She laughed.“They wouldn’t have fit me.”
“We could have padded them with two pairs of socks.”Stupid of him not to think of it.
“I’m fine.”She smiled at him.“Downhill is much easier than uphill.What time is it?”
“Oh seven thirty.We’ve got half an hour.”
She picked up her pace as an engine noise approached.
Damn it.He pulled them into the forest and crouched behind a tree.The road wasn’t visible from here which meant Agus shouldn’t see them.
“What do we do?”
He pulled Mila down with him.The engine switched off.Voices rose.“Can you understand them?”he whispered.
She nodded.“Agus is swearing.He’s telling Ali and another guy to bring the motorbikes.”
Dobby closed his eyes.“If the bikes are as new as the cars and they’re half decent riders they’ll make it down that drop.”And that meant there were still people left at the cliff house.
“And he’s telling someone else to follow the road.”
Damn it.
He keyed his radio.“Radar, there might be two men still at the house.They should leave soon on motorbikes.”
“Copy.We’ll keep a lookout.”
Up ahead the road curved, which would block them from sight but the guy following the road would eventually spot them.
He checked the road.
Correction, two men on foot.
“We need to move as quietly as possible.”They had to keep going, otherwise they would miss the extraction.
Mila glanced at the ground.
Dobby followed her gaze to the leaf litter.Luckily everything on the floor was damp and soft and the thick foliage meant they would be swallowed and not visible from the road by the time they were ten metres in.“Follow me.”
He kept his steps small so she could step where he stepped and angled away from the road, but still heading towards the village.
“Men leaving the house now,” Radar said in his ear.
“What bikes?”
“Brand new dirt bikes.”
“Copy.”This day kept getting better and better.“We need to pick up the pace.”
The ground was uneven, covered in thick tree roots and rocks, but they wouldn’t make it to the coast in time for extraction if they didn’t hurry.
Her expression hardened.“You set the pace we need.If I can’t keep up, I’ll tell you.”
His admiration for her grew.“Copy.”
He set as fast a pace as he dared, watching her, knowing her exhaustion would make her less coordinated, but she fell in beside him.When she tripped, he caught her and encouraged her further, passing her a water flask so she could drink.
He checked his GPS.Another kilometre and they had about ten minutes until extraction.They would make it.
