Free The Stones of Angkor (Purge of Babylon, Book 3) by Sam Sisavath Page B

there was more to the look he had given her. He actually trusted her. She didn’t know what she could have done in the past to merit such commitment from him.
    But it was too late to reconsider, and she was left to watch Danny approaching the marina in the pontoon through binoculars. Maddie stood behind him, steering the boat. They were a good 300 yards from the mouth of the inlet when the people at the marina saw them coming and pointed. She couldn’t tell their reaction from this distance. Excitement? Suspicion? Alarm? That uncertainty sent a sudden pang of apprehension through her.
    Call Will. He’ll know what to do.
    She looked back at the ham radio on the desk. It would be easy. It had only been an hour ago since she last talked to him.
    Call Will. You are not ready for this.
    The radio on her hip squawked, and she heard Danny’s voice: “Five men and six women. Three children. Two boys and a girl.”
    “Weapons?” she asked.
    “Armed to the teeth, but that’s the fashion these days. Don’t leave home without your AK.”
    “Be careful, Danny.”
    “Careful’s my middle name. But don’t tell Carly that. I told her it was Ronald.”
    “The boss lady means it, Danny,” Carly said through the radio. She was at the beach with Blaine, standing on top of the boat shack. “You get shot and fall overboard, I’m not swimming over to get you. You know how much I suck at swimming.”
    “Yes, dear,” Danny said.
    Lara had grimaced a bit when Carly called her “boss lady.”
    Not her, too. Who do these people think I am?
    She keyed the radio, meaning to say something profound to Danny—something Will would say—but she only managed, “Don’t take any unnecessary risks, Danny. You too, Maddie. The first sign of trouble, get out of there.”
    Okay, not too bad.
    “Will do,” Danny said. “But it looks like we might not have too much of an issue.”
    “Why?”
    “They’re putting their weapons on the ground and stepping away from them.”
    She breathed a heavy sigh of relief. “That’s a good sign, Danny.”
    “Or a trap,” Carly said. “This whole thing smells like an ambush. Something an asshole collaborator would come up with.”
    “What’s an ambush smell like, my dearest?” Danny asked.
    “Pungent and acrid,” Carly said without missing a beat.
    She was describing the ghouls. Once you got a whiff of the undead creatures, it was difficult to forget. The memory was burned into your soul.
    Lara looked over at the ham radio again.
    Call Will. You’re not ready for this. What are you waiting for?
    She looked through the binoculars at the marina instead. Danny’s pontoon was still moving up the inlet.
    “Give me an update, Danny,” she said into the radio.
    “They’re not shooting at me, which is a good sign,” Danny said. “They also have an old woman with them. That’s another good sign.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “It’s the end of the world. No one lugs around an old broad unless they’re really nice.”
    Good point.
    Danny and Maddie were pulling the pontoon up alongside the marina as two men approached them with hands raised. Danny stood at the front of the boat (What was that, the port? Starboard? Will would know…) and was chatting them up. It seemed as if the conversation was going well, and soon Danny stepped off the boat and onto solid ground.
    Her radio squawked, and she heard his voice: “They’re willing to hand over their weapons. And they promise they don’t have Derringers hidden in inappropriate places.”
    “What’s a Derringer?” she asked.
    “Uh, you know, those small handguns? Never mind.”
    Danny was wearing his old special forces comm gear, with the throat mic and earbud, so she knew she was safe to ask her next question: “Can we trust them?”
    “I don’t see why not.” Danny had walked away from the others so they couldn’t hear him. “Of the five hombres , only three are really worth being concerned over. One looks too friendly to have