Free Shiva by Carolyn McCray Page A

extra weapons , “ g o. ”
    “ My last spotting marked her about eleven degrees north by northwest. ”
    With a nod , the tall black man took the guns and ammo, tucking them into his tux ’ s pocket as he turned and headed into the forest. Davidson watched Levont ’ s back until it disappeared amongst the foliage.
    Talli struck out in the opposite direction. Still , Davidson stood rooted in place. Not sure which direction to head.
    Lopez patted him on the back. “ I am going to leave it up to you, ” the corporal said, then turned , walking backward. He looked over his shoulder, apparently making sure Talli was out of earshot before whisper ing harshly. “ But damn , I could use a real sniper on this rescue mission. ”
    Davidson sighed. Brandt ’ s chances did go down sharply if he didn ’ t join them. Whereas , Rebecca ’ s chances were best with Levont.
    “ Flattery will get you everywhere, ” Davidson said as he followed Lopez.
    “ That and taking the plane elevator, ” Lopez frowned. “ I need to get a better name for it, but you get what I mean. ”
    Unfortunately , Davidson did.
    * * *
    Brandt braced himself as the open - aired Jeep slid in the thick mud. If the driver didn ’ t correct , they were about to go off the side of a very steep cliff. Thankfully , the driver was probably born and raised amongst these treacherous, slick mountain “ roads, ” as he turned into the spin, hitting the gas, bumping them up and over the mudslide.
    However , the Jeep in front of them did not fare so well. It couldn ’ t fight the force of gravity as the rear wheels went over the edge. The men tried to scramble from the vehicle as it hung from its front tires , but again , those laws of physics didn ’ t seem to give a rat ’ s ass. Which apparently neither did the men ’ s team. No one so much as reached a hand out as the Jeep slipped from its perch and plummeted down the side of the cliff , t he men ’ s screams filling the misty mountain air.
    Then quiet returned to the jungle.
    “ See what the problem is, ” the lead mercanary barked at the driver.
    Using his legs, Brandt lifted himself off the seat and looked ahead, finding the problem that had brought this little convey to a screeching halt. Ahead of the lead Jeep was a huge gouge in the road. More than likely the Congonese government ’ s countermeasure to rebel activities. It was a common ploy. Cutting gouges in the road stopped motorized vehicles from disappearing back into the jungle , which made it much harder for the rebels to make blinding strikes in the lowlands. It could take hours to build any kind of stopgap measure to get across.
    Brandt had never been so glad for a ruthless, oppressive government in his life.
    Until now , the Disciples had been well organized and executed a S pecial F orces – style snatch. Too bad their luck seemed to have run out. As everyone ’ s did eventually. Had the Disciples prepared for this contingency? They were now six men down. Which meant that Brandt was still facing twelve - to - one odds. Odds that were now doable.
    “ Frellan, we will have to go by foot, ” the merc leader stated as he grabbed his pack from the Jeep. The Disciple didn ’ t seem any too happy by the fact. Guess the guy didn ’ t do as much research on the African side of this mission as he should have.
    Brandt and his team had met with a similar problem last week , approaching from the eastern slope. However , they had brought sturdy planking along. Lopez had gotten them underway within ten minutes. Clearly , Frellan didn ’ t have anyone of Lopez ’ s caliber , which meant if they wanted to get the Jeeps across , they would have to stop, cut down trees, craft planks out of them , and hope they held the Jeep ’ s weight.
    And every hour they delayed here trying to build their bridge on a sliding slope of mud was an hour the a rmy could spot them and send in troops.
    Guess the Disciples were learning the hard way that Africa was a