Page 26 of Bad Rio

Five men, all dressed in drab camouflage, stood around talking. She wondered howoperativeswere supposed to look.

Below, they heard a shout. A man on the edge of the valley pointed upward into their direction.

“Shit,” Rio muttered. “We’re busted.” In a hurry, he slid backward off their rock and landed on his feet. “Get down. We’re outta here.”

She slid off and he caught her. “Wait.” She put her hands on his forearms. “Aren’t those guys here to take me home? I need to go to those men, not away from them.”

“We’ve been double-crossed,” he said. “Those guys aren’t friendlies. They’ll kill me, grab you, and you’re right back where you started. In trouble. Maybe worse trouble.”

“But ... how do you know that?” It seemed like she’d asked him that same question a dozen times.

“Experience. I’ve been in battle, in war. I’ve faced the enemies. I smell a rat.”

She shook her head. None of this made sense. She should be going down into the valley, into those men’s care. They’d been tasked to take her home. Oh, how she longed to gohome. What was Rio talking about?

He watched her face. “Looks like you get to choose again, Becca.”

“Choose?” she squeaked.

They heard voices moving closer.

“Choose me,” he said. “Or them.”

She gaped. The night spun around her and she went lightheaded. Confusion filled her mind. A team had been sent for her and Rio was saying the opposite? To her, nothing she’d seen about the men looked suspicious. What had he noticed that she hadn’t?

“Buttercup,” he whispered the endearment, “I’ll take care of you. I’ll keep you safe.Trustme.” He threw a glance over the boulder. “You have five seconds.”

She needed one.

Together they ran, slid, and half-tumbled down the mountainside back to the scooter.

Abruptly, gunfire shattered the night.

Chapter Eleven

Rio grabbed the Vespa. As one, both he and Becca leaped aboard. Just as they had when Rio first took her from the cantina bathroom, bullets whined overhead, and cut into the ground around them. Sounds of shouting voices and thudding boots came down from above them.

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