Page 38 of The Search

“So now you call Galen and get him here? Won’t the people in the camp hear the helicopter?”

“The pilot will drop Galen and his men off at the clearing we passed about a mile north. We’ll rendezvous with them there. Then the pilot will pick us up at Rudzak’s camp when it’s clear.”

Her mouth tightened. “You mean when everyone’s killed.”

“I mean when we’ve gotten Bassett out.” He looked directly into her eyes. “Whatever that takes.” He bent over the radio. “You can lecture me later. We’ll have plenty of time. I figure at least an hour before Galen gets here. Now I’ve got to talk to him and tell him to attack the decoy camp.”

“Six dead. One wounded,” Carl Duggan told Rudzak. “But we managed to repel the attack and save the helicopter. And I think we got one of their men. Shall we go after the rest?”

Rudzak gazed around the camp. Two tents were in flames and Duggan was wrong. Rudzak could see seven dead. It had been a savage attack and brilliantly executed. “I didn’t see Logan. Did you?”

Duggan shook his head. “But Galen was there and he’s Logan’s hired man.”

Rudzak gave him a scathing glance. “I know that.”

“Shall we go after them?” Duggan repeated. “It doesn’t have to end here. Give me a chance and we’ll still capture them.”

“Shut up, I’m thinking.” Galen and not Logan. The attack had been brutal, but had Galen been repelled too easily? Seven deaths but no push to completion of the mission.

“I have the men waiting,” Duggan said. “We don’t want to lose them.”

Duggan didn’t realize they had probably already lost them. They had not heard a helicopter, but no doubt Galen had one if he intended to get his men out alive.

And transport them quickly to another location.

Ah, Logan, you think you’ve fooled me.

“We won’t lose them.” Rudzak turned away. “I know where they’re going.”

It was almost nightfall when Galen and his men were dropped off at the glade where Logan and Sarah waited. They streamed out of the helicopter like a Delta Force. Galen’s expression was grim as he waved the helicopter to leave before turning to Logan. “Let’s go.”

Logan turned to Sarah. “Stay here until you hear the helicopter come back. Then come to the camp. We won’t radio the pilot until it’s safe for him to land.”

“How long do you estimate that taking?” Sarah asked.

“At least forty-five minutes.” He shrugged. “Maybe longer. Just don’t come until you hear the helicopter.”

“I’ve no intention of getting close,” Sarah said. “My involvement in this is over. We’ve done our job.”

“Come on, Logan.” Galen was moving down the path into the forest, closely followed by his men. “I lost a man to Rudzak. Let’s get this bullshit over.” The words were curt and his attitude was different from when she had first met him. This was Galen the mercenary, and it was an intimidating change.

The entire situation was intimidating, Sarah thought as she watched the men disappear from view. What was she doing in the middle of a jungle with a bunch of mercenaries and Logan, who carried that damn assault weapon as casually as if it were a briefcase?

Monty pressed closer to her, his gaze on the path.

“No, we wait here, Monty.” So many others could die to save a man who might already be dead. Galen had said one of his men had already been killed.

Logan could die.

Don’t think about it. Just sit here and listen for the helicopter.

Ten minutes.

Twenty.

Thirty.

Thirty-five minutes passed before she heard the helicopter.