discourage unwanted visits even further, Kotto had filled the bottom of the chasm with a freshwater stream and a family of Nile crocodiles that hissed and snapped like a pack of hungry guard dogs anytime humans approached.
“Knock it off,” Payne growled, “or I’ll make shoes out of your ass.”
Captain Sanchez heard the comment as he emerged from the house. “I hope you weren’t talking to me.”
Payne instinctively raised his weapon but relaxed when he realized who it was. “Sorry to disappoint you, Juan, but I don’t want to do
with your ass.”
Sanchez smiled as he traversed the narrow plank with the ease of a tightrope walker. He’d risked his life way too many times to be worried about heights or a bunch of hungry reptiles. After reaching Payne’s side, he said, “I don’t want to sound disrespectful, but what are you doing here? You should be back by the fence, where it’s safe.”
“And let you play with the crocs by yourself? Not a chance. Besides, you know how I am on missions. I’d rather do jumping jacks in a minefield than sit around, waiting.”
“But, sir, aren’t you just waiting up here, too?”
Payne was tempted to lecture him on the basic concept of leadership-never put anyone in a situation that you’re not willing to be in yourself-but before he could, a second MANIAC exited the house.
The soldier immediately said, “Four more behind me, but I don’t know where.”
Payne nodded as he got on his radio to find out. “Team two status check, team two status check. What’s your twenty?”
“I’m coming out now,” answered the first, and a moment later he stepped outside.
“Making my way up the stairs,” replied another. “About fifteen seconds ’til daylight.”
Payne waited until the second soldier arrived before he went back to the radio. “Team two status check . . . What are your positions?”
Unfortunately, the remaining members of team two didn’t reply.
Confused by their silence, Payne asked Chen, the soldier who had just emerged from the house, if he knew anything about their whereabouts.
“It’s tough to say, sir. That basement is a labyrinth of empty jail cells and twisting corridors. There’s no telling where they are or if they can even hear you. The walls are pretty thick.”
“Damn!” Payne growled. He knew if he didn’t get his men out of the house immediately, they were going to die. It was as simple as that. Out of sheer desperation, Payne used their real names over the airwaves. “Kokoska? Haney? Do you read me? Squawk if you can hear me.”
But the only noise that followed was the foreboding sound of silence.
CHAPTER 62
THE
sound of Payne’s radio disrupted the quiet of the Nigerian night, but the message didn’t come from the missing MANIACs. It came from Jones, and his words were ominous.
“The Posse’s taking cover. Prepare for detonation.”
Without delay, Payne ordered his men from the area while he dropped to his knees to secure the wooden plank with his good arm. After locking it in place, he yelled to Chen, the soldier on the other side of the moat. “Run for it!”
The young MANIAC did as he was told and started across the temporary bridge. Unfortunately, as he neared the halfway point, the first explosion erupted and its shock wave knocked him forward with the force of a hurricane. He instinctively tried to regain his balance using his arms as counterweights, but the jolt was way too powerful to overcome.
As Chen started to fall, Payne was tempted to lunge for him but knew it wouldn’t do either of them any good. Even if he’d managed to latch on, there was no way he would be able to maintain his own balance. So, instead of doing something impossible, Payne used his energy to yank the board off the far side of the moat while holding on to his end the best that he could. Agony gripped its claws into his injured biceps as the plank slammed into the water below, but he didn’t have time to suffer. If he didn’t get to the bottom of the chasm immediately, Chen was going to be the only human in a battle royal, and he wasn’t about to let that happen.
Grabbing his Glock, Payne sat on the smooth plank, which rested at a forty-five-degree angle, and started his descent on the kiddie slide from hell. He’d gotten a third of the way down the slope when he spotted Chen, who was injured and struggling to get out of the shallow water by the far bank, and the twelve-foot crocodile that was chasing him.
With the confidence of a big-game hunter, Payne aimed his weapon at the croc’s head and fired. The bullet struck his target directly below its eye, causing the reptile to roar in anguish and thrash its tail like a flag in a violent storm, but that wasn’t good enough for Payne. He realized that wounded animals were often the most dangerous, so the instant his feet touched liquid he finished the job by depositing two more rounds into the angry beast.
“Holy shit!” Chen gasped from the nearby shore. “That was unbelievable.”
“Not really. I practice that move in my swimming pool all the time.”
“Seriously, that was awesome!”
But Payne shrugged off the praise. After all, Chen was there to do him a favor. “Are you hurt? Can you make it back up the plank?”
“Doubtful, sir. I messed up my knee pretty bad when I landed.”
Payne nodded as he scouted the waist-deep water for more crocs. Thankfully, the others huddled lazily on the opposite shore. “But you’ll live, won’t you? I mean, I shouldn’t just leave you here as an entree, right?”
Chen smiled through his pain. “No, sir. I don’t think I’d like that very much.”
“Good, then let’s figure a way to get you out of-”
Before he could finish, a second explosion ripped through the house, one that lit the surrounding sky with a massive ball of flame and hurled chunks of wood and metal high into the air. To escape the falling debris, Payne shoved Chen under the lip of the concrete ledge and sheltered him with his own body while waiting for things to calm down.
JONES
covered his head as another blast shook the earth but refused to take his eyes off the enemy. They had settled behind a rock formation near the escape tunnel, and he figured they’d stay there as long as there were more charges to detonate. At least he hoped that was the case, because while they sat on their asses watching the fireworks, his team was moving in to finish them off.
A static-filled message trickled over Jones’s radio, but he was unable to make out the voice.
“You’re breaking up,” Jones shouted into his mouthpiece. “Repeat.”
There was a slight delay. “This . . . Payne. Can . . . me?”
“Jon?” He cupped his hand over his earpiece so he could hear better. “Is that you?”
“Of course . . . me! I can’t . . . you’ve already forgotten . . . fucking voice!”
Jones was thrilled that Payne was bitching at him. That was his way of saying that he was fine. “Where are you, man? I was told you got caught up in the pyrotechnics.”
“I did. Thankfully, Chen and . . . were . . . the moat during . . . big blast. The concrete shielded . . . getting hurt.”
Jones did his best to make out the words, but the tumult and the static made it difficult. “Are you hurt? Do you need me to get you out?”
“. . . banged up, but I’m . . .” Dead air filled the line for a few seconds before Payne’s voice could be heard again. “. . . word on Ariane?”
“We’re still not sure where she is. Shell called in and claimed he could see a female with the Posse, but that report is unconfirmed. Repeat, that is unconfirmed.”
“. . . about . . . oska . . . Haney?”
“No word from Kokoska or Haney. But we aren’t giving up hope. Those two have been through worse.”
Several more seconds passed before Jones could hear him again, and when he could, Payne was in the
