Page 44 of Dangerous Liaisons

Chapter Thirty-Three

Jesse whirled in the direction of their pursuers.

Cole grabbed her arm. “You stay, I stay.”

The heat of his fingers penetrated her cotton sleeve.

“I know what you’re doing, Jess.”

The guards’ shouts and dogs’ barks drew closer.

“Damn you.” She lunged toward the Harvester. “Move!”

He caught up with her. “They’ve got five dogs on our tail.”

“Yep.” Jesse jabbed the compass light. They were heading too far north. “Angle left,” she said. Foliage thrashed twenty meters behind them. A dog growled so close behind, she nearly whirled in anticipation of attack. “We’re not going to make it.”

“Sound carries,” Cole said. “We’ll make it. Twenty more meters.”

They crashed from the jungle into full moonlight. The Harvester sat ten meters away. A dog shot onto the road behind them. Cole whirled and fired. Jesse tensed in anticipation of the dog’s high-pitched yelp, but heard nothing.

“Get in!” Cole shouted.

She yanked open the door and dove into the backseat as he fired another shot. He jumped into the driver’s seat, rocking the vehicle. The lead dog streaked forward as Jesse slammed her door. She startled at sight of the animal. Cole had shot to scare the animal!

The Harvester roared to life and lurched forward, throwing her against the seat. She rebounded, striking her head against the front seat headrest. The vehicle hit a rut and went airborne. She clutched at the headrest, getting a fistful of Cole’s hair. He grunted, but didn’t slow.

Jesse righted herself and twisted in time to see four men emerge from the jungle at a dead run, four more dogs in front of them. She yanked her weapon free and shot out the rear window. One guard halted. She fired again, but missed. He swung a rocket launcher over his shoulder and pointed its wide maw at her.

Shit!

A flash silhouetted him, then a roar followed. A rocket snaked toward them, bright, spinning, fast. Jesse involuntarily ducked. The rocket spiraled past, leaving a trail of smoke. The jungle ahead exploded. The Harvester bucked sideways. A tall palm lurched, toppled slowly over the road. Cole gunned the engine. The Harvester gained speed. The palm accelerated downward. Five meters, three—the Harvester passed under by bare inches. The tree slammed to the ground scraping their rear bumper.

The dogs vaulted the tree, unfazed. One leaped at the truck’s bumper. Jesse flinched at the loud snap of his jaws. She aimed at the guard who had fired the rocket, but at that range, the bucking Harvester guaranteed a miss.

“Damn,” she swore.

More shots. Four bullets pierced the side of the Harvester behind her door in quick succession. Jesse ducked, shouting “Cole, get a move on!” but they were already turning the bend in the path.

The men disappeared from view. A dog lunged at her window, snapping the air in front of her face. She jerked back as he fell away.

“If we don’t lose the dogs, Menendez’s men will catch us!”

“If I go any faster, I’ll break an axle,” he replied.

Headlights abruptly cut through the foliage behind. Jesse’s breath caught. How’d they get past the tree?

“We’ve got to cut another path,” she said. Another dog leaped at the truck and bounced off. “Menendez must already have a road block somewhere ahead.”

“Probably,” Cole replied, but kept going.

“Cole,” she persisted.

“What do you suggest, Jess? Ten feet off this road and we’ll mire the Harvester.”

“We’ve got another mile before we reach the main road.” She glanced at her watch. “That’s two point four minutes. Menendez’s men made us approximately two and a half minutes ago. That’s a total of five minutes.”

“Could be a problem,” he agreed.

“We need to lose the dogs.”

“Don’t shoot ‘em, Jess.”

She shot him a dirty look she knew he couldn’t see, and leaned out the passenger window with her weapon. Memory of Lancelot as he lay dying made her hand tremble.

“Dammit,” she cursed, and aimed the weapon a good six inches in front of the lead dog and fired into ground. Two of the dogs yelped and fell back. The trailing headlights cut across the air above the dogs. She aimed high over the closest dogs’ heads and let off another round. One dog veered toward the trees but didn’t slow.

Headlights appeared high over the dogs, then hit the ground. Jesse jerked her aim twelve inches from the nearest paw, and fired. Ground spat up into the fringes of the headlights as they disappeared. A dog yelped, circled, then trotted toward the pursuit vehicle. She aimed between the two remaining dogs and pulled the trigger. They didn’t break stride.

Jesse pressed the light on her watch and checked the time. Half a minute to go. The whir of an engine and sweep of light jerked her attention behind them. A beefed up Jeep Cherokee rounded the corner thirty meters behind.

“Floor this thing!” she shouted.

The Harvester bucked forward. She went airborne and struck her head against the roof. The vehicle bounced right, then hard left, and the thick jungle foliage opened up to the main road. Cole hit the brakes and skidded sideways on pavement. Jesse struck the seatback then the passenger side-door. Cole stepped on the gas. Tires screamed and the Harvester leaped forward. Cole shifted hard into second, and she was thrown back against the seat. She grabbed the armrest and turned to look for the Jeep. The Cherokee burst sideways across the road, and slid sideways into the jungle.

Jesse faced forward “Get the hell out of here!”