The Last Bazaar

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Drake followed Alicia as the team wound their way downriver, searching for the best spot from which to ambush a passing boat. As they walked, Hayden held up a clenched fist, her entire body freezing. Drake saw it immediately.

There, to the left, twisted around a moss-infested tangle of tree branches, dead undergrowth, and lumps of soil and vegetation, sat the biggest snake any of them had ever seen. Mottled browns and blacks and even a little yellow shone in the direct sunlight as a body the size of a man’s thigh coiled lazily. The entire group took a big step to the right.

Hayden went first, followed by Kinimaka and Lauren. Drake took his time, aware that they were pretty much safe but suddenly even more conscious of the dangers that lay all around and even underfoot beneath the carpet of mulchy leaves.

What we can’t see could kill us even faster than what we can.

He filed that thought away. Ahead, the river narrowed on both sides and where it was most slender the ground rose a little. Hayden motioned for a halt.

Alicia cast a glance backward. “A little close to our big friend.”

Drake sighed. “Anacondas are pretty slow. Even on your worst day I bet you could outrun one.”

“My worst day? Shit, Drakey, you don’t know me at all.”

He acknowledged that with a nod. Hayden beckoned them closer. “Let’s get into position and form a plan.”

And then they waited. The bazaar no doubt was in full swing by now as midday passed. The scorching heat blasted at them like a brazier. Drake took the time to apply even more insect spray and drain his canteen. It took an hour but at last Smyth signaled that a vessel was approaching the choke point.

“We’re on, guys.”

Drake ignored the muddy bank to eye the incoming vessel. The boat did resemble a barge, but with a long, smoked-glass cabin, a figurehead in bronze and various roof-antennae that screamed out the presence of a wealthy individual. He checked his weapons and his safely holstered machete and then took stock of his teammates.

“Let’s keep the noise down, folks,” he said.

They rose as the boat reached its closest point, then ran up and leapt from the raised bank and landed on the deck of the ship, boots striking the planking as lightly as possible. Of course, the three guards spotted them quickly and turned, rifles swinging from around their necks into their hands.

Dahl barreled into the first, smashing his body into the cabin bulkhead, the sound of breaking bones probably loud enough to make even the anaconda take note. Drake rolled into the second, taking his legs, and the two men went down in a tangle. Smyth landed carefully and threw his knife at the third — who was the furthest away — making him duck to the side and lose precious seconds. The knife stuck hard into a wooden upright, quivering. Smyth bounded across the space between them, catching hold of the guard as his weapon came up. The barrel pointed to the skies, but the man’s finger tightened on the trigger. Smyth wrenched at the man, throwing him bodily to the floor, the movement sending him sprawling. Then Smyth jumped on top, pinned his arms away from his body and reached up for the knife.

Drake pummeled his opponent’s kidneys from on top, ensuring the rifle was crushed to the deck and essentially unusable. When he sat up his enemy groaned. Drake clasped his knife and ran it through the back of the man’s neck, then glanced around.

Alicia and Hayden were by the cabin’s side door, pushing it open and slipping inside. Dahl confirmed his own foe wouldn’t revive later to give them away and then followed. Drake ran quickly after them, signaling to Kinimaka and the rest of the team that they should wait a while longer.

Inside the smoked-glass cabin the boat lived up to its opulent promise. Luxurious seats stood all around and the control panel flashed with hundreds of lights. Alicia stood beside the padded steering wheel with her hands around a man’s neck, while Hayden paused at the top of a set of stairs.

She put her fingers to her lips. Drake nodded and signaled that he would back her up. Dahl joined them too. Quietly, their team leader descended the wooden risers and gradually they began to make out the sound of a television. Raucous, bottled laughter boomed out intermittently amid cheers from what sounded like a well-sozzled audience. Drake felt the boat shifting and wondered briefly if Alicia had stopped its forward momentum or was guiding it.

God help us.

A narrow passageway led to three open doors; each room had to be relatively small. Hayden signaled that they should take one each, but then a bare-chested figure appeared at the far end.

“What the… who the hell are you?”

Drake reacted first, sprinting down the passage as he recognized that this man was their quarry, listening to him yell out a warning and knowing that down here it wouldn’t carry, understanding that they needed him alive, but already eyeing him for hidden weapons and other devices. The yell caused a scuffle behind and he guessed Dahl had attracted a guard; then Drake was at the man’s throat, forcing him back into the far room.

“Shut up,” he said. “Sit down. And you might live through this.”

The complication sat rigid, her eyes wide as side-plates, a handful of buttery popcorn halfway to her mouth. The TV no longer engaged her attention — rather it was the black-clad soldier holding her husband by the throat.

Drake sensed the scream coming, threw the man over the back of the couch and flew over to the woman. Quickly he held a finger to her lips. Hayden took control of the struggling man. Drake grunted as the woman struck out, catching him a glancing blow to the chin.

Hayden met his eyes. “Where’s Dahl?”

Drake frowned. The Swede should have dispatched his enemy and be here by now. With a nod of warning at the woman, the Yorkshireman slipped quickly back into the passageway, concern written all across his face. The scene wasn’t good. Dahl lay on his side in the middle of the corridor, unmoving.

“Mate.” Drake felt his heart sink through the bottom of the boat. “Torsten?”