AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Any other threats? Hippos?”
Willow knew how dangerous hippos were. “Not where we’re coming out of the river If I remember right? If we go this way,” and she pointed across the river, “the main highway is about three miles away. Once we get there? We can flag someone down and get back into town.”
“Good plan.”
They went over a small rise and then, on the other side, was the wide, dark-green river. Willow skidded to a halt, gulping in raspy breaths. Shep halted, placing himself between her and the river, intently sweeping the area. They were both breathing so hard that Willow couldn’t hear anything else. She leaned over, hands on her knees, trying to quieten her gasps. “Do you hear anything?”
“No… not yet.”
She straightened, peering through the shadowy sunlit-laced woods. Here and there, her deceived eyes saw dark shapes resembling soldiers coming at them. It was just her wired-up brain letting its imagination run wild. But it scared her just the same. “What if they don’t follow us, Shep?” she asked, her voice hoarse.
“No, we can’t take that chance.”
She saw him with his pistol in hand, holding it upward, ready to fire if necessary. Shep was on full guard, tense, constantly sweeping the area with his gaze, waiting and watching. Gulping, she gasped, “We have a cell phone with us, but I don’t know if it will work all the way out here. We need to call Luke. He’s back in Bahir Dar with Dev today.”
Shep glanced at her, away from his scanning for a moment, and said, “Yeah, and I didn’t think to bring our satellite phone with us. That was a stupid mistake on my part, dammit.”
Willow reached out, resting her hand on his tense shoulder, the fabric of his t-shirt damp. “Don’t go there.”
“We were warned David was in the area, that he could go after us,” he muttered, angry with himself.
“I’ve got the cell phone,” she muttered back, hauling off her knapsack, kneeling, opening it up. She scoured the insides and found it. Hands shaking, she opened it and put in a call to Dev’s cell phone. Still breathing erratically, she pressed it to her ear, kneeling, Shep guarding her.
Her heart felt like it was tearing out of her chest. There was no ringtone. She looked at her iPhone. No bars. Making a harsh sound, she said, “It won’t connect. There’s no tower nearby. Dammit!” Rising, she put the phone in a waterproof bag and dropped it back into the knapsack, zipping it shut.
Shep’s mouth tightened. He jerked a look across his shoulder at the river. “We don’t have many choices, Willow. These guys will know how to track. They’ll follow us if they’re serious about capturing us. And I think that’s what they want to do.”
“Then why shoot at us?”
“Hell, if I know. I counted ten rifles firing at us.”
She stood, coming to his side, seeing the dark splotches of sweat across his upper body. She was running sweat as well. Her mind whirled with options. “Then, our only card to play is jumping in the river and riding the current to the other bank. That way, there’s no footprints for them to follow.”
“Right. They can’t track us any further if our tracks end on the riverbank.”
“But they’ll figure it out, Shep. They’ll know we jumped in. There’s only one way the river flows. They’ll follow downstream along the bank, trying to find us.”
Shep asked, “Maybe we’ll get into cell phone coverage heading toward the highway and can call for help?”
Grimly, Willow replied, “Yes, but we’ve got miles through the forest to reach that highway. Another possibility is to ride the current all the way to the mouth of the river, get out, and stay hidden inside the woods.”
Shep quickly said back, “Yeah, but what if David and his soldiers think the same thing? There’s at least ten of them. They could try and surround us or they could get ahead of us because they know this area.”
He was right. Willow swallowed hard, looking around, terror filling her. “You’re right. I say we go with Plan A: jump in the river, get out on the other side, make our way concealed through the reeds and tree groves and head in that direction, toward the highway,” She pointed toward the general area. “That doesn’t guarantee that David won’t find where we got out of the river, though. If he wants us bad enough? He’ll put trackers on both banks and follow it down. He’ll find where we got out and start tracking us again.”
Cursing softly, Shep considered the options. He looked up, at the sun climbing in the sky, at his watch, and then back over at her. “Agreed. We ride the current to the other bank, climb out, and hot foot it for that highway.”
“Seems best.” She wiped her sweaty face, tightening her ponytail’s rubber band in her hair. She searched Shep’s hard, glistening face, seeing the warrior in it coming out now. It made her feel ridiculously safe when there really wasn’t any safety at all for either of them. “I know Dev and Luke were also going on a picnic this morning. I don’t know where. They might end up being out of cell phone reach, too.”
“Can’t be helped,” he muttered. “We’ll do the best we can. I don’t know how brazen David is with his soldiers. I don’t know if he’ll maybe even loiter around, watching the parking lot to see if we show up to get to your SUV or not.”
“I don’t know his tactics at all, Shep. I agree, we can’t go back there until we can either contact Luke or get through to General Hakym’s men. I have a phone number in Bahir Dar for the barracks they have there, but as long as we’re out of cell tower reach, it’s no good to us.”
“Out in the middle of nowhere,” he agreed darkly, his mouth thinning as he warily watched the area around them.
They were both breathing easier now, and Willow keyed her hearing. “I don’t hear men crashing through the forest. Do you?”
“No, but that doesn’t mean anything, Willow. These men are hunters. They know how to move fast and silent.” He glanced at his watch. “We need to get into the river.” He took his pistol, took the bullet out of the chamber and safed it. “Your knapsack is waterproof, mine isn’t. Let me put my pistol in there.”
