Page 35 of Hot Soldier's Rescue

“Ha. Try me. I’m a jaguar.” She growled and tickled the little girl until she giggled. Elise pulled Mia into her lap and gave her another big hug. She was going to keep on hugging and tickling and talking to Mia until that giggle came to her as easily as breathing.

The child drew in a wobbly breath and released it slowly. Aah, what Elise wouldn’t have given to have somebody take her in their lap and hold her close after her parents had died. It hadn’t been until Father Ambrose climbed up on that bridge beside her that she’d felt any connection to any other human being at all. He’d been her first and only reminder for a long time that human beings were capable of as much kindness and compassion as they were of cruelty.

Thank God her path had led her to this little girl within a few weeks of Garza’s death. Now, if only she could share enough love and compassion to reach past Mia’s grief and mistrust of mankind in the same way Father Ambrose had for her. She cursed the priest good-naturedly in her head. He was a sly one, he was, to send her to these children with whom she had so very much in common.

“Are we ready to head out again?” Elise asked more cheerfully than she felt. “The superhero league is waiting for our report, fellow superspies.”

Emanuel, recharged after a few minutes of rest, bounded to his feet. “Let’s go!”

Elise made everyone take a big drink of water and refilled the jug before they waded across the stream. Her legs hurt and her back was tired. But if Grandma could do this without a whimper, then so could she. As they headed out, the older woman’s gaze caught hers, and her rheumy eyes twinkled. Grandma knew full well she was shaming all of them into not complaining. She was a tough old bird, all right. Elise grinned back. They continued on, ever deeper into the jungle.

* * *

Ted duckedinto the shadow of a palmetto bush and swore under his breath. Helpless rage tore through him as army soldiers streamed into the village, breaking down doors and shooting anything that moved. He couldn’t begin to stop them all. If Elise and the kids were still in Acuna, he was about to witness their grisly deaths.

He had to do something. Had to save them!

He muttered urgently, “I need infrared imaging ASAP. Any children inside any of these buildings?” He figured wherever the kids were, that would be where Elise was.

“Negative. Five adults in the fifth building on your left, but that’s it.”

Automatic weapon fire erupted from that very building just then. Make that five dead adults. Normally, he watched this sort of slaughter with cold detachment. It wasn’t that he was unaffected by death, particularly the death of innocents. But he had a job to do. And that required him maintaining the ability to think coolly and rationally in the face of violence. He’d feel bad about the dead people later.

For just a moment, he wondered how many orphans he’d created over the years. How many parents had he killed in the line of duty? He shoved the thought aside. He’d just been doing his job. That was all that mattered, right?

For a moment there, however, when he’d thought Elise might be gunned down before him, he’d nearly panicked. Only a decade’s worth of discipline, pounded into him by a hundred encounters like this one, saved him from doing something suicidally stupid. He was definitely losing the touch for this sort of stuff. A low-level hum of dismay started low in his gut. What was he supposed to do when he could no longer do this? Later. He’d think about that later. Right now he had an intensely irritating nun and her charges to track down.

His relief that Elise and the kids had apparently made it out of Acuna made him light-headed. He took a deep, steadying breath. She was okay. The kids were okay. Except he’d never even met her blasted orphans. Why was he so concerned about them, anyway? The answer came to him but tasted sour on his tongue. He cared about them because Elise cared about them. What was important to her was apparently important to him. And when had that unpleasant little development taken place?

Scowling, he snapped into his microphone, “Any idea where the inhabitants of the village have gone?”

“We picked up telemetry of some folks making their way west into the jungle. They’re probably hiding until the army and the rebels clear out.”

Abject relief flowed through him. It had to have been Elise. She’d gotten the children out to safety. Thank God. That being the case, his work here was done. He had no need to get into the middle of a firefight that didn’t involve him or his mission. “Roger, H.O.T. Watch. I’m out of here.”

“Be advised, it looks like your friend, Raoul, has just arrived. The tracking burr you put on him is working perfectly,” the H.O.T. Watch controller surprised him by announcing.

He swore under his breath. “Is he alone?” Ted bit out.

“Nope. He and three Jeep-loads of guys just rolled up on the rebel position.”

“Is that enough to take the army patrol?”

“Not with the army’s armaments. If the army figures out a major rebel leader is in range, they’ll hit Raoul and company with everything they’ve got.”

He thought back to the mortar- and shoulder-launched-rocket fire he’d been hearing. Surprised, he asked, “You mean the army hasn’t used everything they’ve got, yet?”

“Not even close. They’ve got close to fifty men, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and heavy artillery. They’ll shred the jungle and everyone in it if they cut loose.”

Killing Raoul would neatly solve his immediate problem of stopping the Army of Freedom from blowing up a bunch of civilian airliners. Except for the fact that some new leader would step into the power vacuum caused by Raoul’s death. Which would leave him back at square zero in making contact with the Army of Freedom leadership. And who knew what grandiose schemes the next leader would cook up in the meantime? Like it or not, he had to go save Raoul.

His gut pulled him west, toward Elise and the children. But his head told him he had to stay here. See this battle through for the sake of his primary mission. He had to get word to the rebels to bug out and not take on this army force today.

Ted sighed. “How far south do I have to go to circle around behind the Army of Freedom position so I can approach them from the rear?”

“Four hundred meters should do it.”

“Roger. Moving out.” He couldn’t believe he was about to save a bunch of rebel insurgents from the legitimate government of this country. But that was the nature of his work. Covert ops made for strange bedfellows. An image of Elise in his bed flashed through his head. He shoved aside the image hastily. Not going to happen. Ever. Get over it. Get over her. For some reason, however, his psyche wasn’t on board with that concept. Face it, he lectured himself as he crawled through the underbrush. She was hot and he wanted her, wimple or no.

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