“What the hell do you think you’re pulling, Ramsey?”
“Mom? Is that you?”
“You think this is some kind of game?”
“Oh, Collins, nice to hear from you. Might have been nicer if you’d shown up with SEAL Team Six to help me rescue my friends, but I can understand if you were busy…”
“Where is she, Ramsey? Stop screwing around.”
“As I told your charming representative this morning, I have no idea.”
“We left her in your care.”
“No, I rescued her from certain death, and she willingly came with me. We checked into a hotel, and she apparently decided she wanted to leave. I’m not a junior G-man, Collins. I found her, brought her to safety, and she took off. How am I involved anymore?”
“I can have you arrested for aiding a fugitive.”
“A fugitive? Is she really? What’s she done?”
“That’s none of your concern.”
“Wait — you threaten to arrest me for helping a fugitive, but you can’t tell me why she’s a fugitive? Good luck with that. Want my lawyer’s number? He could probably use a good laugh.”
“You’re messing with the wrong people, Ramsey.”
“Collins, you suckered me into helping you. I did what you sent me to do, and my friends and I almost died in the process. You’ve obviously kept information from me, and now you’re threatening me. Why are we still talking?”
“I need to know where she went.”
“I have no idea. I was asleep. She could have gone anywhere.”
“Not without help.”
Drake sighed. “Is there anything else?”
Collins’ voice turned coldly menacing. “I won’t forget this, Ramsey. I can make things difficult for you. Remember that.”
“Sure. And next time you want some help, I’ll remember the charming thanks I got for a job well done. I’d say we’re about even.”
“You little bas—”
Drake punched the off button and tossed the phone in the trash. Allie raised a questioning eyebrow, and he grinned. “Wrong number.”
Spencer edged closer. “You might want to temper the go-screw-yourself with them, Drake. You don’t want the CIA as your enemy.”
“Right. Because having them as my buds has done so much for my well-being.” He looked at Spencer’s arm. “Think of that bullet you took as a greeting card from them.”
“I’m just saying. If you have a choice, keep them on your good side.”
“He threatened to have me arrested for aiding a fugitive.”
“He what?” Allie gasped.
“I told him to pound sand. The call didn’t go so well from there.”
“But Christine isn’t a fugitive… is she?” Allie asked.
“Not that he could articulate. I asked him what the charge was, and he deflected. I’d say it’s BS. He’s just trying to scare me. But after being shot at, crashing in a helicopter, and being in combat for a few days, I guess you could say I’m all out of scared.” Drake’s tone softened. “Let’s head to the border and see about getting a boat first thing in the morning. We’ll need to take the backdoor route, since we don’t have passports.”
“Damn. That’s right.” Allie shrugged. “I guess we’ve been okay without them so far…”
“We can get new ones from the embassy when we return to Bangkok, but Drake’s right as far as keeping a low profile goes,” Spencer said. “And I think we’ve figured out that we’ll need weapons if we’re going into bad-guy territory again.”
“Seems like everyone over five years old has at least an AK,” Allie agreed.
Drake grinned. “And some of the toddlers look pretty shady, too.”
Chapter 50
The boat dropped them off as close to the area they recognized from their last trip as it could get, and once in Laos, after a brief consultation with the GPS, Spencer led the way inland. They each carried a Kalashnikov with four extra clips in their packs, and had Browning 9mm pistols in belt holsters — all courtesy of the boat captain’s cousin, who turned out to be one of the top police officials in Chiang Saen. Apparently the market for slightly used fully automatic weapons was thriving, and the cousin had no problem procuring guns for friends of his cousin from his store of confiscated firearms.
It had rained that morning as they’d made their way north on the Mekong, and they were soaked, the only relief provided by their wide-brim hats. Spencer was managing the trail at a good pace in spite of his shoulder, which he claimed didn’t hurt, but which Drake and Allie could see was causing him grief.
When they neared the village, a voice called out a warning to them, and after slipping their rifle slings over their shoulders, they stopped and raised their hands. One of the sentries stepped into view and lowered his weapon when he recognized them. He said something in the local dialect and offered a hint of a smile, and then signaled for them to follow him up the slope to the village.
They marched behind him to where the remains of a fire smoldered in the central pit, the drizzle intermittent as the perennial fog burned off. A few of the gunmen they passed bowed wais in greeting, which they answered with similar gestures.
They froze when they reached the huts.
Joe stepped from his dwelling in his orange pants, a camouflage T-shirt topping the ensemble, and grinned. “Whoa. Look who the cat dragged in. I thought I’d seen the last of you.”
“But… the crash…” Drake sputtered.
Joe shrugged and made a face. “Takes more than a few bullets to keep me down.”
“How did you survive?” Drake said.
“It was pretty hairy. I managed to put the plane down in a clearing. Tore the wings off, but hey. I got out just before it went kabang.” He grinned again. “Positive vibes, dude. Can’t underestimate them. Oh, and the colonel told me you made it out, so all’s well.”
“You weren’t hurt at all?”
“Stubbed my toe. Stung like a bitch.” Joe’s gaze moved to Allie. “Funny you should show up. I just made it back this morning. Like kismet or something.” Joe motioned to the log. “Pull up a chair. What can I do for you? You seen the error of your modern ways and decide to go native?” He eyed Allie appreciatively. “Or was the power of our mutual attraction too much? We’re both adults. We don’t need to play games.”
Allie laughed. “No, we need to go back to the cave.”
Joe grew serious. “Why?”
“We think we missed a false wall.”
“Bummer.” Joe frowned. “That could be a problem.”
“Why?”
“Leng told me they’re hearing rumbling about the Myanmar Army making a push into that lower area. I guess all the commotion at the factory got their attention.”
“But that’s fine! We have permits from the government.”
“Right. But you have to avoid getting shot in order to show them. You don’t want to be in the middle of a firefight between the Shan and Myanmar Armies.”
Spencer nodded. “So we can’t talk you into going with us? We were thinking you could smooth the way with your buddy Leng.”
“He’s still a little touchy that you bugged out without paying him.”
“That’s why we came back! You can explain we’re honorable, and we wanted to keep our word,” Drake said.
Joe registered Spencer’s bandaged shoulder. “What happened there?”
“Cut myself shaving.”
Joe scowled and glanced around. “Where’s Uncle Pete?”
Spencer told Joe about being ambushed, and Joe shook his head. “I could tell he wasn’t long for this world. It was his aura. The universe knows.”
Drake rolled his eyes at Allie. “Right. But back to our little project…”
Joe got a faraway look in his eyes. “You want to go back into no-man’s land, in the middle of an active military offensive, where there could still be drug traffickers roaming around, after almost being killed… too many times to count?”