Page 24 of Hot Soldier's Rescue

“Yes.”

He rolled off of her fast. “Stay low. This way.”

She mimicked his belly-on-the-ground crawl over to a massive fallen log. He rolled to a sitting position in its shadow and she did the same. He pressed something cold and metal and heavy into her hand. A pistol.

“Fourteen rounds,” he bit out.

“Who am I supposed to shoot at?”

“Anyone who moves.” He pointed with his own handgun over the log toward the road. “The guys who found us first are Army of Freedom. Whoever jumped them is government or bandits. Either way, the second group is the bad guys.”

She frowned. The Colombian government wasn’t technically bad. At least not everyone within it. The army was genuinely trying to contain the drug trade and the violence, to weed out men like Valdiron Garza who’d used their government positions for self-aggrandizement and corruption. But reforms were expensive and slow. When a man’s children were starving, he wasn’t generally inclined to be patient…or give a damn for the legality of a rich cash crop.

Drago popped up beside her, took a moment to sight a target and squeezed off two shots. As he ducked back down, he ordered, “Watch my back.”

That she could do. She scanned the jungle above them for movement of any kind. It was hard to concentrate. She kept flinching as each new volley of gunfire erupted. But then she spotted a shadow creeping down toward them. Vividly aware of her limited ammunition, she took careful aim before firing. A cry in the trees indicated she’d hit her man. The weapon kicked hard in her hand, and she steadied it before taking a second shot at the target. The shadow toppled over.

She picked up her scan of the woods for more targets. There. Off to the right. Just coming out of the trees. The guy had a rifle raised to his shoulder and it was aimed right at Drago’s back! She fired twice in quick succession and was gratified to see the man drop like a stone.

The gunfire faded into silence as fast as it had broken out.

Drago dropped back down beside her and ejected a clip from his pistol. He slammed in another one. “How are you doing for ammo?”

“Ten shots left,” she replied tersely.

He nodded. They waited together, but silence stretched out around them.

“All clear,” someone shouted.

She started to get up, but a hard hand on her arm yanked her back down. “Wait,” he mouthed.

Sure enough, as the Army of Freedom men began to rise from their hiding places, another volley of gunfire broke out. Drago peeked up over the log and took a half-dozen more careful shots. She had to admit, the guy was cool under fire. He took his time and didn’t spray shots wildly into the night. And given the ease with which he handled that gun, she’d bet every shot was hitting its target.

Blessedly, the hillside above them remained quiet and undisturbed.

Finally, several minutes later, another all clear was called out. And this time Drago nodded to her. “Stay here. I’ll go confirm your kills.”

She blinked, startled. Her kills? It dawned on her that she’d shot two men. Her hands started to shake, and then her knees. She’d shot two men. How on earth was she going to explain that and still maintain her cover as a nun? In her panic, had she just blown the whole rescue?

She replayed the movements in the jungle above her in her mind’s eye. No, if she hadn’t shot those men, they’d have killed her and Drago. It had been a kill or be killed scenario. But still. She was supposed to be a nun. They didn’t kill people, did they? She was pretty sure the “Thou shalt not kill” clause was nonnegotiable.

She swore under her breath.

Drago slid back down the hill to her position. “Good shooting,” he commented. “Where’d you learn to do that?”

She couldn’t very well tell him that gang members in various New York neighborhoods had shown her how to handle a weapon and urged her to pack a piece for her own safety. The funny bit had been that they’d all been trying to protect her from each other. As long as she’d been the lady with the medical kit who’d treated all of them impartially and without questions, she’d been safe in the middle of the gang wars.

She shrugged and took the hand he held down to her. Their palms met and memory of that steamy kiss in the tent slammed through her.

Drago lifted her to her feet and didn’t release her hand. Instead, he tugged her nearer, murmuring under his breath, “A nun who kisses like she wants more and kills a man without hesitation? Who are you?”

“Aah. There you are,” a male voice called out from behind them. “Nice shooting, Drago. Obviously you are familiar with your products, amigo.”

Drago released her hand as the leader of the rebel patrol climbed toward them, and she stumbled back, abjectly relieved.

“You have eyes in the back of your head?” the rebel leader asked. “You are very fast, indeed, to have shot those men in front of you and the ones behind you.”

Elise’s eyes opened wide in dismay. No way would these guys believe a nun had killed a couple of men. Her cover was so blown.

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