Hostage Zero

Isabella led the way back to her hut, the one from which she’d just emerged. Jonathan held back while Harvey led and Boxers stayed in the middle of the yard, looking scary. Hey, do what you’re good at. Isabella stopped at the doorway and motioned for Harvey to go in first. As they approached, Jonathan heard moaning, and then caught a glimpse of movement inside. It had the look and feel of a bedside death watch. Harvey must have caught the same vibe, because he shot a concerned look back at his boss before stepping across the threshold. Jonathan started to follow, but Isabella held up a hand to stop him.

“Not you,” she said. And then she shouted something to the gathered villagers in such quick dialect that Jonathan caught very little of it. He heard the words for welcome and food, though, so he had a good idea what the intent was.

Moving as one, the villagers closed in. Instantly friendly, they surrounded Jonathan and Boxers like they were family, flooding them with offers to sit and relax. Benches appeared in the middle of the compound, and then some tables, and within a couple of minutes, food started to arrive. Jonathan had no idea what it was, but the enthusiasm with which it was presented told him that he was receiving special treatment.

Following Jonathan’s lead, Boxers slipped out of his gear and helmet, but kept it all close by. Neither of them removed their weapons. This was a party, and they were the guests of honor. The villagers seemed fascinated by Boxers’ size. Jonathan took odd pleasure in the Big Guy’s obvious discomfort at being scrutinized.

Jonathan had positioned himself in a way to be able to watch the hut that had swallowed the third member of his team. Thirteen minutes into the party, Harvey reappeared, absent all of his equipment but his sidearm. He looked shaken, and there was blood on front of his uniform.

“Excuse me,” Jonathan said, and he rose from the table.

Boxers mimicked the action, moving like Jonathan’s reflection. “What’s up?” Then he turned and saw it, too. “Oh, this can’t be good,” he mumbled.

Jonathan closed half the distance and waited for Harvey to join him. “Are you all right?” Jonathan asked. “You look terrible.”

“We’re hunting animals, Boss,” Harvey said. “Fucking animals. You should see what they did to that little girl in there. She’s fourteen, for God’s sake.”

Jonathan felt the heat in his neck. He had no desire to see. He’d seen enough and lost far too much to the kind of human predators that Harvey described. Everything that Felipe had told him was turning out to be true.

“Will she be okay?” Jonathan asked.

“I think she’ll live,” Harvey replied. “Being okay is a little too vague. A little too relative.”

“Where is your weapon and equipment?” Boxers asked.

Harvey pointed back to the hut. “I’ll get them in a minute.”

“What, are you crazy?” Boxers said. “You can’t just-”

“Hush, Box,” Jonathan said.

“And what’s with the real names all of a sudden?”

“What part of ‘hush’ confused you?” Jonathan grumped. To Harvey: “Are you okay?”

Harvey shifted just his eyes to look at him. “She’s fourteen,” he repeated. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just been a long time.” He pivoted on his heel to return, then stopped and looked back. “More and more mission capable every minute.”

Navarro drove a twenty-year-old Ford Bronco with enormous knobbed tires and more rust than paint on the body. “Buying vehicles is one of the toughest parts of living an anonymous life,” he explained to Gail as he carefully piloted the vehicle onto the main road off his potholed driveway. The attackers were all dead, and everything he owned was on fire. They’d hung around checking things out for about fifteen minutes, but then knew it was time to get going before emergency vehicles started responding to the smoke.

Bruce hadn’t so much as cast a longing glance at his blazing home as they drove away. “If your car’s not a piece of crap that you can pick up for a few thousand bucks, you’re either going to leave a paper trail, or people are going to notice. That was hard for me, getting over the need to be noticed.”

They drove in silence for a while. “Think I’ll see jail time?” he asked.

Gail looked at him and gauged her answer, which could not have been more different than the one she would have given a year ago, when she was still a cop. “Not if you play your cards right.”

She had his attention.

“Think about it. You’ve got the kind of information that will make a prosecutor’s case. You can make them heroes. That kind of information comes with a price.” She let it settle on him. “If I were you, I’d hold out for immunity and a new identity.”

“They’d give that to me, you think?”

Gail shrugged. “Play a little poker. Lawyer up first chance you get, and then make your conditions clear. I happen to think they’ll roll over.”

Navarro smiled, then chuckled. “Wouldn’t that be a kick in the-oh, shit.”

Gail saw his eyes locked on his rearview mirror, and turned in her seat to see a sedan with a light bar pulling him over. “Do you know the car?”