Lib Novel Page 12
“Well, I didn’t know you were going to come to a stop like that.”
Then, Sean looked around. “I know this area.”
Young glanced at him. “You do?”
He heard the skepticism and shook his head. He noticed a cargo truck sitting on the side of the road. “We can’t stand here and discuss it. We need to get the fuck out of here, and I know a place we can stay.”
This time he took the lead, going across the road then back into the jungle. He knew if they got to the next road over, they were home free. They could definitely get a ride into Bulusan there and get the fuck off the island.
Then, another shot rang out from behind them. It flew past Sean and hit the tree by his head. A piece of bark from the trunk flew off and hit him in the forehead.
“Motherfuck.”
It wasn’t that big, but the sharp edge of it had connected with his head. His first instinct was to move forward, but he heard Young stumble. When Sean turned around, Young staggered to his feet. His partner looked down at his upper arm.
“Fucking hell.”
A basic flesh wound, but Sean knew it probably stung like a bitch.
“Come on.”
“Go, keep going. There’s only one.”
Sean shook his head and hurried back to him. “You go, I’ll watch your back.”
Young agreed and went on his way. Sean stood still watching the forest, then he saw the flash of movement. He raised his rifle and waited. Movement again, and Sean took a shot. There was a yell, then cursing in a language he didn’t know, but he was pretty sure it was Eastern European of some sort.
“Kaheaku, what the fuck?”
“Go,” he said turning back to Young. “I know a place up here we can stay, no questions, and we can dress that wound.”
“Who did you just shoot?”
“I have a feeling it was supposed to be their lookout.”
Young opened his mouth, but Sean wasn’t in the mood for it. “Just fucking go. I don’t want to wait for the others to catch up.”
Young did as Sean had ordered, and he followed his partner as he tried to figure out just what the hell had happened, and just how the hell they would get themselves out of the mess.
Eight
Randy had been in some horrible situations before this. There was the time he’d been pinned down outside of Kandahar, and they had lost three of the team members. He’d lost another one of his former SEAL team members to suicide when he couldn’t cope with the memories. None of that could compare to the clusterfuck this assignment had brought about.
“Up here,” Kaheaku said. He glanced at his partner and nodded. Randy’s pain was escalating with each step he took. Worse, he kept thinking about infection. He just wanted to get it cleaned out and dressed. Running around the jungle was probably not a good idea with an open wound.
They stepped into a clearing. There was a building there, which apparently operated as some sort of hotel. He glanced at Kaheaku, who shrugged.
“Not the greatest accommodations, but I figured a former SEAL could handle it.”
Randy nodded and followed him up. There was very little activity around it, but it was pretty evident he was one of the very few Caucasians in the area. Add in that most of the men refused to make eye contact. Uneasiness slipped down his spine.
“Aren’t you worried we’ll get noticed?”
Sean shook his head. “No. Most of these people don’t want anyone to know what they’re doing. Not here anyway.”
Randy studied the group again. Some were dressed in clothes similar to what he and Kaheaku wore. Cargo pants, t-shirts, boots. But, there were men in business suits, and almost everyone there was male. And the men were the only ones in couples. It hit him that this was probably secluded for a reason.
He glanced at his companion again. “Is there a reason you know about this place?”