WAR: Disruption (21 page)

“God, Em.” She felt his lips touch her hair as his arms tightened around her. “I’m so sorry. I wish I could have been there for you.”

That was her Max. So protective. “Thanks.”

He stroked his thumb over her jawline. “What happened to your attacker?”

“Two of the male dancers restrained Agatha. They say she kicked and bit them, all the while screaming how much she hated me. How it should have been her dancing the lead. The local authorities arrested her and put her on trial. Last I heard, she was serving time in a Russian jail.”

Max put his finger under her chin and raised her face so he could press a soft kiss to her lips. “You’re so brave. So strong.” He placed a line of kisses up her jaw and across her cheeks. “If I’d been there, I would have held you. Stayed with you. You wouldn’t have been alone.”

 
His words broke through all the lingering fear and loneliness the memories brought. Her mouth sought his for a long, searching kiss that tried to convey her gratitude. “It helps, knowing you’re here with me now wanting to fight my old battles. Because for a long time, I blamed myself. I told myself that if I’d paid more attention to Agatha’s behavior I would have known she was dangerous. That if I’d understood how deeply she resented me, I could have said something to the director. Then, maybe she’d have gotten help before she snapped.”

“No, sweetheart, that’s not your fault. You can’t go back and take responsibility for her actions. Besides, you weren’t the only one she interacted with. No one else in the dance group recognized she was dangerous, right?”

She nodded.

He placed a kiss on her forehead. “Sometimes shit just happens.”

“Like that ambush.”

Max snorted and pulled back. “Oh, no, you don’t. We’re not talking about me.” He stroked his hand over her hair. “Thanks for sharing, Em. As I’ve said before, you’re a remarkable woman.” He kissed her softly. “You ready to head out?”

She nodded and slid back behind the wheel. As she pulled the Jeep back on the road, she discovered that the memory of the attack was no longer a black cloud threatening to pull her under. For the first time, she understood that while the attack might have stolen her career, it had revealed that she could endure whatever life threw at her without breaking. As the last few days had proved, that was a valuable skill.

MAX STARED OUT the window of the Jeep two hours later, eyeing the growing clouds overhead. They were at the end of the rainy season and had been lucky so far that there’d been little rain. Hopefully, the storm would hold off until they reached the border, so they wouldn’t have to struggle to drive through mud.

“Max, I still think it makes sense for me to help you find the plane. We can stop at my homestay village first. Get some supplies. Spend the night. Then head out when we’re fresh to the festival village.”

“No.”

“But—”

“Em, we’re white. The rebels are in the area. Do you really want to put your homestay family and their neighbors in danger if someone reports to the rebels that they’ve given us shelter?”

“But you can’t afford the time to take me all the way to the border. Not with how slowly we’ve been moving!”

“I’m
not
going to put you in any more danger, Em. You’re going to the embassy in the United African Republic even if I have to knock you out and tie you up.” He’d do it, too. Anything to keep her safe.

The Jeep rounded another bend in the road and Emily slammed on the brakes.

Max cursed at the familiar sight. A crater had been blown in the road where a feeder road intersected from the left.

“Max, how are we going to get past? The trees are too close together for me to drive into the jungle.”

The left side of the crater went all the way up to the edge of the tightly packed trees, leaving only enough room to walk, not drive. “I think there’s enough room that we can drive along the rim to the right.”

Emily shook her head. “What if the ground is unstable? We could end up falling into the hole.”

“We’re either going to have to risk it or leave the Jeep and head out on foot.” He traced the distance between here and the border on the map. “It will take us days to walk to the border from here.” Hiking that far would be no problem if he wasn’t injured. But while his arousal had masked his pain this morning, after sitting in the Jeep for so long everything hurt. He’d hike if necessary, but he’d definitely slow them down.

Emily scowled at the crater. “I’m not a good enough driver to handle this.”

“I’ll do it.” Yeah, it would aggravate his leg, but she was right, navigating the rim of the crater would be tricky. He considered unloading the gas cans from the roof, but figured the toll that would take on their already exhausted bodies would be worse than the danger to the Jeep’s balance because of the extra weight. “You should get out and walk through the jungle to the other side.”

She raised her eyebrows. “In case the Jeep falls in.”

He shrugged. “Yeah.”

“I don’t want to lose you, Max.”

He put his hand on her thigh. “I don’t want to lose you, either. But there’s no denying that this is dangerous. If I fail, you’re in better physical shape to hike to the border.” He gestured to his sat phone sitting on the console as it charged. “Take my phone. Here’s the code to unlock the phone.” After she’d correctly repeated it back to him, he continued, “If something happens to me, call Rene or Kristoff, and let them know. They’ll tell you what to do next.”

Emily swallowed heavily, then nodded. She kissed him fiercely, then climbed out of the Jeep. He checked the tires and walked the route he’d be driving to make certain that it was somewhat solid. It hurt to put weight on his leg, but he managed to ignore the pain. After he was satisfied that he could make it all the way around, he gave Emily a kiss and a wink, then got behind the wheel.

“Don’t you dare die on me, Max Lansing!” Emily said before stepping clear.

He didn’t let himself look at her through the rearview mirror. He didn’t want to be distracted by her concern. He needed all of his attention focused on the task ahead.

As he’d expected, working the clutch with his injured leg sent pain shooting through him. And although he’d known that the vehicle didn’t have power steering, he’d forgotten just how stiff the steering was. Dammit, no wonder Emily was so tired.

The good news was that the area he was driving over was fairly clear of debris, because most of it had slid into the crater. The bad news was that the ground wasn’t completely solid beneath the tires. He kept the Jeep moving slowly forward, trying to keep as far to the right as possible so that at least his right tires were on more stable ground. He’d almost reached the safety of the other side when the earth gave way behind him. The back end slipped.

“Max!” Emily screamed.

Adrenaline surged through him as he struggled to keep the Jeep from sliding back. The front wheels were on solid ground, so he eased the Jeep forward until all four wheels hit the road. He kept driving until he figured he was far enough away to be out of danger. After taking a few deep breaths to steady his heart rate, he eased his aching body out from behind the wheel.

When he limped back to the crater, he saw that the rim he’d driven across had completely crumbled away. His pulse kicked once. Ah. Nothing like a close call to keep life interesting. He grinned across to Emily, giving her a thumbs-up. She raised her camera and snapped a photo of him. Ha. She really seemed to be taking to this photojournalist idea. Good for her. Not that he particularly wanted his life, or his death if he’d fallen into the crater, to be part of a documentary, but he loved that she seemed to have found a new passion.

She lowered the camera and gave him a relieved smile in return. Then she replaced her camera in her rucksack and walked into the jungle. The moment he lost sight of her, his heart gave another frightened kick. Great. Emily had infected him with her panic attacks. He’d been calm while he drove along the rim, but the prospect of her meeting a rebel or a jungle predator had him breaking out in a cold sweat.

That was one of the advantages of working alone. He didn’t have to worry about the safety of his partners. Or the woman he—

Emily emerged from between the trees and strode up to him with a grin on her face. Fighting back the urge to hold her and not let go, he gave her a tight nod. “I need to take a quick break before we move out.” He jerked his thumb toward the trees.

She looked at him and raised her brows, as if she suspected he was struggling with a riot of emotions. But she simply shrugged. “Okay.”

Feeling like a coward, he took care of business and wrestled his fear under control. He’d just zipped back up when the ground shook so hard that he lost his balance and had to brace himself against a tree.

“Max! What’s going on?” Emily had moved to the other side of the road to deal with her own personal needs.

“I don’t know. Stay put while I check.” Once the earth had quieted, he stepped onto the road. Way down, several miles closer to the border, he saw smoke and dust rising into the air.

Emily, of course, hadn’t obeyed his command, but appeared at his side. “I think the rebels just dynamited another intersection,” he said.

The sky chose that moment to open up, dumping warm rain on them as if they were standing under a tipped bucket. In seconds, they were both drenched to the skin. Fan-tastic. Just what they needed. “C’mon. Let’s get back to the Jeep and get the hell out of here before the road becomes impassable.”

Emily shot a worried glance toward the fading dust cloud in the distance, then turned and headed back toward the Jeep. They were about halfway there when the earth rumbled and the rim of the crater began to collapse inward. “Run!” he shouted.

She sprinted ahead, slipped in the growing mud, then righted herself and kept going. Max tried to keep up, but his wounded leg buckled, throwing him to his knees.

“Max! Behind you.”

He checked over his shoulder. Christ. The sinkhole was swallowing the road. He scrambled forward the best he could as the ground beneath him tipped down toward the crater.

A new rumble sounded underground. The angle of the road increased. Debris hit them as it tumbled toward the mouth of the crater. A baseball sized rock slammed into Emily’s shoulder. She lost her balance and started to slip toward Max.

“No!” Max braced his hands on her butt and shoved her forward. “Go,” he gasped. “Go! I’ve got you. Aim for that piece of land with the trees straight ahead. It looks stable.” Max gave her a hard enough push that momentum carried her to the edge of the jungle. Her hand latched onto a root and she used it as leverage to shimmy onto firm ground.

The earth trembled. Max’s hands lost purchase on the muddy road and he slipped to the edge of the crater. At the last moment, he managed to catch hold of a vine and stop his fall. But his left foot dangled over empty space.

“Max!” Emily lunged for him.

His fingertips brushed hers and she grasped his hand. Before they could make stronger contact, the earth beneath him fell away, tearing them apart.

Max’s entire lower body slipped over the edge. He snagged a protruding root and halted his descent as his belly met the edge of the crater.

Emily crawled toward him.

“No! Stay back.”

“But I can help you.”

He gave her a warning look. “We have no idea how stable the ground underneath you is. Your extra weight too close to me could collapse this entire area. So keep away. The phone is still in the Jeep. Remember the unlock code?”

She nodded and told it to him.

“Good. If I fall all the way in, call Rene or Kristoff, then get the hell out of here.”

The earth gave out a little more beneath him and he tightened his grip on the root.

“I’m not leaving you!” She glared at him. “Tell me what to do.”

That was his woman. So fierce. So loyal. “Fine. Get the rope from the cargo compartment. Tie it to the trailer hitch on the Jeep, then throw the end to me. Hurry.”

She nodded and raced off.

He didn’t know if she had enough time to get the rope and anchor him before the hole swallowed him. Ignoring the pain in his leg and ribs, he hauled himself forward until he could grab onto the trunk of a young tree. Refusing to look down at the growing hole, he focused instead on pulling himself closer to the more solid edge of the jungle.

He checked Emily’s progress. She was just tying the rope off.

“Here!” She tossed him the other end of the rope, but it bounced off his shoulder.

“Sorry.” She tried again. This time, he was ready and caught the end of it. Before he could tie it around his chest, the earth collapsed with a thunderous roar.

Max fell into the crater.

EMILY SCREAMED. “MAX!”

Oh, no. No. NO.

The crater widened. The ground tumbled away in front of her, forcing her to back up. But she didn’t take her eyes off the place where Max had disappeared.

She was beginning to think that the crater would just keep growing, forcing her to retreat farther along the road, when with a final shudder the earth went eerily still. In the silence, she heard the trickle of dirt inside the hole where the rain hadn’t reached yet. The crater had to be at least four hundred yards across. Pebbles pinged as they tumbled down. The rain had stopped, but water dripped off the ends of leaves and runnels of water snaked into the crater.

Other than those small noises, the birds and insects were quiet. Probably scared away.

The rope she’d tied to the Jeep was taut. That was good, right? It meant Max probably had hold of the rope and was hanging down the wall of the crater, waiting for the earth to quiet before climbing out, rather than being buried under dirt and mud and unable to move.

Her rapid breathing sounded loud in the silence. But she didn’t have time to calm down. She raced to the Jeep and grabbed the second rope she’d seen in the cargo compartment. After tying that to the hitch as well, she stretched out on her belly and crawled forward. After every small movement, she paused. Listened for any sign the earth had started another underground collapse. It seemed like forever before she neared the edge of the hole. But she was afraid to get too close, certain the edge would give way.