The pilot frowned but quickly complied. “And don’t even think of hot-wiring the engine, or I will hunt you down and shoot you in the face,” Bear growled.
The pilot had no idea what “hot-wire” meant, but he got the idea Bear was conveying and shook his head. “Sí, I will wait here.”
Bear smiled and turned to run and jump aboard the Zodiac. He pulled an MP5 machine gun from his duffle bag, inserted a thirty-round magazine, jerked back the lever to load a shell, and yelled, “Fire it up, boys, and let’s go fishin’!”
Jinx grinned and pulled the starter cord on the forty-horsepower outboard engine.
When the engine roared to life, he twisted the handle and the Zodiac leapt forward as if it’d been shot out of a cannon, Hoss and Psycho hollering “hoo-hah” as they held onto their hats with one hand and the boat’s gunwale with the other.
Mason noted that the river was slowly narrowing and thus the current was quickening. “Motzi, do you know about how far until we reach Tehuantepec?”
Motzi glanced around and then behind him toward the mountain the river had wound around and then he gave his usual shrug. “Maybe one… two hours.”
Lauren began to awaken, yawning and stretching as she gazed around at the thick jungle on both sides of the river.
“Did Sleeping Beauty have a nice nap?” Mason asked with a grin.
She yawned again, trying to cover it with a palm. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. Since you macho men left nothing for me to do I decided a nap was in order.”
“And did you have pleasant dreams?”
He was surprised when Lauren blushed a deep crimson. “Why… uh… yes, I did in fact,” she answered.
Mason smiled and shrugged. “Well, I would have let you paddle with Motzi, but you know what they say about women drivers.”
She laughed. “Yeah, and I know all about men drivers who would rather get lost than ask anyone for directions. If we were anywhere but on a river with but one destination, five will get you ten you would’ve gotten us lost.”
Mason laughed with her. “I plead guilty to rarely asking for directions, since it is unmanly and since it is infinitely more fun to get lost if you have the right company.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it, since in my business, getting lost often means you don’t find your way back.”
He frowned and held up his hand, “Listen,” he said urgently.
She cocked her head and could hear the high-pitched whine of an outboard motor from up ahead of them around the next bend.
“What do you think?” she asked, a worried look on her face.
“Since that is the first outboard motor we’ve heard on the entire river, and since I doubt very seriously if there are any gas stations in this part of the jungle, I don’t think it is good news. In fact, I think the best thing we can do is get to the shore as fast as possible and try to make ourselves scarce.”
He and Motzi put their backs into it and began to paddle toward the right bank of the river as fast as they could, but the current was so strong it was several moments before they could get the nose of the boat pointed in the correct direction.
Suddenly, it was too late. A bright orange Zodiac came careening around the bend just as they nosed into the bank.
Mason could hear shouts as the men on the boat saw them, and seconds later the Zodiac was headed straight toward them.
Mason and Lauren grabbed their bags and rifles and ran into the jungle, following Motzi as he led them up a narrow, ill-defined trail away from the river.
Jinx shouldered his M-16 and took aim, but Bear forced the barrel of his rifle down. “No, don’t shoot. We might hit the blood samples and that would really piss our boss off.”
Jinx snarled. “But…”
“What?” Bear shouted. “You afraid we can’t run down a couple of civilians and an Indio boy in jungle terrain?”
Jinx relaxed. “Well, when you put it like that…”
He put his rifle down and twisted the throttle of the outboard motor and ran the nose of the Zodiac up on the grassy bank.
Bear jumped to the ground and turned. “Hoss, you stay with the Zodiac and keep an eye out in case they try to circle back around and get to their boat.”
“Why do I have to stay behind and miss all the fun?” Hoss groused.
Bear smiled and shook his head. “Because a three-hundred-pound behemoth wearing size-fourteen boots isn’t the most agile creature to go chasing through a jungle on a trail barely two feet wide. Hell, they’d hear us coming from a mile off.”
Hoss smirked. “Guess yore right, boss.”
Bear pointed at him. “Keep your guard up, though. This doctor has already proven to be plenty smart, and I wouldn’t put it past him to try to sneak up on you to get the Zodiac and leave us stranded here.” He looked toward the jungle and shook his head, “And I’ll swear I saw them carrying what looked like rifles when they lit out.”
“No worries, boss. I’ll smash a hole in their boat and then I’ll take the Zodiac over to the other side of the river and wait for your signal. If they appear back here, I’ll fire a volley of three shots in the air.”
Bear nodded. “Good thinking.” And then he punched Hoss in the shoulder. “I guess you’re not just a pretty face after all. We’ll see you soon.”
Running as fast as they could through uncleared jungle trails soon tired Mason and Lauren out. Motzi looked as if he could run forever, but Mason could see sweat pouring off Lauren’s face and could hear her panting like a steam engine.
“Hold on,” he gasped, stopping and leaning over with his hands on his knees. “We can’t keep this pace up much longer, and we’re making way too much noise.”
Lauren did likewise, her chest heaving as she looked around. “You’re right, but I don’t see any place to hide where they won’t spot us instantly.”
Motzi dropped his backpack and quick as a fox shinnied up a nearby tree. When he got to the top he looked around in a complete circle.
Seconds later, grinning, he dropped to the ground. “Follow Motzi,” he said and grabbing up his backpack took off at a slant through the jungle.
After a couple of hundred yards Mason noticed the ground began to rise and it felt as if they were moving uphill.
Sure enough, after another hundred yards the jungle thinned and they could see a hillock rising out of the jungle ahead of them. As they climbed it, Mason noticed the jungle gave way to knee-high grass for the last hundred yards up to the top of the hill.
When they reached the top, they found several small boulders and fallen trees that made a natural fortress of the height.
Motzi grinned and shrugged. “If cannot outrun bad men, can maybe stay here until help come from ship.”
Mason nodded. “Great idea, Motzi. I’ll get on the phone and see if Battersee can contact the ship and have them send reinforcements. Meanwhile, you two get down behind cover and get ready to hold off a charge if the men decide to try to take the hill.”
They were moving so fast up the trail that they almost missed the signs, but Psycho noticed a bent and broken limb just off the trail to the left.
“Hold on, guys. I think they went this way.”
Bear stopped and looked around. “Why in the hell would they leave the trail and head off into thick jungle where they won’t be able to move as fast?”
Babe moved over next to Psycho and took a look. “I don’t know, boss, but they sure as hell went this way.”
“Okay, let’s get after them, but be careful. This thick jungle is an ideal place for an ambush.”
Psycho snorted. “You think this civilian doctor has got the balls to try and ambush a superior force?”