My 2nd Novel: Hidden Secrets; Chaper 70

Hidden Secrets
Chapter 70

I watch two of my little Grands most days, and we play lots of "baby" games. This one is called "Baby in the Back Seat." It's lots of fun until I try to load them in a shopping cart.

Hidden Secrets

Leona Palmer Haag

 

Chapter 70

"Take the cat out, not me," Natalie whispered, as if she'd read the man's mind.

"I'm not close enough."

Natalie stared at the man's rough face, smeared with darkness, possibly mud. For camouflage? His eyes were all that was visible in the night. He blinked. He inched forward. "To your left. Low. Crouched," he whispered as he moved.

The hair on Natalie's arms rose as fright trickled through her veins. With all her soul she wished she could verify the man's words. Turn and look. See through the tangled branches and leaves. Know the cat was there. She didn't dare take her eyes off the man. She raised the stick, holding it firmly. She would use it. Against him.

Screams filled the night. Snarling. Breaking branches. Ripping flesh. Natalie plunged the syringe as hard as she could and felt the stick twist and snap in her hand. Deflected. She lashed out with the knife. It sank into something soft the same moment she felt searing pain rip through her shoulder like a hot branding iron. The knife fell with a thud. A foot kicked out hitting her head. There was nothing but silence. How long before it ended, she had no idea. Probably only seconds.

Noise returned. Twisting. Snarling. Shrieks filled her ears. A branch groaned and snapped. Somewhere in the dark she heard the grunts of a man and the wild thrashing of an animal. Natalie felt nothing but pain. Deep, blood-gushing pain in her shoulder and a searing, thudding pain in her side. Her head pounded and her neck hurt like crazy. Had she been run over by a cement truck? Not likely. She ran her hand over her shoulder. It was sticky.

The noises faded into silence. "Lady, are you alive?" Natalie heard a low voice whisper. She closed her fingers around the hilt of her dagger and tried to lift it. She was clutching a tree branch. Did it have a syringe at the end? She couldn't tell. She remained silent.

"Lady. Speak. Are you alive?" She heard a few feet further away.

Natalie didn't stir. Hardly breathed. She listened intently. A slight movement caught her attention. The man was moving away. She heard him move again. A low grunt. From pain? He moved further away. "Lady. Maybe we can help each other. We may not be the only captors released this afternoon."

The whisper hung in the night air. He was right. But was he a guard sent out to find her? And what about the cat? Natalie touched her shoulder. It had not stopped bleeding. She gambled. "Here," she whispered.

"Are you alive?"

Natalie shuddered. "Yes. The cat, is it dead?"

"Yes."

A moment later the man appeared. Silently. As if he'd been carried on an absent breeze. He knelt beside her. "You are a tracker?" he asked.

Natalie thought the question was odd. "No. Just lucky."

"Very lucky to be wearing black." He leaned forward and peered at her shoulder as best he could in the darkness. "The cat ripped you." He reached for the wound and pulled back her shredded sleeve. "Deep. That's not good. You're spreading blood everywhere. On the wind." He sniffed and she understood his meaning.

"How many cats are there?"

The man glanced at her. "They told me three."

Natalie grimaced as he examined the three flowing gashes. "I was told the same."

"Now there are two."

"Who are you?" she asked.

The man sat back on his heels. "Enrique Solanno, Senorita."

Natalie reached out and grasped his hand. "Natalie Holtz. Do you really think there are more captors who were released?"

The man smiled and nodded. "Yes. I took down the helicopter, but I'm not responsible for cutting off the camera power."

"The camera's are out?"

"And the backup power. Who ever else is out here is good. Almost as good as me. Willing to kill us if we don't band together. Did they give you a dagger? Where is it?"

Natalie sat up and her hands searched in the dark. "I dropped it. It's here somewhere."

On their hands and knees they searched together. Once it was found, Natalie removed her carpet roll and helped the man make shoes. He said he'd pulled several thorns from his feet and had left bloody tracks that the cat had followed. He praised her for her ingenuity.

"I left footprints at his front door," she whispered.

"Then your life is worth less than mine," he teased.

It made her quietly laugh.

Natalie used part of her jacket front to bind her wound. "Now it is time to move," the man whispered.

Natalie nodded. There were still two cats. Several guards. They were not free yet. She inched toward where she thought the wall was. The man touched her arm. "Not that way. It leads nowhere."

"It leads to a wall and the road beyond," she hissed.

"No. It goes into more forest and…" Suddenly a flare lit up the sky, lighting the area like a spotlight. "Hide," the man said, pulling her deeper under a tree.

Natalie watched the bright pink light hover over them. "Something happened," she whispered. Her mind raced to discover what it was, but she was clueless.

"It is not good," the man agreed, "but maybe the only problem is they can't see us."

They sat and watched until the light faded. Another flare lit the sky. "Will this go on all night?" she whispered.

"Perhaps."

"Then we'd better learn to use it to our advantage." She grabbed her syringe-tipped stick and said, "You lead. Watch out for trip lines, snares and traps."

Enrique nodded and slid into the shadows.

You lead? Natalie scolded herself for suggesting such a thing. Yet it felt safe following Enrique. He had saved her. Helped bind her gashes. Seemed smart. And he was only inches from the tip of her syringe weapon. Not a bad place to be if she changed her mind.

Enrique stopped. "Miss Holtz. Do you see that? It's a trip line."

Natalie edged forward. She studied the thin line in the pink glow around them. "Do you want to set it off or leave it?" she asked. Testing him was her objective, not giving him choices.

He turned and smiled at her, his white teeth gleaming pink in his black face. "We may come back this way, and if so, I wish to do it safely if I'm running. Wait here."

He inched forward and a moment later there was a rustle of leaves and a snap. The trap was sprung. They both inched forward to inspect it. More syringes. "Look," Enrique said.

"Now you're armed with poison as well," Natalie said, showing him the tip of her spear for the first time.

"Impressive. What gave you that idea, Senorita?"

"Big cats."

He chuckled. "They do have a way of inspiring us.” He tapped his head and then chest over his heart. He began cutting a spear and scrapping off twigs with his dagger. “Where did you receive your education?"

"From the best."

Enrique smiled. "And if you tell me, you'll be forced to kill me? Let me assume, you're an American?"

Natalie slowly nodded, sizing up her companion and what he needed to know and shouldn't ever learn from her.

"Me as well." He held out his hand. "We're on the same team, but different governments."

Natalie took his hand and shook it.

Enrique proudly held up his spear and little pouch of spare syringes. "Shall we go hunting, Miss Holtz?"

"Only until we escape."

He quietly laughed.

Together they crept through the undergrowth under a fading pink glow. It was refreshed with another flare. "They are hunting man," Enrique remarked, sending a shiver down Natalie's spine.

A far off scream reached them. A cat. Natalie froze. Had it found its prey and was crying out to show proclaim victory? The scream faded as they moved away. And then Natalie heard something. Enrique held up his hand at the same moment, signaling they should stop. Natalie slowed her breathing to silence. A branch rustled. Enrique slowly crouched. Natalie did the same as she stepped back into the shadows. A moment later a bullet whizzed past her. She stepped back again. More bullets splattered around them. She saw Enrique melt into the shadows.

Confederate? Natalie wondered as Enrique disappeared in the night. Had he led her into a trap? There was a soft thud and moan and rustling. "Miss Holtz. He's dead. Do you want a gun?"

Natalie stood motionless, blending into the night.

Enrique stepped into her view. "And pants. Your legs are very white in the moonlight. He dropped a pair of pants at her feet and turned his back on her. Natalie stepped forward and pulled them on. She picked up the handgun he'd placed beside them and checked the clip. Enrique turned back with a smile. "I like automatic weapons. Much better than quiet syringes when…"

"When you want to announce your whereabouts?" Natalie asked.

Enrique grinned. "Ah, good point. You must have graduated top of your class."

Natalie shrugged. She slid her nylons into the belt loops and cinched the waistband tight to kept the pants up.

It was hours before Natalie and Enrique neared the wall. Together they had set off three snares, but other than that, the night had grown quiet and still. Now they saw the wall silhouetted by a faint glow.

"The road on the other side is apparently being watched," Natalie whispered.

"So we wait," Enrique suggested.

Natalie sat on a fallen log. "I'd like a car."

Enrique agreed with a quick nod. "That and real food. A shower too."

Natalie shrugged. Why stop there? What about home? Peace? A shopping trip? No more bad guys? She stood up. "Let's go find a better place to jump the wall."

Enrique followed, saying, "The cats follow. Attack from behind. Crush the back of the skull, paralyzing their prey, whip the neck so hard..."

Natalie stopped and stared at him. "Are you telling me you want to lead?"

Enrique looked surprised. "No. Not at all. Do you have cats in America?"

"In zoos, not private yards, unless they're domestic. Now, if you think I need the education, go on, but spare me the details until we're over the wall. I already understand the meaning of the words deadly and cautious."

Enrique nodded and said, "I'm making sure you understand that we will not come upon a cat. No. And it will not come upon us in surprise either. When it comes, it will know well in advance. It smelled me and found you. Now it smells you and will find us."

Pain throbbed through Natalie's gashes. "If you want to escape alone, you may."

He shook his head. "No. Two cats, two people. The odds are better if we're together. They are usually solitary hunters. Pray they remain that way tonight."

Natalie nodded and resumed leading toward safety. Eventually the sky took on a gentle blue glow, and finally the sun hit the treetops. They stopped. They had followed the wall as best they could, setting off traps and snares along the way. Nowhere could they scale it. Natalie sat on a rock. "We're going about this wrong," she whispered.

Enrique nodded. "Yes, and I believe we're being tracked."

"What makes you say that?"

Enrique tapped the side of his head. "Common sense." He placed his hand over his heart. "Mingled with inborn intuition."

Natalie nodded. "We'll double back and set our own trap." They veered a dozen feet away from the wall and stumbled over tracks. A man and cat. "Now what?" Natalie asked, touching the soft pad marks in the soil.

"It is simple. Find the cat or the man."

They found the cat. "One cat. Dead," Natalie whispered.

"And one man nowhere near, meaning he's not so dead."

Natalie's heart pounded. The man who had killed a jaguar bare-handed would be deadly. Very. She scanned the trees around them. Chills ran up her spin. "Follow me," she said moving away from the carcass and swarming flies in the hot sun.

Enrique turned away. "The Red Devil will be very angry."

"Oh, that's an understatement," Natalie said under her breath.

The sun was fully up when Natalie held up her hand. Enrique stopped behind her. "A trap?" he whispered.

She shook her head. "Listen."

All was silent. Listen hadn't been exactly what she meant. Maybe feel. She knew something was near. Man or beast. Both deadly. She adjusted her position to wait and indicated Enrique should do the same. He did not object. Minutes ticked by. Then she saw it. A slight movement. So small it was hardly noticeable. Not much, really. She waited. Another whiff of movement. She raised her gun as she held up her hand to request Enrique hold his fire.

Nothing moved.

For minutes.

A sick feeling spread over Natalie. Something was wrong. Very wrong. She was sure the man had seen them. He was prepared to kill them. She knew it. But the man saw something else. Something they couldn't see, and thus he waited. What was it?

"He's going to kill us," Natalie whispered over her shoulder.

"Yes. But which one?" Enrique whispered in reply.

His statement confirmed her feelings. Then something stood out. Which one? "Which one?" she whispered her question.

"I think he sees only one of us, but which one? What is it about the one he sees that has stayed his hand."

"Is it stayed, or has he slipped away and is coming at us from a different angle because he senses we know he's there?"

"Ah. I think you're right. Miss Holtz, I don't think it's a guard. I think he could easily be an ally. Shall we call out to him?"

"No," Natalie hissed. "I think he is being tracked. Followed. They are close too."

"Are you working here alone?" Enrique whispered. "Could it be one of your men?"

"I'm alone," Natalie replied. Her mind darted to Nick. But he was presumed dead. "Washington," Jenn said aloud, then dropped to the ground before a bullet whizzed over her head.

Enrique hit the ground too. "Warn me next time," he growled in her ear.

"It's Nick Washington. My friend. I know it," she whispered. More bullets flew. From the left. The right. In front and in back. There was a groan and thud. Another thud and groan. More gunfire. Pop, pop, pop. Staccato. Bullets whined. Wood and dust flew.

Stillness filled the trees, and then running feet. Gunfire. Shots. Shouts. Gunfire. Natalie rolled under a log and held her breath. Enrique huddled nearby, his eyes wide. Watching. Waiting. His gun ready.

The sounds faded. Silence returned. Perhaps an hour passed before Natalie and Enrique crawled from hiding and ventured out to see what had happened. They found three bodies. All guards from the house. Each had been stripped of weapons.

"Barefoot," Enrique said, pointing to toe marks near one body.

"Another captor?" Natalie wondered aloud.

"As I thought. Proof we weren't the ones seen."

Natalie nodded. "Okay, now let's escape this crazy video game because I don't think there is any way to earn extra lives or pause it."

Enrique smiled and nodded. "Yes. I'd like a big steak and pot of beans." He set out leading the way with caution. A moment later he held up his hand. Natalie stopped and looked over his shoulder where he pointed. "The cameras are back up and running."

Natalie groaned. "Shall we take it out?"

Enrique grinned. "Of course. Let's tell them we're here waiting for them. I think we can do as good as that other man. Maybe better."

Natalie picked up a rock, and from behind so she was unseen, split the camera open. She victoriously tossed the rock aside. "Well, we've left our calling card. Let the party begin."

Enrique pointed to her left and said, "Does that way look best to you?"

"Absolutely." A minute later Natalie held up her hand to halt her companion. "The first guest is arriving," she whispered. A moment later a large cat slid into view. Natalie's blood ran icy cold. Sweat beaded on her forehead.

"Let's use drugs," Enrique whispered over her shoulder. "Quiet. They won't attract attention."

Natalie weakly nodded. If her carefully planned weapon didn't work they were as good as dead. Would the drug be released with the thrust, or would the plunger stick and the cat win? Were they fast acting? For that matter, did they daze or kill? She took a deep breath. She'd soon know. Enrique boldly stepped past her, fully catching the jaguar's attention. It crouched. A split second later it sprang. Natalie lashed out with her drug-tipped spear a fraction of a second after Enrique, thrusting it deep into the cats spotted shoulder.

The momentum knocked both of them backward. The cat snarled wildly and thrashed out. Enrique plunged his knife at the cat and Natalie scrambled up and sprang forward with hers. A moment later it was over. Enrique was badly injured. His left arm gushed blood and long slashes on his chest were spreading crimson across the remnants of his shirt. Natalie ripped up her red skirt and what was left of her jacket and wrapped the wound. She held it in place with her nylons. The cat's breath slowed and stopped.

"Did we do that quietly enough?" Enrique asked as she worked.

Natalie nodded. "Except it looks like it's wearing a tracking device. We need to take a hike with it."

Enrique rolled to his side and sawed the collar off with his dagger. He examined it carefully. He plunged her dagger into it. "It's dead. They'll come looking. A hike wouldn't have changed things at all."

Natalie got up and pulled Enrique to his feet. "So much for silence. It hurt us this time. Are you ready to go?"

Enrique nodded and one more piece of his mud mask sloughed off. "We are eternally bound together after being mauled by jaguars."

Natalie laughed. "I wish we'd quietly sealed it over dinner instead. Shrimp scampi. Candlelight. You might say sweet things instead of ask if I know how to use a gun or if I think the poison is deadly. I'd let you pick up the tab."

Enrique grinned and nodded. He took a deep breath that had to hurt. They crept away from the scene.

After weaving their way through traps and snares, it was late afternoon when they reached the wide swath of bare ground before the wall. Enrique was weak from the loss of blood. He had stumbled and fallen many times. They had left a clear trail. If anyone found it they'd be easy to follow. "Can you make it?" Natalie asked as they sat in the shade and stared at its height.

Enrique nodded. He swatted a fly away. Natalie sat beside him. She pulled the carpet roll from her back and unwound it. "Our ladder." She slit thin hand and foot holds every two feet.

Enrique clasped her hand. "You go first. I'll follow."

Natalie stood up. "Signal when you're ready."

A shot rang out. A bullet ricocheted off the wall a dozen yards away. Natalie dropped down and together she and Enrique scrambled under a bush. They were so close to freedom!

And so far away.

End Chapter 70

Hey, did you notice this chapter was longer than normal. Kind of cool, eh? See, I surprised you.