Page 80 of Fear No Evil

Seated with his back to the same tree he’d hugged earlier, Jake remained motionless all through the rest of the afternoon until nightfall. As the sun sank in the western sky, El Castillo’s shadow fell over him before moving inexorably eastward, devouring the cinder-block building, the field of grass where the Venezuelans had hidden, crawling all the way to the line of wax palm trees on the other side, and up the face of the mountain opposite, until darkness covered everything.

Lena.

Just imagining her torment in that moment, he rocked himself and groaned. He’d been afraid something awful like this might happen. His job was to protect her. Yet, here he was far away from her, barefooted and weaponless. Only God could protect her until his Team got here. Hands gripped together, Jake pressed his forehead to his knuckles and begged for God’s mercy.

“I told you this already. My mother is Venezuelan. I’ve never lived there.”

“Liar.”

As Vargas expelled his foul breath across her cheek, Maggie turned her head as far as the metal collar around her neck permitted.

The fire Gallo had built when they first entered thecasitahad died to embers, their only source of illumination. In the dim light, Vargas’s face resembled that of a gargoyle.

“You were there in the warehouse in Maiquetía, you and that other white woman with the boy. You think I would forget your face, your eyes? Hmm? Who do you work for?” He repeated the question he had asked a dozen times, tugging on her hair so hard that her ponytail came undone, and her raven hair spilled over her shoulders.

Maggie ignored him, sinking deeper into herself, falling back into memories of Jake and her running through the rain, kissing at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Gallo muttered with annoyance at their lack of progress. “It’s growing late. Let’s just leave her tied up and go to sleep.”

“No! I will get the truth out of her yet.” Grabbing her wrists, bound with the fiber cut from one of the hammocks, he hauled her arms over her head and strung her up on an L-bracket, still screwed into the rafter, a remnant of the cocaine processing days.

Maggie found herself on her toes. The new position made it hard to get enough air in her lungs to feed her thundering heart.Now what?As her pants slipped low over her hips, she feared they would strip her naked, and worse.

“What’s this?” Gallo lifted the hem of her T-shirt, causing her to realize with a stab of fear, that he’d discovered her festering incision.

“It’s just a cut. It’s infected.”

Vargas edged Gallo aside and prodded the wound with his filthy finger. “Does this hurt, señora?”

Maggie hissed in a breath at the searing pain.

He laughed maliciously and poked her again. “Tell me who you really are, and I’ll stop. Wait…” His fingers stilled over her angry flesh. “There’s something in here, under her skin.”

Gallo snickered. “It’s probably bot fly larva. They lay their eggs in human flesh.”

Even through her fear and pain, Maggie registered the seriousness of her situation. If Capitán Vargas found the tracking device…She might vanish into the vegetation never to be seen again.

“No, it’s hard, like metal or plastic‍—oh, I know.”

The change in his voice and the flash of certainty in his eyes raised the fine hairs on Maggie’s forearms.No, please. Not this.

“It’s a tracking device. Watch and see.”

The tip of a blade sank into her skin. Spots swam before Maggie’s eyes as she held her scream locked inside. She needed more air! He dug deeper and the dark patches in Maggie’s vision spread until they ran together. Darkness claimed her, bringing sweet oblivion.

Standing on the doorstep, David listened to the two men inside chortling. The evil tenor of their voices struck fear into his heart. Whatever they were doing to Madeleine, it was his fault. He put a shaky hand to the latch and scrounged for the courage to interrupt.

David’s regret over sharing his suspicions with Gallo had grown into self-loathing. Padre Josué had urged him to warn the French couple what he’d done, only David had been too cowardly. When Jacques had been dumped in the river and David witnessed the Frenchwoman’s grief, he’d realizedhewas the one who had murdered Jacques. And now, because of David, Madeleine was being mistreated by the very leaders David had looked up to.

Give me courage, Señor.

With that prayer, he thrust his way into thecasita, drawing up short as Gallo and the Venezuelan captain spun around insurprise. The blood on Vargas’s hands sent David’s horrified gaze to the limp woman hanging from a hook by her bound wrists.

Gallo stalked toward him. “What are you doing here?”

David blurted the lie he had practiced. “I was sent by General Rojas to ensure the captive doesn’t sicken.” Glancing back at Madeleine, he was shocked to see a gaping cut on her hip, blood streaming over her low-hanging pants. What had they done to her? “The general says she is valuable and must not die like the last hostage.” He held his breath, awaiting Gallo’s reaction.

“Hmph.” Gallo sneered and looked back at his friend. “That’s Rojas for you, always milking thecapitalistasfor money. I guess he wants to ransom this spy. Show David here what we found beneath her skin.”

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