He’d promised.
As she watched, he swam to the ocean side of the craft and pulled off a large piece of wood that was inside the Zodiac.Then he pulled himself into the boat.
It barely moved and stayed low in the water.No one from the shore should have seen him.He kept his body low and pulled the casing from the engine.
Wouldn’t the noise attract attention?
Suddenly she spotted movement in her periphery.She scanned her surroundings and spotted Ali and the young man who had been talking to the captain walking along the shore searching the water.Shit.They were a hundred metres away from her, but if she made any movement, she’d attract their attention.
The next nearest tree she could hide behind was three metres behind her, but the ground cover wasn’t high.Still, if she was fast, she should make it.
She packed the scope away and lifted the pack, grunting with the effort.
Holy crap what did Damien have in there?It had to be twenty kilos or more.
Carefully she hefted it onto her back and checked where the men were.They were moving fast down the shore but had to watch where they were treading because of all the rubbish, and they were scanning the water more than the forest.
She glanced at the boat but Damien wasn’t inside.Her heart clenched.Maybe he’d seen the men and slid into the water.
The murmur of voices switched her attention to her own safety.She checked the men were looking out to sea and shifted from tree to tree, confirming their location before moving to the next one.It wasn’t until she moved about ten metres into the jungle that she breathed a little easier.
But not knowing what was happening with Damien made her chest tighten.
And what if the men spotted the boat from here?They might send the fishing boat out to him.Or simply open fire.
If the fishing boat towed the boat to shore, they’d be screwed.
Too many options.
Too many unknowns.
“Maybe it’s just the current,” a man said in Indonesian.
She froze.They were close.
“It’s moving too fast to be the current,” Ali said.“We should call Agus.”
“And if you’re wrong?He’ll punish us for making him come here.”
Mila crouched down and tucked herself and the pack close to the tree trunk.They’d spotted the Zodiac.She had to do something.
“If I’m right, he’ll reward us.”
Their voices drew closer.“Didn’t you say the English teacher escaped in the helicopter?”
Both men stepped into view through the trees.Ali only had to turn around and he’d spot her.“The boat is proof the men were here.”
Her heart raced, and she focused on long, slow, quiet breaths.
She couldn’t lift the pack without making a noise, so she left it next to the trunk, covering it with leaves, before inching her way around the other side of the tree.The younger man turned and spotted her, his eyes wide.
Indecision crossed his face.
Hell.Could she outrun them?Not if Ali pulled a gun on her.
So she needed a head start.But if they were busy chasing her…
This was her way to enable Damien to get the boat.Before she considered the implications she gasped and moved, stepping on a twig as she did so.
