island. But her words were a surprise. “I should have told you to kill him,” she whispered. “Then we wouldn’t be in this fix.”
He closed his hand around her arm. “That doesn’t mean the guards wouldn’t have come after us—for revenge. Even if he’s a dangerous guy to work for.”
“Right. I saw him get angry at a gardener who spilled some mulch on the path in front of us. I thought he was going to kill the guy. Then he realized I was with him, and he got himself under control.”
“Nice.”
He looked through the door, making sure no one had followed them to the hut, then motioned her outside, taking them away from the house and toward the patch of underbrush where he’d hidden the boat.
They had gotten only about fifty yards when he saw flashlight beams cutting through the foliage.
He pulled Camille behind a palm tree, then brought his lips to her ear and whispered. “Don’t move.”
She went still beside him, and he focused on the approaching lights, thankful that Zanov’s men weren’t using night-vision goggles. At least this way, they could see the searchers coming.
From the beams, it looked like two men. He finally saw them emerging from the shadows, walking carefully through the brush, flashlights in one hand and weapons in the other. He was sure they would shoot him if they saw him, but what about Camille? Had the Big Z ordered her death, too? Or did he still want her alive? And what would he do if he caught her? Probably not kiss her and say all was forgiven.
Nick put his mouth to her ear and whispered in a barely audible voice. “I’m going to disappear.” He hoped. He’d gotten so emotionally entangled in this rescue mission that he wondered if it was possible to use his talent.
But he’d better give it a try, because it was his best option at the moment. Clearing his mind, he ordered himself into neutral mode. Long seconds passed, and he wasn’t sure if he’d succeeded until he heard Camille draw in a startled breath.
Hopefully, it was because she couldn’t see him. But what happened when a flashlight beam hit an invisible man?
Moving silently, he stood and stepped out from behind the tree, waiting with a tranq gun in each hand as the guards approached. As they came into easy range, he shot one in the chest. When he made a sound of surprise and crumpled, the other guy turned to him with a startled expression. But Nick had already shot the second guard, who went down beside his buddy. He crouched over them, feeling for the darts. He knew he was visible again when Camille ran to him, then eyed the two men on the ground.
“The tranquilizers again?”
“Yeah. Nobody’s going to come running at the sound of gunfire. The downside is that you have to reload after every shot.”
“Why didn’t you use it on Zanov?” she asked.
“I should have. But I thought he was out cold, and I only have limited ammunition for the tranq guns.”
As he spoke, he pulled the needles from the men and pressed them down into the bushes, then shoved another cartridge into each gun.
She was still staring at the two guards. “If those guys are this far into the jungle, others could be too.”
“Unfortunately. And they’ll know we were here when they find these two.”
As he led her toward the place where he’d left the boat, she looked back at the unconscious guards. “How long will they be out?”
“Hours,” he answered, hoping they’d be off the island by the time the men came to.
As they moved through the wilderness area, all his senses were on alert, but they didn’t meet any more of the security force.
“Where does he think we’ve gone?” Camille whispered.
“We could still be in the house, for all he knows. And an assault team could be on the way.”
“But they’re not.”
“I figured it was safer for you if I came in by myself. An assault on the property could have gotten you killed.”
They continued cautiously across the island, on the lookout for wildlife as