“I have a way with them. Is he acting up?”
“As a matter of fact, no.”
Meiling did feel a little smug at that. He sounded shocked. She wasn’t that surprised. She did have a way with large cats.
“How the hell do you think you can move me?” Now he was back to irritable.
“Does it matter? I’m getting you out of here unless you’d rather I leave you the gun and you take care of doing yourself in. Otherwise, stop whining and let me get this done. I don’t want to be here with you any longer than I have to.”
“I have to hand it to you, little doll, you have guts.”
“Don’t aggravate me with your cute little nicknames right now.” She did her best not to look at his body. He might be torn up, but he was the first man she’d ever seen who looked like he did. She had no idea men were built like him.
His mouth curved, but he didn’t say anything else as she firmly tied the cool cloth around his eyes and then made her way to his leg. She wasn’t certain the leg was broken, but it was a hell of a nasty, deep laceration. It took several precious minutes to find the right pieces of wood to stabilize the leg by bracing it on either side. She tied it firmly in several places, more than she thought necessaryso there was no chance of a break worsening while she moved him.
“My car is about a mile from here through the jungle. I didn’t come in on the trail and I’m not going out that way, not that there is one any longer. I’m going to take you out in a fireman’s carry. It’s going to hurt and I’m sorry about that, but it’s the only way. Don’t give me your objections and or say one word about my height.”
“I’m naked.”
“I’m aware. I’ve got your clothes, but we can’t dress you with your leg like that. I can put your jacket over my shoulder if that helps with your dignity.”
Meiling didn’t wait for his consent. She folded his coat over her shoulder, pressed the rest of his clothing into his hands, bent her knees, crouched low and leveraged him over her shoulder.
“Your shoes are stuffed into the pocket of your trousers. The money Frankie owed your client is in the inside pocket of your jacket where you originally put it. All your weapons are still in the places inside your jacket where you keep them. Your wallet is where you left it. Your belt is intact, and nothing has been taken. Your phone is in its case on your belt. Once we are in the car, if you have people you want me to take you to or a hotel room, I’ll take you there.”
“That would be suicide.”
She moved through the brush much slower than she had anticipated. He was very heavy and all the while she knew every step she took was terribly painful to him. The brush tore up his exposed skin. She couldn’t cover him and move quickly. She had to get out of the jungle and away from the area before Frankie’s brother and his crew showed up to determine what had happened.
By the time she reached her Jeep, Gedeon was nearly unconscious. What had he said about suicide if she took him to his hotel? That didn’t sound good. Where was shesupposed to take him? She didn’t have his kind of money. She couldn’t use the money he needed to send to the Orlov family. They were Russian. Amur Leopard.Bratya.Those people came after you if you didn’t pay them. They sent men like Gedeon to kill you. The Orlov lair were embedded in Colombia. She knew them by reputation only, but she had no wish to know them by more than that. They had ties to a family in San Antonio, Texas, of all places, and another in New Orleans, Louisiana.
It ate up more minutes getting him onto the back seat of the Jeep and covering him adequately, strapping him in and then driving like hell over the bumpy, nearly nonexistent tiny road she’d been told about by some of the locals who despised Frankie and Miguel. The road took her to the edge of a coffee plantation that was really a plantation for opiates.
She maneuvered the outer road to get to the one farm everyone left alone because they needed the food that farm provided. She knew the residents there and visited often when she was in the area, bringing them much-needed funds, so she was always welcome. She didn’t stop this time but paused only long enough to hand the large manila envelope she’d brought them through her window, promising she’d be back soon. Waving, she drove toward the city, using the main road now that she had done legitimate business.
Meiling imagined that Gedeon was either a resident at one of the really nice hotels or had his own residence in the good part of the city. She didn’t. She needed to make certain her money always stretched. She didn’t care that much where she stayed because it was never for long. She always had her go bag prepared. She could disappear in minutes. If necessary, she could even walk out without anything, go to the nearest bus station, or airport, even the train station and she would have a go bag there.
Meiling didn’t take chances anymore. “You, sir, are ahuge liability to me,” she hissed as she opened the passenger door to her Jeep. He was lucky there was even a door on her Jeep. “And you’re lucky it’s dark.” Not that anyone would look twice in the part of the city they were in. Not seeing a naked man hobbling into her little apartment. This was the part of the city where every kind of sex was paid for and most of the tiny hovels were used for just those purposes. What raised eyebrows was not having someone looking out for her. “Now, I’m going to have to go back to the old ways to get the money for your doc. Everyone’s going to think you’re my pimp. At least they’ll be happy.”
Gedeon was delirious, his fever raging. That wasn’t good in a leopard. She knew that much. He needed a doctor. That was going to take all her funds for certain.
She managed to get him on the bed. It was a big bed. It took up most of the apartment. The bed and the kitchen. She had laughed at that. She thought maybe after entertaining the client in the huge bed the custom was to feed them before sending them off.
Meiling called the farmhouse, the only people she trusted, to ask about a very discreet doctor who wouldn’t go to the authorities or anyone else. They promised to send someone but told her he wouldn’t be cheap. She sighed and glared at Gedeon. She needed to get his clothes out of sight, especially the money, and try to make certain he didn’t say anything while the doctor was there. She had to convince the doctor she and Gedeon were a couple.
She gave him a cooling sponge bath after she removed the makeshift splint. He couldn’t have any evidence of the jungle on him. She removed the strip of shirt from his eyes so the doctor wouldn’t see the material. If she thought she had time, she would have bought him some coarser shirts and trousers just to have in the room.
“Listen to me, Gedeon. It’s imperative that you don’t talk when the doctor’s here. He can’t know you were in thejungle. I’m going to tell him your name is Jeff and you’re my man. We were with friends we can’t name, political friends. And there was an accident. That’s all we can say. He’ll think we are with a radical group trying to overthrow the government. There’s always unrest, especially with so much criminal activity on the border between Colombia and Venezuela. Do you understand? You can’t talk to him.”
Gedeon nodded. “I’m Jeff. Got it. Where are my clothes?”
“In the wall right behind you. One gun is to your left, the other your right. You should be able to punch through the panel easily and pull them out if necessary. Point and shoot. Safety is off.”
“You’re not afraid I’ll shoot you?”
“You need me.”
“I guess I do.”
