Course of Action: The Rescue: Jaguar Night / Amazon Gold

They ate without talking. When she was done, Aly gave Josh the empty MRE packet, wanting to leave no clue they were here. She was cold. Her clothes were damp. Even though the temperature never got below fifty-five degrees at night, she was cooling off from running or trotting all day. “Do you have a blanket or something?” she asked, wrapping her arms around herself.

“Cold?”

“Yes.”

Josh settled next to her and opened up his shirt. “Only blanket in town. Interested?” He couldn’t see her or her expression. Never had Josh wanted anything more than to have her against him, sleeping. It was better than nothing and he knew, because of her exhaustive trek, she would be chilled to the bone tonight. People who lived in the jungle acclimated. For him, he’d be warm all night. But not her.

“Yes,” she said, scooting toward him. Once she moved up against him, her head resting on his upper chest, he wrapped the shirt across her upper body.

“Better?” he asked, inhaling the scent of her hair. He held her close. Her breasts were soft against him and he closed his eyes, savoring the rich contact with Aly. He heard her sigh, felt her palm across his heart.

“Yes. Thank you, Josh....”

Her words were slurred, undoubtedly due to the bone-deep tiredness stalking her. Tipping his head back, he knew he shouldn’t concentrate on her soft lushness against him. His skin tightening, his lower body came to life, aching, wanting.

They couldn’t sleep more than a few hours. He put nothing past Duarte’s men who he knew instinctively were following them. His mind ranged over the pattern of their trail.

God, now that he’d found this woman, he didn’t want to ever let her go. He couldn’t explain the powerful protective feelings that rose up in him. They staggered him. There was nothing but kindness and softness to Aly. She had a fighter’s heart. She never complained, just doggedly kept going. She didn’t quit unless her body collapsed in on her first. He gently tightened his arm around her, hearing a softened sigh issue from her lips.

How he wanted to kiss her. Would she allow him that gift? He’d seen it in her eyes this morning. Something life-changing was happening to him. It unnerved him because his marriage had fallen apart two years ago....

Jody Carter, an independent, modern woman, hadn’t wanted a husband who was gone much of the time. Josh recalled having carefully explained his life as a Force Recon Marine, that his deployments were long, often dangerous and that he could be called from his base, Camp Pendleton, to pick up and leave on an hour’s notice and not be able to tell her anything. It hadn’t worked. Their loved had died.

Josh drifted off to sleep, snapping awake every fifteen minutes or so, listening. As long as the insects continued to sing, it meant they were relatively safe. If they stopped, it meant there was a predator nearby. And the two-legged variety was what concerned him the most. Aly had tried her best today. Her father was right: she had one hell of a fighting spirit. To look at her open, kind face, no one could guess at the steel in her spine. But he’d seen it. Up front and close. She deserved better. She deserved to be happy. And, damn it, Josh knew he was the man who could do just that.

* * *

Josh jerked awake. All his senses were screamingly alert. With a sinking feeling, he realized that it was dawn. They’d slept a lot longer than they should have. As he lifted his head, out of the mists he saw the jaguar no more than six feet away, staring at him. He knew jaguars did not roar; they were the only member of the cat family worldwide who did not. They had a low sound, almost subsonic, and humans couldn’t pick up on it. The cat’s brownish-yellow coat was spotted with black circles. His tail twitched and the gold of his eyes rimmed as his black pupils grew large.

Josh heard Aly’s shallow breathing. She was still asleep. Slowly, he reached downward, toward his KA-BAR knife in the sheath along his right calf. If the jaguar attacked, he didn’t dare use his pistol. It would give their position away to Duarte’s trackers.

The jaguar gave a low, deep growl. His ears moved back and forth.

Josh pulled the knife into his palm. The cat looked to its right and then back at him. It turned and slowly retreated into the mist along the ground, disappearing silently inside it.

He took a deep breath. God, that was close. Too close. It was barely dawn. Looking at his watch, it was 0500. And then he hesitated. Where was the tropical birdsong at this time of morning? They always sang at dawn. The monkeys were also silent. That was not a good sign. Unsnapping the safety over his pistol, he pulled it out, his hearing acute. With a strong squeeze, he woke Aly. She jerked awake, confused.

“Quiet,” he said in a low tone. “Be still...”

And then Josh heard the whispers. Loud. And they carried. In Portuguese. Excited. He felt Aly freeze and tense against him, her fingers taut against his chest. She’d heard them, too. Before he’d settled down with Aly, Josh had created two fake trails of footprints leading away from their tree in case Duarte’s men got close to their hide.

Everything was silent. As if Earth herself was holding her breath. The mist was thick, on the ground, nothing but white glowing as the sun rose a little more over the equator. Josh couldn’t see anything. But then, neither could Duarte’s trackers. And he was sure it was two trackers. The main group was probably miles behind, still sleeping in a camp. He knew they’d have radios and that they’d call in once they’d discovered them. And then, it would be a race. One that he knew Aly could never win.

Mouth tightening, he pulled her close, lips against her ear. “Stay here. Don’t move. Don’t leave. I’ll be back.”

Aly nodded and rolled away from Josh, giving him the ability to slowly rise to his feet. He put the pistol in the drop holster and shifted the long, savage-looking KA-BAR knife into his right hand. His face was set, his eyes narrowed, and he moved with utter silence, disappearing in the mist.

Her heart pounded with terror. He was heading toward the men whispering in Portuguese. She knew it was Duarte’s men. Oh, God...

Within five minutes she suddenly heard a man scream. There was a low growl. And then another man screamed. There was sudden movement. She couldn’t make out what was going on. And then...silence...

Aly jumped as Josh appeared out of the mist. Her eyes widened at the sight of the blood dripping off his fighting knife. Her gaze went to his face. It was expressionless; his eyes glazed with intensity. Putting his finger to his lips, he came to her side as he slid the knife back into its sheath.

“We need to leave in five minutes,” he warned her in a guttural tone. “I just killed two of Duarte’s men. The rest of them are probably five miles behind.”

Fear made her move quickly. By the time she was ready, Josh was waiting for her. Wrapping her fingers around the side of his belt, Aly felt as if the world was slowly closing in on her. Never before had she wanted to live more than right now. She glanced up at Josh as he chose a route and began a slow trot, her clinging to the belt, getting her balance. Find her rhythm with him.

In the mist of the Amazon, his sharp, rugged profile stood out. His mouth was thinned. His focus intense. And her heart cried and begged that they could escape, could live, to know one another. To love him because he had held her heart gently in his hands. And Aly wanted a chance to explore him...to cherish him...because she was falling in love with Josh Patterson.

Chapter 5 (#ulink_5189a5c7-9152-5014-977b-69855f31b59b)

They were in trouble. Josh estimated the main camp of Duarte’s soldiers, who had gotten a good night’s sleep, unlike them, was five miles behind. No matter how much heart Aly had, they’d never outrun these drug soldiers. He couldn’t fault or blame her for her lack of physical strength. It wasn’t that she was a woman, because he knew female Recon Marines who could have easily hit a pace akin to his and run him into the ground. The nature of Aly’s job wasn’t physical and that was their Achilles’ heel.

To compensate, Josh used every trick he knew to make their movement through the soft, bare ground beneath the canopy a problem to follow. The best use of a stream was to be in it where they would lose the tracks. But staying in water for an hour made a person’s feet waterlogged and blisters would begin to form. His feet had thick calluses from years of being out in the badlands of Afghanistan, but Aly’s feet were probably without any protection at all. If she got blisters, she’d be in constant pain. He made it a priority to haul her boots off her by midday when they took a rest and look at them.

Because of the triple canopy, the Amazon basin was fairly clear of obstacle, brush and plants. Sunshine rarely reached the jungle floor so it was easier for them to move with speed. Josh knew the drug soldiers tracking them were toughened men, usually ex-soldiers or hired mercenaries with a black-ops background. These men could haul ass and move out and make nearly fifty miles in a day even with a heavy ruck. They had the hardened, muscular body to do it. So did he. But Aly didn’t. He heard her becoming winded and slowed a little. She was game. His heart opened to her. Most of all, Josh didn’t want her captured. It hardened his resolve to keep her safe and protected.

When had he started falling for this woman? How the hell had it happened? She was a package, an objective, an op. Not someone to get emotionally entangled with. And yet, he had. Cursing mentally, Josh knew when it had happened: when he’d seen her photo. And then, hearing the father tell him of the life-changing accident, Aly the only survivor. He’d grown up on a working cattle ranch in Texas. Women on those ranches were like Aly. They were tough, they didn’t whine, they just dug in and did what had to be done without complaining. There was so much he didn’t know about her. So much he wanted to know.

* * *

Aly was relieved when she felt Josh slow down. It meant a break. Her throat ached and she was sure that her larynx was, indeed, injured. If she got out of this alive, she hoped she wouldn’t need surgery. As a nurse, she hated surgery, feared it. So much could go wrong. Not every nurse felt that way, but she did, memories of her weeks in casts in the hospital brutal reminders along with the pain.

She felt Josh grip her hand and take it from his belt. His hand was warm and sweaty, but steadying as she curled her fingers around his.

There was another of those huge trees and he led her behind the wall of wooden wings. She was grateful these trees were everywhere. The only problem with them for her was their roots, which always snaked out across the surface some thirty or forty feet from the trunk. And leaves that had fallen earlier would cover up the thin root and she’d trip over it. Aly had lost count of how many times she’d tripped. Every time, Josh would stop and catch her before she fell.

So far, Josh had been there for her. Unlike her father. Unlike the man she’d fallen in love with who’d betrayed her... When she’d found out Dr. Stephen McKeon was married and had two children, her world had been torn apart. Men lied.

“We can take a short break,” Josh said, listening to the jungle sounds around him. So far, they were normal. That meant the men hunting them weren’t close. Not yet. But it would happen sooner or later.

Aly sat, her face glistening with sweat, strands of her ginger-colored hair sticking to her temples and cheeks. She gave him a shake of her head.

“You look like this is a breeze,” she muttered.

Josh grinned and began unlacing her combat boot. Her boot was damp between his hands. “It’s called conditioning. Don’t worry, you’re doing okay. I want to check your feet out this morning. We’ve been in water for two days straight. I worry about blisters.” He pulled the boot off. Her sock was damp.

“They’re okay,” she said, trying to pull her foot out of his hand. “Really, Josh, they’re fine....”

Scowling, he pulled off her sock. The heel of her sock was bloodred. “Aly, why didn’t you say something?” he demanded, giving her a pleading look. Gently turning her foot, he noticed a huge blister had developed and then ripped open on the back of her heel. Her skin was wrinkled, ripe for them.