She finished buttoning her shirt, needing to be fully clothed before she got too close to Bjornolf’s half-naked body, and whispered, “Did you hear the brothers talking last night?”
Bjornolf looked into her upturned face, his own expression dark, and nodded. “I spoke to Hunter about it already.”
“What did he say?”
“You know him. He has to ponder it for a while. He let the others know. We’re all mulling it over, coming up with different scenarios.”
“Blackmail?” she whispered.
“Possibly.” Bjornolf glanced at the hut. “We have to get them on their way.” He dressed, then walked toward the screen door. “I’ll wake and feed the family. You go do whatever it is you have to do, and we’ll all be ready to leave in a little bit.”
“All right.” She sat down on the floor and quickly pulled on her boots.
When Bjornolf rapped on the door to the hut, Wentworth answered in a tired voice, “Yeah?”
“Rise and shine, folks. Time to eat a bite and get on the road.”
Bjornolf walked inside the hut, speaking quietly to the dad, telling him about the next phase of the journey.
“What do you mean I need to give up my cell phone?” William asked, highly agitated.
“The men who took you hostage might be able to track you using the signal from your cell.”
“Can’t get a signal out here.”
“Just hand them over.” Bjornolf was no longer playing Mister Nice Guy. In truth, they had to make sure the brothers didn’t use them to contact someone to institute a new plan as soon as they
“I don’t have one,” Jimmy said, his voice small.
“That’s okay, Jimmy,” Bjornolf said.
Anna didn’t envy Bjornolf the job. She climbed down the ladder and found Allan standing partially hidden by the floor of the hut that served as a roof on stilts. He was chewing on a piece of meat and smiling at her.
He always looked cute, his cheeks dimpled, his eyes full of mirth. “Have a good sleep?”
“You should have woken me up for guard duty,” she said, annoyed.
“Hunter’s orders. You had babysitting duty along with Bjornolf.” At the last comment, his eyes narrowed a little as he looked up at the hut.
She snorted. But she wasn’t about to tell Allan that she had slept through the night. She also couldn’t believe Bjornolf had actually washed his clothes and hers, too. She’d have to do something good in turn for him.
Then she saw the black caiman stretched out over a fire. The reptile had to be at least thirteen feet in length! A
A few minutes later, the family descended the steps to the forest floor. Bjornolf carried the girl down, and Paul, the boy. Anna came out of the jungle to join the group, giving Bjornolf a look.
He wasn’t sure what was up until she said, “Little caiman?”
Loving that the she-wolf was in awe of his hunter prowess, he just smiled back at her, which earned him a shake of her head.
After roasting and eating the caiman that Bjornolf had slaughtered by the stream, they were on their way. As soon as they headed out, Jimmy asked the question no one wanted to answer. Not:
“Are we gonna be home in time for Christmas and see Santa coming down the chimney? We have to leave milk and cookies out for Santa,” the boy continued.
Paul frowned, not responding.
“Will we be home before Santa comes?” Jimmy asked again, not about to be ignored.
“Sure, you’ll make it home in time for the jolly old elf to climb down the fireplace,” Paul said. “But we’ve got to be real quiet like before, okay?”
His eyes wide, the kid nodded.
That had Hunter wishing he was home with his family. His wolf pack celebrated the holidays like many packs did, although some years in the past he’d been on missions with his team. Christmas was only a couple of weeks away, and he looked forward to spending his first Christmas with Tessa and helping her decorate for the holidays. Finn and his sister had now become mates, so it would also be their first Christmas together. With Bjornolf and Anna sticking around? It would be a real SEAL holiday.
Using a machete, Hunter whacked through the thick foliage impeding their way, creating a narrow path through the jungle that would be swallowed up again soon, as if the humans hadn’t passed this way. Black howler monkeys called to each other, grew quiet as they listened for return calls, then howled again.
As daylight broke, the heat quickly elevated, and the buzz of winged insects filled the air. Thousands of cicadas added their noisy songs, the jungle sounds intruding on Hunter’s thoughts of hearth and home. As he and his team traveled through the dense jungle, Hunter cut through thick vines and branches, while he kept feeling as though someone was following them. The family stumbled over roots, the mother sobbed once, but the rescue team moved silently like wolves in a territory not usually their own. This was jaguar land.
Anna’s warning bird call sounded. Hunter stopped the group and waited, protectively shielding the party as Bjornolf lurched forward.
Remembering he had the girl on his back, he stopped long enough for the uncle to take hold of her before Bjornolf charged forth to rescue Anna again.
Chapter 4
When Bjornolf reached Anna at a low crouch behind a bank of ferns, he found her safe, his own heart hammering with worry for her. He tried to catch his breath as he drew close to her to see what she was observing.
She bowed her head in greeting as his arm brushed against hers, having to touch her like a wolf would and have the reassurance she truly was all right before he looked further into the matter that had concerned her.
Two men were attempting to drag a young native boy of maybe eight or nine with them. The kid was kicking and hitting and biting. She motioned to Bjornolf that she wanted him to draw the men’s attention so she could take them out and the boy could get away. “Involved with Wentworths,” she whispered.
One of the men said to the other in Spanish, “Where the hell are the Wentworths? I thought we were supposed to be done with this business by now. And be paid. Get that kid out of here.”
Bjornolf was planning on being the one to attack the men—and keep one of them alive for questioning— while Anna drew their attention instead, but before he could do anything, the men slapped at their necks, released the boy, and collapsed in dead heaps on the ground. The boy glanced in Anna and Bjornolf’s direction, gave them a big smile and a wave, then tore off into the jungle.
“
“What just happened?” Anna whispered to Bjornolf. “I thought we could wound one and question him.”
“Poisoned darts, hunters, natives in the area,” he whispered into her ear. He jerked his head toward the path he’d taken, telling her that they needed to get back to the team.
She nodded, thanking him silently, but he could tell she was just as disappointed as he was that they couldn’t have learned more from these men—now that they needed to question them concerning what the Wentworths were up to, and not just eliminate the threat.
Bjornolf admired her for attempting to rescue the boy and alerting the team for help, not jumping in to do this by herself. It showed a side of her that she tried to hide behind her camouflaged suit of armor. He swore she flushed a little under all that camo paint when the boy smiled and waved at her.
Sighing, he hated leaving her to continue to provide security for the team, hated that every time he thought she might be in danger, his heart would nearly stop. Everyone had a mission on the team. For now, his was
