He ran back in the direction she’d gone.
“Tessa?”
“Here,” she said, her voice small and shaky.
He turned around and spotted her curled against the back of a rock, trying to look as small as possible.
“I thought he was going to shoot you,” she said.
“I’m okay. Everything’s fine. Just like I told you.”
“Is he…”
“He’s not going to bother us,” Abraham said, and held out his hand. “Come on. We need to keep going.”
CHAPTER 35
Gloria looked up the earthen stairs at the trapdoor and grimaced.
If the others were smart, and she knew they were, they’d be waiting above for her and her men to stick their heads out.
“Back the other way?” King asked.
That solution sucked, too. By the time they worked their way out of the tunnel and then all the way back here at ground level, the others could be long gone. Sure, Nolan was out there somewhere, but she put his odds alone against Quinn and his friends at zero.
She grabbed King’s shoulder, turned him around, and dug out the last two canisters of tear gas from the backpack.
Once they had their masks on, she said, “Now.”
With a shove from King, the door flew open. Gloria sent the first canister flying out to the left and the second to the right. They waited until the gas drifted across the opening.
“Go,” she said.
King went first, Andres second, both swinging their guns left and right as they raced out of the tunnel.
Gloria hung back until she was sure there was no gunfire, and then joined them.
“No one here,” King said, after finishing a sweep.
Apparently Quinn wasn’t so smart after all. Too bad she had to waste the last of the gas to find out.
“There’s a path on this side,” Andres said. “Lots of footprints.”
The trail was not without its obstacles, especially when running flat out like Quinn was. Fronds and leaves and branches swiped at him from the top, while roots and rocks and mud attacked from the bottom. So far he had been able to keep from falling, but there’d been a few close calls.
Ahead, Desirae had come to a stop and was scanning the jungle to either side of the path.
“It was around here somewhere, wasn’t it?” she asked when he reached her.
“About right, I think.” He looked behind him to see what Orlando and Nate thought, but neither of them was there.
The last time he’d seen Orlando was when he’d passed her on the uphill slope. She’d waved him ahead, saying she’d be right behind him. He took four quick paces back down the trail, and she and Nate suddenly appeared around a bend. They were jogging at best, Orlando first, looking winded, with Nate right behind her.
He ran over to them. “What happened? Are you all right?” he asked, putting an arm around her waist and taking some of her weight.
She seemed glad for his help. “Not quite up to sprinting condition at the moment,” she said.
He hadn’t been thinking. He should have found her someplace safe to wait it out. He gave Nate a nod of thanks for hanging back with her and then guided them over to Desirae.
“We should fan out,” Desirae said. “She had to have been around here somewhere when she screamed.”
They didn’t find Tessa or Abraham, but Quinn did find the body of one of the men he and Nate had dealt with in Virginia. Two shots to the chest had done the job.
In a hushed voice, he called to the others.
“Jesus,” Desirae whispered, then quickly looked around. “Any signs someone else was hurt?”
“A definite struggle,” Quinn said. “But the only blood is here.”
“They must have kept going,” Orlando said.
“Let’s go, let’s go,” Desirae said and took off back to the path.
“Slow down,” Quinn called to her. “We need to be smart. This guy might not have been alone.”
Desirae made no attempt to slow.
“Dammit,” Quinn said. “Nate?”
“On it,” Nate said and took off after her.
Quinn turned to Orlando. “Do you need more rest?”
“No, I’m okay,” she said. “Just go. You don’t have to babysit me.”
“Yeah, well, tough. You first.”
Gloria heard noise about two hundred yards up ahead. Running, more than one person, the sound fading fast.
“Double time,” she said. “King, you’re in front. Andres, you’re rear guard.”
“I need a second,” Abraham said as they neared a rock he could lean on. The fight had once more reminded him he wasn’t a young man anymore.
“You’re not having a heart attack, are you?” Tessa asked.
“No,” he said, trying to smile. “Just…need to catch my breath.”
“How old are you?”
“Old enough.” He huffed, rapidly at first, drawing in as much air as he could. When his breathing was closer to normal, he said, “All right. I’m ready.”
They moved farther into the valley, their pace about half as fast as it was before. As the path began to level off, Tessa whipped around and looked back beyond Abraham.
“What is it?” he asked.
“You didn’t hear that?” she asked, fear returning to her eyes. “Someone’s back there.”
He followed her gaze. While they were walking, he hadn’t been able to hear anything above the sound of his own labored breathing, but now he could pick it out — someone coming fast down the trail.
“Quick,” he said. “Into the brush.”
As he followed Tessa off the trail, his toe caught on a thick root. One second he was up, and the next he was sprawled on the jungle floor, his knee throbbing in pain and the gun he was carrying gone.
Tessa skidded to a stop a few feet in front of him and looked back.
“Run!” he said. “Go!”
From down the path he heard bushes part. He tried to see who was coming but there were too many bushes in his way. He twisted his head back to make sure Tessa was gone. But she was still there, aiming the gun he’d dropped toward the path.
“Whoa!” a male voice said. “Tessa, it’s okay. It’s Nate. I’m a friend, remember?”
“Terri, put it down.”
Tessa lowered the gun a few inches. “Mom?”
“Sweetie, put the gun down.”
Tessa let the gun drop to the ground and ran to her mother. As they threw their arms around each other, Nate knelt down next to Abraham.
“What happened?” he asked.
“When we heard you coming we tried to hide, but I tripped,” Abraham said. “Stupid.”
“Are you hurt?”
“Tweaked my knee, I think.”
“Roll on your back.”
Abraham did so, but not without pain. As Nate gently probed his knee, Quinn and Orlando showed up.
“What happened?” Orlando asked.
Nate repeated what Abraham had told him.
“Let’s see if you can walk,” Quinn said.
He and Nate helped Abraham to his feet. As Abraham applied pressure to his injured knee, a jolt of pain rushed up his leg. He staggered, wincing, and would have fallen if the other two hadn’t been holding on to him.
“I think that’s a no,” Nate said.
Abraham sighed. “Not my best day, I guess.”
“We’ve got to keep moving,” Quinn said. “Nate and I can help you.”
Abraham shook his head. “Path’s too narrow and I’d slow you down. You go. I’ll hide out here. You can come and get me later.”
Quinn looked at Orlando.
“Not a choice,” Abraham said. He used Nate to lower himself to the ground. “Get Tessa out of here. I’ll be fine.”
Orlando did not look happy, but she held out her pistol to him. “At least take this.”