Chapter Fourteen

Kenya

One Month Later

“I’m still pissed that we left without the Scythian all wrapped up for HQ in a neat little camo bow,” Slater said.

Donnie agreed. “At least we’ve made progress and trained up a generous contingent of indigenous forces. If the phantom Horse Lord steps back onto Ethiopian soil, the welcome committee is ready.”

Johnny glanced at his two weary comrades as he drove. He’d been away from Lizzy for a month and it felt good to be back in Nairobi. He couldn’t wait to surprise her—he couldn’t wait to catch up on sleep. Four weeks of hunting, then training the local military took its toll. The Scythian had slipped out of their grasp, rumored to be back over the border in Somalia. MIT2 wouldn’t give up and awaited more intel. In the meantime, Max had taken the red-eye out of Addis Ababa to Fort Bragg in California, with meetings lined up with MIT’s base of operations. Then he’d be flying into Salt Lake City to check on Abby, who’d been placed on bedrest after unusual spotting and cramps. In six days’ time, Max would be back with his unit and they’d all be flying back to arid-ass Somalia.

“Well, I’m pissed. Sorry I can’t be as laid back as you and Johnny when it comes to Lord Fuckwat.” Slater yawned. “I want to liberate that roaming sicko from his precious scalp collection with one smooth pull on the trigger.”

Johnny thrummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “Screw laid back. I’m with you, bud.”

They drove in silence, frustration and exhaustion warring for space among the three operators.

“How long until we arrive?” Donnie asked, staring out at the passing savannah.

“Ten minutes. It’s down the sand road up ahead, two clicks out.”

Slater and Donnie had jumped at the chance of helping out at the orphanage and were eager to meet the kids.

Johnny’s eagerness was all twisted up in Lizzy. He hadn’t seen her in a whole month. As soon as they’d landed back in Kenya, the men had showered and packed the truck with supplies, before cruising westwards towards Teens & Tots.

“Excited to see your girl?”

“Hell, yeah. I missed the shit out of her. Now I can formally introduce you guys.”

That concept felt weird. Donnie and Slater probably knew Lizzy better than she knew herself—through the hours of surveillance they’d performed in South Africa.

“Is she still as excitable as she was back in Johannesburg?” Donnie asked.

“As in ‘happy’ excitable? No. She’s matured some since living in Kenya. But she’s still restless and wanders through life in a dreamy haze. It’s sweet but hella frustrating at times.”

Eight minutes later they pulled into the dusty lot. “I’ll show you around before we get started.” Johnny led them up a side path and paused.

Donnie immediately picked up on his tension. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s too quiet. It’s supposed to be the morning tea break. The children are usually racing around—playing soccer.”

“Maybe they’ve changed the schedule?”

“No. Something feels off.”

“Let’s split up. Talk us through the layout.”

His buddies trusted him, and Johnny felt a spurt of gratitude. The three men had worked together for so many years in the field that their finely-honed instincts were in sync. Urgency screamed for Johnny to assess the surroundings and figure out what felt off-kilter.

They were all armed with pistols but were short of radio comms. Sign language would have to do. After a quick huddle, Slater circled round, as the thick bush to the left absorbed Donnie’s agile form.

Easing forward, Johnny strained—listening for sound. Sweat dampened his brow as he sidled around a roughened wall.

Noting the empty classrooms, he crept to the courtyard at the far end where he’d heard raised voices. It housed a smaller playground with a couple of swings.

A glance around the corner revealed an armed man waving a long knife in the air. Another comrade stood next to him, shouting in Swahili. Resituating himself, Johnny surveyed the threat. Lizzy stood trapped—centered before the two men—with rusty swings and a wall at her back. She sheltered a small boy who clutched the back of her shirt. Esther corralled the rest of the children, shuffling them towards the canteen.

Sidestepping, Lizzy tried to escape the enclosed space, and the armed target stepped closer.

Johnny swore as Donnie sidled up from the opposite end of the courtyard. The soldiers communicated silently. Donnie would take on the unarmed perp and Johnny would deal with the armed asshole. He sized up the target. Judging by the frantic wielding of the butcher’s knife and his stance, the local man was untrained and only weighed perhaps 140 pounds. Lizzy spoke to him quietly, and he pointed at the young child with the knife. She shook her head, shielding the youngster.

Johnny readied himself as the man screamed in fury. Three…two… A third man ran onto the playground, his arms waving frantically. The stethoscope dangling around his neck indicated this was the clinic’s doctor. Shit. That’s all they needed—more civilians in the mix.

The doctor foolishly strutted towards the perp, and the knife snaked out and barely missed the idiot’s carotid artery.

He stumbled back but still stood his ground, stepping between Lizzy and the angry men. Johnny was already moving. The MIT team slid in from all sides like raptors. Johnny’s entire focus was on that knife, and he grabbed the skinny arm, quickly twisting the blade out of its desperate trajectory. A painful shout to the right meant that Donnie had done his job well. Red dust clouded as Johnny slammed the bastard into the ground. The guttural whoosh indicated a severe winding. The perp gasped as Johnny rolled him over, restraining his wrists with the plastic cuffs stuffed in his pocket.

Rage at the threat to his woman had Johnny craving a beatdown. He could easily pound the man to mince, but the look on Lizzy’s face stopped him. Slater stepped up beside her, checking for injury. They were safe. Esther came running and Lizzy told her to take the scared kid inside.

The bastard whined beneath Johnny’s knee and then began wailing. Completing a pat-down, Johnny dragged him to his knees.

“Please don’t hurt him,” Lizzy said, stepping forward.

“Restraining the son of a bitch isn’t hurting him. He just tried to kill you.”

“He was desperate—with good reason.”

“What the hell?” Slater stared at her with as much astonishment as Johnny felt.

Astonishment morphed into hot jealousy as the doctor put his arm around her. “Are you okay, sweetheart? You’re trembling.”

“That was brave of you—leaping in like that. Thank you.”

“Anytime. I was wrapping up surgery when I heard the shouts. I came as fast as I could.”

The three operators watched, fascinated by the friendly interaction, and not knowing how to take it.

When the perp groaned, Johnny eased up, choosing to ignore the British doctor. “Slater, call the local police.”

“No, don’t,” Lizzy said, talking quickly. “His name’s Alfred; he came looking for his nephew. Omondi the only family he has, but Alfred was refused custody. He wants to put Omondi to work in his factory, but the child is way too young, only seven years old. Alfred’s grown confused and frustrated with the court system, so he came for the child. He doesn’t understand how it all works.”

“Threatening the staff with a knife? I think he understands well enough that what he’s doing is unlawful,” Donnie said quietly.

“Did you break his arm?” The English quack knelt.

“It’s just a sprain,” Johnny said.

“Well, it looked like you almost bloody twisted it off.”

“I could’ve let him gut you instead. I haven’t seen you before—at the clinic.”

“This is Doctor Garrison Bankes.” Lizzy tried to smooth things over. “He works with Amity Aidcor. Teens & Tots is lucky to have him on loan for three months.”

Amity Aidcor was a famine response program that did good work in drought-stricken regions across the globe. MIT2 had crossed paths with a couple of their aid camps in the past. Their medical teams were solid.

Garrison Bankes stood and glared at Johnny. “Bring him to the clinic. I want to look at that wrist, and I could ask you the same question. Who the hell are you people?”

Again, Lizzy jumped in. “They’re upgrading security on the property.”

She’d just introduced him as a security guard…and hadn’t yet touched him, not even a hello kiss. Fan-fucking-tastic.

Johnny handed the restrained package over to Slater, planning to walk to the truck and calm the hell down. A swanky English accent cut through his funk, first directing Slater and Donnie to the clinic with their prisoners and then addressing Lizzy’s statement.

“We don’t need an upgrade. Esther’s husband will be returning shortly, and I stay on the property at night.”

Johnny couldn’t resist engaging. “Yeah? What happens in a couple of months when you’ve moved on, or what if a gang of militants enters the property with AK-47s?”

“That’s an exaggeration.” The doctor dusted off his knees.

“Why would they want to target an out-of-the-way orphanage?” Lizzy asked.

“Seems like a ripe target to me. The past five years mall attacks, roadside bombings and beheadings have become commonplace occurrences in East Africa.”

Bankes stood with his hands on his hips. “What is a fence and some cameras going to do.”

Johnny’s response held impatience. “They’ll give you some warning. A delayed entry gives a team like mine—or the police—a heads-up.”

“And if you’re out of country bullying some other poor locals?”

This little twit was going to be a cramp in his side. Folding his arms, Johnny glared. “What exactly is the problem here? How does this setup offend you? Are you anti-violence? Anti-gun? Anti-military? Or all of the above?”

“Violence doesn’t solve problems.”

“It solved this one.”

“All this additional security and posturing is not good for the children’s psyche. They’ve seen enough terror in their young lives, and don’t need to live in an armed prison. My role is to ensure that the youngsters are healthy and happy—”

“And safe,” Johnny added.

Esther stood to the side and looked uncertain. Johnny turned to her. “This is your property, no one else’s. What do you want us to do?”

“Maybe install a couple of cameras to start? And if you could look at the back fence.”

Johnny nodded. “I’ll send Donnie over to the office to start on the security equipment.”

After an awkward walk to the clinic and the arrival of two police officers, Lizzy turned to leave. “I’m taking the older children for a walk. I need air.”

On closer inspection, she looked tired. That made two of them, in addition to his green-eyed annoyance at her budding relationship with the damn doctor.

“I’ll come along,” Johnny volunteered.

She lifted her chin. “We’ll do just fine on our own.”

“Well, I’m coming.” Slater pushed off the wall. “I want to meet the kids, plus the more, the merrier, right?”

Lizzy grumbled to herself as Slater trailed along, and after a moment’s hesitation, Johnny fell in behind.

***

Lizzy concentrated on the rocky path ahead, ignoring the unyielding brute trailing at her back. John chatted easily with some of the older kids, yet she knew from his stiff gait that he was angry with her. Slater walked up ahead and slowed, turning back to shoot her a lazy grin.

Drat, she wasn’t much up for conversation. She stared up the path at a fellow volunteer pointing out a random bird to the children, who gathered up ahead. The guy was a bird-watching guru. He yammered on for hours about weavers and hornbills. It bored the bejeezus out of her. Plus, she needed to pee for like the twentieth time that day; her bladder felt like it was about to burst. She glanced sideways at the demigod ambling beside her. Slater was a lethal Lamborghini as opposed to John—an imposing Ford F650 truck.

“We haven’t officially been introduced. I’m guessing you know who I am.”

“Ditto,” Lizzy muttered.

“Let me guess, you met Dr. Garrison Bankes on P*******t? You followed his board ‘Hug a terrorist for a day.’”

“I’ve heard you’re the funny one—in your tough little rat pack.”

“You mean wolfpack, sweetheart, and Johnny is just looking out for the little tykes. His heart is in the right place.”

“I know.” Lizzy tugged a leaf off a passing tree.

“Then why are you so hard on the friendly giant? He saved your cute derrière back there, and that’s not the first time. Third time if I’m not mistaken.”

She tore the leaf into pieces. “He makes me mad, that’s all.”

“Teens & Tots is well run, but it’s not secure. Trust us to protect the little ankle biters.”

“Please don’t make the place look like a Nazi camp. Garrison has a valid point. There needs to be a balance—”

“It’s Garrison now?”

“He’s just a friend. Is that why John’s so mad? He’s jealous?”

Slater swiped at a fly. “Sweetheart, we’ve had a long month and a long-ass day. We were up at one in the damn morning and traveled through hostile territory, and rough terrain for three hours before arriving at the airport. Then it was a four-hour flight to Kenya. As soon as the wheels touched down, all Johnny could think of was seeing you. The man is beyond exhausted, and then he runs into a psychotic asshole threatening to stick you with a knife.”

“Is that your way of telling me to apologize?” They edged down a narrow path.

“Hug the barbarian, that’s all I’m saying. He missed you.”

“I missed him too.” Lizzy grinned sideways. “Thanks for the ass kicking.” She nudged Slater, and he elbowed her back. She flew into a thorny bush.

Slater swore as he lunged to pull her out. “Shit, you’re a light little thing. God, I’m so sorry.”

John shoved him out the way. “What the hell, man!”

Aside from landing on her pride, Lizzy felt okay, a couple of scratches never hurt anyone. The teenagers giggled, and Lizzy chuckled back as John pulled her to her feet. Continuing the momentum, she fell into his strapping arms and looked up.

“Hi.” She smiled, before balancing on his boots on her tippy-toes.

“Hi back. Are you all right?” He pulled a twig from her hair.

“Never better. Thank you for rescuing my ungrateful ass today. I’ve missed you.”

The kids whistled as he lifted her and crushed her mouth to his.

“Break it up. This is a PG-rated walk—canoodling around rug rats is not allowed.” Slater obviously never quit and Lizzy grinned into John’s mouth. Only once the rabble had moved on—and after a thorough hello kiss—did he lower her to the ground. “Up for some more bird watching?”

“Gosh darn it, shoot me now. Nope, I need to pee. Jay Jay, find me a quiet bush and guard my bare ass.”