Page 30 of Her Wicked Hero

“Come closer. It’s time for you to get some sleep,” Zed said as he tugged her closer to his side. With one last look over at Nurul and Hana, Marcia settled in against Zed and closed her eyes.

6

He was sick of this shit. All he wanted to do was take out Raymond, but he couldn’t take the time to search for him. He needed to focus on getting food for the women and especially milk for Hana.

Zed saw the houseboat tied up with two canoes and one twelve seat motorboat. It was an hour before dawn, the camp was quiet, but just in case he was spotted, he dressed in the civilian clothes Wyatt had obtained for him. He had body armor, a pistol, and two knives hidden underneath his clothes. He didn’t bring his rifle with him, he’d left it with Marcia.

He sure as fuck didn’t intend to be spotted, but the rule was to plan for the worst, and hope for the best. There was one building that looked more lived in, Zed assumed it was where the owners lived. The three cabins with thatched roofs were identical, down to the pots of flowers on the porch.

Zed saw a light in the owner’s house, then the front door opened. A woman came out. He slipped behind one of the cabins, watching as she walked to the side of the house. In the quiet of the morning, her voice carried.

“Good morning. I hope you didn’t mind staying in our old cabin.”

“Alice, it was a lot more comfortable than the houseboat. I really appreciate it. I just want to thank you for fitting me in for the tour at the last minute.”

“Mr. Raymond, it is our pleasure,” the small woman said in accented English. “I came to tell you that there is a call for you on the satellite phone inside. I think it is the one you’re waiting for.”

“That’s good news,” Raymond sounded positively gleeful. They both came into view and Zed finally had his first look at Raymond. The man was big and blonde and was totally aware of his environment. Zed had his gun in his hand before he even realized it, but then Raymond had positioned the woman so he was always between her and the small house. He was a cautious bastard.

“After your call, you can have an early breakfast. Usually, the tourists get up an hour or two after sunrise, and I make breakfast in the common area.” She ushered him into the house.

Zed considered his options. Attempting to take out Raymond now should be pretty damned easy even if he was cautious, but if he failed, he’d be leaving Marcia, Nurul, and the baby defenseless. Her having the rifle for protection really didn’t mean a damn thing. But if he waited until the team came, then Raymond would be toast, and Marcia would be one hundred percent safe.

Get the milk. Get the food.

He hated being thirty-six. Wisdom sucked. There is no way he would have made this decision in his twenties. He headed toward the common area to get the milk and food.

Zed’s lip tilted upward when he saw the small area in the middle of the camp that had open seating and a thatched roof. The good news was there were three dilapidated large coolers. All three of them had padlocks, apparently, the couple who owned the camp didn’t trust their guests, and he wasn’t going to do anything to instill trust.

Zed continued to watch around the area, listening for anything that indicated he wasn’t alone. When he was sure he was alone, he got out his K-Bar and broke the lock on the largest cooler.

Paydirt!

Riceballs, biscuits, bananas, shrimp, sliced cucumbers, bottles of water, and three pitchers of liquid, one of which was milk. Quickly, he poured out one of the liter bottles of water and filled it with the milk. He filled the empty duffle bag he’d brought with him with his loot and took another look around as he quietly closed the lid of the cooler.

He would need to hide the women deeper in the jungle after his raid on the food, just to be on the safe side. He left the camp the opposite way he came in, so he wouldn’t have to go past the couple’s home. He didn’t want any chance of running into Raymond.

Blood. There was blood everywhere. How could there be so much blood?

Marcia stumbled. Her leg hurt so bad. She fell down, and spears of sunlight were piercing her eyes. She slammed them shut.

What the heck was wrong with her? She couldn’t sit up.

“Marcia?” Nurul’s voice was coming from far away. Marcia opened her eyes and could only see a black shadow she had to assume was Nurul. Finally, her beautiful brown features came into focus, then they were at the end of a long tunnel.

Did she hear a baby crying?

Get it together Price.

“Marcia?” Nurul patted her face, then pulled on her arm. Marcia tried to sit up, pushing up with her arms and legs and let out a shriek. Her leg felt on fire. She looked down, it was covered in blood. And there was still portions of flesh that weren’t hers attached. Then she remembered. The snake.

She looked over at the huge snake that had slithered down out of the tree. It had been headed toward Hana, and Marcia had pushed them out of the way. Then the python had sunk its teeth into her leg then began wrapping its coils around her and started to squeeze. And squeeze. And squeeze.

She still didn’t know how she had managed to pull the rifle over to her and pull the trigger. But she had. She’d shot over and over again. Then there was nothing, everything went dark.

Nurul stopped trying to pull her up, instead, she was doing something that hurt.

“Stop. Please stop,” Marcia whimpered. She propped herself up and saw the young woman straining to pry open the jaws of the dead snake. It was the last part of the reptile that was attached to Marcia. As soon as Nurul got it off, she threw it into the trees.