Page 79 of Fear No Evil

But she complied. Somehow, miraculously, she did. As the JUNGLA and the rebels mingled, exchanging handshakes and slapping each other’s backs, Lena rolled to her knees and took in her surroundings with a mystified expression.

I don’t get it either, Beautiful.

But then he caught sight of some of the JUNGLA shaking off their jackets as if they were covered in ants. At the sight of the pea-green uniforms beneath the jungle-patterned jackets, Jake nearly choked on his astonishment.Nách mór an diabhal thú!These weren’t the JUNGLA, after all! They were wolves in sheep’s clothing‍—Venezuelans. And they’d been using rubber bullets.

The scene suddenly made perfect sense. In a sneaky guerilla tactic that involved dressing like the enemy, the Venezuelan allies had just convinced the fleeing UN team that Colombian soldiers had shot and killed one of their peacekeepers while attacking the FARC.

The fallout would be tremendous. Within hours, both the United Nations and the International Red Cross would condemn the Colombian government, who would fly into a frenzy trying to prove their innocence‍—something that could take months to do. Only by then, the damage would be done. No one would believe the JUNGLA’s claim of innocence. Colombia would lose big points with its allies, right when it needed them most.

None of that mattered much to Jake. The tragedy here was that Lena was now a hostage of the FARC. Worse still, the Venezuelan marching up to her and Gallo resembled one of themen they’d filed past on their way down fromCecaot-Jicobo. As that man planted himself before Lena, Jake’s mouth went dry with fear. Even from a hundred yards away, Jake read contempt on the Venezuelan’s face as he caught Lena’s chin in one hand, turned her head this way and that, then nodded at Gallo.

The gesture was clear. He recognized her.

Jake briefly closed his eyes. His nightmare was manifesting. When he opened his eyes again, Gallo was clapping a steel band around Lena’s neck, with a length of chain hanging from it. Dread banded Jake’s rib cage, making it hard to breathe.

Lena had been branded a spy.

To prove his power over her, Gallo gave the chain a jerk, then laughed coarsely as she spilled to her knees. Jake couldn’t see the look on her face, but he didn’t need to in order to sense her fury as she rose slowly to her feet.

Don’t do it, Lena. But, of course, she did. She kicked Gallo where it hurt the most. Themondocrumpled with a shout of pain. The soldiers who were watching all hooted with laughter. But the Venezuelan who’d recognized her clocked her for her gall, and Lena crumpled a second time.

Jake couldn’t watch. Pressing his forehead to the tree’s rough bark, he begged, “Enough. No more, Father. Please!”

The whine of motors cut through his anguish, dragging his attention back to the field as two ATVs shot into view and headed straight toward the two parties. As Marquez, Gallo, and the Venezuelan broke away from the others, it became apparent the ATVs were for the leaders.

Tugging Lena along like a dog, Gallo hobbled toward the first ATV, then forced her to climb on in front of him before sandwiching her between himself and the driver. Marquez and the man who’d recognized Lena boarded the other ATV. Then those four shot away from the field, leaving the allied soldiers to walk back to El Castillo.

Through eyes that burned, Jake kept Lena in his sights until the ATVs zipped behind the red-roofed building and disappeared into the tree line. He had an inkling of where Lena would be taken‍—to Rebel Central,Ki-kirr-zikis, where General Rojas could interrogate her himself. The thought of Lena alone in that heart of darkness made Jake want to throw back his head and howl.

Why, oh why, hadn’t I listened to my dream?Instead, he’d prayed for God to show him a clearer sign, one he wouldn’t question. Well, here it was.

He couldn’t even go after her yet‍—not alone with no shoes to protect his battered feet and no weapon either. He had to wait for his teammates to find him first.

CHAPTER 16

Pinned on an ATV between Gallo and the driver, Maggie digested her circumstances. How had this happened?She’d been about to clamber onto the Red Cross helicopter, her heart ripped in two by the necessity of leaving Jake behind. Next thing she knew, a burst of gunfire erupted. She’d been hit so hard she’d blacked out. She awoke to Gallo prodding her with the toe of his boot.

Then‍—horror of all horrors‍—the Venezuelancapitánwho’d recognized her, after all, was gripping her face and scrutinizing her features with those reddish-brown eyes she’d never forgotten. He’d nodded, identifying her as the same spy who’d been caught and left to die in the weapons depot in Maiquetía, two years earlier.

This has to be a nightmare.

But it wasn’t, not when she could feel and smell every detail of her environment. As they bumped across the bridge made of split logs, crossing the same river as before but farther downstream, she thought of Jake.

He won’t be coming to my rescue this time.

Isolation wrapped icy fingers around Maggie’s heart. A sob choked her. Jake wasgone. She was being driven up themountain she had hoped never to see again, being led to her death.

Higher and higher they fishtailed, pressing deeper into the vegetation, past the shipment of hidden weapons, pastKi-kirr-zikis, where Rojas’s tower jutted up through the canopy, past the site of the mudslide where she and Jake had realized their sat phone needed drying out‍—coming, at last, to the brickcasita, where she and Jake had spent their final days and nights together. It felt like he should be here, but he was gone.

As they rolled to a stop by the door and the motor cut out, the second ATV carrying the Venezuelan rolled up next to them. Capitán Vargas‍—his name floated up from buried memories. Only Marquez was no longer in the vehicle with him. The driver must have dropped him off at Rebel Central to apprise General Rojas of their accomplishment.

Gallo dismounted first before tugging on the chain, forcing Maggie to step off. All the strength had leeched out of her. One look at the Venezuelan’s brutish expression and she knew: This was not going to end well. He was going to want to know who she really worked for. How did a payroll secretary working for the National Venezuelan Army suddenly become a peacekeeper working for the UN? All Maggie could do was deny they had ever met.

She’d endured mock torture during her training at The Farm. She’d been deprived of water, roughed up, screamed at, and even waterboarded. But the knowledge that her torture wasn’t real had kept her calm and in control.

She wasn’t remotely in control now, as Gallo shoved her into the dwelling. And with Jake gone, the only force left in the universe who could protect her now was God.

David’s last words to her tolled in her head.“Pray, señora, that he is well.”She would be praying for herself now.

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