Secret Agent Seduction Read Free Page B

nod, barely perceptible. Lia turned away, irritated with herself for romanticizing the man, as if she had nothing better to do.
    She pulled out her GPS to check the approximate coordinates of the site where the chopper was to pick them up. The intermittent GPS readings on the incandescent screen confirmed that they were heading in the right direction. They should arrive at their destination in twenty minutes, barring any complications.
    No sooner had she completed the thought than Lia heard a faint rustling in the trees to their right.
    She froze, her heart thudding in her chest. Her finger tightened on the trigger of her M16.
    Had the rest of Biassou’s mercenaries caught up to them? Or had her team members made the rustling noise as they crept through the dark jungle to meet her at the rendezvous site?
    A quick glance at her GPS revealed that Dutch and the others were nowhere nearby. Which could mean only one thing.
    Behind her, Magliore had stopped walking. Glancing over her shoulder, Lia signaled for him to remain silent. He nodded once.
    Turning around slowly, Lia took three steps. Again she heard movement in the trees. This time the noise sounded as if it was coming closer.
    Spurred by instinct, she spun around and dove in front of Magliore, knocking him to the ground just as a bullet singed the air above them. Before he could recover from the bone-jarring impact, Lia raised her rifle and fired into the dense foliage. A man’s gargled scream told her she’d hit her mark.
    Anticipating the return of gunfire, she sprayed the trees with three more rounds of ammo. There were more screams and angry shouts.
    Taking advantage of their opponents’ confusion, Lia and Magliore scrambled to their feet and ran through the thick undergrowth, keeping low to the ground as shots rang out over their heads.
    They took cover behind the broad trunk of a massive tree strapped with vines. The dark jungle was lit with the deafening, staccato blasts of automatic weapons firing into the night.
    Magliore returned fire, buying Lia time to reach inside her field pack and pull out a 40mm single-shot grenade launcher. With practiced ease, she attached the device under the barrel of her M16, loaded it with a high-velocity grenade and cocked the hammer. At Magliore’s signal, she reached around the tree and fired into the dense brush shielding their enemies. The explosion upended a small patch of trees and sent two mangled bodies hurtling through the air. They were dead before they hit the ground.
    â€œLet’s go!” Lia shouted to Magliore.
    They took off at a full sprint, slowed only by the tangle of branches and vines and slippery spots on the muddy forest floor. They ran until they reached a clearing in the jungle that stretched approximately sixty feet across, wide enough for a helicopter to land. On the opposite side, at the edge of the clearing, a small rock formation protruded from the ground. It would serve as a shield while Lia set up the flares to signal their readiness for pickup.
    â€œWe’ll take cover there,” she whispered to Magliore, pointing at the rock formation.
    He nodded, and together they started off across the moonlit clearing, keeping their weapons drawn. Adrenaline pumped through Lia’s veins, and the fine hairs at the back of her neck tingled. The night had grown unnaturally still and silent, save for the call of birds soaring above the jungle canopy.
    Lia clicked her three-way radio. “Dutch, do you read?”
    Dead silence greeted her.
    She clicked the radio again. “Garcia, what is your position?”
    Nothing.
    Lia’s mouth went dry. Glancing up, she found Magliore watching her, his expression unreadable in the shadowy moonlight.
    Looking away, she forced herself to continue walking. She refused to speculate about whether or not her team members had been captured or killed by Biassou’s mercenaries during the shootout. Her men were trained professionals who knew