodded eagerly.

“What are you willing to trade for one?”

“Ignore him,” Camilla told the girl.

“But—”

“You need to ignore him,” Camilla said again.

“Don’t be a spoilsport. If I give her a ride, maybe she’ll give me a ride. What do you think, pretty girl, is it a trade?”

Roxanne whimpered and started to walk faster. Camilla shot the man a dark look. He laughed again.

“She’ll change her tune in a couple more hours.” He gunned the engine and drove up to the front of the rag-tag line of prisoners. Camilla narrowed her eyes as she watched him. She needed the bug spray in her backpack. She slapped at another mosquito and wanted to scream or cry.

Keep it together, Ross! Crying is for babies.

Camilla bit her lip and saw tear tracks on Roxanne’s cheeks. She wanted to comfort the girl, but she was walking at a good clip at the moment, and Camilla didn’t want to interrupt her flow.

A horn honking reverberated through the jungle and everybody stopped walking. Camilla could see El Jefe standing on top of the hood of his Jeep, then he raised his rifle and let off some shots. Roxanne whimpered and Camilla winced.

“We’re going to camp here for the night,” he said in English.

Camilla couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t even sundown and the man was going to let them rest. She hoped that this time they would be allowed to get their belongings. She really wanted to clean up, maybe change her clothes.

“Come here,” El Jefe roared as he pointed at Jan Hines. Camilla couldn’t see her expression, but both Lisa Garcia and her boyfriend Paul Jeffries moved in on either side of her.

“What do you want with her?” Lisa demanded to know.

“Stay out of this if you want to stay alive,” the boss said in Spanish. “It’s time to start the ransom demands.”

When Jan clung to Paul, El Jefe tilted his chin at one of his men and he meandered over and elbowed Paul in his neck. The young man dropped to the ground. Jan and a couple of the other girls shrieked. Lisa made a lunge toward the kidnapper as he grabbed Jan’s elbows and jerked them behind her back. She cried out in pain.

“Stop it! Don’t hurt her,” Lisa yelled.

“Bitch, I told you not to interfere,” El Jefe hollered in Spanish. “Don’t force me to make an example of you to all of these Americans. I’ll do it, but it’ll be a waste.”

“You don’t have to hurt her,” Lisa tried to argue reasonably.

“Don’t cross me.” The big man glared at her. His minion brought Jan to El Jefe, who hauled her up onto the hood of the Jeep. He made her kneel down in front of him.

“Which rich bitch are you?” he demanded to know. He was holding a handful of passports.

“Jan. I’m Jan,” she stuttered.

He rolled his eyes. “What is your last name?”

Jan didn’t say anything as tears started rolling down her face. Camilla wanted to rush up to the Jeep and grab her into her arms. Lisa walked to the Jeep and El Jefe gave her a fierce look.

“You’re pushing your luck,” he spit out in Spanish.

“You’re scaring her so badly, she can’t even remember her own name. You need my help.”

“Fine. Make her talk.”

“Let her down from there,” Lisa said. Camilla wanted to cheer for the woman. At the same time, she wanted to yell at her for putting herself in danger like that.